Details and instructions on the monthly mean Mapping Page
Page will plot maps of selected variables. Select desired options and hit "create plot". Most options have a default setting so a selection is not required. Default for year is 2005. You can select the year/month to composite, the season, the type of statistic plotted (mean, anomaly, climatology), variable, level, map color, map area and contour interval/range. If you have problems, please email with ALL the options you chose.
Please read ALL the instructions. Failure to do so may lead to misinterpretation of results.
- Variable, years and levels available
Monthly data is available for each of the reanalyses for the time period of the reanalysis. variables and is updated the first or 2nd week of the month with the previous month's data. ONLY pressure and air temperature are available for the tropopause level and ONLY u and v winds, relative humidity and pressure for the surface. Streamfunction, divergence, vorticity and velocity potential are available ONLY on sigma levels.
Vector winds: magnitude of winds are contoured. Arrows show direction.
Sea Surface Temperature: This is from the Reynolds SST data (prescribed). Over land it is the skin temperature (prescribed as well). Sea Ice (which varies near land) affects these values and so the plotting range may not be as great over the tropics as desired. Using a lower latitude may help with the plot. - Enter Year
- maps
Selecting a nonzero value for this will allow you to do a lagged map. A map is made N months before the date you selected (-N) or after the date you selected (N). If lagging results in a date that is not in the range of the dataset, you will get an error or a default plot.
- Type of Plot
- Mean
- Plots are averages of all months and years that are input.
- Climatology
- Plots are based on 1981-2010 (or 1981-2008 20CR data).
- Anomaly
- Plots are of mean-climatology for each map.
- To reverse colorbar
Select this and colors will switch directions.
- Contour range/interval option
A desired contour interval and range can be input instead of the default being used. Different plots can be easily compared (and the resulting gifs could be animated). For this option to work, the interval AND the range must be input. There must be at least 2 and less than 150 contours. The contour interval must be positive and the range must go from low to high.
- Black and White Option
You can select black and white contours and shading for printing on noncolor printers or monitors.
- Map Type
Maps
A lat/lon plot. Enter longitudes as "east". Custom plots can't go over 0E (though this will be allowed).
There are 6 custom projections:
- How this page was created
The main interface for this page is an html form. The data that are input into this form are processed by a Perl script. The script reads the inputs, tests for bad inputs and then NCL is run to read, analyze and plot the data. NetCDF and ps is also produced. The netCDF file and the gif file are kept in a directory where the files are periodically deleted.
- Feedback
Please let me know if find the page useful. Likewise, let me know if you think any instructions are unclear, if you think there are bugs or if you have any suggestions for improvements of any type. I would particularly like to know if you use these pages for teaching purposes and if so, how. I can be reached by email at cathy.smith@noaa.gov or by phone at (303) 497-6263.
- How this page was created
Enter an integer year. if year is not in your dataset, you will get default year of 2005.