Re: Plotting isobaric surface in 3D

Dave-

Dempsey wrote:

It was indeed easy, and it does look great--thanks very much for whipping this up! Hard to believe that this capability wasn't in the IDV early on--those of us on the MetApps Task Force and its successor advisory group must have overlooked it somehow.

Oh, it's been a sticky note TODO on my monitor for years now.  The
capability has always been there (or at least for a while) - it
just needed someone to flesh it out.  So many tasks, so little
time.  Thanks, Tom.

Now I want to plot wind vectors and stuff on that gorgeous isobaric surface ....

Although we like to think of an undulating topography for
these pressure surfaces, you really have to exaggerate the
vertical to make the point so a flat surface is closer
to reality.

I like Tom's "the proof is left to the reader as a simple
exercise" for putting other fields on this. (Hint: use the
Any Field formula, select one of the other 3D Surface "*
over topography" displays) and use your 3D Pressure Surface
formula 2 twice - once for topography (Z) and once for the
Any Field field.  Contours and color shaded displays should
work fine.  A simple first one is to plot contours of Z
on Z so you have a 3D topo map. When you've completed the
"simple exercise", please share with the list.


There are some issues with your request above.   Wind vectors do
not plot on the surface because they are plotted horizontal to
altitude surface so actually go through the surface.  Barbs don't
work at all.  Streamlines work a little better.   There are also
no controls defined for streamlines over topography.  If you
are running the nightly build, you could add the attached winds3D.jar
as a plugin from the Tools->Plugin Manager to add these.
You also have to have a grid that has a pressure domain for this
to work.


Guess I'll have to move the sticky note to the top of the pile. ;-)

Don
*************************************************************
Don Murray                               UCAR Unidata Program
dmurray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                        P.O. Box 3000
(303) 497-8628                              Boulder, CO 80307
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/donm
*************************************************************

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