Station plots preferences

PREFERENCES PANEL
Station plots tab

Also see the special topics on Surface plot models, Upper air plot models, and Station filtering. Station filtering has been moved to the Control Panel in Digital Atmosphere versions after 2002.

BASIC SELECTIONS

Plot radar status labels - Whenever Overlay, Radar is chosen, this determines whether symbols are plotted at each radar location together with the radar echoes. By unchecking this box, only radar echoes will be plotted.

STATION PLOT UNITS

English - Quantities will be displayed in Fahrenheit and inches. This only takes effect when another data plot is done.
Metric - Quantities will be displaced in Celsius and millimeters. This only takes effect when another data plot is done.

SURFACE PLOT MODEL

These settings only apply when the active level is the surface level and Overlay, Data is selected.

Plot wind barb. If checked, Digital Atmosphere will plot a wind barb at each station plot when it is reporting valid wind data. If unchecked, no wind barb is plotted on any report.
Filter ASOS reports. If checked, Digital Atmosphere will plot human observations first, with automated (ASOS, AMOS, automated synoptic, etc) as last priority. If unchecked, no priority is assigned to any observation.
Smart visibility plot. If checked, Digital Atmosphere will omit plotting surface visibility when no significant weather is occurring. If unchecked, surface visibility is always plotted.
Plot missing as 'M'. Missing values will be plotted as 'M'.
Color code IFR/MVFR plots. If checked, when stations are reporting IFR conditions (visibility less than 3 miles and/or ceiling less than 1000 ft), the OKTAS (sky cover) plot symbol is colored red; when MVFR conditions (visibility less than 5 miles and/or ceiling less than 3000 ft), the OKTAS (sky cover) plot symbol is colored blue. If unchecked, the standard draw color is used to paint the sky cover plot symbol.
Use km when above 5000 m. For visibilities that exceed 5 km (5000 m), they will be plotted as km. This is only effective if a surface plot block is VIS(M).

UPPER PLOT MODEL

These settings only apply when the active level is an upper level and plots are produced using Data > Plot.

Plot wind barb - If checked, Digital Atmosphere will plot a wind barb at each station plot when it is reporting valid wind data. If unchecked, no wind barb is plotted on any report.Fill dewpoint depression circle. If checked, Digital Atmosphere will "shade in" the station plot of each upper level station whenever the dewpoint depression is determined to be 5 deg C or less. If unchecked, all station plots are left unfilled.
Fill dewpoint depression circle - If checked, the station plot circle will be filled if the dewpoint depression is 5 deg C or less. This usually signifies cloud cover.

PLOT MODEL CONFIGURATIONS

For both surface and upper air plots, a "grid" of dropdown boxes are set up in a way that represents the various data positions around a given station plot. You can use these dropdown boxes to adjust the kinds of data that are plotted in the different positions. Listed below are the different types of data that are valid.

Table of valid data plot elements. Units marked "C or F" or "ft or m" or "sm or m" are in metric or English according to File > Preferences > Station Plots > Station Plot Units unless otherwise specified here.

Blank) Nothing will be plotted in this space
TEMP Air temperature in whole degrees (C or F)
TEMP(10) Air temperature in tenths (C or F)
DWPT Dewpoint in whole degrees (C or F)
DWPT(10) Dewpoint in tenths (C or F)
GUST Wind gust (kt)
RH Relative humidity (%)
MXR Mixing ratio (g/kg)
THETA Potential temperature (deg K)
THETAE Equivalent potential temperature (theta-e) (deg K)
WINDCHILL Wind chill
HEATINDEX Heat index
SLP Sea level pressure (mb) (plots tens, units, and tenths)
ALSTG Altimeter setting (in Hg) (plots units, tenths, and hundredths)
WX Pictogram of current weather type
VIS Prevailing visibility (sm or m)
ELEV Elevation (ft or m)
CIG Ceiling (lowest layer occupying more than half of sky) (hundreds of feet)
OKTAS Cloud cover in oktas (eighths)
ID(ICAO) Station identifier (4-letter ICAO)
ID(WMO) Station identifier (5-digit WMO)
PCP01 Precipitation during past 1 hour
PCP06 Precipitation during past 6 hours
PCP12 Precipitation during past 12 hours
PCP18 Precipitation during past 18 hours
PCP24 Precipitation during past 24 hours
PTEND Pictogram of pressure tendency during past 3 hours
CLD/L Pictogram of low cloud type
CLD/M Pictogram of middle cloud type
CLD/H Pictogram of high cloud type
CLDHGT Cloud height code (synoptic only) (see chart below)
CLDAMT Cloud amount code (synoptic only) (see chart below)
SHIPDIR Pictogram of direction of ship movement
SHIPSPD Speed of ship movement (kt)
SEATEMP Sea-surface temperature (C or F)
TEMPTYPE Type of temperature measurement device
WAVEPD Period of ocean waves (sec)
WAVEHGT Height of ocean waves (ft or m)
SEAINSTHGT Instrument-measured height of ocean waves (ft or m)
WINDPD Ocean wind wave period (sec)
WINDHGT Ocean wind wave height (ft or m)
SWELL1DIR Direction of primary ocean swells (deg)
SWELL2DIR Direction of secondary ocean swells (deg)
SWELL1PD Primary ocean swell period (sec)
SWELL1HGT Primary ocean swell height (ft or m)
SWELL2PD Secondary ocean swell period (sec)
SWELL2HGT Secondary ocean swell height (ft or m)
MINTEMP Minimum temperature (C or F)
MAXTEMP Maximum temperature (C or F)
GRNDSTATE Ground state code (see below)

INTERPRETING GROUND STATE CODES (GRNDSTATE)

0 Surface of ground dry (without cracks and no appreciable amount of dust or loose sand)
1 Surface of ground moist
2 Surface of ground wet
3 Flooded
4 Surface of ground frozen
5 Glaze on ground
6 Loose dry dust or sand not covering ground completely
7 Thin cover of loose dry dust or sand covering ground completely
8 Moderate or thick cover of loose dry dust or sand covering ground completely
9 Extremely dry with cracks
10 Ground predominantly covered by ice
11 Compact or wet snow (with or without ice) covering less than half of ground
12 Compact or wet snow (with or without ice) covering half to less than entire ground
13 Even layer of compact or wet snow covering ground completely
14 Uneven layer of compact or wet snow covering ground completely
15 Loose dry snow covering less than half of ground
16 Loose dry snow covering at least half of ground but ground not completely covered
17 Even layer of loose dry snow covering ground completely
18 Uneven layer of loose dry snow covering ground completely
19 Snow covering ground completely; deep drifts

INTERPRETING SYNOPTIC CLOUD AMOUNT CODES (CLDAMT)

This category is defined as Nh; the amount of all the low cloud present, or, if no low cloud is present, the amount of all the middle clouds present. The figure is always in oktas (eighths). 9 is reserved for sky obscured by fog and/or other meteorological phenomena, and / is reserved for cloud cover being indiscernable for reasons other than fog or other meteorological phenomena, or observation is not made

INTERPRETING SYNOPTIC CLOUD HEIGHT CODES (CLDHGT)

This category is defined as "h, which is reserved for the height of the surface of the base of the lowest cloud seen. They are as follows (below). If the total sky cover is greater than 4/8ths, this figure is also transposed into the CIG slot, where they are plotted as "L" ("low cloud") followed by a loose translation of the table below in hundreds of feet. This "L" differentiates it from true ceilings where "C", "E", or "M" is prefixed.

0 0 to 50 m
1   50 to 100 m
2   100 to 200 m
3   200 to 300 m
4   300 to 600 m
5   600 to 1000 m
6   1000 to 1500 m
7   1500 to 2000 m
8   2000 to 2500 m
9   2500 m or more, or no clouds
/   Height of base of cloud not known, or base of clouds at a level lower and tops at a level higher than that of the station