3.1.3 Data Selection

All the data available through the Volume Browser are stored in gridded format and generated as graphic or image presentations on the fly. For each product you want to display, Sources, Fields, and Planes must be chosen from the menus located in the top third of the Volume Browser.

Note: Green Labels - The items in the Sources, Fields, and Planes Menus of the Volume Browser are colored green if they are available in the database. Once a Source is selected, for example, the database is sorted and the available items in the Fields and Planes Menus are shown in green. The available items from that source are shown in green. Unavailable items appear in white. Once a green product is selected, it appears in a dimmed gray color in the menu. Refer to Exhibit 3.1.3-1.

• Sources: The Sources Menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-1, contains the various models and other origins of gridded data. This menu is scale-dependent, which means its contents change depending on what scale you are on. The AVN and MRF names have been retired, with all such grids now referred to as GFS.

Grids are now titled with their delivered resolution (e.g., ETA40, GFS180). In some cases, however, higher-resolution components are available, such as Eta precipitation, or different resolutions are used at different time projections, such as >168 hours on the GFS (old MRF). Once displayed, the product legend will show the actual resolution of each grid used.

See Appendix C for a table showing the old and new grid identifiers.

• Fields: The Fields Menu contains all available data fields and is divided into several pull-down menus. Related fields are grouped together within these menus. Remember that as you change a selection in the Settings options menu, the options in the Fields pull-down menus change as well. Each possible Setting/Fields combination is considered in the following sections.

- PlanView - Time: When you choose Plan View and Time Settings, the data are presented on a Plan-View surface and animate in time.

The Plan View Fields menus are show in Exhibit 3.1.3-2.
• Basic: Basic fields are fields that can be calculated directly from state variables without finite differencing.

Exhibit 3.1.3-1. The Volume Browser Sources Pull Down Menu on CONUS Scale

Exhibit 3.1.3-2. The Plan View Fields Submenus: Basic, Derived, Sfc/2D, Other, and Ensemble.

• Derived: Derived fields are atmospheric measures that require horizontal finite differencing calculations before plots are made.
• Sfc/2D: The fields in this pull-down menu cannot be defined in three dimensions; they are mostly valid for the earth's surface. The menu contains five cascading menu items that provide the user with more options.
• Other: This menu includes miscellaneous atmospheric fields which can be defined in three dimensions.
• Ensembles: The Ensemble Menu contains options for selecting the ensemble model members output for height, temperature, relative humidity, wind, mean sea level pressure, precipitation, and minimun and maximum temperatures. In addition, you can display the mean and standard deviation of these model fields.

- Plan View - Space: The fields available in these menus are presented in plan view at a fixed time, and animate through the volume. The Fields choices reduce to Basic, Derived, and Other, with the same content as shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-2.

- Cross Section - Time or Space: When you choose the Cross Section option from the Settings options menu, with animation in either Time or Space, the following fields are available.

• Basic: The Basic fields for Cross Sections are slightly different from those of Basic Plan View fields. Refer to Exhibit 3.1.3-3, at right.
• Derived: The Derived Fields Submenu for Cross Sections is identical to the Plan View Derived Fields, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-3.
• Other: The Other Fields Submenu for Cross Sections is identical to the Plan View Derived Fields, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-2.

Exhibit 3.1.3-3. The Cross Section Basic Fields Submenu

- Time Height - < left or right >

As with Plan View - Space, the Time Height Fields choices are Basic, Derived, and Other, and are as depicted in Exhibit 3.1.3-2.

- Sounding

Exhibit 3.1.3-4. The Sounding "Thermo" Fields Submenu

• Thermo: This "Thermo" pull-down menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-4, includes options to generate a sounding using model thermodynamics and winds, model thermodynamics with profiler winds, or model BUFR data for all model levels (up to 50 levels) and going through all forecast times for a specific BUFR sounding site. GOES BUFR data can also be used to generate a sounding. The vertical resolution is of a GOES BUFR sounding is somewhat course, but the temporal resolution makes this a useful and more real-time product. Refer to Subsection 2.6.6.6, "Surface Menu" for more information on the GOES and model BUFR location Availability Plot.
Combined VWP-model soundings (via the Volume Browser) are available for each volume scan, with the model data time-interpolated to the VAD winds time. Model winds are used above the top of the VAD stack to complete the profile. (Note that the model data are from the grids, not the point soundings.)

- Time Series

For Time Series, the Fields menus available are Basic, Derived, Sfc/2D, and Other, all having the same content as in Plan View (see Exhibit 3.1.3-2).

- Cross Section - Time or Space: When you choose the Cross Section option from the Settings options menu, with animation in either Time or Space, the following fields are available. • Basic: The Basic fields for Cross Sections are slightly different from those of Basic Plan View fields. Refer to Exhibit 3.1.3-3, at right. • Derived: The Derived Fields Submenu for Cross Sections is identical to the Plan View Derived Fields, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-3. • Other: The Other Fields Submenu for Cross Sections is identical to the Plan View Derived Fields, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-2.	Exhibit 3.1.3-3. The Cross Section Basic Fields Submenu

Exhibit 3.1.3-4. The Sounding "Thermo" Fields Submenu	• Thermo: This "Thermo" pull-down menu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-4, includes options to generate a sounding using model thermodynamics and winds, model thermodynamics with profiler winds, or model BUFR data for all model levels (up to 50 levels) and going through all forecast times for a specific BUFR sounding site. GOES BUFR data can also be used to generate a sounding. The vertical resolution is of a GOES BUFR sounding is somewhat course, but the temporal resolution makes this a useful and more real-time product. Refer to Subsection 2.6.6.6, "Surface Menu" for more information on the GOES and model BUFR location Availability Plot. Combined VWP-model soundings (via the Volume Browser) are available for each volume scan, with the model data time-interpolated to the VAD winds time. Model winds are used above the top of the VAD stack to complete the profile. (Note that the model data are from the grids, not the point soundings.)

• Planes: The Planes Menu contains several submenus of different surfaces onto which gridded data can be plotted. The available menus depend on what is chosen in the Settings options menu or the other options menus in the Volume Browser Menu Bar. Each possible Settings combination is considered in the following sections.

- Plan View - Time: When Plan View and Time are selected from the Settings options menus in the Volume Browser Menu Bar, several different submenus become available in the Planes Menu. These submenus are illustrated in Exhibit 3.1.3-5.

Exhibit 3.1.3-5. The Plan View - Time Planes Submenus: Pres, Theta, Hgt, and Misc.

• Pres: In the Pressure Submenu, mandatory pressure levels are available, while significant pressure levels are accessible at 25-millibar increments in two cascading menus.
• Theta: The Theta Submenu contains potential temperature surfaces at 5K intervals between 280K and 350K.
• Hgt: The Height Submenu contains heights in meters or feet above ground level (AGL).
• Misc: The Miscellaneous Submenu contains levels that don't fit elsewhere.
• Lyrs: The Layers Submenu contains various layers of interest.

- Plan View and Space: If you select Plan View and Space from the Settings options menus, only one submenu becomes available in the Planes Menu.

• Coordinate: From the Coordinate Submenu, displayed in Exhibit 3.1.3-6, you can choose either all pressure (mb) or all isentropic (K) levels. Plan view data animated in space are plotted on all available constant pressure or isentropic surfaces, and animate vertically through the stack at a fixed time.

Exhibit 3.1.3-6. The Plan View Coordinate Planes Submenu

- Cross section and Time: When Cross section and Time are selected from the Settings options menus, three different submenus become available in the Planes Menu (see Exhibit 3.1.3-7). The Vertical Representation pull-down menu is made available in the Volume Browser Menu Bar to adjust the vertical axis of a cross-sectional plot.

Exhibit 3.1.3-7. The Cross Section Planes Submenus: Lon, Lat, and Specified.

• Lon: The Longitude submenu contains a selection of longitude lines. The contents of this submenu change depending on the scale and location.
• Lat: The Latitude submenu contains a selection of latitude lines. The contents of this submenu change depending on the scale and location.
• Specified: The Specified Submenu contains the baseline labels that can be edited from the Tools pull-down menu in the Volume Browser.
- Cross section and Space: If you select Cross section and Space from the Settings options menus, two different submenus become available in the Planes Menu. The Vertical Representation pull-down menu is made available in the Volume Browser Menu Bar to adjust the vertical axis of a cross-sectional plot.
• Lon: The Lon Submenu has a single choice, All Lon, that lets you select all available longitude lines. Cross-sectional data animated in space are plotted on all available longitude lines as vertical slices, and animate latitudinally across the model domain at a fixed time.
• Lat: The Lat Submenu also has a single choice, All Lat, that lets you select all available latitude lines. Cross-sectional data animated in space are plotted on all available latitude lines as vertical slices, and animate longitudinally across the model domain at a fixed time.

- Time height - < left or right >: For the Time height setting, one submenu becomes available in the Planes Menu. The Vertical Representation pull-down menu is made available in the Volume Browser Menu Bar to adjust the vertical axis of a time-height cross-sectional plot.

• Points: The Points Submenu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-8, contains labels for 10 different points (labeled Tsect A - J) from which time-height cross-sections can be generated onto the display. The left or right settings determine whether the data are plotted in increasing model valid times to the left (48 hr to 0 hr, for example) or the right (0 hr to 48 hr, for example).
Exhibit 3.1.3-8. The Time-Height Points Submenu

- Sounding: When you select the Sounding Setting, one submenu becomes available in the Planes Menu.

Exhibit 3.1.3-9. The Sounding Points Submenu
• Points: The Points Submenu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-9, contains labels for 10 different points (labeled Sounding A - J) for which model soundings can be generated onto the display.

- Time Series: For the Time Series Setting, you can choose a point from the Points options menu in the Volume Browser Menu Bar in addition to one or more levels from one of the following Planes Submenus (refer back to Exhibit 3.1.3-5).
• Pres: In the Pressure Submenu, mandatory pressure levels are available, while significant pressure levels are accessible at 25-millibar increments in two cascading menus.
• Theta: The Theta Submenu contains potential temperature surfaces at 5K intervals between 280K and 350K.
• Hgt: The Height Submenu contains heights in meters or feet AGL.
• Misc: The Miscellaneous Submenu contains various levels and layers. You can generate Meteograms using the METARs from the Source Menu and choosing a point location with the Interactive Points Tool. The result is a "stacked" time series with the observed variables plotted within each time series graph. Note that variables with like units may be displayed together on the same graph, but with different colors, as shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-10.

• Coordinate: From the Coordinate Submenu, displayed in Exhibit 3.1.3-6, you can choose either all pressure (mb) or all isentropic (K) levels. Plan view data animated in space are plotted on all available constant pressure or isentropic surfaces, and animate vertically through the stack at a fixed time.	Exhibit 3.1.3-6. The Plan View Coordinate Planes Submenu

• Points: The Points Submenu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-8, contains labels for 10 different points (labeled Tsect A - J) from which time-height cross-sections can be generated onto the display. The left or right settings determine whether the data are plotted in increasing model valid times to the left (48 hr to 0 hr, for example) or the right (0 hr to 48 hr, for example).	Exhibit 3.1.3-8. The Time-Height Points Submenu

Exhibit 3.1.3-9. The Sounding Points Submenu	• Points: The Points Submenu, shown in Exhibit 3.1.3-9, contains labels for 10 different points (labeled Sounding A - J) for which model soundings can be generated onto the display.

Exhibit 3.1.3-10. An Example of the Meteogram Time Series Plot.

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