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The Interactive Skew-T (IST) program is integrated into the D2D interface and allows you to modify a sounding and/or hodograph to derive various thermodynamic quantities. This implementation enables you to obtain a better understanding of the current and future states of the atmosphere. This discussion assumes that you have at least a fundamental understanding of the Skew-T/Log P Thermodynamic Diagram and of the Hodograph. A practice module is available at the end of this section.

Through the IST, you can modify the temperature, dewpoint, and/or hodograph profiles either using the cursor or by manual entry in a dialog box; lift a modified air parcel and immediately see a listing of the modified convective parameters; and interactively sample the sounding itself.

The lifting methods of the IST program are primarily based on the SHARP software, a PC-interactive Skew-T program from Unidata. The basic premise of SHARP and of the IST is to assume constant pressure while interactively editing the data points.

Because the IST is integrated into the D2D interface, you can perform display manipulations such as looping, stepping, and swapping. Also, in the event that an incomplete sounding is plotted, but mandatory and significant level data are available in the text database, you can enter the missing data points using the IST and obtain the thermodynamic and stability variables.

Note: Additional features of the Interactive Skew-T are still under development.

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