ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>Air Graphing Instructions</title> <style type="text/css"> <!-- body { margin: 10px 20px 0 20px; } h1 { font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 0.8em; } ol { font-family: Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.6em; line-height: 1.4; } ol li { margin-bottom: 0.4em; } --> </style> </head> <body> <h1> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial"> Vertical Temperature Plot Information<?xml namespace="" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" prefix="o" ?><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .25in .5in"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial"><span style="mso-list: Ignore">1.<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial"> The type of plots are selected from the radio buttons located in the center below the plot by simply clicking on one of these selections:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 4.8pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .75in"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list: Ignore">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">Single station w/ multiple time plots<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 4.8pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .75in"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list: Ignore">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">Multiple stations w/ same time plot<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 4.8pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .75in"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list: Ignore">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">Single station 2D flat contour plot<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.5in 4.8pt 0.75in; text-indent: -0.25in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list .75in"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol"><span style="mso-list: Ignore">·<span style="font: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">Single station 3D surface plot<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> &nbsp; </span>The station/measurement types to be plotted are selected from the list below the radio buttons and are selected from the left list which contains the type of measurement such as  Profiler RASS and  Mtp5 .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If a plot does not appear, it means that for the date-time range selected that no data exists in the database for that time period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Some parameters are automatically loaded every hour into the database, while some are manually loaded by personnel every several days until the process can be automated.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> &nbsp;&nbsp; </span>The  Profiler RASS data comes from the  Seattle Profiler , an instrument on the site of the </span> <?xml namespace="" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" prefix="st1" ?> <st1:city><st1:place><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Seattle</SPAN></st1:place></st1:city> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">office of the National Weather Service located at Sand Point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The instrument has been providing temperature and wind data from the surface up to 1600 meters since 1993.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> RASS is an acronym for  Radio Acoustic Sounding System .<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">Users should note that the output of the  RASS profiler is  Virtual Temperature , which is a calculated temperature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Instead of the actual temperature, virtual temperature in Kelvin (Tv) is defined in a way that allows us to use the gas constant for dry air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Because moist air is lighter than dry air, and therefore less dense, the virtual temperature is always greater than the actual temperature for the same reason that warm air is less dense than cold air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The use of  Virtual Temperature allows meteorologists to use the same temperature equation for dry air even though moisture is present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>A simple approximate formula for virtual temperature is Tv = T(1 + 0.61r) where T is the ambient temperature in Kelvin and r is the water vapor mixing ratio in grams water per kilogram of air (g/kg).<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">Below are some examples of the difference between actual temperature and virtual temperature:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">The virtual temperature of air that is 10 deg C and saturated with a dewpoint of 10 deg C (8g/kg r =.008) would be 11.4 deg C (+1.4);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>the virtual temperature of air that is 20 deg C with a dewpoint of 16 deg C (11g/kg r =.011) would be 22 deg C (+2);<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>and a parcel of air with a temperature of 30 deg C with a dewpoint of 22 deg C (16g/kg r =.016) would have a virtual temperature of 33 deg C (+3). <o:p></o:p> </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> &nbsp;&nbsp; </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>The Mtp5 is a new microwave profiler technology whose technique for determining the air temperature profile is based on measuring the thermal radiation of the atmosphere at the center of the molecular oxygen absorption line.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The technique can also be referred to as microwave remote sensing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since the atmosphere is an extremely weak source, the measurement requires a very sensitive radiometer and a mechanically rotated mirror-reflector which captures the thermal radiation at different zenith angles from 0 up to 90 degrees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> <o:p></o:p> </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </span>The temperature resolution of the Mtp5-HE is largely determined by the signal-to-noise ratio of the received microwave radiation and therefore also decreases with altitude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Because a change of direction in the temperature profile cannot be determined from a single point measurement, inversions may be shown shifted slightly upwards in altitude.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1">&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </span>The temperature resolution specified for an adiabatic atmosphere from 0  1000 meters is +/- 0.3 to 0.4 deg C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The resolution specified for an inverted atmosphere from 0  1000 meters is +/- 0.8 to 1.2 deg C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> <o:p></o:p> </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> &nbsp; &nbsp; </span>The starting and ending date and time values can be selected by clicking on the  calendar <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> clock icon or simply by typing the date - time values in the controls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> There are several button controls that are available to quickly adjust the dates or times by clicking on the appropriate button.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 4.8pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto"> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial">6.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> &nbsp; &nbsp; </span>A  View Grid of Plotted Data button is available to allow the user to view all of the actual values of the plots in a data grid.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <span style="font-size: 8pt; font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> 7.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> &nbsp; &nbsp; </span>Two other buttons,  Create Data File and  Download File are available to save the plotted data values to a file on the user s PC.</span></h1> </body> </html>