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IRIS Product and Display

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Page 1 M211319EN-H RESTRICTED User Guide IRIS Radar IRIS Product and Display...
Page 2 This product contains software developed by party without prior written permission of the Vaisala or third parties. Use of the software is copyright holder. Translated documents and governed by license terms and conditions...
Page 3: Table Of Contents
RTI: Range Time Indicator................68 3.17 SRI: Surface Rainfall Intensity................71 3.17.1 SRI Algorithm....................71 3.17.2 Input Reflectivity Profiles................73 3.17.3 Setting the Current Melting Level Without Restarting IRIS....75 3.17.4 Configuring SRI................... 77 3.17.5 SRI Profile Correction Example..............79 3.17.6 Format of Terrain Map File................81 3.17.7 SRI References....................
Page 4 Adding a Product to Schedule................119 Removing a Product from Schedule.............. 119 Editing Product Configuration................ 119 Stopping Product Generation................. 119 Tips for Running Radar Products..............120 Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products...... 121 CATCH: Subcatchments Precipitation Accumulation........121 5.1.1 Configuring CATCH Products..............122 5.1.2 Subcatchment Definition.................
Page 5 QLW Live Action Tool: Product Generation and Display......208 Changing Window Size and Zoom Level............ 209 Color Scale Tool....................210 6.7.1 Highlight Tool.....................213 Display Options Tool - IRIS Product Output..........213 Display Options Tool - Quick Look Window..........219 6.10 Product Overlay Tool..................220 6.11 Animation Tool....................
Page 6 C.1.1 IRIS 3DView in System Architecture............311 C.1.2 IRIS 3DView System Requirements............312 Installing IRIS 3DView..................313 Getting Started with IRIS 3DView..............319 Opening Data Files in IRIS 3DView.............. 320 Rendering Modes................... 320 C.5.1 Surface Rendering................... 320 C.5.2 Volume Rendering..................321 Managing the IRIS 3D Display............... 323 Using the IRIS 3DView Export Tool..............
Page 7 Data Flow for Ribbon Display Generation........... 337 IRIS/TDWR Configuration Summary............338 IRIS Preparation....................338 D.6.1 Configuring Protected Areas (Arenas) for TDWR........338 D.6.2 Configuring IRIS Tasks and Products for TDWR........340 D.6.3 Configuring IRIS Product Outputs for TDWR........340 Ribbon Displays....................342 D.7.1 Supported Ribbon Displays..............343 D.7.2...
Page 8 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H List of figures Figure Example of 15-tilt Volume Scan..............19 Figure Color Legend Format Example..............30 Figure BASE Example Configuration..............32 Figure BEAM Example Configuration..............34 Figure CAPPI Example Configuration..............36 Figure FCAST Example Configuration..............38 Figure HMAX Configuration Example ..............
Page 9 Figure 67 Typical Shear Line Example................189 Figure 68 Example of Radar Data with an Overlay of SWS Station Plots..193 Figure 69 IRIS Single Station Plot................193 Figure 70 Okta Standard Symbols................194 Figure 71 Present Weather (METAR text-to-symbol matching)......195 Figure 72 SWS Pressure Trend Symbols..............
Page 10 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 107 IRIS 3DView Starting View................319 Figure 108 Example of Surface Rendering..............321 Figure 109 Example of Volume Rendering..............322 Figure 110 IRIS 3D Display....................323 Figure 111 Export Tool..................... 325 Figure 112 IRIS 3DView Background Output Configuration Window....326...
Page 11 Table 23 Overlay Map Unit Header Commands............294 Table 24 Basic Variables of Ship Motion Sensing............. 302 Table 25 Velocity Correction for Aircraft Tail Radars..........306 Table 26 Ribbon Display Pin Assignments..............344 Table 27 IRIS Features for Hydrometeorological Applications......363 RESTRICTED...
Page 12 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H RESTRICTED...
Page 13: About This Document
IRIS Radar User Guide M211452EN IRIS and RDA Dual Polarization User Guide M211322EN RVP900 Digital Receiver and Signal Processor User Guide M211320EN Radar Control Processor RCP8 User Guide Vaisala encourages you to send your comments or corrections to helpdesk@vaisala.com. RESTRICTED...
Page 14: Documentation Conventions
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1.3 Documentation conventions WARNING! Warning alerts you to a serious hazard. If you do not read and follow instructions carefully at this point, there is a risk of injury or even death. CAUTION! Caution warns you of a potential hazard. If you do not read and follow instructions carefully at this point, the product could be damaged or important data could be lost.
Page 15: Iris Product Overview
Chapter 2 – IRIS Product Overview 2. IRIS Product Overview IRIS provides features required for the operation of a weather radar network and distribution of radar products, including local and remote radar control, signal processing, product generation, and display. The following tables provide an overview of the products supported in IRIS. The optional products require additional licensing.
Page 16 Raw Data Product A RAW file contains all the information collected during a measurement task. It is compressed so it can be sent over the network to IRIS Analysis. While RAW data cannot be displayed, it is useful for recording on tape/ disk/DVD or transferring to another IRIS network computer for product generation.
Page 17: Table 4 Optional Iris Products
XSECT XSECT is a volume scan product that shows the height cross-section along a user-definable line. Cross Section On demand product available in IRIS Analysis Table 4 Optional IRIS Products Product Description CATCH calculates the precipitation accumulation in subcatchment areas CATCH such as watershed areas.
Page 18: Configuring Iris Products
• The RAIN1 and RAINN products show the accumulation of precipitation over selectable time periods. • The WARN product checks other IRIS products to determine if there is significant weather, such as wind shear greater than a threshold amount. Each product is associated with a configured task. Tasks collect information from signal processors and store the data on disk in ingest files.
Page 19: Product Configuration Menu
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 3.2 Product Configuration Menu Most Product Configuration menus have the same general format: Task Summary Contains information about the task associated with the product. Map Projection Specify geographical map projection, if desired. Product Parameters Specifies the data, range, and other product-specific options.
Page 20 1 km (0.6 mi) bin spacing, the best match is for tasks with 240 to 340 bins spaced 1 km (0.6 mi) apart. Note that IRIS can make products for any range bin spacing that can be specified in the TASK Configuration menu, for example, 500 m (1640 ft 5 in) or 250 m (820 ft 3 in) spacings can be used as well.
Page 21: Configuring Map Projections
1:1 vertical:horizontal scale so that you get a true picture of the sampling geometry. The example is corrected for earth curvature, as are all IRIS products. Also, because of beam widening effects, the accuracy of all products degrades with range.
Page 22: Table 5 Supported Map Projections
(large distortion). (Page 38) In IRIS Focus this is used to display composite radar data. Equidistant cylinder Used for the digital terrain maps in IRIS (for example, inserted in the Overlay utility). (Page 90) Gauss conformal Same as Universal transverse Mercator except omitting the 0.9996 scale factor.
Page 23 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products Projection Description Universal transverse Mercator A projection just like Mercator with the axis reversed at a selectable (UTM) longitude. The horizontal dimension is compressed by a factor of 0.9996. By convention the reference longitudes should be multiples of 6°.
Page 24 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3. To configure your own projection, select Setup > Projection Configuration. The Projection Configuration Menu opens. 4. Select the Projection to define the projection type. You must first define the projection. The list of available projection files under File is given only for the selected projection type.
Page 25: Product Parameters
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 8. Fix a corner or center location. To configure a projection, you must know the latitude and longitude of either the NE or SW corner or the center of the display. Select Fix at the location that you know and then input the LAT/LON coordinates.
Page 26: Table 6 Data Types
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Data : Display Select Data:Display to show a list of valid display parameter options. The available choices vary depending on the product type. This parameter specifies from which data parameter the product is derived. For example, Z, V, W, ZT, or ZDR.
Page 27 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products Data type Description PHIH, PHIV Horizontal (V) or vertical (V) differential phase Phase difference for the total round trip between radar and the volume where the signal is reflected. PHIH is measured between HH and HV channels. PHIV is measured between VV and VH channels.
Page 28: Table 7 Algorithms For Rain Alg
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Data type Description ZV, ZE Vertical (HV Enhanced) Reflectivity Total reflectivity from the vertical polarization channel (ZV) and combination of the horizontal and vertical channel (ZE). Corrected for ground clutter. Corrected Reflectivity Same as Z, but corrected for attenuation and beam blockage effects.
Page 29: Display Parameters
Smoothing requires substantial CPU resources. The internal limit on the smoother length is 60 pixels, much longer than you probably want to use. To produce many smoothed products in a regular operation, Vaisala suggests the following: • Use low resolution products together with smoothing.
Page 30: Table 8 Display Units
The Scale field lets you choose whether to use a uniform scale with a start value and a constant step, or a custom color scale that has been preconfigured for your system: • Custom color scales are defined with the Color Setup utility. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide.
Page 31: Table 9 Display Parameter Formats
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products • When you choose a uniform color scale, you pick the number of level steps (2 ... 16). You must also set the following fields: • The 1st Level field sets the numerical value used to label the right side of the first level in the color scale for the product.
Page 32: Color Legend Format Example
Color Setup utility for each parameter. This utility offers considerable flexibility for defining how the color legends are constructed for each data parameter. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide . Figure 2 Color Legend Format Example Product Picture Resolution If you select a custom Map Projection Name (other than <NONE>) you cannot configure...
Page 33: Table 10 Default Picture Resolutions
Likewise, IRIS shrinks an image if it has more pixels than can be displayed on an output display device. If you want the impact of the large screen, but you do not want to burden IRIS with creating high resolution products, specify 360 × 360 display resolution. IRIS doubles these numbers to fit exactly in the large display window.
Page 34: Base: Echo Base Product
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.3 BASE: Echo Base Product Figure 3 BASE Example Configuration BASE is used to determine the base of echoes. Similar to the echo TOPS, the user specifies a dBZ Contour for the base. For each output pixel in the product, the algorithm searches downward through successive elevation angles.
Page 35 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products Because of earth curvature, ground clutter and beam blockage, radars are poor at looking for features close to the surface. This means that the BASE product cannot detect echo bases to very low levels.
Page 36: Beam: Antenna Beam Pattern Product
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.4 BEAM: Antenna Beam Pattern Product Figure 4 BEAM Example Configuration BEAM is a full screen cross-section format image showing range-averaged intensity in azimuth and elevation coordinates. The BEAM product is similar to a cross-section in that it shows a quasi-vertical slice of the atmosphere.
Page 37 The BEAM product performs averaging of dBZ or dBT values without linearizing. All distances are in km. IRIS has a selectable maximum height above which data are not recorded (for example, 20 km (12.4 mi)). When selecting the Min/Max Range range, consider that, at far ranges, this height is exceeded in the upper angles of a volume scan.
Page 38: Cappi: Constant Altitude Plan Position Indicator
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.5 CAPPI: Constant Altitude Plan Position Indicator Figure 5 CAPPI Example Configuration CAPPI is a horizontal cut at a selected altitude used for surveillance and severe storm identification. CAPPI requires a PPI volume scan at multiple elevation angles. The number of angles and their spacing depends on the range and height of the CAPPI you want to produce.
Page 39: Fcast: Forecast
3. In CAPPI Height, specify the height of the CAPPI surface in kilometers and tenths of kilometers. The IRIS CAPPI algorithm constructs CAPPIs by interpolating in height and range to the selected CAPPI surface. An intermediate product in cylindrical coordinates (CAPPI height, surface range and azimuth) is produced first, followed by the final conversion to Cartesian coordinates for the display.
Page 40 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 6 FCAST Example Configuration 1. Select Type > FCAST. 2. In Type, select the input product type and name. Select a product that can produce a reasonable echo motion. If you are using the product to forecast the motion of a VIL features, base the forecast on a VIL product.
Page 41 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 6. In Max Time Step, specify the maximum time that the Forecast product looks back to find the previous image. The FCAST product calculates the mean echo motion by doing a correlation between the current and previous image.
Page 42: Hmax: Height Of Maximum Intensity Product
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.7 HMAX: Height of Maximum Intensity Product Figure 7 HMAX Configuration Example HMAX displays the height of the maximum data above each output pixel. It is similar to the MAX product which shows the value of the maximum reflectivity over each pixel.
Page 43: Layer: Layer Average
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 2. In Data : Display, select one of the following: • dBT Height • dBZ Height • dBZc Height 3. In Max Range, select the maximum range for the product. 4. In dBZ Minimum, select the smallest maximum reflectivity for which to show height.
Page 44: Example Of 15-Tilt Volume Scan
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 34.9 26.5 11.1 18.3 13.9 44.9 Figure 8 Example of 15-tilt Volume Scan Figure 9 LAYER Configuration Example 1. Select Type > LAYER. 2. In Data:Display, select the type of data that is computed. • To compute VIL Density data, select one of the following: •...
Page 45: Max: Maximum Data With Side Panels
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 4. If you are computing VIL Density, in ZW Relation, select the reflectivity-water content (Z-W) relationship. The default value is for rain. For snow, reduce the coefficient to a smaller value, such as 2000, to account for the lower reflectivity of ice.
Page 46: Figure 10 Example Max Display
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 10 Example MAX Display Because the radar cannot see to the surface of the Earth, there are curved boundaries at the bottom of the side panels. MAX is based on a volume scan task and is calculated as follows:...
Page 47: Configuring Max Products
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 1. Construct a series of CAPPI products to span the selectable layer, spaced uniformly over the height interval. The number used is the larger of one for every 500 meters (1640 ft 5 in) or one for every 2 pixels of side panel size, up to a maximum of 50. The values are interpolated to create the side panel image.
Page 48 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Make a diagram of the layout that you want, similar to the following figure. Compare this to the elevations in your task to see if you have a sensible resolution, especially in the upper parts of your MAX box.
Page 49: Mlhgt: Melting Level Height
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 8. Define the smoothing levels (in km). The XY Smoother is for the horizontal maximum projection. The XZ Smoother is for the side panels and includes values for horizontal smoothing and vertical smoothing. In many applications, you may want to use no smoothing so the that maxima are not diminished by the smoothing filter.
Page 50: Figure 12 Melting Level Height Detection
The presence of the bright band associated with the melting level must be accounted for with quantitative interpretations of weather observations. In IRIS and RDA software, the SRI product uses the melting level height to perform Vertical Reflectivity Profile corrections, to apply Fall Speed corrections to radial velocity, to...
Page 51: Mlhgt Algorithm
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products The MLHGT product produced by IRIS is a depiction of the melting level heights on a Cartesian map. The melting level heights are determined on a user defined grid providing an illustration how the melting level heights changes geographically.
Page 52: Figure 13 Mlhgt Algorithm Flow Diagram
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 13 MLHGT Algorithm Flow Diagram The first step in the processing is to ensure only precipitation particles are being considered for the melting level height estimates. The PreClassifier tags each range bin as being from precipitation or non-precipitation targets.
Page 53 The a priori information is the first estimate of the 0 °C heights from an outside source. This could be automatically inserted from radiosonde or NWP data, or could come from the climatological values found in IRIS/Setup. The likelihood of the MLHGT can be updated by each subsequent radar observation over time building up a confidence in the estimate.
Page 54: Configuring Mlhgt Products
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.10.2 Configuring MLHGT Products Figure 14 MLHGT Configuration Example Use the IRIS MLHGT Product Configuration menu to configure the MLHGT product. 1. Select Type > MLHGT. RESTRICTED...
Page 55 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 2. Configure the MLHGT product: Variability The MLHGT algorithm uses climatological melting level altitude as an initialization parameter in the Bayesian inference. The Variability field sets the realistic limits of allowed MLHGT solutions centered at the climatological melting levels configured in Ingest/Setup utility.
Page 56: Using Mlhgt Data Flow With Other Products
Defines the minimum number of neighbors needing to achieve the confidence. 3.10.3 Using MLHGT Data Flow with Other Products To make full use of the MLHGT product, it should be distributed to other IRIS nodes to support product generation and user display. The MLHGT product should also be returned to IRIS/Radar and the RVP900 signal processor at the radar site.
Page 57: Ppi: Plan Position Indicator
PPI shows the distribution of the selected data parameter on a constant elevation angle surface, the classic radar display. IRIS PPI products are made as soon as the requested elevation sweep is completed rather than at the end of a volume scan.
Page 58: Rain1: Hourly Rain Accumulation
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H More information ‣ Display Parameters (page 27) ‣ Configuring Map Projections (page 19) ‣ Product Parameters (page 23) ‣ Associating Products with Tasks (page 17) 3.12 RAIN1: Hourly Rain Accumulation Figure 17 RAIN1 Example Configuration RAIN1 is hourly rainfall accumulation.
Page 59: Scheduling Rain1 Products
Generally 60 minutes is used to produce a one hour rainfall product, but you can use shorter intervals. The minimum accumulation time is 15 minutes. 6. If you have purchased the IRIS/Hydromet software license, select Gage Cal to have the product use the raingage correction algorithm.
Page 60 Tail is the time difference between the data time of the last CAPPI and the next accumulation period. The Wait time threshold is configured in IRIS Setup > Product, where you can configure a different value for cases with raingage inputs. The Wait time threshold is tuned to account for any network delays.
Page 61: Rain-N: N-Hour Rain Accumulation
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 3.13 RAIN-N: N-Hour Rain Accumulation WI N D _ 0 5 7 0 . 0 2 Z T V W Z D R K p d P D P R H V S Q I Z v T v S N R Z e T e A z : F u l l C i r c l e E L : 3 a n g l e s f r o m 0 .
Page 62: Scheduling Rain-N Products
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3. Configure the RAIN-N product: Rain1 Specify the product name of the input hourly RAIN1 product by selecting the Rain1 button and choosing from a list of products or by typing the name in the field.
Page 63 In this case the RAIN-N product runs after the Tail and Wait times have elapsed. The Tail time is the time on the local computer between the arrival of the most recent RAIN1 and the current hour. The Wait time threshold is configured in IRIS Setup > Product to account for network delay. RESTRICTED...
Page 64: Raw: Raw Data
IRIS network computer for product generation. When a RAW product file is either retrieved from tape or received from another IRIS computer, an ingest file is created so that products can be generated. The RAW product is used in the following ways: •...
Page 65: Configuring Raw Products
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products • Real-Time Network System: RAW products are sent to another IRIS computer and the product generation is done there rather than by the radar host. This off-loads some of the processing burden from the radar host onto other network computers that may be less busy.
Page 66: Rhi: Range Height Indicator
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Configure the RAW product. Configuring RAW products (page 63). 2. Load the associated tasks in the TASK Scheduler and select Go. 3. In the Product Scheduler menu, load the product and choose All.
Page 67 4. In Azimuth Angle, specify an azimuth angle: If you do not know this value in advance, IRIS selects the closest angle at run time, so you are always assured of getting a display.
Page 68: Rhi Cumulonimbus Example
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.15.1 RHI Cumulonimbus Example For detailed vertical structure, there is no substitute for a good RHI. The following example shows a cumulonimbus seen with RHI from the southern part of the US in summer.
Page 69: Should I Use Rhi Or Xsect
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 3.15.2 Should I Use RHI or XSECT? You can study the three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere with the XSECT and RHI products, which show a range-height representation or vertical "slice" of a radar parameter. If you have areas of interest, such as paths to runways at an airport, you can run RHI or XSECT products associated to those in you routine schedule.
Page 70: Rti: Range Time Indicator
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.16 RTI: Range Time Indicator Figure 22 RTI Example Configuration RTI displays time along the horizontal axis and the vertical axis displays range from the radar. An RTI can be used for any scan type (for example, PPI, RHI), but is most useful for manual scans or "searchlight"...
Page 71 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products RESTRICTED...
Page 72 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Select Type > RTI. 2. In Data:Display, choose any parameter available in the task configuration. 3. In Max Range, type the maximum range in kilometers. 4. In Sweep Angle, select any of the elevation angles in the task.
Page 73: Sri: Surface Rainfall Intensity
Thus a correction is needed to estimate surface rainfall intensity. IRIS SRI allows you to apply your local knowledge by providing ways to input information about the reflectivity profile, as well as methods to make educated first guesses.
Page 74: Figure 23 Sri Reflectivity Profile Example
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Data Truncation Height Region 4 Region 3 Region 2 Region 1 Reference Height Zero Reference Height 0 dB Figure 23 SRI Reflectivity Profile Example The profile includes the following: • Height h=0 corresponds to the Setup > Product Zero Reference Height.
Page 75: Input Reflectivity Profiles
You can see the melting layer nicely in IRIS VVP and XSECT products of either reflectivity or, even better, vertical velocity. However, this is not always available: when the precipitation area is approaching the radar, there is data only from the upper parts of the profile.
Page 76: Figure 24 Vvp Reflectivity Profile Example
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 24 VVP Reflectivity Profile Example Numerical weather prediction models and balloon soundings are good sources of temperature profiles. A bulk method is to take average temperature (daily or even monthly averages) and calculate the melting level height assuming the moist adiabatic lapse rate 6.5 °C / km. This lapse rate is a good estimate during the precipitation event.
Page 77: Setting The Current Melting Level Without Restarting Iris
3.17.3 Setting the Current Melting Level Without Restarting IRIS Normally, when you change the Setup files, you have to quit and start IRIS to have the changes valid. For SRI this is not practical, since in the case of fast moving front you might want to update the melting layer height every hour.
Page 78 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Open a terminal window and type the following command: $ echo "iris_setup.misc.ifallspd_melts[1]=20" | setup_change -load This changes the February melting level to 2.0 km (1.2 mi). Note the number of the month is UNIX style table index, thus 0 is January, 1 is February and similar. The units are in 1/10 of km.
Page 79: Configuring Sri
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 3.17.4 Configuring SRI Figure 25 SRI Configuration Example SRI provides input for the RAIN1 product to obtain the best possible estimates of accumulated precipitation even at longer ranges from the radar. 1. Select Type > SRI.
Page 80 If you have a network of radars and make the products centrally in one IRIS analysis, you can set an individual melting level for each radar at the Setup of the IRIS radar and use the Ingest setting here.
Page 81: Sri Profile Correction Example
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 7. Convection is an area of strong (precipitation) echo above melting layer. For Convection, do one of the following: • Enable Convection to be able to define criteria to determine whether precipitation is convective or large scale, and only the latter is corrected.
Page 82 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The reflectivity profile in the case of the example. Note, that at high altitudes the profile soon reaches values below the minimum detectable signal MDS, and or the cloud top. RESTRICTED...
Page 83: Format Of Terrain Map File
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products Figure 26 Example Profile Correction against Range Profile correction in dB as function of distance from radar for elevation 1.0° (black) and 2.0° (grey). 3.17.6 Format of Terrain Map File The terrain maps are stored in the surface_height.conf file in the ${IRIS_CONFIG} directory.
Page 84: Sri References
Instead of containing radar data, status products contain information about how well the IRIS system is working. These products are shown in the product output menu, and can be transferred to other IRIS systems using the product output menu. When transferred to another IRIS system, the receiving system becomes aware of faults or problems with the sending system.
Page 85 The default value is 11 minutes with products mode every 10 minutes. This allows IRIS to detect failures of other networked systems. If it has been more than the specified time since a status product has arrived from another system, it is marked as Timeout on the network status display.
Page 86: Thick: Echo Thickness Product
7. Configure the SIGNALS.DAT file to take the appropriate action. 8. In the Product Output menu, configure the status products for output. The status products now enable IRIS systems to alert other systems on the network that there are problems or that a particular event has occurred.
Page 87 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products The final output of the product is a color-coded map of echo thickness heights for the selected dBZ Contour. You can also use IRIS Quick Look Window > OPT to display the average reflectivity in the same layer.
Page 88: Tops: Echo Tops
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.20 TOPS: Echo Tops Figure 28 TOPS Example Configuration TOPS is a color-coded contour map of the top of a selected dBZ level. Either Z or ZT can be used as the basis for the estimate.
Page 89: Figure 29 Example Of 15-Tilt Volume Scan
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 2. Configure the TOPS product: Data : Display • Z Height • T Height The product can bederived from either Z or T data. If Z is selected as the Product Data parameter, but at run time only T is available (or vice versa), the product runs with the available data parameter.
Page 90: Track: Track/Forecast
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H More information ‣ BASE: Echo Base Product (page 32) ‣ Display Parameters (page 27) ‣ Configuring Map Projections (page 19) ‣ Product Parameters (page 23) ‣ Associating Products with Tasks (page 17) 3.21 TRACK: Track/Forecast Figure 30 TRACK Example Configuration...
Page 91: Figure 31 Track With Two Centroids
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 11:15 11:30 11:45 11:00 11:15 11:30 11:45 Figure 31 TRACK with Two Centroids The input product can be any horizontal Cartesian product, such as a PPI product. The TRACK product applies the same logic as the warning product to locate the centroids within the input product.
Page 92 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3. Configure the TRACK product: Product Type and Product Name Select the input product type and then the product name that corresponds to the selected type. Note that there must be a product configuration file for the type of product you pick.
Page 93 ". Mile Final, 30 Knot loss The older IRIS format reports all centroids in all protected areas, for example: 3 MBA warnings at 11:30 in: 3MF, 2MF. These messages are displayed at the bottom of the display screen and optionally spoken.
Page 94: Vad: Velocity Azimuth Display
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.22 VAD: Velocity Azimuth Display Figure 32 VAD Example Configuration VAD is a display of the mean Doppler velocity at a given range as a function of the azimuth angle as the radar antenna rotates through an azimuth scan at a constant elevation.
Page 95: Vil: Vertically Integrated Liquid
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 3.23 VIL: Vertically Integrated Liquid Figure 33 VIL Example Configuration VIL is a color-coded map of the estimated depth of water (in mm) contained in a selectable atmospheric layer. This is an excellent indicator of severe storms.
Page 96 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 2. The algorithm converts the Z or T values to W (water content) values and integrates the values in the layer. Each data point is assigned a weighting corresponding to the height interval that it represents in the layer.
Page 97: Figure 34 Example Of 15-Tilt Volume Scan
For a VIL layer of 5 to 10 km (3.1 to 6.2 mi), in the volume scan example in the following figure, VIL cannot be calculated for ranges less than 5 km (3.1 mi). In the resulting product display, black would be displayed in this region to indicate that IRIS did not even sample the region.
Page 98: Vvp: Velocity Volume Processing
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.24 VVP: Velocity Volume Processing Figure 35 VVP Example Configuration VVP provides line graphs or time against height cross-sections of wind speed, wind direction and divergence against height. VVP obtains the following parameters averaged over a volume centered about the radar: •...
Page 99: Figure 36 Example Of Radial Velocity Against Azimuth Display
When the radar points directly south, the radial velocity measures the full speed of the wind (toward the radar). The IRIS convention is that positive radial velocities are away from the radar. When the beam points East or West, there is no component of the wind toward the radar, so the radial velocity is 0.
Page 100 Bin Quota The maximum number of bins that is included in the least squares fit for each height interval. The maximum allowed is 10,000 bins. Vaisala recommends using the maximum of 10,000. If you only select the mean velocity (that is, vertical velocity, divergence and deformation are not selected), you can reduce the bin quota for faster product generation.
Page 101: Producing Vvp Product Output
Options, you can set the threshold level between 0 (display all data) and 1 (threshold all data). More information ‣ VVP Output Options: Line Graphs (page 253) ‣ VVP Output Options: Time-Height (page 251) 3.25 WARN: Warning/Centroid Product The WARN product uses other IRIS products to detect significant weather. RESTRICTED...
Page 102 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Example: Detecting Hail The occurrence of 45 dBZ at 1.5 km above the freezing level is a good indicator of hail in many mid-latitude locations. Assuming that the freezing level is at 4 km, and you run an echo TOPS product for the 45 dBZ contour, your pre-configured warning could check if: •...
Page 103: Figure 37 Hail Warning/Centroid
Determine whether any part of any region is in a protected area. If so, a warning message and audio beep are broadcast to all IRIS terminals. Produce the WARN, a situation display, also called an overlay display because it can be overlaid on any X-Y product display as selected in the Product Output menu.
Page 104: Figure 38 Example Of Warning Situation Display
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Situation Display The contents of the situation displays are as follows: • Outlines of active protected areas. • Warning text at each centroid location which exceeds threshold size (such as, HAIL or MBW).
Page 105: Table 13 Warning Criteria Examples
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products The following table shows some examples of warning criteria. Each criterion, surrounded by square brackets above, is one task. The results of multiple tasks are ANDed together. Table 13 Warning Criteria Examples Criteria Example Wind shear detection [Shear >10 m/s/km at 0.5°...
Page 106: Configuring Warn Products
Vaisala makes no warranty, either express or implied, that the WARN product can detect all hazardous weather situations. In no event can Vaisala be held liable for damages of any kind for failure of the WARN product to issue a warning, or for false alarms that may be issued by the WARN product.
Page 107 Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products 3. In Warning Symbol, specify the text used in the warning messages and the text displayed at the centroid position on the situation display. For example, the text may be, , or HAIL TRW+ 4.
Page 108 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5. Select the button next to Product Type and Product Name, select up to 3 products to be examined by the WARN product. • Products must have the same maximum product range per the respective Product Configuration menus.
Page 109 There is a limit of 16 areas. (If you make a change to Setup, you must restart IRIS for the change to take effect.) It is a good idea to make a large area (for example, 500 by 500 km (310.7 ×...
Page 110: Wind: Wind Speed And Direction
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.26 WIND: Wind Speed and Direction Figure 39 WIND Example Configuration WIND displays wind speed and direction with either wind bards or wind strings. WIND computes a 2-D array of horizontal wind vectors (the horizontal wind field) using the radial velocity information and the assumption that the wind is uniform over a limited sector (for example, 10 km (6.2 mi) by 60°).
Page 111 3. In Min-Max Height define the layer from which the radial velocity information is taken to produce the wind vectors. Because vertical shear can be substantial, Vaisala recommends that this layer be ~1 km (~0.6 mi). 4. In Range and Azimuth Spacing, define the resolution for computing the wind vectors in polar coordinates.
Page 112: Xsect: Cross Section
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3.27 XSECT: Cross Section Figure 40 XSECT Configuration Example XSECT is a volume scan product that shows the height cross-section along a user-definable line. The XSECT product is similar to an RHI in that it shows a range-height representation or vertical "slice"...
Page 113: Figure 41 Cross Section Geometry
Chapter 3 – Configuring IRIS Products • On an ad hoc basis to cut through a line of storms or an area of suspected severe weather. For ad hoc cross sections, use the XSECT tool on the Quick Look Window to configure the cross section line with a mouse.
Page 114 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 4. Select the maximum height and the horizontal width of the cross section in km and enter them in Height Width. There is no need to be exact, use the range and azimuth marks that are on the display to estimate the horizontal width.
Page 115: Scheduling Products
Chapter 4 – Scheduling Products 4. Scheduling Products 4.1 Product Scheduler Menu The Product Scheduler menu tells IRIS when to generate a product for automatic or manual operation. Because the product generation affects host computer resources, this menu can be viewed but not controlled by an IRIS observer.
Page 116: Scheduling Products
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Next-Data-Time Scheduling operates under the concept of data time, the time when a task starts collecting data. For an on-time task schedule, the data time corresponds to the time when a task is scheduled to start.
Page 117 Chapter 4 – Scheduling Products 2. In Display, on the top of the menu, specify which sites are displayed. Value Description All Sites Show the schedule for all sites. Master Show the Master Schedule, with one entry for each scheduled product. If a product is scheduled to run at multiple sites, the entry shows the site that ran most recently.
Page 118 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5. To generate data only from future tasks: a. Right-click the Request field b. Select All or Next. Value Description All associated task data collected after the next data time are processed. The product is generated on an on-going basis when the task collects data, subject to the Skip time.
Page 119 Chapter 4 – Scheduling Products 6. If you use All requests, you can set the Skip field so that the product generator does not process every occurrence of the associated task. By default, an All request causes data from every task to be processed. The Skip time breaks the day into equal time intervals starting from midnight.
Page 120 8. To generate products from old data, right-click the Next-Data-Time field. This allows you to generate products from task data received from another IRIS host or retrieved from tape. The following example shows how Next-Data-Time interacts with All and Next request options.
Page 121: Adding A Product To Schedule
4.4 Removing a Product from Schedule 1. Select the product you want to remove. 2. Place the cursor over the Product field and select Remove. You can remove products only. IRIS does not remove product headers from the schedule. 4.5 Editing Product Configuration 1.
Page 122: Tips For Running Radar Products
Custom If users want to request many custom products, consider purchasing a separate workstation products for running display software. This means you can to obtain RAW data from the IRIS host and process products on the separate workstation. Immediate Products Most IRIS products are volume scan products that require a series of PPI products.
Page 123: Configuring And Scheduling Optional Iris Products
RAIN1 products. The only limitation is the number of RAIN1 products stored on disk. As part of the IRIS Hydromet option, the RAIN1 products can be calibrated by means of raingage input, thus CATCH products also get the benefit of this calibration.
Page 124: Configuring Catch Products
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5.1.1 Configuring CATCH Products WI N D _ 0 5 7 0 . 0 P P I F u l l 2 Z T V W Z D R K p d P D P R H V S Q I Z v T v S N R Z e T e A z : F u l l C i r c l e E l : 3 a n g l e s f r o m 0 .
Page 125 For no adjustment of the thresholds in the subcatchment file set Offset=0.0 and Multiplier=1.0. Vaisala recommends that you configure the thresholds in the subcatchment file to be characteristic of accumulation over a standard time such as one hour. You can then use The offset and multiplier can then use Offset and Multiplier to adjust all of the thresholds.
Page 126: Subcatchment Definition
IRIS allows a maximum of 20 different catch files to be created. For more information, see the Overlay utility in IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide.
Page 127: Catch Algorithm
If the Issue Warn button is enabled, this sum is checked against the catch file warning threshold (adjusted by the Offset and Multiplier) and a single IRIS warning is issued for all subcatchment areas that exceed the threshold.
Page 128: Displaying Catch
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5.1.5 Displaying CATCH Figure 44 CATCH Product Display You can display CATCH products in the Quick Look Window, as well as in other display outputs. The Quick Look Window display for the CATCH product shows either: •...
Page 129 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 1. If needed, configure the color scales and the units in the Color Setup utility. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide . 2. In the Quick Look Window, display a CATCH product.
Page 130: Comp: Composite
Types of Products for Compositing Unlike other products, when you schedule a COMP product, IRIS does not make a product of type COMP. Instead, it makes a composite of the input product and saves it as the input product type.
Page 131 COMP produces real IRIS products instead of just "pasting" the images together to make a combined picture. This means that other IRIS products, which use products as input, can be run on the composites. For example, a composite CAPPI can be used as input to a RAIN1 accumulation product.
Page 132: Composite Algorithm
This is the recommended way to manage products on your network in general. Note that IRIS sorts everything by site for you, so there is no need to put a site ID in the name. The product type and name are specified in the COMP Product Configuration Menu.
Page 133: System Manager Preparations For Composites
To support composite creation, the system manager must set-up the following items in advance. In many cases, these are pre-configured for your system. • Configure the radar sites in IRIS Setup > General. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide. • Configure the projection in IRIS Setup > projection.
Page 134: Configuring Comp
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5.2.3 Configuring COMP Figure 46 COMP Configuration Example RESTRICTED...
Page 135 1. Under Type, select the product type and name that you want to composite. The products from the different sites must all have this name. IRIS only allows you to composite the following products that are licensed on the compositing computer: •...
Page 136 This does not have to be an actual radar site. You can use a "Virtual Site" associated with the projection or your network. Sites are configured by your system manager in the Setup utility. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide.
Page 137 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 4. In Map Projection, define the common projection. Input products are remapped to this. Typically, map projection configurations are done by your system manager. The Max Range and Resolution fields are determined by the projection, that is, you cannot edit these.
Page 138: Warn Algorithm
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 7. In Combining Algorithm, select the algorithm that is used in regions where the radars are overlapped. The options are Maximum, Average, Priority, Nearest, or Weighted (per the site list). Maximum is recommended for filling blanked or blocked regions.
Page 139: Comp Scheduling
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products • OR Max The output contains a centroid for each centroid in any of the inputs. If 2 centroids overlap, then the maximum strength centroid is kept. • OR Avg The output contains a centroid for each centroid in any of the inputs. If 2 centroids overlap, then the centroids are averaged together.
Page 140 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H • The vertical line at the left represents the Product Scheduler "Next Data Time". The scheduling algorithm only considers data ahead (to the right) of this line. • The upper bar represents the "max time span" for making a composite. The max time span is set in the COMP Product Configuration Menu.
Page 141: Dwell Algorithm: Composite In Time
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products It is recommended that the Max Time Span be set to just under the skip time. Using a skip time is generally required if you are compositing radars with different times between volume scans.
Page 142: Dwell Algorithm Examples
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Because DWELL products show the integrated time history of echoes, they are a useful alternative to the TRACK product. In airborne target detection, DWELL is used to track and automatically warn about the presence of aircraft or migrating bird flocks.
Page 143: Figure 49 Ppi Of Dbz At A Single Time
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Figure 49 PPI of dBZ at a Single Time The following figure below shows a DWELL of the PPI products for the preceding 2 hours. This is useful to show where precipitation has fallen during the DWELL period. The animation shows the expanding field of fallen precipitation and the echo motion.
Page 144: Figure 50 Dwell Of Ppi For The Previous 2 Hours Showing Dbz
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 50 DWELL of PPI for the Previous 2 Hours Showing dBZ The final figure in the example shows the age of the DWELL data points, that is, the number of minutes since the most recent PPI product in the sequence. The color scale is configured so that blue shows the most recent echoes while red shows the oldest echoes.
Page 145: Applying The Dwell Algorithm To Product Scheduling
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Figure 51 Dwell of PPI for the Previous 2 Hours Showing Time (Age) 5.3.2 Applying the DWELL Algorithm to Product Scheduling The basic DWELL algorithm (without target warning) takes a series of products from the same site, of a given name and type and merges them together.
Page 146 CPU loading and performance degradation. To prevent the DWELL product being produced on the completion of every PPI sweep,Vaisala recommends that you set the Product Scheduler > Skip Time to the time required to complete a volume scan or longer.
Page 147 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Background Field The contrast filter allows relatively strong echoes such as reflectivity cores, birds or aircraft to be isolated from relatively weak background echo. For the target warning algorithm, the contrast filter is essential to detecting airborne targets in weak clear air or weather echoes.
Page 148: Figure 52 Background Field For 2-Hour Dwell Showing Dbz
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 52 Background Field for 2-Hour Dwell Showing dBZ The smoothed background field has generally lower echo intensity as a result of the smoothing process. Note that there are no "speckles", that is, only large scale echo features remain.
Page 149 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products To activate this output, select Diagnostic at the bottom of the DWELL Configuration Menu. Note that diagnostic output is produced even if you later disable the target warning, as long as the diagnostic button is enabled.
Page 150: Configuring Dwell Products With Target Detection Disabled
2. To name the DWELL product, select File > Save As. Vaisala recommends that the name of the DWELL product be the same as the input product with a D appended to the name with or without the number of minutes. For example: •...
Page 151 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 3. Input Product Type and Name to define the input product, that is, the product that you want to "dwell" together. You can select any of the following product types: • BASE •...
Page 152 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 7. To use the contrast filter, select Input Product Filter > Contrastor. For target detection, the contrastor is necessary in order to pick-out an airborne target from weak clear air or weather echoes.
Page 153: Dwell Target Detection Algorithm
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 9. In Dwell Output, select one of the following: • Data The DWELL algorithm produces a time composite product in the same units as the input products. In the example, a PPI of dBZ would be produced.
Page 154: Figure 54 Schematic Of Target Warning Algorithm
Combine Warnings from All Trial Motion Vectors and Then Check Protected Areas Trial 1 WARN Final Target Warning Trial 2 WARN Trial 3 WARN Trial 4 WARN Figure 54 Schematic of Target Warning Algorithm Target Detection Data Format The target detection algorithm generates an IRIS WARN product. RESTRICTED...
Page 155: Target Detection: Input Task And Product Optimization
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Part of that warning_results structure are 3 data values. For normal WARN products, these contain the average and maximum data values within the detected centroid. When generated with the target detection algorithm, these contain: •...
Page 156: Table 16 Suggested Input Product Types For Target Warning
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Parameter Description Adjusted higher than usual for weather. This is to eliminate speckles in intensity which could produce false alarms. Speckle remover Disabled so that single bin targets are passed. These could contain a point airborne target.
Page 157: Configuring Dwell Products With Target Detection Enabled
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Input Product Optimization Table 17 Optimizing Input Products for DWELL Target Detection Parameter Description Maximum range and Set so that the resolution of the original input data is preserved. the pixel resolution For example, for 125-m (410 ft 1 in) bin spacing to 45 km (28.0 mi), the product pixel...
Page 158 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 2. Configure the DWELL configuration options for target detection. Warning Symbol Enter the name of an icon to display. If no icon exists by this name, then the text that is entered shall be displayed at each centroid location. The icon automatically rotates to point in the direction of target motion.
Page 159: Target Detection: Migratory Bird Examples
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products If enabled, the DWELL "pile" product is further qualified to remove all large piles to reduce false positives. If there is a squall line moving in the same direction as the expected airborne targets, it usually generates target warnings.
Page 160 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Input PPI's of Radial Velocity The input data were based on a volume scan of four elevation angles at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0° elevation angle. The input resolution is 125 m (410 ft 1 in).
Page 161 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Background Field The contrast field is a smoothed version of the DWELL data which is used as a dynamic threshold for the contrast filter. For this example a minimum coverage criterion of 25 % was used.
Page 162 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Data Dwell Product The data DWELL product (data was selected as the primary output) is a PPI product combining all of the PPI products from all elevation angles for the prior 10 minutes (22 PPIs in this case).
Page 163 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Time Dwell Product The time DWELL product shows the age of the points in minutes. The most recent points are represented in blue and the older points in red. This clearly shows the streaks of motion from northeast to southwest.
Page 164 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Pile Product (2X Zoom example) This shows the result of correlation step in which the time DWELL points are "piled". Since each trial wind produces a different pile product, the diagnostic output only shows the pile product for the first trial wind.
Page 165 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products WARN Product The final result is a warning product based on a composite of all warnings for all trial winds. This example used a threshold of 8 for the correlation threshold (pile product value). The icon here is drawn to make a clear indication of the type of warning.
Page 166 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Dwell WARN Product The example shows the results of the DWELL algorithm run on WARN products generated by the bird warning feature. This display is recommended for use by air traffic controllers who must advise pilots of possible bird activity. In the example above, the individual bird warnings are dwelled for 45 minutes.
Page 167: Gage: Raingage Reports
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 5.4 GAGE: Raingage Reports The GAGE product stores reports from rain gage sensors for display and use in product generation. These products are produced using an input pipe from data sent by a weather station system.
Page 168: Displaying Gage
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5.4.1 Displaying GAGE Figure 56 Raingage Product Display You can display GAGE products in the Quick Look Window, as well as in other display outputs. GAGE products are displayed in the form of a situation display showing a graphic of a rain gage can at the location of each gage.
Page 169: Ndop : Multiple Doppler
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 2. Place the cursor in the display window and right-click the mouse. IRIS checks for the nearest rain gage location, and shows a rain gage datagram with 12 hours of history.
Page 170: Figure 58 Dual Doppler Geometry Plan View
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The following figure shows a plan view (looking down) of the dual Doppler geometry. The horizontal wind is sampled by each radar which measures the radial component of the wind, Vr1 and Vr2. These two radial velocity measurements at the same point, along with some simple trigonometry, can be used to estimate the horizontal wind at the point, provided that the crossing angle is not 0°...
Page 171: Input Velocity Corrections
These take the general form of VT=aZ Since the particles are very different above and below the melting level, it is important to use different VT–Z relationships for these 2 cases. The default relationships used in IRIS are: 0.06 •...
Page 172 Unfolding can be performed in the signal processor itself (for example, using the dual PRF technique), or can be done by IRIS when Vc is generated. The unfolding for Vc is based on a VVP product which assumes that the wind field varies linearly with distance from the radar.
Page 173: Configuring Ndop Products
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 5.5.2 Configuring NDOP Products Figure 59 NDOP Example Configuration RESTRICTED...
Page 174 To select a site, select the Site button. b. To select a task based on the ingest files on your system, select the TASK button. If the task you want is not in the list, type the task name. You can use IRIS wildcard conventions, such as: •...
Page 175: Ndop Display And Algorithm
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 3. In the bottom section of the NDOP configuration window, specify the output resolution by specifying the characteristics of the grid. The NDOP product produces wind vectors on a 3D grid.
Page 176: Figure 60 Example Ndop Display
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The meteorological situation is an event of strong Northerly winter monsoon flow over China colliding with Easterlies over the sea. The overlay map shows the contours of the mountainous terrain North of Hong Kong. Note the 50 knot winds funnelling through the mountain pass to the North of Hong Kong.
Page 177 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 1. Create 3D CAPPI products of radial velocity for the 2 radars in the common projection at the grid height spacing. The horizontal resolution of the CAPPI products is subject to the following constraints: •...
Page 178: Shear: Wind Shear
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5.6 SHEAR: Wind Shear Figure 61 SHEAR Example Configuration SHEAR detects wind shear in the atmosphere, allowing the detection of microbursts, gust fronts, mesocyclones, cold fronts, and atmospheric waves. Wind shear is associated with many phenomena: Microbursts Associated with convective storms.
Page 179 Produced at a variety of wavelengths and intensities. The shear values can be positive or negative, depending on the nature of the wave and the "phase" being observed. IRIS can compute the following types of basic shear values for the radial component of the wind: •...
Page 180: Figure 62 Schematic Examples Of Wind Shear
Normal precautions to avoid suspected wind shear should be used, even if the SHEAR algorithm does not detect shear. Vaisala shall not be liable for damages of any kind for failure of the SHEAR algorithm to detect hazardous wind shear or for false alarms that may occur from use of the SHEAR algorithm.
Page 181: Shear Algorithm
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 4. In EL Angle, define the elevation angle of data you want to display. Wind shears associated with gust fronts and microbursts are usually low-level phenomena, so angles of 1° or less are typically used to detect these.
Page 182: Figure 63 Radial Shear Algorithm Schematic
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Input Radial Velocity Field Reject V ~ 0 Bins Difference Adjacent Bins Gap > 0.5 *Range Filter Length Filter and Smooth Convolve Triangular Filter V’ V’ V’ V’ where W is thresholded, else If the weight W is then bin is thresholded (eliminates speckle bins).
Page 183 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products For example, suppose the bin spacing and Range Filter Length values are selected so that Clutter Length Scale corresponds to 3 range bins. Then any single isolated Clutter Bin would be rejected, as would runs of 2 or 3 clutter bins. Runs of 4 or more clutter bins would not be rejected because they are interpreted as real weather.
Page 184: Optimizing Shear For Microburst Detection
Accurate detection and timely reporting of microbursts in an air traffic control environment requires that the system be properly configured and optimized. Vaisala recommends you work with a qualified consultant to assist with tuning and evaluating the IRIS SHEAR algorithm, data acquisition, radar siting and warning reports.
Page 185: Table 18 Mean Velocity Shear Correction
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products The optimization steps presented here are only guidelines and should not be substituted for a thorough evaluation of your particular site. IRIS provides many of the tools needed to perform such an evaluation.
Page 186 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Setup an IRIS configuration for wind shear, so that when potentially hazardous weather approaches the terminal area, IRIS can be switched to wind shear monitoring mode by loading the configuration into the Radar Status menu.
Page 187: Figure 65 Task Configuration For Microburst Detection
3. Set the TASK Scheduler in wind shear detection mode to provide an update rate (repeat time) of at least one complete task per minute. To provide optimal response, do not schedule other tasks. This allows IRIS to devote its full resources to detecting microbursts.
Page 188 Make the automatic output request so that the shear product is sent every time that it is made. b. Make sure a workstation is running the IRIS menus so that when windshear is detected, the audible warning message and text can be viewed.
Page 189 Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products 7. If it is determined that false alarms are occurring, there are several approaches you can take to balance sensitivity against false alarm rate. In tuning your system to reduce false alarms, it is important to make gradual changes and evaluate them on test cases that you have recorded.
Page 190: Sline: Shear Line
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 5.7 SLINE: Shear Line Figure 66 SLINE Example Configuration SLINE marks the transition between two air masses on the image. Because the wind can be different on either side of the air mass, sudden wind shifts occur when a frontal boundary passes.
Page 191: Figure 67 Typical Shear Line Example
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products Post-Frontal Wind Pre-Frontal Wind Figure 67 Typical Shear Line Example The SLINE product can detect sudden wind shifts and provide advance warning of their approach, with best estimates of the arrival time and the expected speed and direction of the new wind.
Page 192 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 6. In Shear Type, select which type of shear you want to compute: • Radial Shear The bin-to-bin difference in the radial velocity. • Azimuthal Shear The azimuth-to-azimuth difference in the radial velocity.
Page 193: Shear Line Radar Signatures
Protected areas are configured with the Setup utility. They are constrained to be rectangles with arbitrary size and orientation angle. Up to 32 areas can be configured. If you make a change to Setup, you must restart IRIS for the change to take effect. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide. TDWR Style IRIS supports two formats of warning messages.
Page 194: Shear Line Algorithm
8. The results are output. 5.8 SWS: Surface Weather Stations IRIS can store and display METAR and SYNOP reports from Surface Weather Stations. These are stored in the SWS product. A single product file contains reports from many (or all) stations in the radar coverage area.
Page 195: Displaying Sws Data
All the stations in the display coverage area are shown. In the IRIS station plot format, the plot is standardized, although different reporting stations vary in measuring capabilities as well as in data the span and resolution. Individual numbers or graphics are not shown on the plot if a station does report or if the data is turned off in the output options.
Page 196: Figure 70 Okta Standard Symbols
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The plot details are as follows. #1 Cloud Coverage A pie chart showing coverage in oktas (that is, eights) of sky coverage drawn using standard symbols. The example shows 6 oktas. Because METAR messages do not give cloud cover in oktas units, METAR text is mapped as...
Page 197: Figure 71 Present Weather (Metar Text-To-Symbol Matching)
Chapter 5 – Configuring and Scheduling Optional IRIS Products In the following figure, blue numbers in upper-left corner of white boxes indicate the priority for plotting in event more than one symbol is possible (symbols in gray boxes have no corresponding METAR present weather text).
Page 198: Table 19 Metar Visibility Codes
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The ">60" in the example means greater than 10 km (6.2 mi). METAR reports have a maximum value of "greater than 10 km", so you there are many ">60" on the displays. Table 19 METAR Visibility Codes...
Page 199: Sws Output Options
SWS Tool. You can start SWS Tool from Quick Look Window > OPT or from Product Output Menu > Opts. For all selected data fields, IRIS displays the data and stores the data in the file. RESTRICTED...
Page 200: Sws Raw Report
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Pressure includes both the current pressure and the pressure trend. Ceiling includes (up to) 3 cloud level heights. Figure 73 SWS Tool 5.8.3 SWS Raw Report When displaying an SWS product in the Quick Look Window, you can hover over a station and right-click the mouse to show a report of the raw METAR or SYNOP reports for that station.
Page 201: Configuring Sws Input
You must configure a source of METAR and/or SYNOP messages to transfer ASCII files to a known directory on the IRIS Analysis system. IRIS monitors this directory for new files, then runs an input pipe to convert this data to IRIS's internal SWS format and insert into the IRIS product directory.
Page 202 SWS product is displayed alone. Any station outside this box is discarded. We also configure the SWS product name, and IRIS site name, and similar. The template files are configured for Turkey. 4. Create the input directory. These directories must be owned by operator.
Page 203: Feeding In Sws Data
IRIS expects to receive one ASCII file containing all SYNOP or METAR messages from the past 1 hour time. METAR special reports can also be sent into IRIS in-between hours. 5.8.6 METAR and WMO File Format Examples METAR ASCII file format, including a WMO GTS header line and then each station's report.
Page 204: Quick Look Window
6. Quick Look Window 6.1 Overview of Quick Look Window This utility is a legacy feature used when viewing radar data with IRIS Analysis. When possible, Vaisala recommends viewing radar data with IRIS Focus. The Quick Look Window (QLW) displays IRIS Analysis products.
Page 205: Setting-Up And Starting Quick Look Windows
You do not have to do anything to start the Quick Look Windows. When IRIS starts, the windows that have been configured by your system manager (in Setup > Output) automatically appear on the screen. Most systems are set to have at least 2 windows, but you can have more (check with your system manager).
Page 206: Qlw Control And Monitoring
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H If you log on to a system where IRIS is already running but there is no X session running (for example, screen lock or log out), the windows appear after a few minutes. It takes IRIS a little while to realize you are back.
Page 207 • When you first start to do something in the display, IRIS automatically switches from Auto to User. IRIS does not interrupt you by sending images while you are using the window. • The QLW automatically switches to Auto mode after 5 minutes of inactivity.
Page 208: Viewing Products In Quick Look Window
In your workstation, you can view products in the Quick Look Window. You can configure many display windows an IRIS system with the Setup utility. You can send products to the display from either the Product Output Menu according to a product output schedule or from the Quick Look Window.
Page 209: Figure 76 Quick Look Window
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Figure 76 Quick Look Window 1. To select a site from all the sites configured at General Setup, select Site. Select the site that corresponds to your local radar. 2. To display a list of available products, select Product. a.
Page 210: Qlw Live Action Tool: Product Generation And Display
6.5 QLW Live Action Tool: Product Generation and Display The Live Action tool allows you to configure, generate, and display many IRIS products. If one of these products is on the display, the Live IRIS tool becomes active. Select the tool to show a light version of the relevant product configuration menu.
Page 211: Changing Window Size And Zoom Level
1. On the top of the Quick Look Window, select View. 2. To change the zoom, select a zoom level and use the scroll bars to position your display in the area of interest. When you zoom, IRIS tries to preserve the center of the display. RESTRICTED...
Page 212: Color Scale Tool
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3. To change the size, select a resolution. When you select a new window size, the image is rescaled to exactly fit in the new size. The sizes are the number of pixels in the image area for the window (not including the legend and boarders).
Page 213: Figure 78 Color Scale Tool
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Figure 78 Color Scale Tool 1. To open the Color Scale Tool, select the Color Scale icon. 2. Choose the Data Type for which you want to define a color scale. Display Units shows the units of measurement for the data type that is currently selected.
Page 214 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3. Select a custom Color Scale. Custom scales are defined by the system operator in the Color Setup utility. There are up to 8 scales for each data type. These scales include the choice of color set, number of colors, and data levels for each color.
Page 215: Highlight Tool
Those data values on the display are shown in the new color. 6.8 Display Options Tool - IRIS Product Output The Display Options tool allows you to select display components such as geographic overlays, range rings, drop shadows, and even the overlay of multiple products, warning centroids, and echo tracks, along with adjusting the product overlay opacity.
Page 216: Figure 79 Display Options Menu
Because there are many display options in this menu that can affect the appearance of a window, IRIS provides an easy way for you to save and recall configurations that you have made. Select File to show the following choices: •...
Page 217 Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Selecting the Product Type When you first enter the Display Options tool the product type is inserted automatically in this field. To choose a different product type, select the button. To apply changes to this product type or all product types, use the apply options on the bottom of the window.
Page 218 In this example a gray scale was used for the TOPS. The drop shadows on the VIL are helpful. If your IRIS system supports satellite IMAGE product ingest, then this is how you combine the satellite display with radar data.
Page 219 Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Range Rings You can add range rings, adjust the spacing of the range rings and center the rings on predefined points (for example, the radar or perhaps an airport. Select Rings to show the following: •...
Page 220 IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide. Select Overlay Layers to expand the Display Options menu to include the menu shown above. IRIS overlays are usually constructed in multiple layers so that users can turn on/off the layers. After selecting some layers, select Apply to see your changes take effect.
Page 221: Display Options Tool - Quick Look Window
3. Select the layers that you want. 4. To save your result, select Display Options Menu > File > Save. When you save, the virtual overlay name is shared among all IRIS windows, printers, and so Apply Other Products, Cancel After you make changes to the Display Options, the Apply Other Products applies the changes.
Page 222: Product Overlay Tool
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 6.10 Product Overlay Tool The Product Overlay tool allows you to overlay multiple products, warning centroids, and echo tracks, or adjust the product overlay opacity. RESTRICTED...
Page 223: Figure 80 Product Overlay Tool
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Figure 80 Product Overlay Tool 1. Select the icon to show the Product Overlay tool. 2. Select the product type and product name. RESTRICTED...
Page 224: Animation Tool
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 6.11 Animation Tool Figure 81 Quick Look Window Animation Tool RESTRICTED...
Page 225 Animation is one of the best ways for forecasters to observe the motion, growth, and decay of radar echoes. In real time applications, many IRIS users leave a loop running constantly. The Animation tool lets you control the animation sequence.
Page 226 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H • Device Movie Length and default window size configured in Setup > Output. If your window size is the same as the Setup > Output default size, this is the maximum number of frames shown.
Page 227 100 % of your CPU and memory depending on your system hardware configuration. Consider the IRIS tasks on your system such as product generation and data acquisition from the radar. The default values for Speed and Pause are reasonable starting points.
Page 228 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Setting the Loop End Time Usually the last frame in the loop is set to be the Most Recent picture. In this case, new data are added automatically to the loop. This allows you to leave a loop running on a display so that you can always see the current situation.
Page 229: Slide Show Tool
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Current Frame and Grab Time the loops do not update automatically. Avoid leaving the displays in these modes since it could confuse other users. 6.12 Slide Show Tool You can use the Slide Show Tool to observe the motion, growth, and decay of radar echoes. The Slide Show Tool can display different products from different times (while the animation tool is limited to a linear time sequence of one product).
Page 230 2. Enter the number of slides in Number of slides in show. This field determines the number of slides in a show (maximum 16). IRIS inserts the specified number of blank rows in the slide list. You must populate each slide with information about the product it will display.
Page 231: Cursor Tool
Shows the East–West distance from the "home" point to the cursor position. The units are either km or nautical miles depending on the setting of Units in the Display Options tool. See in Display Options Tool - IRIS Product Output (page 213). RESTRICTED...
Page 232: Selecting And Planting Home Points
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Range and Slant Range Range shows the range along the curved Earth's surface relative to the "home" point (usually set to be the radar). Slant shows the range along the radar beam. Not all displays have an associated Slant range because there may be no elevation angle associated with the product.
Page 233: Creating Named Home Points (Operators Only)
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Figure 84 Cursor Set/Plant Tool 1. In the Cursor tool, define home points by doing one of the following: • Use your mouse to position the cursor and select Plant Home. The Home point, indicated by an Xmoves to the cursor. •...
Page 234: Track/Annotate Tool
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 6.14 Track/Annotate Tool Figure 85 QLW Track/Annotate Tool The Track/Annotate tool makes it easy for forecasters to manually: • Make and edit interactive storm tracks. • Determine time of arrival, time to arrival and distance of closest approach to a selectable "target"...
Page 235 Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Example of Track Points, Icons and Annotation The elements of a track are shown in the example above. • Track Points are indicated by the "+" with the time displayed beneath each one. Note that the latest track point at 1926 is highlighted since this corresponds to the frame that is currently displayed.
Page 236: Creating And Editing A Track
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The list of Target points is the same as the list of Home points. These can only be saved or deleted by the operator. See Cursor Tool (page 229). Once you have set your target, the target information shows: Range and Bearing To target from the most recent track point.
Page 237 There is always a track with the name MAN_DEFAULT. • To create a new name, replace the text in the name field. IRIS automatically adds the MAN_ prefix and converts the name to upper case.
Page 238 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 3. In Track Data, define your track. The center column of the Track tool shows information about the track you are constructing. Last Point of <N> N shows the number of track, annotation and icon points that have been defined.
Page 239: Adding And Editing Annotation Text
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 4. To add points to a new track: a. Select a product for tracking. For example, if you want to track the most severe thunderstorms, choose VIL since it is a good indicator of storm severity and tends to be persistent. b.
Page 240: Adding And Deleting Tracking And Annotation Icons
Icons are .xbm format bit-mapped icons which are stored in the /usr/ sigmet/ config/overlay directory. To get you started, Vaisala provides several sample icons. 6.14.4 Tracking Typhoons With the Add Spiral Option Use this mode to determine the location of a typhoon center, and to calculate the maximum rotational winds.
Page 241: Figure 86 Typhoon Track Example
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Figure 86 Typhoon Track Example The elements of a typhoon track are shown in the example. • Spiral Band Line is drawn on the display. You can drag the center point to change the location, or drag the end of the spiral to change the rotation. The goal is to line up the drawn spiral with one of the rain bands.
Page 242 M211319EN-H 1. In the Track/Annotate > Spiral Winds section, calculate the maximum winds. The IRIS QLW wind model looks at the data and finds the best fit of a rotation about the center point, plus a mean horizontal translation. a. Enter the values.
Page 243: Forecast Tool
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 2. To change the tightness of the spiral line, use the Angle widget, and increment the angle up and down from 5 to 20°. This is the angle in degrees that the logarithmic spiral makes to a circle. A smaller number makes a tighter spiral.
Page 244: Figure 87 Forecast Example With A Typhoon
• FCAST product (IRIS or user Forecast product) Forecast products can be produced either by IRIS or by external programs that create forecast products and insert them into IRIS. The echoes can be subjected to both a non-uniform motion field and a non-uniform intensity change field.
Page 245: Cross-Section (Xsect) Tool
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window User Input Forecast If you have obtained a nominal speed and direction from the manual track product, you can do a manual forecast projection with the following settings: • Use FCAST Product button clicked out. •...
Page 246: Figure 88 Cross-Section With Typhoon Example
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 88 Cross-section with Typhoon Example The window at the top left is a small format XSECT window. This appears automatically when you make a cross-section. Note that because the radar cannot see all the way to the surface of the Earth, the bottom of the cross-section is a curved boundary.
Page 247: Creating A Cross-Section
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window If you want to change the color scale in the cross-section, use the Color Scale tool and select the data type (dBZ, V, and similar). Then re-make the XSECT. The new colors are applied when the cross-section is re-made. Cross-Section Range Scale The height range scale is either km or thousands of feet and the horizontal range scale is either km or nautical miles according to the units selection in the Display Options tool.
Page 248 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 4. Configure the cross-section: a. In Height, specify the height of the cross-section in km to the nearest 0.1 km (100 m) (328 ft 1 in). b. In Data, select the data types from the list.
Page 249: Product Output Options Tool
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 5. To cross-section, select the XSECT icon. 6. Monitor the cross-section line configuration progress in the Status field at the bottom of the tool. • Range and Azimuth refer to the center point of the line. •...
Page 250: Cappi Height Selection Tool
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 6.17.1 CAPPI Height Selection Tool For CAPPI products with multiple levels (3D CAPPI products), you can use this tool to change heights. You can also use the UP/DOWN arrow keys (your cursor must be in the display portion of the window to use the arrow keys).
Page 251: Ndop Output Options
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 6.17.3 NDOP Output Options NDOP product output options are a combination of the WIND options and the CAPPI height selection. Because this tool works with WIND, FCAST, NDOP, and CAPPI, you may wish to leave it on the screen.
Page 252: Figure 91 Example Of Velocity Azimuth Display
Figure 91 Example of Velocity Azimuth Display Figure 92 VAD Output Tool All Heights/1 Height The IRIS VAD products consist of a plot of velocity for all azimuths. You can choose to display just one plot of one height, or many plots showing all the heights. Height If you have selected 1 height, use this slide bar, or the cursor keys to move up and down through the list of heights.
Page 253: Vvp Output Options: Time-Height
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Plot Max Configure here the maximum velocity shown on the plots. More information ‣ VAD: Velocity Azimuth Display (page 92) 6.17.5 VVP Output Options: Time-Height You can use the Time-Height Output Options to show a height against time cross-section of VVP parameters with the specified color background and overlay plot.
Page 254 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 2. Select Options. The Time-Height Output Options menu is shown. 3. In Color Background, choose the information that you want displayed in the background. 4. In Overlay Plot, Choose the type of overlay plot.
Page 255: Vvp Output Options: Line Graphs
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 8. To avoid collision of the wind barbs in height, you can specify Height Step km. Type 0.0 to see all the data. 9. In some cases, the wind estimates are noisy because of weak signals or poor coverage. If needed, use Std Dev Thresh % to threshold poor estimates so that they are not displayed.
Page 256 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Use the Product Selection tool to select a VVP product. 2. Select the Options icon to show the Display Options menu. Make sure the Product Type is VVP. 3. Select Options to show the VVP Output Options menu.
Page 257 Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 5. Make your changes by enabling the plot parameters you want to use and typing relevant values in the Scale Limits column: Wind Speed Select to chart the wind speed in the graph. Type a value to specify the maximum wind speed you want to plot. Wind Direction Select to chart the wind direction.
Page 258: Warn Output Options
The WARN centroid has 4 label choices. The data displayed is from the first of the 3 possible inputs to the warning. The units are the same as in a standard IRIS data display, except that wind shear is displayed as knots loss/gain, and height is displayed in kilofeet.
Page 259: Wind And Fcast Output Options
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window Filled The centroid area is filled a solid color. Operational Use Configure your Warn Tool options and then, in Display Options, select a product to overlay. Select File > Save to save the Warn Tool options. 6.17.8 WIND and FCAST Output Options 1.
Page 260: Printing And Exporting Displays
M211319EN-H 3. Define the WIND display options. Subtract Mean Wind Select Yes for IRIS to subtract the mean wind vector from all wind vectors and display the perturbation wind vectors. Select No to display the full wind vector. Wind Display Style Display the WIND product vectors as wind barbs or wind strings.
Page 261: Qlw Keyboard Commands
Chapter 6 – Quick Look Window 1. To export a display, select File > Export The Export Tool appears with settings for outputting to a disk file on your local computer or to a remote computer in GIF, TIF, BMP, or Post Script formats. The formats are controlled in Setup >...
Page 262: Requesting Product Output
A tape drive or MO disk can be used to store data. You configure the list of output devices in the Setup utility. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide. For a list of output pipes supplied with the system see IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide.
Page 263: Accessing The Product Output Menu
Product List Displays the list of products that you have selected. Product Output: Product List (page 264) 1. Choose Menus > Product Output from the IRIS menu bar or from any of the IRIS menus. 7.3.1 Product Output Filters Figure 94 Product Output Filters...
Page 264 You can also select from a list of values. Files Control how many files to include in the list. Control how many products to include in the list. "*" means apply no limit. All IRIS scrolled lists are capped at 1000. Apply Select Apply to update the product list, based on your selection criteria.
Page 265 Chapter 7 – Requesting Product Output Wild Time Select Wild Time to change only the hours, month, day, and year fields to the wildcard character. Commands Select one of the following operations to perform on product files selected by the filter menu.
Page 266: Product Output: Product List
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H • Headers Only Show header lines only. • Files + Headers Show files and all headers. The only additional headers seen in Files + Headers are for products on disk which you may have recently deleted.
Page 267: Table 21 Standard Product Generation Parameters
Chapter 7 – Requesting Product Output Product-Specific Parameters The standard product generation parameters shown in the following table are taken from the product configuration and displayed in Product-Specific Parameters. Table 21 Standard Product Generation Parameters Product Type Parameter 1 Parameter 2 Parameter 3 BASE dBZ Threshold...
Page 268: Sending A Product To A Device
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Resolution The product-specific parameters for Cartesian products include the horizontal resolution of the product in pixels. For 3-D products, the vertical resolution is also listed, for example, 480×10. The product output process always generates a display even if the output resolution does not match your display capabilities.
Page 269 Chapter 7 – Requesting Product Output 1. To send existing products: a. Select Device. b. Select the device to which you want to send the product. c. Select the products you want to send by doing one of the following: •...
Page 270: Flagging A Product
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H More information ‣ Printing and Exporting Displays (page 258) 7.5 Flagging a Product Normally, the Watchdog process removes product files as the disk space fills by deleting the oldest product files. You can also signal the Watchdog to keep or delete product files.
Page 271: Performing Archive Operations
8.1 Overview of Archive and Retrieve Operations IRIS can archive, retrieve, and play radar data. If a RAW product (polar coordinate data) is retrieved from archive, IRIS can generate products from the retrieved data as if the data were collected in real time. Picture products can be retrieved from archive and then displayed.
Page 272: Figure 95 Archive Menu
1. Make sure the archive device is configured in Setup > Archive. 2. In IRIS, select Menus > Archive Menu and, for example, do the following: • Mount an IRIS tape or disk (archive media) and start the recording process.
Page 273: Archive Control Area
• Rewind (for tape) The tape is rewinding, for example: • The user issues the Unmount command. • IRIS is positioning the tape for a Retrieve operation. • IRIS has filled a tape during a Record operation. • Writing The tape or disk is being recorded.
Page 274 • Unavailable The drive is being used by someone else, it is broken or not installed. • Released IRIS is not currently attached to the drive. The drive is free to be used by IRIS or other processes. • Full The medium is full, an EOT or disk full was encountered during a Record operation.
Page 275 Chapter 8 – Performing Archive Operations The first 3 characters are the IRIS site ID for the site where the medium was initialized, followed by the date on which the medium was initialized. The final 3 characters are a unique random code.
Page 276: Archive Log Area
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Apply Select Apply to update the product list, based on your selection criteria. Grab If you have selected a product, select Grab to insert the product's site, type, product name, task, and date information in the filter fields.
Page 277 For optical disks, the files appear in the same order as in the Product Output menu. Archive logs are maintained on disk as ASCII text files. When a tape is mounted, IRIS checks to see if there is a corresponding tape log. If the tape is a valid IRIS tape, the list is displayed.
Page 278: Initializing A Tape Or Disk For Recording
M211319EN-H 8.3 Initializing a Tape or Disk for Recording IRIS can mount only valid IRIS tapes or disks that have been initialized by a separate utility program. If you try to mount a non-initialized medium, the Status field shows: NonIris Use the medium initialization utility to do the following: •...
Page 279: Mounting A Tape Or Disk
IRIS attempts to write the header information. Write-enable the tape and retype the command. At the end of the initialization, IRIS displays a unique tape number that is used in the future to refer to the disk inventories maintained for the tape.
Page 280: Recording Data
Stop command. A side effect of recording on an IRIS tape is that a new tape log is created when IRIS scans to find the last tape file. If you record on a tape that has an Incomplete Tape Log, a new tape log is generated. There is no need to perform an inventory in this case.
Page 281: Creating And Printing A Log
The time depends on the size of your IRIS system disk but is typically several hours. 8. To stop recording manually, select Commands > Stop.
Page 282: Printing A Tape Or Disk Log
Retrieve requires that you first tag all files to be retrieved. Files can be tagged even while Retrieve or other operations are in progress. 1. Because Retrieve relies heavily on the log, perform an inventory for IRIS tapes with incomplete logs.
Page 283: Stopping An Archive Operation
Files that are already on disk cannot be tagged for Retrieve. 7. Select Commands > Retrieve. IRIS positions the tape and copies the tagged files to the disk. A d appears next to a file after it is copied to disk.
Page 284: Unmounting A Tape Or Disk
Stop has no effect. 8.9 Unmounting a Tape or Disk The Unmount command causes IRIS to rewind a tape and take the tape or optical disk drive off line. The log information is cleared from the screen. This command must be invoked before a new tape can be mounted.
Page 285: Managing Ingest Files
Ingest files are cataloged by their associated tasks and stored on disk in an ingest summary file. IRIS uses an automatic Watchdog process to delete old ingest files. The Ingest Summary menu provides a list of the ingest files currently on disk. Use the top part of the menu to choose the files that you want to display.
Page 286 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Select Menus > Ingest Summary. The Ingest Summary list in the bottom pane is sorted by time, with the newest files listed first. Displays k for keep, d for delete, or blank if no flag is set.
Page 287 Chapter 9 – Managing Ingest Files 3. Use the Filter menu in the top pane to narrow the list down to those files that are of interest by site, task, scan, or time. Site Enter a site ID to select data from only one radar site or enter the wildcard character to select data from all sites.
Page 288: Tagging And Untagging Ingest Files
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 9.2 Tagging and Untagging Ingest Files CAUTION! Deleting files may interfere with subsequent product generation. Be sure that a file is not required for product generation before you delete it. The only circumstance that may require manual deletion is when you need to make room when restoring a RAW file from tape.
Page 289: Choosing Overlay Files
It is often convenient to make separate layers for different interests (river catchments, airports). IRIS supports up to 20 overlay files. IRIS overlays are ASCII files so you can edit them with any text editor (vi, or emacs which is distributed with IRIS).
Page 290 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 2. Open an overlay (.ovr) file from the /usr/sigmet/config/overlay directory. 3. To see the latitude and longitude of your cursor, select File > Display Lat Lon. You can move your cursor around your map with the mouse. To find a precise point, use the arrow buttons of the keyboard to move pixel by pixel.
Page 291 Chapter 10 – Choosing Overlay Files 5. To define the map display, select File > Options. The Options window is shown. a. In the top pane, define the following: Display size in km Defines the horizontal size of the map in km. North/East offset in km Move around your original map and create subareas.
Page 292 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H NoUnderlay Do not use an underlay. c. Select the map projection. Typically, Azimuthal is used in one–radar applications, Mercator in composites in the tropical areas and Polar Stereographic in the composites near the poles.
Page 293 Chapter 10 – Choosing Overlay Files 6. To create or modify a layer, select File > Add/Modify Layer. Everything you add to an overlay goes to a layer. You can add or delete text, icons and fill points. You can also select a "pointer" which gives you position of you cursor. a.
Page 294 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H • To add icons, you must include a text next to the icon. RESTRICTED...
Page 295 Chapter 10 – Choosing Overlay Files When you use icons, Vaisala recommends that you justify them right or left, because the icon goes to the point and the text should be next to the icon. You can highlight the text to give it a colored background.
Page 296: Overlay Header
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 10.3 Overlay Header Absolute Coordinates If the overlay is defined in absolute coordinates, all points in the overlays are given in terms of a longitude, latitude coordinate pair. This sets an absolute position for each point.
Page 297: Assigning An Overlay To A Radar Site
10.4 Assigning an Overlay to a Radar Site The IRIS system manager associates a default overlay file for each site connected to the system. You can assign a different overlay to the site. 1. In the Overlay menu, highlight the site you want to change.
Page 298: Appendix A: Basic Radar Meteorology
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Appendix A. Basic Radar Meteorology A.1 Introduction to Radar Meteorology A weather radar sends pulses of microwaves and measures how much is reflected by targets in the atmosphere. Targets are mainly raindrops, hail, or snow.
Page 299: Reflectivity
Appendix A – Basic Radar Meteorology A.2 Reflectivity It is convenient to say things in atmosphere reflect the radiation, but backscattering is the accurate physical term. It is measured in Z (radar reflectivity factor) and often expressed in dBZ (radar reflectivity). The famous radar equation from classical optics says •...
Page 300: Geometry
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 101 dBZ Values for Various Phenomena For hydrology, we need an equation to combine radar reflectivity to rainfall rate. All of these equations are empirical and approximate, since Z is proportional to D6 and precipitation rate R (mm/h) is proportional to D3.7.
Page 301: Problems In Interpreting Radar Images
Appendix A – Basic Radar Meteorology Figure 102 Beam Height vs. Range A.4 Problems in Interpreting Radar Images Echoes not related to rain: • Reflection of microwaves from ground or water surface, radar mirage • Birds, insects, chaff from airplanes • Solid targets, such as masts and buildings •...
Page 302: Doppler Wind Measurements
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H • Far from the antenna, the beam is high above the earth and can overshoot a precipitating cloud. The rain may evaporate below the measurement height. Orographical enhancement can occur. • In cold winters, the difference between measurement height and surface can be 10 dB.
Page 303: Figure 103 Typical Spectrum Plot
Appendix A – Basic Radar Meteorology Figure 103 Typical Spectrum Plot RESTRICTED...
Page 304: Appendix B: Radial Velocity Correction
Correction B.1 Radial Velocity Correction The motion of a ship or airborne platform induces a radial velocity error. IRIS corrects for this error by accounting for the platform motion. Ship motion measurements are collected from the antenna controller and the radial velocity correction is optionally applied to the ingest files so that all subsequent products and the real time display are corrected.
Page 305: Radial Velocity Correction
, the velocity of the antenna. The velocity correction used in IRIS allows for the following types of ship motion sensing: Inertial Navigation Unit (INU) (INU Case) The INU is typically placed close to the antenna. The INU reports pitch, roll, and heading (and their rates of change), as well as the east, north and vertical motion (u, v, w).
Page 306: Figure 104 Vectors Used For Velocity Correction In Earth Coordinates
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The interface either device is the RCP antenna control unit. The orientation and navigation information is passed to IRIS through the serial line connection to the antenna controller. Antenna Location INU Location Ship Center of Rotation Figure 104 Vectors used for Velocity Correction In Earth Coordinates...
Page 307: Aircraft Tail Radars
Appendix B – Radial Velocity Correction ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ −1 −1 −1 ⋅ −1 ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ −1 −1 −1 ⋅ −1 ⋅ −1 ⋅ −1 = − P sinPcosθ − θ cos Psin θ where: ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ −1 = −...
Page 308: Configuring Radial Velocity Correction
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Table 25 Velocity Correction for Aircraft Tail Radars Parameter Description Azimuth Because the axis of primary rotation is horizontal, azimuth is the angle relative to a perpendicular scan. Thus zero means scanning in a plane, positive means scanning a cone faced forwards, and negative means scanning in a cone faced backwards.
Page 309: Testing Radial Velocity Correction
• Specify the antenna format in Setup, RCP section. • Specify the Extended Ray Header in Setup, ingest section. • If you have a Vaisala RCP8, configure as described in Radar Control Processor RCP8 User Guide. • Use the TASK Configuration menu to turn on and off the velocity correction for each task.
Page 310: Velocity Correction Algorithm: Inu Example
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Cruising offshore at ~10 km (6.2 mi) and observe fixed ground targets while collecting IRIS data. You may want to use a sector scan for this at low elevation. Verify the following: • The real time color display should show ground targets at zero velocity.
Page 311 Appendix B – Radial Velocity Correction ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ −1 −1 −1 6. −1 = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ −1 −1 −1 ⋅ −1 ⋅ −1 ⋅ −1 HEAD Heading measured CW from true north θ HEAD - π/2 θׄ Rate of change of heading ⋅...
Page 312: Appendix C: Iris 3Dview
You can view the data files (Archive Mode) or configure IRIS 3DView to monitor a data file directory for viewing of the latest radar data (Live Mode). The input radar data may be data collected from a single weather radar, or from an IRIS composite of multiple radars.
Page 313: Iris 3Dview In System Architecture
Generally, there is an IRIS/ Radar package running the IRIS software at a remote radar site (or perhaps there are multiple remote radar sites). Raw radar base data are fed from the radar sites to a central server computer running IRIS/ Analysis software generating many 2D radar products. These products may be viewed directly on this central server computer, or re-distributed to other client computers running the IRIS/Display software package.
Page 314: Iris 3Dview System Requirements
During manipulation, the images are viewed in true 3D form. Any 3D image viewed on the IRIS 3DView computer can then be sent back to the central server computer for viewing and distribution to other client computers on the network running IRIS/ Display.
Page 315: Installing Iris 3Dview
It is not necessary for IRIS software to be installed on the system to use 3DView. If you chose to have the IRIS software on the same system, it is recommended that you install the IRIS software before installing the IRIS 3D View.
Page 316 1.0.2-1.i686.rpm. Install it using the rpm installation tool # rpm -Uvh iris3dview-1.0.2-1.i686.rpm It is recommended that you do not run the IRIS 3D View application while logged in as a root user. If you have IRIS software installed on your system, log in as radarop user.
Page 317 When you first start IRIS 3DView, it runs a license wizard. Follow the online instructions. 9. If your system has an IRIS or RDA system already installed, the IRIS 3D View License dialog box displays the Sitename for your system.
Page 318 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 12. Once the IRIS 3D View window opens, click the setup icon in the upper right hand corner to open the Settings Window dialog box. Configure the data directory to point to the directories created earlier, according to your data type.
Page 319 Appendix C – IRIS 3DView 13. Configure background processing. Background processing is run by the iris3d user; however, the user who runs the iris3d visualization must copy the configuration files to the .config directory of the iris3d user: a. Set permissions for everybody to be able to read and write by running: #chmod -R 777 /home/iris3d/ as root user b.
Page 320 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H After installing the IRIS 3D View, the background processing daemon starts automatically. 14. Check the daemon by running the ps -ef command: ps -ef | grep iris and you should get the printout similar to:...
Page 321: Getting Started With Iris 3Dview
C.3 Getting Started with IRIS 3DView Figure 107 IRIS 3DView Starting View 1. On your IRIS 3DView workstation, select the IRIS 3DView icon. Alternatively, in a shell session, type iris3dview The software starts and the main window is shown with controls for the view on the left.
Page 322: Opening Data Files In Iris 3Dview
This opens the 3D data selector where you can select the data file. 3. To open the file in Live mode, select Display mode > Live. In Live mode, IRIS 3DView opens the latest data file from the radar site selected in the Radar site drop-down list.
Page 323: Volume Rendering
Appendix C – IRIS 3DView IRIS 3DView allows up to 4 of these iso-surfaces to be drawn in the same 3D visualization. The threshold value, color and opacity of each surface is user configurable. This allows a flexible representation of the radar data.
Page 324: Figure 109 Example Of Volume Rendering
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 109 Example of Volume Rendering RESTRICTED...
Page 325: Managing The Iris 3D Display
Appendix C – IRIS 3DView C.6 Managing the IRIS 3D Display Figure 110 IRIS 3D Display Use the options on the left of the main window to define what is shown in the 3D view. Drag the handle on the right side of the control area to expand the control area.
Page 326: Using The Iris 3Dview Export Tool
• In Live mode the IRIS 3DView software continuously monitors the input directory. When a new radar data file comes in from the central server computer, IRIS 3DView automatically loads it. If the background process has been configured and enabled, it renders 2D images of the radar data in the background, using preset view angles and display states.
Page 327: Figure 111 Export Tool
Appendix C – IRIS 3DView Figure 111 Export Tool 1. Select File > The export tool window opens with the currently rendered 3D view shown with a reflectivity legend. 2. To save the current image as a file, select Save as image.
Page 328: Figure 112 Iris 3Dview Background Output Configuration Window
3. In the Background output tab, enable and configure the background rendering process that outputs 2D images using pre-defined options: Figure 112 IRIS 3DView Background Output Configuration Window a. Create and save a preset for the Display state used in background rendering.
Page 329: Using The Product Information Tool
Appendix C – IRIS 3DView C.8 Using the Product Information Tool Figure 113 Product Information Tool RESTRICTED...
Page 330: Using The Iris 3Dview Cursor Tool
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 1. Select File > The product information window opens with the following information about the currently selected 3D data product: • Data: Data type being displayed • Time: Timestamp of the data file •...
Page 331: Figure 114 Cursor Tool
Appendix C – IRIS 3DView Figure 114 Cursor Tool 1. Select File > The cursor tool window opens and a round cursor with yellow axis lines appears on the 3D view area. 2. Use the mouse to drag the cursor around the view area.
Page 332: Adjusting Iris 3Dview Screen Settings
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H C.10 Adjusting IRIS 3DView Screen Settings 1. To switch between a fullscreen mode and the normal windowed mode, select 2. To switch between bright and dark color schemes, select C.11 Playing Back Data Figure 115 IRIS 3DView Animation Toolbar The animation toolbar controls the playback of data frames.
Page 333 Select to have the animation Play once or Loop until stopped. The typical bottleneck for animation playback is CPU power, that is, the time it takes for IRIS 3DView to calculate the 3D model of the frame. If the animation playback speed is unsatisfactory, set the Animation speed to Fastest, render it in a smaller window, and consider lowering the data resolution in the Settings window.
Page 334: Managing Iris 3Dview Settings
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H C.12 Managing IRIS 3DView Settings Figure 116 IRIS 3DView Settings Window 1. In the top menu bar, select settings . The Settings window opens containing general settings for the IRIS 3DView software. RESTRICTED...
Page 335 Data Location Directories Set the correct directories for the data files: • GEO data location: The directory where IRIS 3DView looks for 3D terrain data. • 3D data location: The directory that IRIS 3DView scans for 3D radar data. • 2D data location: The directory that IRIS 3DView scans for 2D radar data.
Page 336: Appendix D: Iris Tdwr Features
There have also been changes, in algorithms, networking standards and user interface. The goal of the IRIS/TDWR is to take the best elements of the TDWR designs and implement them in the context of today's technology.
Page 337: Iris/Tdwr Terminology
(typically 1 miles square) that is centered 1 nautical mile from the approaching end (south end) of runway 33 (nominally approached on a heading of 330°). Base Data The basic dBZ, V, and W data. In IRIS, the compressed version is the RAW product. The un-compressed version is called Ingest Data. Corridor Each runway has two corridors, an approach corridor and a departure corridor.
Page 338: Iris/Tdwr Hardware Configuration Example
IRIS/Display Figure 117 IRIS/TDWR Hardware Configuration Example With the IRIS architecture, the RPG and MDT functions could be combined into the RDA workstation. Reducing the amount of hardware increases the system reliability and reduces maintenance. The RDA workstation also has all the features of an SD.
Page 339: Data Flow For Ribbon Display Generation
The primary function of the TDWR processing is to output ribbon display messages to controllers (accompanied by audio warning tone). The standard IRIS output and display features are also used to construct images for the Situation Displays (SD's), that is, simplified displays showing runway warning areas (arenas), alert centroids and shear lines with forecast positions.
Page 340: Iris/Tdwr Configuration Summary
LLWAS (if available) and configuration information on the current active runways from the runway utility. The output back to IRIS is a TDWR product that is filtered so that only the information required by the ribbon display is present. The integration algorithm is the FAA/MIT Lincoln Lab algorithm that was developed for the U.S.
Page 341: Figure 119 Configuring Protected Areas For Tdwr
It is recommended that you use the text RWY to specify the runway itself. Once you have decided the runway and arena names, construct the geometry of the protected areas, that is, the size and orientation information that is required in the IRIS Setup > Product utility. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide.
Page 342: Configuring Iris Tasks And Products For Tdwr
After you have created your protected areas, test them with the Overlay utility. This requires that you have already configured the overlay for your system. See Overlay in IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide. To see your protected areas on top of your overlay select Overlay > Options > Protected.
Page 343 The following example is for a network output to a workstation called SD1. The standard IRIS target directory and TCPIP notification port are used in the example. b. Configure the IRIS Product Output Menu to make automatic output of TDWR products to the SD's.
Page 344: Ribbon Displays
Configuring Integrator and Runways Utility - runways.conf (page 354)). The recommended port is 30726 as shown in the example. b. Configure the IRIS Product Output Menu to make automatic output of SHEAR and SLINE products to the Integrator. Sending a Product to a Device (page 266).
Page 345: Supported Ribbon Displays
The IRIS Workstation must be licensed for ribbon display support. D.7.2 Dale Ribbon Display Hardware Installation Up to 8 Dale ribbon displays can be "daisy-chained" to an IRIS workstation as shown in the following figure. The M and F notation refers to the cable end (DB25M or DB25F).
Page 346: Dale Ribbon Display General Use
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Ribbon Display Connection to IRIS IRIS Workstation RS232C 9600 Baud Figure 120 Dale Ribbon Display Installation Table 26 Ribbon Display Pin Assignments Signal GND (shield) Receive Data Transmit Data D.7.3 Dale Ribbon Display General Use Ribbon Display Front Panel Controls...
Page 347 Appendix D – IRIS TDWR Features The hinged front panel drops down to access the local controls. The controls area is illuminated when the door is open. Self Test Hold in the SELF TEST push button to write the character set to the display. The monitor's ID number, model number, and software version are shown on the last line of the self test screen.
Page 348: Iris Virtual Ribbon Display
Push the ACKNOWLEDGE switch to acknowledge and silence the alarm. D.7.4 IRIS Virtual Ribbon Display For systems that do not have the Dale model ribbon display, the IRIS Virtual Ribbon Display (vribbon) is provided. It is also convenient for "eaves dropping" on Dale displays to verify that they are properly configured, that is, you can look at a virtual version of the Dale display.
Page 349: Configuring Ribbon Display Software
The ribbon display setup utility provides the following functions: • Runway approach and departure corridors are assigned to each line of the display. • Up to 8 displays can be configured for each IRIS workstation and the lines for each display can be set independently.
Page 350 The top row of the menu shows the ribbon display numbers for 8 displays that could be connected to your IRIS workstation. Note that your system may have fewer than 8 displays. The second row shows the names that have been configured for the displays.
Page 351 • Linux ttyS0 or ttyS1 • HP tty0p0 or tty0p1 Check with your IRIS System Manager if you are unsure. Number of Active Sets (1, 2, 3, 4) This determines how many different active sets you want. In the example, there are two active sets.
Page 352: Figure 123 Ribbon Display Setup Menu
The corridor names are taken from the IRIS setup/product warning areas that were created (see the beginning of this section). In addition, there is a blank line (to configure blank lines on the display), and there are other arbitrary protected areas that may not be associated with a particular corridor.
Page 353: Ribbon Display Testing With Tdwr_Sim
Do not run the tdwr_sim test utility during normal system operation as it may interfere with the signaling of actual warnings. To test the ribbon display and for training purposes, Vaisala supplies the tdwr_sim utility. The utility outputs a simulated TDWR product with alerts for selected corridors to verify that the ribbon displays are functioning.
Page 354 Enter Alert type for Corridor 3 (33-D)[ ]: Sending product to IRIS. Enter Corridor Count [4]: tdwr_sim sends a simulated TDWR product to IRIS, which is transmitted to each ribbon display that is configured to show alerts for the selected corridor (in this case 15–D).
Page 355: Ribbon Display Alert Messages
The thresholds for what is considered strong and weak are tuned for each site. The TDWR products from the Integrator are sent back to IRIS for distribution to SD's to drive the ribbon displays. See Data Flow for Ribbon Display Generation (page 337).
Page 356: Configuring Integrator And Runways Utility - Runways.conf
Integrator continues to use the old LLWAS data until the time limit for "stale" data is reached. If all of the data are "stale", no TDWR product is made at all. In this case, there is no output to IRIS and the ribbon displays eventually show NO DATA AVAILABLE...
Page 357 Appendix D – IRIS TDWR Features Create the directory /usr/iris_data/tdwr You must have root privilege for this step. The tdwr directory can exist anywhere on the workstation that runs the Integrator. However, we recommend that you put it in the same place that you put the IRIS_PRODUCT product directory.
Page 358 #LLWAS_IN 30727 # Since the LLWAS input does not contain sitename or lat/lon. These # need to be specified to handle the case where IRIS input is lost. # For systems with no LLWAS input, it is recommended that you comment # this whole section off.
Page 359 # Specify desired radar sitename. Max 16 chars, requires quotes if you # have imbedded whitespace. RADAR_SITENAME "THIS IS A TEST" # If you want to take the sitename from the IRIS input, if available, then # comment out this line. ALWAYS_SET_SITENAME # List of users who are allowed to operate the runways utility.
Page 360 These entries configure the characteristics of the input from IRIS to the Integrator. IRIS_IN is the socket port that is used by IRIS to notify the Integrator when a new product is sent. This must match the IRIS setup/output network device that has been configured to send products from IRIS to the Integrator.
Page 361: Starting Integrator Utility
D.8.2 Starting Integrator Utility Manual Integrator Start-up To start the TDWR/LLWAS Integrator you must be an IRIS Operator. In a terminal window on the workstation where the Integrator is run (typically an RPG IRIS/Analysis system) type: $ tdwr_llwas_int This starts the software and log events in the terminal window.
Page 362: Runways Utility
The runways utility must be run on the same IRIS node where the Integrator is run (typically this is the IRIS workstation assigned to generate products), however you can export the runways display to another workstation on the network.
Page 363 Appendix D – IRIS TDWR Features In a command line terminal, type: $ runways & If you are on a different workstation you can use rlogin <nodemame> or sigterm <nodename> to open a terminal on the node where the integrator is run. Note that if you use the rlogin approach, before running runways you must type the following: $ export DISPLAY=<...
Page 364 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H LLWAS Status If LLWAS is available on your system, its communication status with the integrator is displayed in the LLWAS column. The image above shows the display in red background DEAD to indicate the LLWAS is not communicating to the Integrator.
Page 365: Appendix E: Hydromet Raingage Correction
Appendix E – Hydromet Raingage Correction Appendix E. Hydromet Raingage Correction E.1 Hydromet Raingage Correction Overview IRIS/Hydromet is an optional IRIS package for hydrometeorological applications. Table 27 IRIS Features for Hydrometeorological Applications Standard Features Optional Features Display of rainfall rate in mm/hr or inches/hour for a...
Page 366: Figure 126 Rain1 Raingage Correction Data Flow
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H IRIS Input Directory for Raingage Files Input GAGE Data File From external raingage network Format Conversion for Hourly Gage Totals GAGE Input Pipe IRIS Product Directory (e.g., /usr/iris_data/product) IRIS Product Generator GAGE Product...
Page 367 • GAGE Product This is a product in IRIS that contains the raingage totals for all gages in the network for the last hour. See Gage Data File Format (page 366).
Page 368: Gage Data File Format
RAIN1 for input benefit from the correction algorithm. E.3 Gage Data File Format The raingage data files should be sent automatically to a directory specified in IRIS Setup > Input for the input pipe. The data can be sent by FTP, RCP, or NFS. The file should contain the hourly gage totals for all of the gages along with other supporting housekeeping information required by the GAGE product such as date and time and raingage location.
Page 369 22:00 on 10 July 2000. Note that the exact columns and the numerical precision may vary, as does the order of keywords on each line. REM "Example format of an IRIS Rain Gage input file" TIME 200007102200 SPAN 60 CODE 001213 LONLAT 127.312533 38.172512 RRATE 4.5 CODE 000223 LONLAT 127.2223 38.2155 RRATE 2.2...
Page 370: Configuring Rain1 With Raingage Correction
Note that CAPPI heights are defined as height above a reference level that is usually set to sea level (in IRIS Setup/RCP). Enable the CAPPI Fill so that the CAPPI is defined for near and far ranges where it is not possible to interpolate to 1 km.
Page 371 Appendix E – Hydromet Raingage Correction 3. Update the GAGE correction configuration file (Rain1GageCor.conf) The raingage correction algorithm uses the Rain1GageCor.conf configuration file in the /usr/sigmet/config directory. Copy the template in the /usr/sigmet/config_template directory to /usr/ sigmet/config during installation. The following is an example Rain1GageCor.conf file. # Rain1GageCor.conf for the Rain1/GAGE correction program LOG NONE # OVERRIDE_PRODUCT_NAME JOE...
Page 372 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H This is the distance in km around the raingage where the radar reflectivities shall be averaged. In the case where the input CAPPI resolution is 1 km (0.6 mi) (for example, maximum range of 240 km (149.1 mi) and 480 × 480 pixels), setting the Averaging Distance to 1.5 km (0.9 mi) would result in averaging over 3 ×...
Page 373: Algorithm For Rain1 Gage Calibration
In Setup > Input, specify the input characteristics of the user raingage files including the directory where the files arrive and the name of the Input Pipe that is used to reformat the data in the IRIS GAGE product. See IRIS and RDA Utilities Guide .
Page 374: Rain1 Scheduling With Gage Product
RAIN1 scheduling since the product generator must await the arrival of both the CAPPIs and the GAGE product for the previous hour. To account for the delay in the arrival of the GAGE product, a Gage Wait Time is defined in IRIS Setup > Product. In the following figures, this is labelled WaitG.
Page 375 Appendix E – Hydromet Raingage Correction Case 1B: CAPPIs arrive, GAGE Arrives for a Future Hour Here there is a missing hour in the CAPPI product stream. The RAIN1 product runs (without GAGE correction). The assumption here is that the GAGE products are arriving in time order, and the missing hour's data never appears.
Page 376: Hydromet Raingage References
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H This is nearly identical to the Case 2A, that is, after the Tail and WaitG times have elapsed, the product runs using the available CAPPI products in the prior hour except that there is no GAGE correction.
Page 377: Appendix F: Task Configuration Examples
Appendix F – Task Configuration Examples Appendix F. Task Configuration Examples F.1 Task configurations You can customize and add to the default task configurations. Note the following guidelines when creating or modifying tasks: 1. As it is not possible to get the best velocity and reflectivity data at the same time, default tasks are divided as follows: •...
Page 378: Figure 127 Surveillance Task Configuration: Dual-Polarization
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H The default configuration has a maximum range of 450 km. Use it in warm climates. In cooler climates, lower the maximum range to, for example, 350 km in summer or 250 km in winter.
Page 379: Vol_A
Appendix F – Task Configuration Examples F.1.2 VOL_A The VOL_A task is the lower part of the hybrid volume scan VOL_A and VOL_B. It is optimized for precipitation observations and measurements within a range of 250 km. Use a single pulse repetition frequency mode for the maximum quality of Z and dual polarization moments.
Page 380: Vol_B
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H Figure 128 VOL_A task configuration - dual polarization Polarization Horiz DP Attn Cor Z ZDR disabled Proc mode Measured data moments T, Z, Vel, Width, SQI F.1.3 VOL_B The VOL_B task fills the higher elevations of the hybrid volume providing observations of standard and dual polarization moments for volume products, such as CAPPI.
Page 381: Wind
Appendix F – Task Configuration Examples • Enhanced reflectivity Ze is not selected like for short measurement ranges of high elevations as it does not bring significant sensitivity improvements. The following figure shows the configuration details of the task for a dual polarization system.
Page 382: Suncal And Zdrcal Tasks
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H A higher dual pulse repetition frequency ratio (4:3, 5:4) can increase the unambiguous velocity regime and/or the maximum range. However, using higher dual PRF ratios as well as longer ranges decreases the quality of velocity data.
Page 383: Product Configurations And Scheduler
Appendix F – Task Configuration Examples Figure 131 SUNCAL and ZDRCAL task configurations SUNCAL For the SUNCAL task, adjust the start, stop, and repeat time for each site so that the task is executed three times a day: shortly after sunrise, at noon, and just before sunset. ZDRCAL ZDRCAL task is only for dual polarization systems.
Page 384: Melting Height Products
IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H 2. Select Preserve Format to preserve 16-bit resolution. 3. Select File > Save As > OK. F.2.2 Melting height products In dual polarization systems, a melting height product, VOL, is configured and scheduled by default.
Page 385: Product Scheduler
Appendix F – Task Configuration Examples F.2.3 Product Scheduler If you need other products at the radar site, add them to the Product Scheduler. This applies to both radar site and central site data production. Input task(s) Products Surveillance Weather reflectivity surveillance. VOL_A and VOL_B Reflectivity-related end user products, such as rain or storm detection or hydrological measurements.
Page 387: Index
23 product outputs............340 display parameters............23, 27 protected areas............338 documentation task configuration............340 related documents............11 IRIS 3DView................ 310 versions................11 animation...............330 Doppler wind measurements........300 cursor tool..............328 DWELL................13, 139 data files, open.............320 examples................ 140 data playback...............330...
Page 388 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H display................323 NDOP................249 image export..............324 THICK................248 install................313 VAD................. 249 product information............327 WARN................256 rendering............... 320 WIND................257 rendering, surface............320 overlay............... 220, 287 rendering, volume............321 radar site................ 295 screen settings.............330 overlay header..............294 settings................332...
Page 389 230 retrieve................269 cursor, named home points........231 retrieved data..............120 display options............213, 219 RHI................13, 64, 67 highlight................213 cumulonimbus example..........66 IRIS Product Output menu.........213 RTI..................13, 68 loop..................222 monitoring..............204 product display............208 schedule product generation.............208 CATCH................124 product output options..........247 RAIN1.................
Page 390 IRIS Product and Display User Guide M211319EN-H runways utility, configure.......... 354 terminology..............335 virtual ribbon display..........346 TDWR/LLWAS runways utility..............360 THICK................13, 84 TOPS.................13, 86 track Quick Look Window........... 234 TRACK................13, 88 unmount, tape, disk............282 VAD...................13, 92 output options............. 249 VIL..................13, 93...
Page 391: Warranty
Conditions of Sale for details of the warranty for each product. Technical support Contact Vaisala technical support at helpdesk@vaisala.com. Provide at least the following supporting information as applicable: • Product name, model, and serial number •...
Page 394 www.vaisala.com...

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