569 lines
20 KiB
HTML
569 lines
20 KiB
HTML
<html>
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<title> GFESuite Documentation - Grid Manager Operations</title>
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<body>
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<h1 align=center>Grid Manager Operations</h1>
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<br>
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<a href="#SelectWEandTimeRange">Select Weather Element and TimeRange</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#CopyfromDerivedModelGrids">Copy from Derived Model Grids</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#InterpolateGrids">Interpolate Grids</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#CopyGrids">Copy Grid</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#PasteGrid">Paste Grid</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#Stretchagridsvalidtimeperiod">Stretch a Grid's Valid Time
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Period</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#CreateGridfromScratch">Create Grid from Scratch</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#DeleteGrids">Delete Grids</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#SplitGrids">Split Grids</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#FragmentGrids">Fragment Grids</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#AssignDefaultValue">Assign Default Value</a>
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<br>
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<a href="#EditActions">Run Smart Tools</a>
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<br>
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</p>
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<hr width="100%">
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<h1><a name="GridManagerOperations"></a>Grid Manager Operations</h1>
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This section of the training guide covers grid operations that are
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performed
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on the Grid Manager.</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="SelectWEandTimeRange"></a>Select Weather Element and TimeRange</h2>
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<div class="Body">In this section we discuss how to populate your
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forecast
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by copying weather element grids based on model output and how to
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temporally
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interpolate, which fills in time gaps between grids. But first you need
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to know how to identify the weather element and time range over which
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these
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operations will be performed.</div>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Select a TimeRange for edit
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operations.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Press and drag MB1 over any time period of your choice inside one
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of
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the
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weather element panes of the Grid Manager.</li>
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<li>Release MB1.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">As you drag the mouse cursor you should see blue
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hatched
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shading appear inside the weather element pane. This is how you
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identify
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a time period and weather element to which you will later apply an edit
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operation. Later, you will encounter exercises that show you how this
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selected
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time period and weather element are used in Grid Manager edit
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operations.</div>
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<a name="SHIFTCLICKMB1"></a>
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<div class="Body">You can also select a time period in a slightly
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different
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way using the Time Scale (located just above the Grid Manager). After
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selecting
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a time period in the Time Scale by dragging MB1, MB1 click in the small
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box located in the upper-left of each weather element pane. Note that
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the
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time period for that pane now becomes selected. Using this method, you
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can select the same time period for many different weather elements.
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<p>There is also a way to extend the currently selected TimeRange by
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performing
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a MB1-SHIFT click operation anywhere on the Grid Manager. Hold
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down
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the shift key while clicking MB1. The currently selected TimeRange will
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be extended to the time on which you SHIFT-clicked. If you
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SHIFT-MB1-click
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insider the currently selected TimeRange it will have no effect.
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This works for any WE pane or the TimeScale.</p>
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</div>
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<ol>
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<li class="Step">Press and hold MB3 over the Grid Manager and pick
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Deselect All from the
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pop-up menu. Note that your previously selected Weather Elements/ Time
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Ranges are now deselected.</li>
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<li class="Step">Select another set of Weather Elements over any time
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period.</li>
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<li class="Step">Next, press the button <img src="images/deselectAll.jpg" alt="Deselect all" hspace="3">
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in the button bar to deselect. Note that you can deselect the set of
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Weather
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Elements from both the button bar and the pop-up menu.</li>
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</ol>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="CopyfromDerivedModelGrids"></a>Copy from Derived Model Grids</h2>
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<div class="Body">One of the GFESuite of programs derives surface-based
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weather elements from numerical models such as NAM. Since it would be
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too
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time consuming for forecasters to create all forecast grids from
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scratch,
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these derived model grids provide a starting point on which your
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gridded
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forecast is based. The next section shows you how to copy these
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model-based
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grids into your forecast.</div>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Add new grids to your forecast
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from a model.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Step-First">Select a time period and one or more weather
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elements
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using the technique described in the previous exercise.</div>
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<ol>
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<li class="Step">Select from the main menu Bar: Populate-><a
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href="MainMenuDialogs.html#CopySelectedGridsFromDialog">Copy
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Selected Grids From...</a></li>
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<li class="Step">Select one of the model sources listed in the
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dialog, such as NAM12.</li>
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<li class="Step">Select OK.</li>
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</ol>
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<div class="Body">You should see new grids appear in your forecast. If
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not, make sure that you have selected a time period that matches at
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least
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a portion of the time period of the model you desire and repeat until
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new
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grids have been copied into your forecast. Click MB1 on one of the
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grids
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in the Grid Manager. The grid will appear in the Spatial Editor.<br>
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<br>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Note that there are some gaps in your forecast.
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Because
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models provide snapshots of the state of the atmosphere, for some
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weather
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elements, the system (arbitrarily) assigns a one-hour duration to most
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grids. However, this duration is model and weather element dependent.
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For
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example, a grid representing 6-hour QPF has a 6-hour time duration.<br>
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<br>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">If you want to initialize your entire forecast from a
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particular model, you are not required to select every weather element
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for the entire time period of the model. The next exercise shows you
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how
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to copy all the grids derived from a model in to your forecast.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>From the main menu bar select Populate-><a
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href="MainMenuDialogs.html#CopyAllGridsFromDialog">Copy
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All Grids From...</a></li>
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<li>Select one of the model sources listed in the dialog.</li>
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<li>Select OK.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Note that Copy All Grids From... ignores the selected
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time range and the selected weather elements. All of the grids
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available
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from that model are copied into your forecast overwriting any grids
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that
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existed previously.</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="InterpolateGrids"></a>Interpolate Grids</h2>
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<div class="Body">Since copying grids from the model-based databases
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leaves
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temporal gaps in the forecast, the GFE provides you a way to fill in
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those
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gaps. This next exercise show you how to interpolate over a time period
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and weather element that you select.</div>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Fill in forecast gaps with
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grids to provide a
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smooth transition.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Select any time period and weather element that contains gaps in
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the
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forecast
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(except Wx).</li>
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<li>From the main menu bar, select Grids->Interpolate... The <a
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href="MainMenuDialogs.html#InterpolateDialog">Interpolate
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Dialog</a> is displayed. Choose "By Gaps" and click on OK.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">You should see new grids that appear and fill in the
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gaps that you identified in step 1. If you visualize these grids in
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sequence
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by stepping through them using an MB1 click (or the animator), you will
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notice that the values at each grid point progressively change in time
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to provide a smooth transition from one original grid to the next.<br>
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<br>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Interpolating By Gaps uses all grids in the selected
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time range to calculate new grids to fill the gaps. The other method of
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interpolation uses only the grids that you modified to calculate the
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new
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grids and replaces any grids you did not modify with interpolated grids
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(grids that you have modified are identified in the grid block by an
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"m").
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For example, if you edit two of three grids copied from a model, select
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these grids in the Grid manager and choose Grids->Interpolate... and
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then
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the "Based on Editing Data" from the <a
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href="MainMenuDialogs.html#InterpolateDialog">Interpolation
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Dialog</a>, new interpolated grids will fill the gaps, the unedited
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model
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grids will be replaced by interpolated grids, and the edited grids will
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remain unmodified.
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<p>The interpolation algorithm may be changed through the
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GFE->Editing
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Preferences->Interpolation Algorithm... menu entry. This
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brings up
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the <a href="MainMenuDialogs.html#InterpolationAlgorithmDialog">Interpolation
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Algorithm Dialog</a>, from which the type of interpolation may be
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selected.</p>
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</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="CopyGrids"></a>Copy Grid</h2>
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<div class="Body">Now and then it is useful to copy a grid from one
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time
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period to another. The next exercise shows you how to copy individual
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grids
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from one time to another.</div>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Copy a grid from one time
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period to another.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Body">The method described in this exercise allows you to
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copy
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any grid that is in the Grid Manager to any other weather element,
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provided
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that the destination weather element shares the same units (e.g.,
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Temperature
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and Dew Point) or the units can be converted automatically.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Make sure there is a weather element with at least one grid block
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and
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one
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gap visible.</li>
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<li>MB3 press over the grid you wish to copy and select from the
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pop-up
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menu
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Copy Grid.</li>
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<li>Now move your cursor to a gap in the same Weather Element. Press
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and
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hold
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down MB3 again, and this time select Paste Grid.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">When you executed the Copy Grid operation, a copy of
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that grid was place in a paste buffer. Selecting Paste Grid over a gap
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or another grid replaces that gap or grid with the contents of the copy
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buffer.</div>
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<div class="Body">Load T (temperature) and Td (dewpoint) into the GFE
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(if
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they are not already loaded). Repeat this exercise using one of the T
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grids
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as the source and Td as the destination. Note that you may copy a grid
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from one weather element to a different weather element as long as they
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both share the same units (in this case degrees F) or the units can be
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converted automatically.
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<h2><a name="PasteGrid"></a>Paste Grid</h2>
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Now that you learned to copy a grid, you can paste the same grid into a
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gap or over an existing grid.
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<ul>
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<li>Purpose: Paste a previously copied grid into a new time period.</li>
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</ul>
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<ol>
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<li>Perform the Copy Grid exercise above, if you have not already
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done so.</li>
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<li>Move the cursor over to a gap in the same weather element.</li>
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<li>MB3 press and select Paste Grid.</li>
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</ol>
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Note the the grid that you copied in the previous exercise has now been
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pasted into a different time period.</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="Stretchagridsvalidtimeperiod"></a>Stretch a grid's valid time
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period</h2>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Modify a grid's valid period
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by stretching</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Body">Some weather elements such as Wx, frequently change
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very
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little over long time periods. In this case, rather than repeating the
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same grid over and over, it is useful to define a single grid that is
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valid
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over the entire (longer) time period. This operation shows you how to
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extend
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the time period over which a grid is valid.</div>
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<ol>
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<li class="Step">Press and hold MB2 over a grid block that is
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adjacent to a gap.</li>
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<li class="Step">While holding down MB2, drag the cursor to the left
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or right until you
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see the grid block stretch.</li>
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<li class="Step">Release MB2</li>
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</ol>
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<div class="Body">As you drag MB2 left and right, you should notice
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that
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you are extending the end time of the grid forward in time (right) or
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extending
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the start time backwards in time (left). There is no way to directly
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shrink
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a grid block in time. An indirect method is to <a
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href="#SplitGrids">Split
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the grid</a>, and then <a href="#DeleteGrids">delete the unneeded grid</a>.</div>
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<div class="Body">Repeat this exercise, but this time stretch the grid
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block so that it overlaps into one or more existing grid blocks. Once
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you
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release the mouse button, any grid blocks that overlapped the new grid
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block (or portions thereof) are removed from the inventory. This is one
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way to shorten the time over which a grid block is valid.</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="CreateGridfromScratch"></a>Create Grid from Scratch</h2>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Create a brand new grid
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without using the "Copy
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From..."
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capability.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Body">Occasionally, you may want to create a new grid from
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scratch instead of copying one from a model, or another parameter, or
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by
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using interpolation. The Create From Scratch feature was made for this
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situation.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Press and hold MB3 over a gap (a place with no grid block) within
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an
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editable
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weather element.</li>
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<li>Select Create From Scratch from the pop-up menu.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">A new grid should appear over the gap block that you
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selected. This new grid has the minimum time period allowed for that
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weather
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element, but it can always be stretched or copied to a new time period.
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The default value of this grid varies by parameter, but is usually the
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minimum value allowed (e.g., temperature, value = -30F). Generally the
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next step is to define the values of the grid points using one of the
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Spatial
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Editor tools described in the Spatial Edit tools section.
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<p>Note that you can also <a
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href="GFEMainMenu.html#CreateGridsFromScratch">create
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grids from scratch through the GFE Main Menu's Grid's entry</a>.</p>
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</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="DeleteGrids"></a>Delete Grids</h2>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Remove one or more grids from
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the forecast.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Using MB1, select a time period for any weather element that
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contains
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some
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grid blocks.</li>
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<li>From the main menu bar select <b>Grids->Delete Grids</b>.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">Note that the grids that you identified were removed
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from that weather element's inventory. Now try a variation on the
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previous
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exercise.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Find a grid block and stretch it until its duration is many hours
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long.</li>
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<li>Select a time period that corresponds to a portion of that same
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time
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block
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using MB2,</li>
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<li>From the main menu bar select Grids->Delete Grids.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">This time, since you only selected a portion of the
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grid
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block, only that portion was deleted. This is another way that you can
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shorten the time period over which a grid is valid.
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<p>Another technique can be used to delete a single grid.
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</p>
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<ol>
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<li>Find a grid block.</li>
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<li>MB3 popup over the grid block and select Delete Grid from the
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popup.</li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<h2 class="2Heading">
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<a name="SplitGrids"></a>Split Grids</h2>
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Divide a grid into two or
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three separate grids.</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Body">
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<br>
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The Split operation is used to divide a single grid into two or three
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parts in time. The resulting parts may then be edited independently,
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providing
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more temporal detail to the forecast. This particular split
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operation
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is invoked from the GFE main menu by selecting
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<br>
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Grids->Split Grids. There is another Spilt Grids operation
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that
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can be executed from the MB3 Pop-up menu as well. See the section
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<br>
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<a href="Button3Popups.html#GridManager">Split Grids</a> to learn how
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to split grids using the MB3 Pop-up option.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Select a new time period over a single grid with such that only a
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portion
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of the grid is selected.<img src="images/GFETraining-15.gif"
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align="right" height="44" width="114"></li>
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<li>From the main menu select <b>Grids->Split Grids.</b></li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body"> </div>
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<div class="Body">You should end up with something that looks like the
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figure to the right.<img src="images/GFETraining-16.gif" align="right"
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height="37" width="113">
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<br>
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Note that the grid was severed at the edges of the selection. There
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are three separate grids now, each of which have gridded values
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identical
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to the original grid.</div>
|
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<h2 class="2Heading">
|
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<a name="FragmentGrids"></a>Fragment Grids</h2>
|
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<ul>
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<li class="4Heading"> <b>Purpose:</b> Divide a grid into its
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smallest possible temporal
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parts</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="Body">The Fragment Grids operation also splits grids into
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smaller
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temporal parts. But Fragment differs from Split in that it divides
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grids
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into their smallest possible time blocks.</div>
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<div class="Step-First">
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<ol>
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<li>Find or make a long duration T (temperature) time block as in the
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previous
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exercise and select it using the MB1 drag operation. It should look
|
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something
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like this.<img src="images/GFETraining-17.gif" align="right" height="35"
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width="88"></li>
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<li>From the main menu select <b>Grids->Fragment Grids.</b></li>
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</ol>
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</div>
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<div class="Body">You should now see that over the time period that was
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selected, many smaller duration grids have replaced the long duration
|
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grid.
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If you
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<br>
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select just a portion of the grid, only that portion will be
|
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fragmented.
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Each of the grids has the same gridded values as the original.
|
|
The
|
|
result should look something like this: <img
|
|
src="images/fragment.jpg" nosave="" height="23" width="123">
|
|
<p>Another technique can be used to fragment a single grid from the MB3
|
|
Pop-up menu. See the section on the <a
|
|
href="Button3Popups.html#GridManager">Grid
|
|
Manager Button 3 Pop-up options</a> for more information on how to
|
|
Fragment
|
|
grids using the MB3 Pop-up Menu.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<h2 class="2Heading">Assign Pickup Value</h2>
|
|
<div class="Body">Occasionally you might find it useful to set the
|
|
gridded
|
|
values of a group of grids to the pickup value, as if you were starting
|
|
from scratch. The Assign Pickup Value function was made for this
|
|
situation.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Select one or more grids using the MB1 drag operation.</li>
|
|
<li>From the main menu select <b>Grids->Assign Pickup Value</b>.
|
|
Note
|
|
that the menu doesn't actually say "Pickup Value". The actual
|
|
pickup
|
|
value is displayed instead of the words.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">All of the gridded values of the grid that were
|
|
selected
|
|
now have the current pickup value, which is indicated in the color bar.</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">Note that the Assign Default Pickup operation is also
|
|
available from the MB3 pop-up menu in the Grid Manager, but as with all
|
|
MB3 pop-up menus the operation applies only to the grid under the
|
|
cursor,
|
|
not to the set of selected grids.
|
|
<p>To quickly set the pickup value to a single grid, use this
|
|
technique:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Position the cursor over the grid block you wish to assign the
|
|
pickup
|
|
value
|
|
to.</li>
|
|
<li>MB3 popup over the grid block, and select Assign [x], where x is
|
|
the
|
|
pickup
|
|
value.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<h2 class="2Heading">
|
|
<a name="AssignDefaultValue"></a>Assign Default Value</h2>
|
|
<div class="Body">Occasionally you might find it useful to set the
|
|
gridded
|
|
values of a group of grids to a single default value, as if you were
|
|
starting
|
|
from scratch. The Assign Default Value function was made for this
|
|
situation.</div>
|
|
<div class="Step-First">
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Select one or more grids using the MB1 drag operation.</li>
|
|
<li>From the main menu select Grids->Assign Default Value.
|
|
Note
|
|
that
|
|
the menu doesn't actually say "Default Value". The actual default value
|
|
is displayed instead of the words.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">All of the gridded values of the grid that were
|
|
selected
|
|
now have the default value, which varies for each Weather Element.
|
|
Generally,
|
|
this value is the minimum allowed value for that Weather Element (e.g.,
|
|
Temperature = -60 F).</div>
|
|
<div class="Body">Note that the Assign Default Value operation is also
|
|
available from the MB3 pop-up menu in the Grid Manager, but as with all
|
|
MB3 pop-up menus the operation applies only to the grid under the
|
|
cursor, not to the set of selected grids.
|
|
<p>To quickly set the value of a single grid to the default value,
|
|
use this technique:
|
|
</p>
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>Position the cursor over the grid block you wish to assign the
|
|
default
|
|
value to.</li>
|
|
<br>
|
|
MB3 popup over the grid block, and select Assign [x], where x is the
|
|
default value.
|
|
</ol>
|
|
<h2 class="2Heading">
|
|
<a name="EditActions"></a>Run Smart Tools</h2>
|
|
<div class="Body">A set of smart tools (specified via gfeConfig) may
|
|
appear.
|
|
The default set is "Show_ISC_Area", "Show_ISC_Grid" and
|
|
"Show_ISC_Highlight".
|
|
These tools are described in the <a href="ISC.html">Intersite
|
|
Coordination
|
|
Training Guide</a>.
|
|
<br>
|
|
</body>
|
|
</html>
|