AWIPS Build OB9 D2D software release notes
These are changes from Build OB8.3.
Note:These are working notes on GSD's part of the
Build OB9 work. Some items may be modified or removed before OB9 hits
the field. Official Release Notes will be posted at the NWS AWIPS
site once the field release is ready.
Infrastructure
- The interpretation of radarsOnMenu settings has changed. Prior to OB9,
scales following an optional colon did not have four-panels enabled. Now
that panel/combo rotate is available and each panel can be viewed full
screen, this option has been eliminated. A colon in radarsOnMenu.txt now
has no function.
- Note also that FAA radars will be added automatically during localization,
in the absence of a LLL-radarsOnMenu.txt file. If such a file is used, however,
it will need to include any desired FAA (and TDWR) radars.
Graphics/image workstation
New features
- Feature-following zoom: Using the distance/speed tool, one can set a
motion vector along which frame animation will proceed. This allows you to
view a storm in a Lagrangian reference frame. Once you have established the
feature motion with Distance/Speed, select Feature Following Zoom from the
Tools menu and the frames will reload with the tracked location remaining in
the center of the display.
- Radar:
- Data from FAA (ASR-11/ARSR-4) radars are available at most sites. These
surveillance radars provide fill-in coverage in data gap areas. The ASR-11 uses
a vertical fan beam that produces something like an 88D composite reflectivity,
and the ARSR-4 product is similar to a hybrid scan as it uses lower-angle beams
at increasing range. Since they differ from 88D/TDWR products, it was decided
to call them simply "Reflectivity" on the menus, which appear in the top section
of the Radar menu. When appropriate, these will also participate in radar
mosaics – by default, as part of the Hybrid Scan Reflectivity mosaic.
- A new feature for four-panel displays is the ability to view each of the
products individually, full-screen, while optionally sampling the contents of
all (up to eight) components. Pop-up menu selectors and keyboard shortcuts allow
you to select the component of interest. While this is primarily directed at
radar data (future dual-polarization products, in particular), it can be used
for any four-panel presentation.
- Satellite:
- Volume Browser:
- A new Temp column appears in the Planes section to accommodate new
temperature-level CAPPIs.
- WarnGen:
Improvements
- Radar:
- The as-delivered 88D radar menus are the same as in OB8.3. However, a
turnkey script is included in OB9 to convert the menu layout to a
dual-pol-focused form, should dual-pol data become available from your
radar(s).
- Satellite:
- Volume Browser:
- With the addition of several more grid sources, the Sources menu became
unwieldy. To reduce the length of the menus, the former Grid and Other sections
were refactored into Volume, SfcGrid, Point, and (optionally) Local. The
components of these menus are laid out in a new configuration file,
/awips/fxa/data/vb/browserSourceMenuMaster.txt. New in OB9 is also the ability
to include submenus in the Sources menus (via settings in this file), though
none are present in the default version.
- A site may now choose to use two rows of selectors in the volume browser
menus (Sources, Fields, Planes). This will be of interest primarily for those
sites that use the "ingredients based" Fields layout, as the newly organized
menus may result in a too-wide window. The two-row configuration is effected
by a setting in ws.config.
- Some display features that previously did not work for VB-based radar
displays now do. These include Original and Current, based on the Home location;
Alter to select another radar; and Data Scale.
- The Planes > Misc > Radar Tilts submenu has been replaced by a Tilts
menu under Planes.
- Planes > Layers now includes a thin layers submenu and a Temp section containing some temperature
layers.
- WarnGen:
- other stuff?
Non-GSD work that affects the UI
- METAR plots now include peak wind, when reported. (DR16907; Raytheon)
- New polar orbiter-based blended precip water products (total and percent
of normal) are added to the Satellite > Derived Products Imagery menu. Default
color tables for these are added, under Sat > Precip Water. (DCS3491; Raytheon)
- A new set of satellite winds is added. The MTSAT High Density Winds submenu
is found in Satellite > Derived Products Plots between GOES High Density Winds
and Scatterometer Winds. (DCS3492; Raytheon)
- The NCEP/Hydro > CPC Outlook Grids menu now consists of three submenus
– "Short Range, 6-10 day", "Medium Range, 8-14 day", and "Long Range,
30 day or above" – the latter being the previous menu. The new products
are delivered daily. (DCS3496; Raytheon)
- Several WarnGen templates have been changed to include a "No call to
action" selection. When there is a Call to Action, it now will be surrounded
by Common Alerting Protocol tags - a header reading "PRECAUTIONARY/PREPARDNESS ACTIONS..." will precede the Call to Action text, and a "&&" marker will follow.
(DCS3494; Raytheon)
- New Great Lakes wave model grids will be added to the Volume Browser at
selected WFOs. (DCS3497; Raytheon)
Bug fixes
New bugs
Text workstation
New features
Improvements
Non-GSD work that affects the UI
Bug fixes
LDAD
New features
Improvements
Bug fixes
This page is maintained by Joe Wakefield.
Last modified: 15 Aug 08