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<!--Copyright (C) 1988-2005 by the Institute of Global Environment and Society (IGES). See file COPYRIGHT for more information.-->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/NewIGES.css">
<body bgcolor="#e0f0ff">
<h1><u>Using Preprojected Grids</u></h1>
<ul>
<span class="plaintext"><a href="#polar">Polar Stereo Preprojected Data</a><br>
<a href="#lambert">Lambert Conformal Preprojected Data</a><br>
<a href="#eta">NMC Eta model</a><br>
<a href="#nmc">NMC high accuracy polar stereo for SSM/I data</a><br>
<a href="#csu">CSU RAMS Oblique Polar Stereo Grids</a><br>
<a href="#pit">Pitfalls when using preprojected data</a> </span>
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<ul>
<b><span class="plaintext">Preprojected</span></b><span class="plaintext"> data
are data <b>already</b> on a map projection. GrADS supports four types of preprojected
data: </span>
<p>
<ol>
<li class="plaintext">N polar stereo (NMC model projection);
<li class="plaintext">S polar stereo (NMC model projection) ;
<li class="plaintext">Lambert Conformal (originally for Navy NORAPS model);
<li class="plaintext">NMC eta model (unstaggered).
<li class="plaintext">More precise N and S polar stereo (hi res SSM/I data)
<li class="plaintext">Colorado State University RAMS model (oblique polar
stereo; beta)<br>
When preprojected grids are opened in GrADS, bilinear interpolation constants
are calculated and all date are displayed on an internal GrADS lat/lon grid
defined by the <code>xdef</code> and <code>ydef</code> card in the data
description or <code>.ctl</code> file (that's why it takes longer to "open"
a preprojected grid data set).
<p class="plaintext"> It is very important to point out that the internal
GrADS grid can be any grid as it is completely independent of the preprojected
data grid. Thus, there is nothing stopping you displaying preprojected
data on a very high res lon/lat grid (again, defined in the <code>.ctl</code>
by <code>xdef</code> and <code>ydef</code>). In fact, you could create
and open multiple .ctl files with different resolutions and/or regions
which pointed to the same preprojected data file.
<p class="plaintext"> When you do a <a
href="gradcomddisplay.html"><code>display</code></a> (i.e., get a grid of data),
the preprojected data are bilinearly interpolated to the GrADS internal
lat/lon grid. For preprojected scalar fields (e.g., 500 mb heights), the
display is adequate and the precision of the interpolation can be controlled
by <code>xdef</code> and <code>ydef</code> to define a higher spatial
resolution grid.
<p class="plaintext"> The big virtue of this approach is that all built
in GrADS analytic functions (e.g., <a
href="gradfuncaave.html"><code>aave</code></a>, <a href="gradfunchcurl.html"><code>hcurl</code></a>...)
continue to work even though the data were not originally on a lon/lat
grid. The downside is that you are not looking directly at your data on
a geographic map. However, one could always define a .ctl file which simply
opened the data file as i,j data and displayed without the map (<a href="gradcomdsetmpdraw.html"><code>set
mpdraw</code></a><code> off</code>). So, in my opinion, this compromise
is not that limiting even if as a modeller you wanted to look at the grid--you
just don't get the map background.
<p> <span class="plaintext"><code>Preprojected vector fields</code> are
a little trickier, depending on whether the vector is defined relative
to the data grid or relative to the Earth. For example, NMC polar stereo
grids use winds relative to the data grid and thus must be rotated to
the internal GrADS lat/lon grid (again defined in the <code>.ctl</code>
file by the <code>xdef</code> and <code>ydef</code> cards). </span>
<p class="plaintext"> The only potential problem with working with preprojected
data is defining the projection for GrADS. This is accomplished using
a <code>pdef</code> card in the data descriptor <code>.ctl</code> file.
</ol>
</ul>
<span class="plaintext"><br>
</span> <br>
<span class="plaintextbold"><a name="polar"></a>Polar Stereographic Preprojected
Data</span>
<p>
<ul>
<span class="plaintext">Preprojected data on polar stereographic projections
(N and S) is defined as at NMC. For the NCEP model GRIB data distributed via
anon ftp from ftp.ncep.noaa.gov, the <code>pdef</code> card is: </span>
<p>
<ul>
<span class="plaintext"><code> pdef isize jsize projtype ipole jpole lonref
gridinc<br>
pdef 53 45 nps 27 49 -105 190.5 </code> </span>
</ul>
<p class="plaintext"> where,
<p>
<ul>
<span class="plaintext"><code>ipole</code> and <code>jpole</code> are the
(i,j) of the pole referenced from the lower left corner at (1,1) and <code>gridinc</code>
is the dx in km. </span>
</ul>
<p>
<p><br>
<br>
<a name="lambert"><b><i>Lambert Conformal Preprojected Data</i></b></a>
</ul>
<p>
<ul>
The Lambert Conformal projection (lcc) was implemented for use with data from
the U.S. Navy's limited area model NORAPS. Thus, to work with your lcc data
you must express your grid in the context of the Navy lcc grid.
<p> A typical NORAPS Lambert-Conformal grid is described below, including the
C code which sets up the internal interpolation.
<p> The<code> pdef record for a typical NORAPS Lambert-Conformal grid might
be:</code><code> <br>
pdef 103 69 lcc 30 -88 51.5 34.5 20 40 -88 90000 90000 <br>
</code> </p>
<p> where,
<p>
<ul>
<code>103 </code>= #pts in x <br>
<code>69 </code>= #pts in y <br>
<code>lcc </code>= Lambert-Conformal <br>
<code>30 </code>= lat of ref point <br>
<code>88 </code>= lon of ref point (E is positive,
W is negative) <br>
<code>51.5 </code>= i of ref point <br>
<code>34.5 </code>= j of ref point <br>
<code>20 </code>= S true lat <br>
<code>40 </code>= N true lat <br>
<code>88 </code>= standard lon <br>
<code>90000 </code>= dx in M <br>
<code>90000 </code>= dy in M
</ul>
<p> <br>
<br>
<a name="eta"><b><i>NMC Eta model (unstaggered grids)</i></b></a>
</ul>
<p>
<ul>
The NMC eta model "native" grid is awkward to work with because the variables
are on staggered (e.g., the grid for winds is not the same as the grid for mass
points) <i>and</i> non rectangular (number of points in i is <i>not</i> constant
with j) grids. Because any contouring of irregularly gridded data involves interpolation
at some point, NMC creates "unstaggered" eta model fields for practical application
programs such as GrADS. In the unstaggered grids all variables are placed on
a common <i>and</i> rectangular grid (the mass points).
<p> Wind rotation has also been added so that vector data will be properly displayed.
<p> The pdef card for a typical eta model grid is:
<p>
<ul>
<code>pdef 181 136 eta.u -97.0 41.0 0.38888888 0.37037037</code>
<p> <code>181</code> = #pts
in x <br>
<code>136</code> = #pts
in y <br>
<code>eta.u</code> = eta grid, unstaggered<br>
<code>-97.0</code> = lon of ref point (E is positive
in GrADS, W is negative) [deg] <br>
<code>41.0</code> = lat of ref point
[deg] <br>
<code>0.3888</code> = dlon [deg] <br>
<code>0.37037</code> = dlat [deg]
</ul>
<p>
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<a name="nmc"><b><i>NMC high accuracy polar stereo for SSM/I data</i></b></a>
<p>
<ul>
The polar stereo projection used by the original NMC models is not very precise
because it assumes the earth is round (eccentricity = 0). While this approximation
was reasonable for coarse resolution NWP models, it is inadequate to work with
higher resolution data such as SSM/I.
<p> <i>Wind rotation has not been implemented!!! Use only for scalar fields.</i>
<p>
<ul>
<code>pdef ni nj pse slat slon polei polej dx dy sgn</code>
<p> <code>ni</code>
= # points in x <br>
<code>nj</code> =
# points in y <br>
<code>slat</code> = absolute value of the
standard latitude <br>
<code>slon</code> = absolute value of the
standard longitude <br>
<code>pse</code> = polar stereo,
"eccentric"<br>
<code>polei</code> = x index position of the pole (where
(0,0) is the index of the first point vice the more typical (1,1) ) <br>
<code>polej</code> = y index position of the pole (where
(0,0) is the index of the first point vice the more typical (1,1) ) <br>
<code>dx</code> =
delta x in km <br>
<code>dy</code> =
delta y in km <br>
<code>sgn</code> = 1 for N polar
stereo and -1 for S polar stereo
</ul>
<p> Source code in GrADS for the lon,lat -> i,j mapping:
<p>
<pre>
</pre>
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<a name="csu"><b><i>Oblique Polar Stereo Grids</i></b></a>
<p>
<ul>
The CSU RAMS model uses an oblique polar stereo projection. <i>Wind rotation
has not been implemented!!! Use only for scalar fields.</i>
<p>
<ul>
<code> pdef 26 16 ops 40.0 -100.0 90000.0 90000.0 14.0 9.0 180000.0 180000.0</code>
<p> <code>26</code>
= #pts in x <br>
<code>16</code>
= #pts in y <br>
<code>ops</code>
= oblique polar stereo<br>
<code>40.0</code>
= lat of ref point (14.0, 9.0) <br>
<code>-100.0</code> = lon of ref point (14.0,
9.0 (E is positive in GrADS, W is negative) <br>
<code>90000.0</code> = xref offset [m] <br>
<code>90000.0</code> = yref offset [m]<br>
<code>14.0</code>
= i of ref point <br>
<code>9.0</code>
= j of ref point <br>
<code>180000.0</code> = dx [m] <br>
<code>180000.0</code> = dy [m]
</ul>
<p>
<p>
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<a name="pit"><b><i>Pitfalls when using preprojected data</i></b></a>
<p>
<ul>
There are a few <i>gotchas</i> with using preprojected data:
<p>
<ol>
<li>the units in the variable definition for the <code>u</code> and <code>v</code>
components <b>must</b> be <code>33</code> and <code>34</code> (the GRIB
standard) respectively, e.g.,
<p>
<ul>
<code>u 15 33</code> u component of the wind at 15 pressure
levels <br>
<code>v 15 34</code> v component of the wind at 15 pressure
levels
</ul>
<p>
<li>wind rotation is handled for polar stereo (N and S) preprojected data,
but <i>not</i> for Lambert Conformal, as the Navy rotates the winds relative
to earth.
<li>the <code>eta.u</code> <b>and</b> <code>ops</code> projection are still
experimental...
</ol>
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<a name="proj">
<h2><u>GrADS Display Projections</u></h2>
</a>
<ul>
Now that you hopefully understand GrADS data grids, it is time to discuss display
projections. Graphics in GrADS are calculated relative to the internal GrADS
data grid <code>i,j</code> space, transformed to the display device coordinates
(e.g., the screen) and then displayed. That is, the i,j of the graphic element
is converted to <code>lat/lon</code> and then to <code>x,y</code> on the screen
via a map projection.
<p> GrADS currently supports four <code>display projections</code>:
<p>
<ul>
<li>lat/lon (or spherical);
<li>N polar stereo (<a href="gradcomdsetmproj.html"><code>set mproj</code></a><code>
nps</code>);
<li>S polar stereo (<a href="gradcomdsetmproj.html"><code>set mproj</code></a><code>
sps</code>);
<li>the Robinson projection (set lon -180 180, set lat -90 90, set mproj robinson).
</ul>
<p> As you can probably appreciate, the i,j-to-lon/lat-to-screen x,y for <code>lon/lat</code>
displays is very simple and is considerably more complicated for N and S <code>polar
stereo</code> projections.
<p> In principle, a Lambert Conformal display projection could be implemented.
It just takes work and a simple user interface for setting up that display
projection. Actually, the user interface (i.e., "set" calls) is the most difficult
problem...
</ul>
<br>
<br>
<a name="summary">
<h2><u>Summary and Plans</u></h2>
</a>
<ul>
GrADS handles map projections in two different ways. The first is preprojected
data where the fields are <i>already</i> on a projection (e.g., Lambert Conformal).
It is fairly straightforward to implement other preprojected data projections
and we will be fully implementing the NMC eta grid both staggered and unstaggered,
"thinned" gaussian grids and the CSU RAMS oblique polar stereo projection. The
second is in how i,j graphics (calculated in "grid" space) are displayed on
a map background. Currently, only a few basic projections (lon/lat, polar stereo
and robinson) are supported, but perhaps the development group will tackle this
problem.
</ul>
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