Distance/Time/Motion

Distance Bearing tool

The Distance Bearing tool, when selected, displays six different lines in the main display panel. Each line shows the AZ/RAN information for the labeled end of the line relative to the unlabeled end of the line. The lines are made editable by default.

Distance Speed tool

The Distance Speed tool can be used to determine the linear speed and direction of a storm or other meteorological feature by tracking a point or polyline (note vertices can be added to the line with a Middle-Mouse click). When this tool is selected, a circular marker will be displayed in the main display panel that the AWIPS-2 operator can move to the feature they wish to track. By moving the frames forward/backward to a different time, and moving the marker again to the feature, the forecaster will get a motion track with the speed or time information based on the previously edited location and the newly edited location. With "Speed" selected, the track's direction (in degrees) and speed (in knots) are displayed. With "Time" selected, the times of the beginning, end, and future position are displayed. When using the polyline mode the line must be grabbed and not the dot. Because the tool only uses two positions to create the track, an important best practice is to step multiple frames between repositioning the dot, so you won’t generate noisy, poor-quality motions. This tool works similarly to the WarnGen storm motion tool (see “WarnGen”).

Feature Following Zoom (FFZ)

The Feature Following Zoom (FFZ) tool allows a forecaster to loop a series of images that stays centered on a specific tracked feature rather than staying centered on a geographic point. The FFZ can also be used on any zoom scale. Overall, this has two primary benefits for a forecaster. One, the forecaster can perceive relative evolution more effectively with the feature always in the center of the display. Two, they can zoom in and see far greater detail throughout the loop than they could with a geographic based center for the loop.

The FFZ utilizes the Distance-Speed tool to determine where the floating center point will be located. This brings up two key points to remember when using FFZ. The first is that the most recent Distance-Speed tool or WarnGen track loaded will be used by FFZ. In other words, any update to these tools will cause FFZ to update. Second, the Distance-Speed tool only allows for linear motion, and it typically works best if the earliest and latest times in the frame sequence are used to track the feature. Non-linear motions of storms cannot be followed with FFZ.

Time of Arrival / Lead Time tool

The Time of Arrival / Lead Time tool is used to create a track for a point or line similar to the Distance Speed Tool, but it also allows the user to identify a point to calculate time of arrival. The Arrival Point can be dragged along and ahead of the track, within a circular front that expands along the track, and the time of arrival of that front is displayed.

Sunrise/Sunset

The sunrise/sunset calculator displays the times and azimuths of sunrise and sunset at a given point for a given date (either lat/lon or using cursor home). Just enter in your location/time and click the Calculate button. This can be used to explain the daily sunrise and sunset spikes in radar data.