Contour plots

A combination of three variables, as well as wind vectors and location markers, could be plotted by PostWRF.

Note

Line colors, font sizes, etc., can be modified by changing the relevant variables in namelist.wrf

Example 1

Two line contours plus the locations of some points (specified in ‘Data extraction’ section of namelist.wrf):

================ CONTOUR PLOT =================
=============================================
CONTOUR_ON_OFF = 1
!!! Variable_1 by line contours !!!
1st_Variable_on_off = 1
1st_Variable_name = tc
1st_Variable_pressure_level = 700
1st_Variable_intervals = 4
1st_Variable_line_color = red
1st_Variable_line_thickness = 0.5
1st_Variable_label_size = 0.5
!!! Variable_2 by (broken) line contours !!!
2nd_Variable_on_off = 1
2nd_Variable_name = PBLH
2nd_Variable_pressure_level = 0
2nd_Variable_intervals = 500
2nd_Variable_line_color = blue
2nd_Variable_line_thickness = 0.5
2nd_Variable_label_size = 0.5
2nd_Variable_brokenline_on_off = 0
!!! Variable_3 by filled (colored) contours !!!
3rd_Variable_on_off = 0
3rd_Variable_name = pvo
3rd_Variable_pressure_level = 0,
Wind_Vectors_on_off = 0
Wind_Vectors_pressure_level = 700
Wind_Vectors_speed (m/s) = 5
Wind_Vectors_density = 0.5
Wind_Vectors_color = blue
Wind_Vectors_thickness = 0.5
Location_point_mark_on_off = 1
Location_labels_on_off = 1
Location_labels_size = 0.2
Location_labels_color = black
Shapefile_on-off = 0
Shapefile_path = /home/ah/postwrf/modules/iran_provinces/all.shp
————————————————————————————————-

Output image at a specific time-slot in the WRF output is as bellow:

map to buried treasure

Overlaid line contours and some locations

Example 2

Shaded contour of a polynomial (tk * (rh/100)^2)

During the processing, several questions, such as the color pattern of the contours, name and unit of the polynomial, and file format will be asked from the usr.

The user can specify a pressure level for each variable names, with exactly the same number as the variable names (2 values, corresponded to tk and rh for this example). If only one value is set for 3rd_Variable_pressure_level, all the variables (tk and rh) will be plotted at the same pressure level.

================ CONTOUR PLOT =================
=============================================
CONTOUR_ON_OFF = 1
!!! Variable_1 by line contours !!!
1st_Variable_on_off = 0
1st_Variable_name = tc
1st_Variable_pressure_level = 500
1st_Variable_intervals = 3
1st_Variable_line_color = red
1st_Variable_line_thickness = 0.7
1st_Variable_label_size = 0.7
!!! Variable_2 by (broken) line contours !!!
2nd_Variable_on_off = 0
2nd_Variable_name = T2
2nd_Variable_pressure_level = 0
2nd_Variable_intervals = 0
2nd_Variable_line_color = brown
2nd_Variable_line_thickness = 0.7
2nd_Variable_label_size = 0.7
2nd_Variable_brokenline_on_off = 1
!!! Variable_3 by filled (colored) contours !!!
3rd_Variable_on_off = 1
3rd_Variable_name = tk * (rh/100)^2
3rd_Variable_pressure_level = 650, 700
Wind_Vectors_on_off = 1
Wind_Vectors_pressure_level = 700
Wind_Vectors_speed (m/s) = 5
Wind_Vectors_density = 0.5
Wind_Vectors_color = yellow
Wind_Vectors_thickness = 0.7
Location_point_mark_on_off = 1
Location_labels_on_off = 1
Location_labels_size = 0.2
Location_labels_color = black
Shapefile_on-off = 0
Shapefile_path = /home/ah/postwrf/modules/iran_provinces/all.shp
————————————————————————————————-

Output image at a specific time-slot in the WRF output is as bellow:

map to buried treasure

Shaded contours, overlaid by wind vectors

Example 3

Panel plot of a shaded and a line contour

================ CONTOUR PLOT =================
=============================================
CONTOUR_ON_OFF = 1
!!! Variable_1 by line contours !!!
1st_Variable_on_off = 1
1st_Variable_name = tc
1st_Variable_pressure_level = 500
1st_Variable_intervals = 4
1st_Variable_line_color = red
1st_Variable_line_thickness = 0.7
1st_Variable_label_size = 0.7
!!! Variable_2 by (broken) line contours !!!
2nd_Variable_on_off = 0
2nd_Variable_name = T2
2nd_Variable_pressure_level = 0
2nd_Variable_intervals = 0
2nd_Variable_line_color = brown
2nd_Variable_line_thickness = 0.7
2nd_Variable_label_size = 0.7
2nd_Variable_brokenline_on_off = 1
!!! Variable_3 by filled (colored) contours !!!
3rd_Variable_on_off = 1
3rd_Variable_name = dust_pm10
3rd_Variable_pressure_level = 0
Wind_Vectors_on_off = 0
Wind_Vectors_pressure_level = 700
Wind_Vectors_speed (m/s) = 5
Wind_Vectors_density = 0.5
Wind_Vectors_color = yellow
Wind_Vectors_thickness = 0.7
Location_point_mark_on_off = 0
Location_labels_on_off = 1
Location_labels_size = 0.2
Location_labels_color = black
Shapefile_on-off = 0
Shapefile_path = /home/ah/postwrf/modules/iran_provinces/all.shp
————————————————————————————————-

Panel plot is a capability of PostWRF which must be set in the General settings section of namelist.wrf

============== GENERAL SETTINGS ===============
=============================================
spin-up_time (hours) = 12
averaging_on_off = 0
average_time (hours) = 12
panel_plot__on_off = 1
panel_plot__rows_number = 2
panel_plot__columns_number = 3
smooth_maps_on_off = 1
map_borderline_color = black
map_borderline_thickness = 0.7
map_filled_ocean_on_off = 1
map_gridlines_on_off = 1
plot_titles_on_off = 0
————————————————————————————————-

Output image at a specific time-slot in the WRF output is as bellow:

map to buried treasure

Contour maps as panel plots