Moveable Feast: A Distributed-Data Case Study Engine for Yotc

Abstract:

The promise of YOTC, a richly detailed global view of the tropical atmosphere and its processes down to 1/4 degree resolution, can now be attained without a lot of downloading and programming chores. Many YOTC datasets are served online: all the global reanalyses, including the YOTC-specific ECMWF 1/4 degree set, as well as satellite data including IR and TRMM 3B42. Data integration and visualization are easy with a new YOTC 'case study engine' in the free, all-platform, click-to-install Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) software from Unidata. All the dataset access points, along with many evocative and adjustable display layers, can be loaded with a single click (and then a few minutes wait), using the special YOTC bundle in the Mapes IDV collection (http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/users/bmapes/MapesIDVcollection.html). Time ranges can be adjusted with a calendar widget, and spatial subset regions can be selected with a shift-rubberband mouse operation.

The talk will showcase visualizations of several YOTC weather events and process estimates, and give a view of how these and any other YOTC cases can be reproduced on any networked computer.