[ncl-talk] NCL plot problem with ascii data

Dennis Shea shea at ucar.edu
Thu Apr 4 18:14:41 MDT 2019


As ncl-talk always mentions: The 1st rule of data processing is: *Look at
your data!*

[1]
The data look like they are sub-sampled from a gridded dataset. Given the
distribution of the locations, I would call this a 'ragged-2d-array.'
Specifically: each latitude  has a different number of points; each
longitude has a different number of points. See plots.

[2]
Due to the ordering of the values on the ascii file, coordinate value
syntax [ *&* ] should not be used. Specifically, the latitude and longitude
values are not monotonic which is a requirement for coordinate arrays.

[3]
The the values are between 100E and 70W. For a limited region, I find is
easier in this instance to use all positive longitudes [or all negative
longitudes]. Hence, I changed a longitude range of 100 to 290.

longitude = *where*
<http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Document/Functions/Built-in/where.shtml>(longitude.lt.0,
longitude+360, longitude)

[4]

For graphics, NCL requires ragged arrays to be treated as an array of
random locations [eg: station data].

  res*@*sfXArray = longitude  ; data values are irregularly spaced
  res*@*sfYArray  = latitude

[5]

The *gsn_coordinates* graphics utility which plot markers at each location
requires that the 1d latitude/longitude be attributes to the variable being
plotted:

  variable*@lon1d*  = longitude
  variable*@lat1d*   = latitude
*  gsn_coordinates
<http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Document/Graphics/Interfaces/gsn_coordinates.shtml>*(wks,contour,variable,mkres)


[6]

The plots alternate between *cnFillMode*
<http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Document/Graphics/Resources/cn.shtml#cnFillMode>
using the default  cnFillMode="AreaFill" and cnFillMode="RasterFill"

In this case, I suggest cnFillMode="RasterFill"

[7] For values that span 0.0, color palettes with *White-in-the-middle*
<http://www.ncl.ucar.edu/Document/Graphics/color_table_gallery.shtml> work
best
======

*%> ncl*  MMali.ncl

=====

Good luck


On Thu, Apr 4, 2019 at 10:06 AM Toni Klemm <toni-klemm at tamu.edu> wrote:

> Hi Ali,
>
> I had this problem before. Since you extracted lat and lon data from
> ASCII, it might be that your data doesn’t have metadata information
> attached that tells NCL what it is (i.e., latitudes and longitudes).
> Without that it is just a bunch of numbers for NCL. You can add this
> metadata by adding this to your code after you extract your latitude and
> longitude variables:
>
>   latitude!0 = "lat"
>   latitude&lat = lat
>   latitude at long_name = "latitude"
>   latitude at units = "degrees_north"
>
>   longitude!0 = "lon"
>   longitude&lon = lon
>   longitude at long_name = "longitude"
>   longitude at units = "degrees_east"
>
> Hope that helps,
> Toni
>
>
>
> *Toni Klemm, Ph.D.*Postdoctoral Research Associate
> Department of Ecosystem Science and Management
> College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
> Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
> Contributor to the Early Career Climate Forum <http://www.eccforum.org>
> www.toni-klemm.de | @toniklemm <http://twitter.com/toniklemm>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 4, 2019, at 2:00 AM, MM Ali <mmali110 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I modified the ce_3.ncl code to read the ascii data. Data and the modified
> ncl code are attached. The variables in the data are dummy, latitude,
> longitude, variable, dummy2. I get the following errors
>
> (0)     check_for_y_lat_coord: Warning: Data either does not contain
> (0)     a valid latitude coordinate array or doesn't contain one at all.
> (0)     A valid latitude coordinate array should have a 'units'
> (0)     attribute equal to one of the following values:
> (0)         'degrees_north' 'degrees-north' 'degree_north' 'degrees north'
> 'degrees_N' 'Degrees_north' 'degree_N' 'degreeN' 'degreesN' 'deg north'
> (0)     check_for_lon_coord: Warning: Data either does not contain
> (0)     a valid longitude coordinate array or doesn't contain one at all.
> (0)     A valid longitude coordinate array should have a 'units'
> (0)     attribute equal to one of the following values:
> (0)         'degrees_east' 'degrees-east' 'degree_east' 'degrees east'
> 'degrees_E' 'Degrees_east' 'degree_E' 'degreeE' 'degreesE' 'deg east'
> (0)     Error: scalar_field: If the input data is 1-dimensional, you must
> set sfXArray and sfYArray to 1-dimensional arrays of the same length.
> warning:create: Bad HLU id passed to create, ignoring it
>
> Please help. It would be great if the necessary corrections are made to
> the code (I am just a few days old for NCL, though 66+ years old!)
> Thanks
> Ali
> *Dr. MM Ali*
> Formerly:
> Scientist G & Group Director
> NRSC/ISRO
> email: mmali110 at gmail.com
>            mmali at coaps.fsu.edu
> Mob: +91 9949045110
> <may.txt><ce3.ncl>_______________________________________________
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