NCL Graphics: Plotting WRF-ARW on Mercator projection

This suite of examples uses various gsn_csm scripts to plot WRF-ARW data.

The examples below reference WRF output files that are defined on a Mercator map projection, but these scripts should work for WRF data on other map projections as well. You can identify what map projection your WRF output file is on by looking at the "MAP_PROJ" global attribute on the file:

MAP_PROJ = 0 --> "CylindricalEquidistant"
MAP_PROJ = 1 --> "LambertConformal"
MAP_PROJ = 2 --> "Stereographic"
MAP_PROJ = 3 --> "Mercator"
MAP_PROJ = 6 --> "Lat/Lon"

Newer WRF files have a "MAP_PROJ_CHAR" attribute that give you the projection as a string.

To plot WRF-ARW data with the gsn_csm scripts in the native map projection defined on the file, you must do three things:

Call wrf_map_resources
This sets the necessary NCL resources to define the native map projection.
Set tfDoNDCOverlay = True
By default, when data are placed onto a map, NCL performs a transformation to the specified projection. This transformation is not needed if you have defined the native grid that your data is on. Setting tfDoNDCOverlay = True turns off this transformation, and also results in faster graphic generation.
Set gsnAddCyclic = False
The gsm_csm_*map* suite of interfaces expect global data, and hence they may try to add a longitude cyclic point. If plotting regional data, it is necessary to set gsnAddCyclic = False to prevent the longitude cyclic point from being added.

For more examples using gsn_csm plotting functions to plot WRF-ARW data, see the WRF-GSN plotting page.

For a suite of examples using WRF plotting functions to plot WRF-ARW data, we recommend that you visit the WRF-ARW Online Tutorial.

WRF_me_1.ncl: This script creates a basic black-and-white contour plot at a specified time and level, using the native Mercator map projection defined on the file.

The function wrf_map_resources queries the WRF output file to set the necessary map resources. You must also set tfDoNDCOverlay to False to indicate you are plotting over a native map projection, and gsnAddCyclic to False to indicate this data is regional and not global.

WRF_me_2.ncl WRF_lc_2.ncl: This script is similar to the previous one, except color-filled contours are created.

cnFillOn = True turns on color contours while cnFillPalette = "BlAqGrYeOrReVi200" allows the user to change the color map to the BlAqGrYeOrReVi200 color map. The color map can be chosen from a set of available color tables or created using various other techniques such as specifying named colors or RGB triplets.

WRF_me_3.ncl: This script panels three different variables at the same time step. Using the cnFillPalette resource, you can assign a color map to each variable you want to plot. This resource can be set to any one of NCL's maps predefined color maps or you can create your own color map in various ways. See the color fill page for some examples.

gsn_panel is the procedure that controls the placement of multiple plots on a page. It expects a different resource variable (e.g. res vs. panel_res) since there are several panel-only options. The panel example page demonstrates these options.

WRF_me_4.ncl: Reads a variable from across multiple files using addfiles.