atan2

Computes the inverse tangent of (y/x) for numeric types.

Prototype

	function atan2 (
		y  : numeric,  
		x  : numeric   
	)

	return_val [dimsizes(y)] :  float or double

Arguments

One or more values of any dimension.

One or more values with the same dimension as y

Return value

Returns an array dimensioned the same as input arguments x and y, in radians. The return type is double if the input is double, and float otherwise.

Description

This function returns the inverse tangent of (y/x) in the range -π ≤ return_val ≤ π, using the signs of both arguments to determine the quadrant of the return value. Missing values are ignored.

See Also

acos, asin, atan

Examples

Example 1

Compute the meteorological wind direction given the zonal (u) and meridional (v) wind components. The meteorological direction tells from which direction the wind is blowing.

    r2d = 45.0/atan(1.0)     ; conversion factor (radians to degrees)
    
    u   =  10.0
    v   =  10.0
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 225.0
    
    u   =  10.0
    v   = -10.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 315.0
        
    u   = -10.0
    v   =  10.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 135.0
    
    u   = -10.0
    v   = -10.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir =  45.0
    
    u   =  10.0
    v   =   0.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 270.0
    
    u   = -10.0
    v   =   0.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir =  90.0
    
    u   =   0.0
    v   =  10.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 180.0
    
    u   =   0.0
    v   = -10.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 360.0   [same as 0.0]
    
  
    u   =   0.0
    v   =   0.0  
    dir = atan2(u, v) * r2d + 180   ; ===> dir = 180.0
                                                    [arbitrary]
                                                    [should be undefined]