X-Git-Url: http://pileus.org/git/?p=aweather;a=blobdiff_plain;f=docs%2Fuserguide.ad;h=16b8c0f25763b39ab73c11ff32fe9947b88ae80b;hp=f9eebdc5d4bf51c0f7af6ffc0f7532c90928b9d3;hb=f3a11247e091ee9c50e50f402500fdfa29c68245;hpb=ddfd014a5ea589685b11b199c03482119ed03b9f diff --git a/docs/userguide.ad b/docs/userguide.ad index f9eebdc..16b8c0f 100644 --- a/docs/userguide.ad +++ b/docs/userguide.ad @@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ AWeather Users Guide ==================== :Author: Jason Holmes :Email: -:Date: 2012-01-10 -:Revision: 0.6.3 -:Website: http://lug.rose-hulman.edu/proj/aweather/ +:Date: 2013-01-28 +:Revision: 0.8 +:Website: http://pileus.org/aweather/ About and contact information ----------------------------- @@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ limited to the Linux operating system. It is written in a standard GTK+/GObject architecture and features an interactive display utilizing Grits and OpenGL technologies. -The software source code is available for download on the RHLUG server at -git://lug.rose-hulman.edu/proj/aweather. +The software source code is available for download at +git://pileus.org/aweather. -AWeather relies upon the following dependencies: http://www.gtk.org/[gtk+] 2.16 +AWeather relies upon the following dependencies: http://www.gtk.org/[gtk+] 2.18 or later, http://www.gnome.org/[libsoup] 2.26 or later, http://bzip.org/[bzip], http://trmm-fc.gsfc.nasa.gov/trmm_gv/software/rsl[rsl] 1.42 or later, and others. @@ -27,12 +27,12 @@ others. Packaged versions of the software are currently available for Gentoo, Debian, Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OSX operating systems. -The program currently provides data viewing from the standard one dimensional +The program currently provides data viewing from the standard two dimensional plan view to user-defined three-dimensional dynamic views of current and recent radar data. The software was developed and is maintained by Andy Spencer. He may be -contacted through e-mail at andy753421@gmail.com and chat through IRC at #rhlug +contacted through e-mail at andy753421@gmail.com and chat through IRC at #pileus on irc.freenode.net. @@ -45,10 +45,10 @@ Public License (version 3 or later) as published by the Free Software Foundation Data types and sources ---------------------- -AWeather displays U.S. National Weather Service NEXt generation RADar data -(NEXRAD) Level II data. This is the highest resolution form of radar data -available in the public domain and consists of multiple tilts of data updated -every 5 to 10 minutes depending on the current scan mode of each radar. +AWeather displays U.S. National Weather Service NEXt generation RADar (NEXRAD) +Level II data. This is the highest resolution form of radar data available in +the public domain and consists of multiple tilts of data updated every 5 to 10 +minutes depending on the current scan mode of each radar. The following Level II data types are supported by this program: @@ -72,15 +72,19 @@ The following Level II data types are supported by this program: Level II data has been available through private weather data vendors for some time but recently has been generously provided by some universities. -AWeather requires an active internet connection along with a data feed source in +AWeather requires an active internet connection along with a data source in order to retrieve, decode and display current or recent radar data. -The default radar feed is publically accessible thanks to Iowa State University +The default radar feed is publicly accessible thanks to Iowa State University and is located at: http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/data/nexrd2/raw/. AWeather also displays some severe weather alerts provided by the NOAA weather alerts http://alerts.weather.gov/[feed]. +When run under Linux, AWeather can interface with the +http://www.catb.org/gpsd/[GPSd] location services to track and display the +user's current location. + Program layout -------------- @@ -97,7 +101,7 @@ File ~~~~ Offline:: stops the program from downloading data through the internet Refresh:: reloads the current display -Auto-updae:: automatically refresh the the radar after a certain delay +Auto-update:: automatically refresh the the radar after a certain delay Clean cache:: removes data files from the program's internal cache Quit:: closes the program window and exits from memory @@ -125,7 +129,10 @@ Preferences:: opens the preferences window, which contains the following [horizontal] alert checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle the weather alerts elev checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle terrain rendering - env checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle a blue atmosphere + env checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle a blue atmosphere and + compass rose + gps checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle gps tracking + [Linux only] map checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle the map overlays radar checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle the radar data sat checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle satellite ground images @@ -186,6 +193,10 @@ The map and data viewing pane On program startup and when zoomed far from the earth's surface AWeather displays a national radar composite image. +Each available radar site is displayed on the map using the name of a nearby +major city. Clicking on the city label will activate the radar site and center +it in the viewer. + As the user zooms closer to the earth AWeather will automatically activate nearby radar sites. @@ -230,6 +241,11 @@ Panning, zooming and tilt functions AWeather supports the use of the mouse and keyboard commands to change the map window settings. +When the map is rotated, a red and white compass in the top right corner shows +the current direction of North. Clicking on the compass will reset the rotation +so that north points toward the top of the screen and the viewer is pointed +towards the ground. + Mouse usage:: [horizontal] Left click and drag::: Pan the surface of the earth @@ -300,8 +316,8 @@ Some of these enhancements include: * Vertical cross sections * Support for derived L3 data (storm relative motion, echo tops, composite - reflectivity, etc) - * Additional data sources for surface data, etc + reflectivity, etc.) + * Additional data sources for surface data, etc. * Animation support * API for radar algorithms * Additional features