14,                   THE SKEW-T SCREEN
14,
11,The Skew-T screen has two functional areas. Indices and
11,thermodynamic information share the left side of the screen
11,with a list of options; the balance of the screen is used as
11,a workspace for viewing and editing the sounding.
11,
11,The workspace contains a pressure scale (mb) along the
11,vertical axis, and a temperature scale (Celsius) along the
11,bottom horizontal axis. Pressure levels are denoted by
11,horizontal lines, and isotherms are represented by slanted
11,dashed lines. Dry adiabats are depicted by curved lines
11,running diagonally upward from right to left; the sounding
11,identification and date appear along the top of the screen.
11,
14,                        FEATURES
14,
10,CONVECTIVE INDICES:
10,
11,* Convective indices include the lifted (LI), total totals
11,  (TT), Theta-e (TEI), K, SWEAT, and the convective CAP.
11,  Index values update after editing the sounding.
11,
10,CURSOR DATA:
11,
11,* Displays pressure (mb), height (AGL, meters and feet),
11,  mixing ratio (w, g/kg), potential temperature (K), and
11,  temperature (Celsius and Fahrenheit) at the cursor; also
11,  displays the surface temperature (Ts) that would result
11,  after mixing a layer up to the cursor position (height).
11,
10,RAOB DATA:
10,
11,* RAOB DATA displays pressure (P, mb), temperature
11,  (T, Celsius), dew point (Td, Celsius), dew point depression
11,  (Tdd, Celsius), and wind (direction/knots) from the actual
11,  RAOB. Data points are interpolated every 50 mbs; RAOB DATA
11,  represents interpolated values nearest to the cursor.
11,
14,   SPACEBAR for more help...ESC returns to sounding screen
14,                   SOUNDING OPTIONS
14,
11,F1 - Rescales the sounding to 400 mb. This allows greater
11,     low-level resolution, and facilitates editing. F1 also
11,     toggles back to the original scale.
11,
11,F2 - Displays four options for defining the parcel to be
11,     lifted (e.g. PMAX, SFC, MEAN, and SELECT). The
11,     selected parcel defines the LPL (lifted parcel level),
11,     and is used in subsequent buoyancy-related calculations.
11,     The program defaults to PMAX (the most unstable parcel
11,     within the lowest 150 mb) if option F2 isn't used.
11,
11,F3 - Calculates and displays the positive and negative areas
11,     encountered by a non-entraining parcel (LPL) ascending
11,     adiabatically through the given sounding environment. F3
11,     also computes and displays the EL (equilibrium level),
11,     MPL (max parcel level), LPL (lifted parcel level), LCL
11,     (lifted condensation level), FZL (freezing level), WBZ
11,     (wet bulb zero) and PW (precipitable water).
11,
11,F4 - Draws a saturation adiabat at the cursor position. Since
11,     a vertical temperature lapse rate between the moist and
11,     dry adiabatic indicates conditional instability, F4 can
11,     define layers that are unstable for saturated parcels.
11,
11,F5 - Displays the vertical wet-bulb temperature profile. This
11,     provides useful information for assessing convectively
11,     unstable layers, hail size and/or downdraft potential.
11,
11,F6 - Discards changes due to editing, and resets to the
11,     original/most recently saved version of the sounding.
11,
11,F7 - Displays the on-line help screen.
11,
11,F8 - Saves an edited sounding as a modified sounding.
11,
11,F9 - Returns the main parameter screen.
11,
14,  SPACEBAR for more help...ESC returns to sounding screen
14,                   EDITING THE SOUNDING
14,
10,MOUSE FUNCTIONS:
11,
11,* Cursor movement and editing are controlled with the mouse.
11,
11,* The left button is used for editing. Clicking signifies
11,  pressing and quickly releasing the button. Dragging refers
11,  to pressing and holding the button while moving the cursor.
11,
11,* Clicking the right button re-draws the sounding and
11,  includes any edited changes.
11,
10,EDITING:
11,
11,* To edit the sounding, move the cursor to a desired point on
11,  the temperature or dew point curve, then press and hold the
11,  left button. The cursor will attach to the selected point,
11,  and remain attached as long as the button is depressed. In
11,  addition, CURSOR DATA highlights the temperature at the
11,  cursor position as long as the button remains depressed.
11,
11,* After pressing the left button, drag the cursor to a
11,  temperature that you wish to portray, using the highlighted
11,  temperature in CURSOR DATA as a guide. After reaching the
11,  target temperature, release the button, and the sounding
11,  will update to reflect the change. Any parameters that
11,  depend on the vertical profile of temperature or dew point
11,  will also update after editing.
11,
11,* When surface conditions are near saturation, the cursor
11,  has difficulty distinguishing between the temperature and
11,  dew point. To avoid editing problems, select option F1 to
11,  gain greater low-level resolution. Then place the cursor
11,  below and to the left (right) of the surface dew point
11,  (temperature). After pressing the left button, the cursor
11,  will move directly to the surface dewpoint (temperature)
11,  and editing can resume as outlined above.
11,
14,  SPACEBAR for more help...ESC returns to sounding screen