**Hydroview/MPE**

**User's Guide**

**February 14, 2006**

**Build OB6**

**NWS Office of Hydrologic Development**

![](media/image1.wmf){width="6.413888888888889in"
height="6.2131944444444445in"}

**TABLE OF CONT**ENTS

[1.0 Introduction 1](#introduction)

[2.0 New Features in Hydroview/MPE 1](#new-features-in-hydroviewmpe)

[2.1 Questionable and Bad Data Window Enhancements
1](#questionable-and-bad-data-window-enhancements)

[3.0 The Hydroview/MPE Graphical User Interface
3](#the-hydroviewmpe-graphical-user-interface)

[3.1 The Main Window 3](#the-main-window)

[3.2 The Main Menubar 3](#the-main-menubar)

[3.2.1 File Menu Options 3](#file-menu-options)

[3.2.1.1 Save as Gif 4](#save-as-gif)

[3.2.1.2 Print Image 4](#print-image)

[3.2.1.3 Print Reverse Image 4](#print-reverse-image)

[3.2.1.4 Close 4](#close)

[3.2.2 Tools Menu Options 4](#tools-menu-options)

[3.2.2.1 Areal Zoom 5](#areal-zoom)

[3.2.2.2 Point Zoom 5](#point-zoom)

[3.2.2.3 Pan 5](#pan)

[3.2.2.4 Recenter 5](#recenter)

[3.2.2.5 Tool Bar 6](#tool-bar)

[3.2.3 Projections Menu Options 6](#projections-menu-options)

[3.2.4 Overlays Menu Options 7](#overlays-menu-options)

[3.2.5 Live Data Menu Options 9](#live-data-menu-options)

[3.2.5.1 Station Data 9](#station-data)

[3.2.5.2 Flash Flood Guidance 10](#flash-flood-guidance)

[3.2.5.3 Time Series Control 12](#time-series-control)

[3.2.5.4 Dam Locations 12](#dam-locations)

[3.2.5.5 Alert and Alarm Data Option 13](#alert-and-alarm-data-option)

[3.2.5.6 Questionable and Bad Data Option
14](#questionable-and-bad-data-option)

[3.2.5.7 Rejected Data Trash Can Option
15](#rejected-data-trash-can-option)

[3.2.5.8 Station Reporting Status/Latest Observations Option
16](#station-reporting-statuslatest-observations-option)

[3.2.5.9 Point Precipitation Accumulations Option
17](#point-precipitation-accumulations-option)

[3.2.5.10 Station Profile Option 18](#station-profile-option)

[3.2.5.11 River Summary 19](#river-summary)

[3.2.5.12 Site Specific Hydrologic Predictor
19](#site-specific-hydrologic-predictor)

[3.2.5.13 Station Selection Option 20](#station-selection-option)

[3.2.5.14 Refresh Data Option 20](#refresh-data-option)

[3.2.6 Reference Data Menu Options 20](#reference-data-menu-options)

[3.2.6.1 Staff Gage 20](#staff-gage)

[3.2.6.2 Impact Statement Option 21](#impact-statement-option)

[3.2.6.3 Rating Curve Option 21](#rating-curve-option)

[3.2.6.4 Data Sources Option 22](#data-sources-option)

[3.2.6.5 Contacts Option 22](#contacts-option)

[3.2.6.6 Crest History Option 23](#crest-history-option)

[3.2.6.7 Text Reports Option 23](#text-reports-option)

[3.2.7 Product Menu Options 24](#product-menu-options)

[3.2.7.1 Product Viewer Option 24](#product-viewer-option)

[3.2.8 MPEcontrol Menu Options 25](#mpecontrol-menu-options)

[3.2.8.1 Next Hour Option 25](#next-hour-option)

[3.2.8.2 Previous Hour Option 26](#previous-hour-option)

[3.2.8.3 Choose Hour Option \... 26](#choose-hour-option-...)

[3.2.8.4 Save Hour's Data Option \... 27](#save-hours-data-option-...)

[3.2.8.5 Clear Data Option \... 27](#clear-data-option-...)

[3.2.8.6 Rerun Fieldgen Option \... 28](#rerun-fieldgen-option-...)

[3.2.8.7 Draw Polygons Option \... 28](#draw-polygons-option-...)

[3.2.8.8 Show Single Radar Site \... 29](#show-single-radar-site-...)

[3.2.8.9 The Gage Submenu 31](#the-gage-submenu)

[3.2.8.9.1 Add Pseudo Gage 31](#add-pseudo-gage)

[3.2.8.9.2 Show Gage Table \... 31](#show-gage-table-...)

[3.2.8.9.3 Show Gage Identifiers 32](#show-gage-identifiers)

[3.2.8.9.4 Show Gage Values 32](#show-gage-values)

[3.2.8.9.5 Show Missing Gages 32](#show-missing-gages)

[3.2.8.9.6 Gage Color 33](#gage-color)

[3.2.8.9.6.1 Solid Color 33](#solid-color)

[3.2.8.9.6.2 Contrast Color 34](#contrast-color)

[3.2.8.9.6.3 Color By QC 34](#color-by-qc)

[3.2.8.9.6.4 Color By Value 34](#color-by-value)

[3.2.8.10 Time Lapse Submenu 34](#time-lapse-submenu)

[3.2.9 MPEfield Menu Options 35](#mpefield-menu-options)

[3.2.9.1 Radar Mosaic Option 36](#radar-mosaic-option)

[3.2.9.2 Field Bias Radar Mosaic Option
37](#field-bias-radar-mosaic-option)

[3.2.9.3 Local Bias Radar Mosaic Option
37](#local-bias-radar-mosaic-option)

[3.2.9.4 Gage Only Analysis Option 37](#gage-only-analysis-option)

[3.2.9.5 Satellite Precip Option 38](#satellite-precip-option)

[3.2.9.6 Local Bias Satellite Precip Option
38](#local-bias-satellite-precip-option)

[3.2.9.7 Multisensor Mosaic Option 38](#multisensor-mosaic-option)

[3.2.9.8 Local Bias Multisensor Mosaic
39](#local-bias-multisensor-mosaic)

[3.2.9.9 Best Estimate QPE Option 39](#best-estimate-qpe-option)

[3.2.9.10 Multi-Hour QPE 39](#multi-hour-qpe)

[3.2.9.11 Local Span Option 40](#local-span-option)

[3.2.9.12 Local Bias Option 41](#local-bias-option)

[3.2.9.13 Height Field Option 41](#height-field-option)

[3.2.9.14 Radar Coverage Field 41](#radar-coverage-field)

[3.2.9.15 PRISM 41](#prism)

[3.2.9.16 Display Bias Table 41](#display-bias-table)

[3.2.9.17 Display 7 x 7 42](#display-7-x-7)

[3.2.9.18 Set Colors 42](#set-colors)

[3.2.10 Help Menu Options 45](#help-menu-options)

[4.0 Mouse Controls and Hot Keys 45](#mouse-controls-and-hot-keys)

[4.1 Exceptions to Mouse Functionality
46](#exceptions-to-mouse-functionality)

[4.2 Pop Up Menu Options 47](#pop-up-menu-options)

[4.3 Hot Keys 47](#hot-keys)

[Table 4- 3 Hydroview/MPE Hot Keys 48](#__RefHeading___Toc127690767)

TABLES

[Table 4- 1 Hydroview/MPE Mouse Functionality
46](#__RefHeading___Toc126370499)

[Table 4- 2 Pop up Menu Options 47](#__RefHeading___Toc126370500)

[Table 4- 3 Hydroview/MPE Hot Keys 48](#table-4--hydroviewmpe-hot-keys)

**FIGURES**

[Figure 3- 1 File Menu Options 4](#__RefHeading___Toc127690768)

[Figure 3- 2 Tool Menu Options 5](#__RefHeading___Toc127690769)

[Figure 3- 3 Projections Menu Options 6](#__RefHeading___Toc127690770)

[Figure 3- 4 Overlays Menu Options 7](#__RefHeading___Toc127690771)

[Figure 3- 5 Streams and Lakes Submenu 7](#__RefHeading___Toc127690772)

[Figure 3- 6 Highways/Roads Submenu 8](#__RefHeading___Toc127690773)

[Figure 3- 7 Font Menu 8](#__RefHeading___Toc127690774)

[Figure 3- 8 Livedata Menu Options 9](#__RefHeading___Toc127690775)

[Figure 3- 9 Point Data Display Gui 10](#__RefHeading___Toc127690776)

[Figure 3- 10 Flash Flood Guidance GUI with Gridded FFG Options
Displayed 11](#__RefHeading___Toc127690777)

[Figure 3- 11 Flash Flood Guidance GUI with Areal FFG Options Displayed
11](#__RefHeading___Toc127690778)

[Figure 3- 12 The Time Series Control GUI
12](#__RefHeading___Toc127690779)

[Figure 3- 13 Dam Display Control Window
13](#__RefHeading___Toc127690780)

[Figure 3- 14 Reference Data Menu Options
21](#__RefHeading___Toc127690781)

[Figure 3- 15 Product Data Menu Options
24](#__RefHeading___Toc127690782)

[Figure 3- 16 MPEcontrol Menu Options 25](#__RefHeading___Toc127690783)

[Figure 3- 17 Gage Submenu Options 31](#__RefHeading___Toc127690784)

[Figure 3- 18 The Show Missing Gages Submenu
33](#__RefHeading___Toc127690785)

[Figure 3- 19 The Gage Color Submenu 33](#__RefHeading___Toc127690786)

[Figure 3- 21 MPEfields Menu Options 36](#__RefHeading___Toc127690787)

[Figure 3- 20 Time Lapse Submenu Options
34](#__RefHeading___Toc127690788)

[Figure 3- 22 The Color Threshold GUI 44](#__RefHeading___Toc127690789)

[Figure 3- 23 The Help Menu Options 45](#__RefHeading___Toc127690790)

# Introduction {#introduction .hmap_mpe_header1}

The **Hydroview/MPE** application is the result of an effort to
consolidate the Hydroview and Multi-sensor Precipitation Estimator (MPE)
programs into a single, versatile utility that can be used at both RFCs
and WFOs. Hydroview's focus is primarily the display of point
hydrometeorological data such as river and stream gage readings,
precipitation amounts, and similar environmental information that is
typically observed and forecast for a specific location. It assists in
the preparation of hydrologic forecasts by allowing the user to display
and edit this data as well as station reference information such as
river action and flood stages, historic river crests, emergency
contacts, river rating curves, and dam catalogs.

MPE's focus is on areal estimations of rainfall amounts based on both
remotely sensed data (radar, satellite) and "ground truth" observations
(rain gages). It creates hourly, gridded, multi-sensor precipitation
estimates on a 4-km Hydrologic Rainfall Analysis Project (HRAP) grid.
The primary inputs to MPE are the gridded Digital Precipitation Array
(DPA) products - which provide radar estimates on a 4-km grid - and
precipitation gage data. The main steps involved in creating the
multi-sensor estimate include determining a mean field bias adjustment
for each available radar, creating a multi-radar mosaic, and merging the
mosaic with precipitation gage observations. One of the important
features of Hydroview/MPE is the ability to edit the gridded data fields
as well as the point gage observations. In the process of performing
these operations, multiple types of precipitation grids are generated,
with one of these designated as the best grid. At RFCs, this resulting
grid is then used to produce MAPX time series for input into NWSRFS. At
WFOs, this resulting grid is used to produce MAP time series input into
Site Specific.

The combination of these two programs provides the forecaster with the
ability to interactively monitor multi-sensor rainfall estimates,
detailed point data and flash flood guidance.

In this document, the new functionality added to Hydroview/MPE will be
described first in Section 2. Following this, the overall appearance and
operation of the Hydroview/MPE application and all of its tools will be
the subject of Section 3. If you are already familiar with Hydroview and
MPE, then Section 2 will probably be of the most interest to you.
However, if you are new to this application, then both Sections 2 and 3
will provide you with insight into how the Hydroview/MPE operates.
Finally, in section 4 the mouse and hot key controls are discussed.

# New Features in Hydroview/MPE {#new-features-in-hydroviewmpe .hmap_mpe_header1}

New features introduced in AWIPS release OB6 include the following:

# Questionable and Bad Data Window Enhancements {#questionable-and-bad-data-window-enhancements .hmap_mpe_header2}

The option to sort by the Shef Quality Code or the IHFS database Quality
Code has been added to the Questionable and Bad Data window. Sorting by
Shef Quality Code allows reports which failed external HADS checks to be
segregated and quickly located in the data listing. Reports which fail
these HADS checks have a Shef Quality code of 'F'. Sorting the reports
by Quality Code segregates them according to the IHFS Quality Code which
in this case will be either 'Q' (Questionable) or 'B' (Bad).
Questionable reports are those that failed the reasonable range test
while Bad reports are those that have failed the Gross Range checks.

The Questionable and Bad window was also updated to show the maximum and
minimum values of a range check for values deemed questionable and bad.
This enables the forecaster to quickly see the acceptable range of
values for the station. This information is displayed in the QC
Description Text box at the bottom of the Questionable and Bad window.

# The Hydroview/MPE Graphical User Interface {#the-hydroviewmpe-graphical-user-interface .hmap_mpe_header1}

This section of the document describes in greater detail all of the
various utilities available through the menubar displayed across the top
of the Hydroview/MPE main window. After this it describes the
mouse-controls in greater detail.

# The Main Window {#the-main-window .hmap_mpe_header2}

The Main window is the first window which appears when the application
is opened, and it is the primary controlling window for the
Hydroview/MPE process. This simple window consists of a main menubar
across the top and a large display area. The user has extensive control
over what is shown in the display area. The user can set which overlays
are initially shown in the application by selecting the various overlay
options under the Overlays menu. Also, the user has the ability to
modify the initial overlays displayed by editing the overlay
configuration file. This is described in more detail in the accompanying
***Hydroview/MPE Implementation Document***. Tokens also exist to
control the initial point control data display which determines the
appearance of the Hydroview point data. Note that MPE data are not shown
when Hydroview/MPE is started.

# The Main Menubar {#the-main-menubar .hmap_mpe_header2}

The menubar which spans across the top portion of the Hydroview/MPE
viewer shows the following menu headings, listed from left to right:
**File, Tools, Projections, Overlays, LiveData, ReferenceData, Product,
MPEcontrol, MPEfields, and Help**. Utilities are logically grouped by
function under these menu headings. Each of these "drop down" menus is
described in detail below. Note that each of these menus can be
"torn-off".

# File Menu Options {#file-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

The File sub‑menu has the following available options: **Save as Gif,
Print Image, Print Reverse Image, Close** (Figure 3- ).

# Save as Gif ![](media/image2.png){width="1.7534722222222223in" height="1.85in"} {#save-as-gif .hmap_mpe_header4}

Displays a popup window which allows the user to screen capture the
current Hydroview/MPE display and save it as a gif-formatted file. The
user must make certain that the filename chosen to save the GIF image
has the extension "\*.gif". If it does not, an error will result. Note
that this option is different than the "Save Hour's Data" option on the
MPEcontrol menu (Section 3.2.8.4). The Save Hour's Data option saves the
Best Estimate QPE field as a gif image. It only does so when the
mpe_save_gif token is set to "save".

# Print Image {#print-image .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option will perform a screen capture of the current Hydroview/MPE
display and output the resulting image to the printer. Currently, color
printing is not supported. In order to print an image to a specific
printer, the user must take care to properly set the following tokens:

**whfs_printcommand_LX -** If running on Linux, this token must be set
to contain the full print command including any non-default user desired
destinations. For example, to print the image out to lp2, the
whfs_printcommand_LX token should be set to "**lp -dlp2\"**. This token
defaults to value "**lp"**.

# Print Reverse Image {#print-reverse-image .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option will perform a screen capture of the current Hydroview/MPE
display and output the resulting image in reverse video to the printer.
In order to print an image to a specific printer, the user must take
care to properly set the tokens outlined in Section 3.2.1.2, **Print
Image**.

# Close {#close .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option will close the application.

# Tools Menu Options {#tools-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

The choices of Tools sub‑menu are **Areal Zoom, Point Zoom**, **Pan**,
**Recenter**, and **Tool Bar** (see Figure 3- ).

# Areal Zoom ![](media/image3.png){width="1.9069444444444446in" height="2.170138888888889in"} {#areal-zoom .hmap_mpe_header4}

Areal Zoom and its associated hot key combination \<Ctrl+Z\> allow the
Hydroview/MPE display to be zoomed into and out of an area bounded by a
zoom rectangle. They also allow the Hydroview/MPE map to be returned to
its prior state after a zoom, pan or recenter operation.

The zoom rectangle is drawn by holding down the left mouse button and
dragging the mouse. Once the rectangle is the desired size the left
mouse button may be released. By selecting Areal Zoom or Ctrl+Z the
Hydroview/MPE map display will zoom into the area inside the rectangle.
Selecting Areal Zoom or Ctrl+Z again will unzoom the display , that is
return it to its initial state.

# Point Zoom  {#point-zoom .hmap_mpe_header4}

Selecting Point Zoom brings up a small menu with the options "In" and
"Out" on it. "In" zooms into the map. "Out" zooms out of the map.

# Pan {#pan .hmap_mpe_header4}

Selecting this option brings up a small menu with the options "Up",
"Down", "Right", and "Left" on it. These options allow the user to
easily navigate around the map.

# Recenter  {#recenter .hmap_mpe_header4}

Selecting this option changes the mouse pointer to a leftward pointing
hand. A single left mouse button click on the Hydroview/MPE display
while in this mode will recenter the map display around that point on
the map.

# Tool Bar ![](media/image4.png){width="1.9493055555555556in" height="1.5909722222222222in"} {#tool-bar .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option is a toggle button which enables or disables the display of
the application's toolbar. This toolbar by default is "off". When it is
enabled through this menu option, it is displayed just below the main
menubar. This toolbar contains the following items from left to right:
the pan up button, the pan down button, the pan left button, the pan
right button, the recenter button, the zoom in button, the zoom out
button, the latitude box, and the longitude box. These buttons offer an
alternative means of accessing the map zoom, recenter, and pan
functions.

# Projections Menu Options {#projections-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

The projections menu (see Figure 3- ) offers the Flat Lat/Lon, Polar
Stereographic, and HRAP projections.

The Flat Lat/Lon projection treats latitude and longitude as a
rectangular grid which results in increasing amounts of map distortion
at higher latitudes.

The Polar Stereographic projection creates a more realistic map of the
earth's surface. The spacing between lines of longitude decreases
towards the north pole. This is also the projection that the HRAP grid
uses. So, distortion in the MPE precipitation fields and map overlays is
minimized.

The HRAP projection is a specialized case of the Polar Stereographic
projection in that it uses the 105 west longitude line as the reference
longitude. Because a site's MPE forecast area represents a section of
the national HRAP grid, it will always appear as a rectangle when using
the HRAP projection. Hydroview/MPE takes advantage of this and attempts
to fit the site's MPE forecast area as best as possible to the viewing
area. Those familiar with the original MPE will recognize this
projection as being the same as the one it used.

The HRAP projection offers another convenience. Selecting Areal Zoom or
Ctrl+Z after any zooming, panning, or recentering operation will return
the map view to the initial view. This can be very useful for cases
where consistent screen captures of a several hours worth of
precipitation data are required.

When Hydroview/MPE is first started, it uses the Flat Lat/Lon projection
by default. This default setting may be changed by altering the value of
the hv_map_projection token.

# Overlays Menu Options {#overlays-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

The **Overlays** menu contains toggle buttons which can be used to
enable or disable the display of the overlays offered on the
Hydroview/MPE application (Figure 3- ). The overlays are drawn on top of
the spatial data such as the precipitation fields and the FFG grids.

![](media/image5.png){width="2.1118055555555557in"
height="3.536111111111111in"}

By default, the Major streams / Lakes overlay and the State overlay are
displayed when Hydroview/MPE is first started.

Overlays remain displayed when changing hours. Radar rings are a special
case where if MPE data are being viewed, then they will change colors
when changing hours to indicate the availability of data at the radar
sites. A green radar ring indicates that there is radar data. A red
radar ring indicates that there is no radar data. Note that radar ring
colors do not change during a time lapse.

The Streams/Lakes and Highways/Roads Overlays Menu options lead to
submenus which allow the resolution and density of the displayed overlay
to be chosen. Figure 3- shows the options on the Streams/Lakes submenu.
These include All Streams/Lakes, Major Streams/Lakes, No Streams/Lakes.
Only one of these options may be chosen at a time. The All Streams/Lakes
overlay shows the most detailed water body information. The Major
Streams/Lakes overlay shows only significant rivers and lakes. The No
Streams/Lakes option does not show any stream and lake information.

shows the options on the Highways/Roads submenu. These include
Highways/Roads, Highways, and None. Only one of these options may be
selected. The Highways/Roads option displays both interstates and
secondary roads. The Highways option displays only interstates, and the
None option does not display any interstate or road information.
![](media/image6.jpeg){width="3.263888888888889in"
height="0.8715277777777778in"}

The management of the overlays and their sources relies on the
**hmap_mpe_overlay_configuration** file, located in hydroview's local
data apps directory, to specify the sources of overlay data. There is
one row per overlay in this file, and each row contains information that
controls how that particular overlay is displayed, its default state
upon startup of the application, whether or not it is stored in memory,
and its source.![](media/image7.jpeg){width="2.8895833333333334in"
height="0.8159722222222222in"}

The power of the overlay configuration file is that it allows a user to
switch overlay sources and properties with relative ease. For example,
the Hydroview/MPE overlay configuration file may be set up to use town
and city data from the WHFS database City table or the FSL cities and
towns lpi files. In addition to this, RFCs may set up the overlay
configuration file so that city and town information is plotted from
their geodata files. The overlays used by Hydroview/MPE come from
several different sources which in turn have multiple formats that the
program needs to be able to recognize and interpret. The overlay
configuration file provides an efficient mechanism of informing the
application where it needs to retrieve its overlay information from. The
specific format of the overlay configuration file is covered in detail
in the ***Hydroview/MPE Implementation Document***.

As shown in Figure 3- , the Set Font submenu allows six font sizes to be
chosen. The font choices are Miniscule, Very Small, Small, Normal,
Large, and Very Large. The default font size is
Small![](media/image8.jpeg){width="2.6284722222222223in"
height="1.3256944444444445in"}

# Live Data Menu Options {#live-data-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

Much of the core functionality of the Hydroview/MPE application is
contained within the **LiveData**, **ReferenceData**, **Product**,
**MPEcontrol**, and **MPEfields** menu items. The **LiveData** menu
contains utilities for viewing and manipulating realtime point data.
(see Figure 3- ).![](media/image9.jpeg){width="3.7444444444444445in"
height="3.926388888888889in"}

# Station Data {#station-data .hmap_mpe_header4}

The Station Data option provides a way of displaying forecast and
observed data for specific locations in both a tabular and a graphical
format. The point data displayed generally consists of one value per
station. The control over the data selections is based on selecting the
data as per its SHEF attributes.

A control window is provided to manage the selection and subsequent
display of the point data. The GUI window, shown in Figure 3- , is
further described in the Point Data Display Operations Guide.

# Flash Flood Guidance![](media/image10.jpeg){width="2.55in" height="5.684722222222222in"} {#flash-flood-guidance .hmap_mpe_header4}

Hydroview/MPE has the capability of displaying either gridded or areal
Flash Flood Guidance (FFG). The Flash Flood Guidance GUI (see Figure 3-
) is accessed from the **Flash Flood Guidance** option under the
**LiveData** menu. This gives the forecaster the ability to choose FFG
data based upon its forecast area, duration, and valid time.

The Flash Flood Guidance GUI consists of five sections: the FFG mode
selection section, the product selection list section, the display
control section, the filter options section, and the color legend.

The FFG mode selection allows the selection of gridded or areal FFG
data. These two "types" of FFG data are distinguished by their source
and how they are displayed.

Gridded FFG comes from the gridded FFG fields produced and distributed
by the RFCs and available in NetCDF files. For a WFO whose MPE area
straddles the forecast areas of one or more RFCs, the gridded FFG
products from the RFCs are mosaicked to produce a gridded FFG field for
the WFO. Gridded FFG is displayed as color-filled polygons. The color
depends on the FFG value and is displayed according to the color legend
at the bottom of the FFG GUI.

The areal FFG is read from the ContingencyValue table in the IHFS
database. This FFG is available in basin, county, and zone resolutions.
Unlike gridded FFG, areal FFG is shown by area identifiers and FFG
values which are colored according to FFG value. These colors are based
on the color legend at the bottom of the GUI. These identifiers and
values can be selectively turned on and off.

![](media/image11.png){width="1.8888888888888888in"
height="5.2375in"}![](media/image12.png){width="1.917361111111111in"
height="5.029166666666667in"}

Each row in the FFG selection list box contains the FFG forecast area,
the duration of the FFG product and the product's valid time. Only one
FFG product may be selected from this list at a time. When a product is
selected, it may be displayed either by double clicking on its list box
entry or by pressing the select button below the list box. The data may
be cleared from the Hydroview/MPE display by pressing the Clear button.

The filter and options section contains tools for controlling which FFG
products are displayed in the product select list. The options are
slightly different depending upon whether gridded or areal FFG data are
being viewed. Figure 3- Flash Flood Guidance GUIshows the Flash Flood
Guidance window in Gridded FFG mode. From the Gridded FFG Options box,
FFG may be selected according to the FFG forecast area type (e.g. WFO or
RFC), the FFG forecast area ID (only available for RFC forecast areas),
the product duration, and whether to display the data in its native HRAP
grid format or as a mean basin FFG value.

Figure 3- shows the Flash Flood Guidance window in areal FFG mode. From
the Areal FFG Options box, Areal FFG products may be selected according
to the area type (basin, county, or zone) and the product duration. Two
toggle buttons are provided to switch on and off the display of FFG
values and area identifiers.

The final portion of the Flash Flood Guidance GUI is the color legend.
It automatically updates when a product is selected from the product
selection list to be displayed. It shows the values associated with each
of the colors used to represent the FFG data.

![](media/image13.png){width="2.2597222222222224in"
height="6.533333333333333in"}

This FFG information can be used in conjunction with the multi-sensor
precipitation estimates to monitor the threat of flash flooding.

# Time Series Control {#time-series-control .hmap_mpe_header4}

This application extracts data from the IHFS database and allows the
user to plot the data in conventional X‑Y time series plots, to display
data in a tabular time series form, and to perform data editing
graphically or through the tabular display. The operation of the Time
Series Control window, shown in Figure 3- , is described in the Time
Series User's Guide.

# Dam Locations {#dam-locations .hmap_mpe_header4}

Selecting the Dam Locations menu item launches the Dam Display Control
window, shown in Figure 3- . The top portion of this window consists of
a set of options to control which dam locations are displayed on the
Hydroview/MPE map. One of these options is to set a threshold Dam Volume
and to selectively display dams based on whether their volumes are
greater than, equal to or less than this value.

The user may also choose to display all dams contained within a latitude
longitude box. This is done by setting the Enable toggle button to on.
The Dam Display Control window has two text boxes for defining the
latitude/longitude center point of this box and two text boxes for
controlling the offsets in the degrees latitude/longitude from this
center point. All dam locations whose locations are within the specified
offsets from the center point are displayed. This option to selectively
display dam locations is turned off by setting the Enable toggle button
to off.

Each displayed dam can consist of up to three pieces of information: an
icon showing the dam's location, a text annotation showing the id of the
dam, and a text annotation showing the name of the dam. The Dam Display
Control window provides 3 toggle buttons next to the "Display:" label
for controlling the display of the dam id, dam name, and the dam icon.

![](media/image14.jpeg){width="3.4097222222222223in"
height="3.4097222222222223in"}

At the bottom of the Dam Display Control window are three buttons
labeled "Map Data", "Close", and "Clear Data". The Map Data button maps
the dam locations, the Close button closes the Dam Display Control
window, and the Clear Data button removes the dam icons from the
Hydroview/MPE display.

The DamCrest application can be launched for a dam location shown on the
Hydroview/MPE viewer. This is done by placing the mouse over the dam
icon and holding down the right mouse button. This displays a popup menu
next to the mouse pointer. Selecting DamCrest from this menu starts the
DamCrest application for the selected dam.

More information about the DamCrest application can be found in the
DamBreak Catalog Reviewer and Estimating Tool User's Guide.

# Alert and Alarm Data Option {#alert-and-alarm-data-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

Displays all data that have exceeded alert and alarm thresholds based on
value and/or rate‑of‑change alert/alarm thresholds. It is important to
note that the alert/alarm messages written to the text database may only
contain a subset of the information available in this display, depending
upon the report mode chosen in the run_report_alarm script. A detailed
description of the Alert Alarm process can be found in the Alert Alarm
Operations Guide. The option menu buttons across the top of the Alert
and Alarm Data Values GUI control the data records that are displayed in
the large text area. The user has the option to display observed,
forecast, or both observed and forecast alerts and alarms. The user also
has the option to display alerts only, alarms only, or both alarm/alerts
data records. The alerts and alarms may be displayed based upon the
value of the data, the rate of change of the data, or both of these
limits. The output displayed in the text area may be sorted by the Time
of the data or the Location Identifier of the data.

The header of the Alert and Alarm Data Values list box contains the
following information:

**Location** -- station's location identifier.

> **Name** - name of the station
>
> **PE -** physical element
>
> **Dur** - duration
>
> **TS** - typesource
>
> **Ext -** extremum code
>
> **Value** - value
>
> **ROC** - rate of change
>
> **QC** - quality control flag
>
> **ThreatDescr** - indicates an alert or an alarm
>
> **Valid Time** **-** valid time of the report
>
> **BasisTime** - basis time of the report

Clicking on an item in the station list will select it and display
preset product, alert/alarm values, rate‑of‑change, posting time, and
time last reported in the text boxes below. The Tabular Time Series /
Graphical Time Series option buttons allow the value to be viewed within
its complete time series context and edit real time data. See the
description of the Time Series application above for more information.

Note that the information presented in the Alert and Alarm Data Values
GUI is read-only. Changes to data or alert/alarm limits cannot be made.

# Questionable and Bad Data Option {#questionable-and-bad-data-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This window displays all data that have been marked as questionable or
bad by the quality control processes. Data marked as bad will be
displayed in this window if the value of the shef_post_baddata token is
set to PE. If the value of the token is REJECT, bad data will be
displayed in the Rejected Data Trash Can window (section 3.2.5.7).
REJECT is the default value for the token. No information or data may be
typed or edited in this window except entering the station location,
setting the number of days back, and deleting highlighted rows. The
"Filter By" option allows the data anomalies list to be filtered by
Location (type the location identifier and press enter) and/or by a
certain physical element type (click on an observation type in the pull
down list). The default is to display questionable or bad river stage
values for all locations.

Next to the "Filter By" options is a text entry window which provides
the ability to select the number of days back to look for the
questionable/bad data. After entering the number of days back to search,
the user must hit the enter key for the search to take place. Finally,
the listing of questionable/bad data may be sorted by the location
identifier, the product time (starting with the most recent
observation), the SHEF quality code (as assigned by the HADS
processing), or the IHFS database quality code.

The header of the questionable/bad data viewing area contains the
following information:

**Location** - location id

**Name** - location name

**PE** - physical element

**Dur** - duration code

**TS** - type source

**Ext** - extremum

**Value** - observed value

> **Observation Time** - date and time of the observed value

**RV** - revision or not to the data: T = revised, F = no revision

**SQ** - SHEF qualifier

**QC** - quality control code: Q = questionable, B = bad, G = good

**Product** - product id

**Time** - date and time of the product

**Posted** - date and time of the data posted to the database

Within the table the user may click on an item to highlight it and
display the quality control data description. The description can be
read in the "QC Description" section below the table. The description
gives the user a general idea why the data is questionable or bad. At
the bottom of the screen the user may view the highlighted item using
the "Tabular Time Series" or "Graphical Time Series" buttons. The option
"Set Missing" allows the user to change the data from its numerical
value to "missing". Highlighted data rows may be deleted by clicking on
the "Delete Selected" button. The "Close" button pops down the window.

# Rejected Data Trash Can Option {#rejected-data-trash-can-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The Rejected Data Trash Can window can be used to display manually or
automatically rejected observations, move them to data tables, or delete
them from the IHFS database. Data that are not removed or deleted from
this list are purged after the retention period has elapsed. This purge
parameter is configurable from Hydrobase. The user can filter rejected
data by clicking on the "Filter By" options which are arranged across
the top of the "Rejected Data Trash Can" GUI. This filtering may be done
by the location (which may be done by selecting the "Location" check box
and entering a location id in the adjacent text area), the physical
element (which may be accomplished by selecting the "Phys. Elements"
check box and selecting the element from the adjacent list box) or a
combination of the two. In addition to this, the rejected data can be
filtered based on whether the report was rejected by a manual process,
automated process, or both. The output in the rejected data viewing area
may be sorted by location or time (starting with the most recent product
time stamp).

The header of the rejected data list displays the following information:

**Location** -- Location id

**Name** - Station name

**PE** - Physical Element

**Dur** - Duration code

**TS** - type source

**Ext** - extremum

**Value** - observed value

**ObsTime** - observation time

**BasisTime** - date and time when a forecast was made for forecast data

**RV** - indicates if the data has been revised: T = revised, F = no
revision

**SQ** - SHEF qualifier

**QC** - quality control code: Q = questionable, B = bad, G = good

**User** - the user id that was used to check the data (awipsusr ,
SHEFdec)

**Type** - type of process that checked the data (manual or auto)

**PostTime** - date and time that data was posted to the database.

**Product** - product id

**ProductTime** - date and time of the product

There are a couple of options in editing the rejected data list. The
"Move Selected to Data Tables" button allows the user to move the
selected item from the rejected data depository to the appropriate
physical element table in the database. The application automatically
determines the correct physical element table to insert the rejected
report into. Likewise, the data can be deleted individually by
highlighting the item and then clicking on the "Delete Selected" button.
All items in the rejected data list can be deleted by clicking on the
"Delete All" button. A warning dialog verifies that the user really does
want to delete all of the data.

# Station Reporting Status/Latest Observations Option {#station-reporting-statuslatest-observations-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This GUI reports the status of all of the forecast and observation sites
within the HSA. The data is displayed according to the "List" and "Sort"
option menu buttons across the top of the GUI. From the "List" option
menu, the stations displayed may be chosen according to the latest data
for all locations, only those stations with data older than a
user-specified number of hours ago, and those stations without any
latest data at all. For the option where the user is attempting to
display locations with data older than a specific number of hours ago,
the user must enter the number of hours in the "Hours Ago" text area.
The display of the data may be sorted by either the location identifier
or the observation time stamp. In order for data to populate this
window, the value of the shef_post_latest token must be set to ON. The
default value of this token is OFF.

The large text area below the sort options displays a listing of all of
the stations that meet the user's search criteria. The headings across
the top of this list box are:

**Location** - location id

> **Name** - station name

**Observation Time Z** - observation time of the report

**Latest Data Posted Time Z** - latest posted time

When one of these stations is selected from the list, a listing
displaying all of the latest data for the station is shown in the
"Latest Data for Selected Location" list box in the bottom half of the
GUI. The headings across the top of this box are as follows:

**Location** -- location id

**Phys Elm** - Physical Element

**Dur** - duration code

**Typ Src** - type source

**Ext** - extremum

**ObsTime** - observation time

**Value** - observed value

**SQ** - SHEF qualifier

**QC** - quality control code: Q = questionable, B = bad, G = good

**RV** - indicates if the data has been revised: T = revised, F = no
revision

**Product Id** - product id

**TimeZ** = date and time of the product

**Posting TimeZ** - date and time that data was posted to the database.

Below this list box are four non-editable text fields displaying, from
left to right, the current time, the period in minutes that telemetry
reports are received from the selected station, the period in minutes
that DCPs are received from the reporting station, and the starting time
in minutes. With the exception of the "Hours Ago" text entry box at the
top of the GUI, all of the other fields cannot be edited.

# Point Precipitation Accumulations Option {#point-precipitation-accumulations-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option can be used to display precipitation accumulation data for a
set of stations. By default, precipitation accumulations are calculated
for a 24 hour period ending at 12z of the current day. The output is
listed in the large list box that occupies the bottom of the point
precipitation accumulations GUI. The application offers great
flexibility in determining the duration and source of the precipitation
data tallied and displayed. An important aspect of this GUI is that data
are not displayed until the "Load Data" button is clicked on. This
enables the user to retrieve the most up-to-date data.

There are three groups of display controls shown across the top of the
Point Precipitation Accumulations GUI. From left to right these are the
time selection controls, the output filters, and the accumulation
display controls. The time period selection group gives the user control
of the endtime and duration over which the precipitation estimates are
being tallied. The endtime of the duration can be specified using the
"Endtime" box. The duration is specified by selecting a value from the
"Duration" list. The duration list contains the 1,3,6,12, 24, 48, 72,
and Other durations. If "Other" is selected, then the user-specified
duration value in the "Other" box is used.

The filter group provides tools to selectively display precipitation
accumulations. Precipitation estimates can be displayed according to HSA
service backup support, by a specific location, or by data source. One
or more HSAs may be selected. If the "By HSA" check box is checked, then
precipitation estimates will be displayed only for those stations
belonging to the selected HSA(s). Precipitation estimates can also be
displayed for a single location. The id of the location can be entered
into the location box. If the "By Location" check box is checked, then
precipitation estimates are displayed only for that station. The data
source of the PC and PP precipitation observations may be selected by
highlighting and unhighlighting the data source names in the "PC/Ctr"
and "PP/Inc" list boxes. If the "By Data Sources" check box is selected,
then precipitation accumulations will only include PP and PC data with
the specified type sources.

The last group controls the display of the precipitation accumulations.
The data may be sorted by location or value in descending order. The
displayed accumulations may be further enhanced by selecting one or both
of the "Options" check boxes. The "Show Details" box, when checked,
causes all of the contributing precipitation observations during the
duration for a particular station's precipitation total to be displayed.
Each of these reports shows the value for the physical element being
processed (either PP or PC), the time of the observation, the duration
of the observation (if PP), the extremum code, the data qualifier, and
the quality control flag. The "Add PP reports as needed" determines
whether or not individual PP reports may be added together to produce a
precipitation total for a station. If this box has not been checked,
then only a PP report whose duration exactly matches the accumulation
interval can be used

Across the bottom of the GUI are three push buttons, "Close", "Save",
and "Print". "Close" closes the application, "Save" allows the
precipitation data to be saved to a disk file, and "Print" allows the
generation of a hard copy of the precipitation data.

# Station Profile Option {#station-profile-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option provides a means of displaying geophysical information and
current stage data for the currently selected station and other stations
along the same river. The station information and data includes the
station identifier with the latest stage and associated time and date, a
color coded stage bar, and the actual elevation of the station in feet
above mean sea level. A green stage bar indicates a below flood stage
river level, a yellow stage bar indicates a river level which is above
the action stage, and a red stage bar indicates a river level which is
above flood stage. The ordinate (y-axis) of the profile is in feet above
mean sea level. The abscissa (the x-axis) is in river miles.

Information for the individual stations along the reach may be displayed
through the "Stations" option menu button just below the graphical
profile. For a station, its name, reach, action, and flood stages are
displayed. Note that none of these fields are editable from this GUI.

# River Summary {#river-summary .hmap_mpe_header4}

The "River Summary" application provides a means of viewing the river
stages of stations points along a single river or stream. This is
actually a stand alone application which is launched from Hydroview when
the "River Summary" option is chosen. The River Summary GUI is
relatively simple, consisting of a list of streams in the upper left, an
option pull down menu in the upper right, and a graphical river summary
across the bottom half of the GUI. When a stream is selected from the
"Stream List", the river summary graphic is automatically updated to
display the staff gages of the observation points along the river. These
staff gages use green to indicate stages below the action stage, yellow
to indicate levels at or above the action stage but below flood stage,
and red to indicate levels at or above flood stage. If the actual river
stage data exists, then it is displayed as blue along with its value
within the staff gage.

Below each staff gage is the date and time of the observation, the gage
identifier/river mile, and the full name of the site. If the staff stage
graph is missing, then the text "MSG Flood Stage" is displayed below
where the staff gage would have been drawn. If the stage data is
missing, then the text "MSG Stage Data" is displayed. The user has the
option of displaying only observed stages, only forecast stages, or the
maximum of the observed and forecast stages.

# Site Specific Hydrologic Predictor {#site-specific-hydrologic-predictor .hmap_mpe_header4}

The Site Specific Hydrologic Predictor (SSHP) is an application that is
designed to run at a WFO in order to provide streamflow forecasts for
headwater points of streams which respond quickly to precipitation.
Since the 6-hour time step used by most RFC models is too long to be
effective for these fast-responding streams, SSHP uses a 1-hour time
step for its model computations.

If a station is selected in Hydroview/MPE (either by double clicking on
a station icon or using the "Station Selection" GUI), then when SSHP is
launched it will be run for the selected station. If there is no
selected station, then when SSHP launches the user will have to select a
station from the list of available SSHP forecast points.

Information about SSHP can be found in the Site Specific Hydrologic
Predictor (SSHP) Reference Guide.

# Station Selection Option {#station-selection-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option lists the stations that are currently displayed according to
the point control options. Any of the stations in the list can be
selected with a simple single click. The station's name will become
highlighted in the list box and a red rectangle will be drawn around the
station's location on the Hydroview/MPE display. Only stations that are
currently visible on the display are included in the Station Selection
list box.

Double clicking on any of the stations in the list will not only
highlight the station's location on the map by drawing a red rectangle
around it, but also it will launch the Time Series Control GUI for the
station. This will enable the user to tabulate or plot a time series for
a specific physical element for the site.

# Refresh Data Option {#refresh-data-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option refreshes the point data displayed on the Hydroview/MPE
display. This option does precisely the same thing as the timed refresh
which automatically occurs after a fixed number of minutes as dictated
by the "hv_refresh_minutes" token.

# Reference Data Menu Options {#reference-data-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

The reference data options provide useful information about specific
locations. A station must first be selected on the map display (either
by double clicking on it or by selecting a station in the station list)
for the reference data utilities called from the reference data menu to
function (see ).

# Staff Gage {#staff-gage .hmap_mpe_header4}

A station must be selected on the map in order to use this option. This
window displays gage background information for the selected station.
This GUI is broken up into two main frames, the Reference Frame and the
Significant Stages Frame. The Reference Frame contains text fields
specifying the name, basin, stream, county, state, lat/lon, elevation,
and tidal effects of the site. The Significant Stages Frame contains a
drawing of the staff gage for the site along with text fields specifying
the numeric values of the important stage levels. The graphical staff
gage is color coded with green indicating river levels below the action
stage, yellow indicating river levels at or above the action stage, and
red indicating river levels at or above flood stage. Also, the staff
gage indicates the actual values of the action and flood stages along
with representative river stages for minor, moderate, major, and record
floods.![](media/image15.jpeg){width="1.7041666666666666in"
height="2.0430555555555556in"}

This display is read-only. Changes cannot be made to any of the text
fields.

# Impact Statement Option {#impact-statement-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

A station must be selected on the map in order to use this option. It
displays impact statements for various river stages at the selected
station. This interface contains three major components: a list box
containing stages in descending order, a characteristics frame
containing the stage value, tendency, and begin and end times if the
impact statement is a seasonal one (such as at a recreational area). The
bottom portion of the Impact Statement GUI is a Text Area displaying the
impact statement. By selecting different stages in the top list box, the
characteristics and impact statement are updated accordingly.

The user has the option to save the impact statements to a flat file (
through the "Save to File" button) or to send the entire report to the
printer ( through the "Print All" button). Note that this GUI is
read-only. Any modifications to the data are not saved. The Hydrobase
application can be used to make modifications to the impact statements.

# Rating Curve Option {#rating-curve-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The rating curve window presents the relationship between a river's
stage and its discharge at the selected station. On this graph, the
flood stage is illustrated as a red line while the record high river
stage is shown as a blue horizontal line. The ordinate of the graph is
the stage in feet with the abissca representing river flow in 1000\'s of
cubic feet per second.

In addition to the graph, there are three lists. The list just below the
rating curve graph shows rating curve shifts created for this station.
For each defined rating shift, it shows the date that the rating shift
was created, the value of the shift, and whether or not the shift is
active. If active, then the shift is applied to the stage. On the right
side of the rating curve graph is a list box showing the values of stage
and flow when the active shift is applied. In the lower right hand side
of the window is a list showing the base (unshifted) rating curve stage
and flow values.

This rating curve stage and flow values and rating curve shifts cannot
be edited from this window. Changes are not permitted to the text boxes
containing the stage and discharge information. This information can be
modified from Hydrobase.

# Data Sources Option {#data-sources-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

Data sources for a selected station are displayed in this window. The
"Type" option menu button at the top of the GUI allows the user to view
details for three categories of data source information for a given
station. These are Data Collection Platform (DCP), Observer, or
Telemetry. The GUI reconfigures itself to provide information that
adequately describes the type of the data source selected.

For DCP, the GUI contains a field describing the owner of the DCP, the
GOES identifier of the product, the reporting time of the platform and
how often (the frequency) the platform reports. The GUI also contains
any special criteria governing the platform's reporting of data.

For Observer, the GUI reconfigures itself to display the observer's
name, address, email, and telephone contact information. It also
displays information about how the observer reports the observations,
who sponsors the observer's work, how much the observer is compensated,
and the task number of the contract that pertains to the observer.

For observations taken by telemetry source (for example, ASOS or a
mesonet), the "Data Sources" GUI reconfigures itself to display
information about the telemetry source, the owner of the telemetry
equipment, and who pays for the telemetry station. The cost of the data,
the sensor identification string, and the frequency with which reports
are issued are also displayed. A telephone number is provided as a
source for further information. Any relevant criteria are display in the
"Criteria" text area.

# Contacts Option {#contacts-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The contacts GUI displays contact information for a location. This can
be helpful when there is a problem with an observation site's data or a
special measurement needs to be made during high water situations. The
scrolled list across the top of the GUI has the headers "Sequence",
"Contact", and "Phone". In this scrolled list are listed all contacts,
i.e. the names of people or organizations that may be called when more
information or immediate action is required at a remote site. When one
of the items is selected from this listing, the fields in the
"Information" frame updates to display more detailed contact details for
the selection.

Note that the sequence number is supposed to indicate the order in which
people are contacted. Someone with a sequence number of "1\" should be
contacted before someone with a sequence number of "2\". The "Concerns"
field contains special instructions pertinent to the selected contact.
Many times, the "Concerns" field will contain after hours contact
information for organizations that may only be staffed during the day.

# Crest History Option {#crest-history-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The crest history window provides a historical lookup of previous
floods, their maximum river stage (crest), their flow at the crest
stage, the date the crest occurred, and the time the crest occurred. The
display consists of a graphic which displays each individual crest with
a colored "X" plotted relative to the levels of the action, minor,
moderate and major flood levels. The colors used to represent these
three divisions of the flood stage are yellow, red, blue, and purple,
respectively, and the "X" for the crest is given the color of the stage
that it is at or above. Note that green is used for plotting crests
which are below the action stage.

The crests which are plotted on the graph are also listed in the
scrolled list in the top right corner of the GUI. When a crest is
selected from this scrolled list, its corresponding plot on the crest
history graph is highlighted in white and detailed information for the
crest is displayed in the fields within the "Info for Selected Crest"
frame. A crest may also be selected by clicking its "X" on the crest
plot. Which crests are displayed on the plot and consequently in the
list box can be controlled through the "Filter Crests By" option below
the plot. It offers the ability to display only those crests which are
above the action stage, only those which are below the action stage, or
all crests. The listed, textual crest information can be sorted in
descending order according to stage, flow, or crest date.

The "Info for Selected Crest" frame contains information specific for
the crest currently being displayed. This information includes the stage
of the crest, the flow or discharge of the crest, the date of the crest,
and the time of the crest. The frame also contains check boxes which
indicate how the crest observation was arrived at and any additional
remarks that may be useful for interpreting the crest.

# Text Reports Option {#text-reports-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The text reports window provides the ability to generate, print, and
save to a file three types of reports: E-19, E-19A (Summary), and B-44A
(Cooperative). It also provides the ability to create, print, and save
to a file a sorted list of stations, a list of station class
information, and a sorted list of service backup information. The list
of stations may be sorted by location identifier, location name, the
county, the basin, or the observer. The service backup list may be
sorted by the station identifier, responsible WFO, or Hydologic Service
Area (HSA).

The sorting options are only available for the "Sorted Station List" and
the "Service Backup". For the E-19 report there is a "Page" option menu
button which allows quick access to a large number of sections of the
report.

The printing and saving of data are respectively controlled by the
"Print" and "Save" buttons at the bottom of the application.

# Product Menu Options {#product-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

As shown in Figure 3- , the product menu contains only one option,
"Product Viewer".

# Product Viewer Option {#product-viewer-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The product viewer window provides the ability to view IHFS products
(such as River Statements and Flood Warnings) that have been stored into
the database. The "Product Viewer" GUI consists of a scrolled list
containing products that meet the user selected searching criteria. When
a product is selected from this list, if it can be found in the
database, then its contents will be displayed in the large text area
that occupies much of the bottom of the "Product Viewer" GUI. The
products may be displayed according to the three options shown on the
"List" pulldown option menu: "Products for Selected Location", "Latest
Product by Product Identifier", and "Text Products in Database". The
"Products for Selected Location" option relies on a station having been
selected by the user before the Product Viewer was launched. If no
station was selected, the identifier of the station must be typed into
the "Selected Location" text field. If a station was selected on the
Hydroview/MPE display, either by double clicking on it or using the
station selection utility, then its identifier will automatically appear
in the "Selected Location" text field when the application is started.
In order for products to be available for viewing, the shef_storetext
token must be set to ON. The default value for the token is OFF. Also, a
non-zero number of products must be defined to be
retained.![](media/image16.png){width="3.9194444444444443in"
height="1.7881944444444444in"}

The "Latest Product by Product Identifier" option selects the most
recent product for each of the available product identifiers in the
database. The "Text Products in Database" option displays all of the
products that are actually in the database. The output in the product
information text box can be sorted according to the product identifier,
the product time, and the posting time. Products of a specific id can be
displayed by entering a product identifier into the "Product Id Filter"
text field. This may be the exact product identifier, or the wildcard
character '\*' may be used to retrieve set of product ids.

# MPEcontrol Menu Options {#mpecontrol-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

The MPEcontrol menu together with the MPEfields menu provide the
Hydroview/MPE multisenor precipitation editing and viewing capabilities.
None of the MPEcontrol or MPEfields menu items are accessible until an
hour for displaying the MPE data has been chosen from the "Choose Hour
..." menu item. Once an hour has been selected, the other MPEcontrol and
MPEfields menu items are automatically desensitized and made selectable
(Figure 3- ).![](media/image17.png){width="3.7583333333333333in"
height="3.3680555555555554in"}

# Next Hour Option {#next-hour-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The next hour option selects and displays the next hour's worth of MPE
data. The application keeps track of the specific data field that the
user is looking at so that the same product can be properly loaded for
the next hour, producing continuity for viewing the products while
making sure that the user does not have to reset the field type every
time a new hour is selected.

For the radar mosaic, mean field bias radar mosaic, local bias radar
mosaic, gage-only analysis, multisensor mosaic, and best estimate QPE,
when the next hour option is selected and the field currently being
viewed has not been saved, a warning dialog box is launched stating that
the data has not been saved. This dialog box gives the user the option
to cancel the next hour callback and save the data first or to discard
any changes made and continue to load the next hour's worth of data.

If data for the most recent hour is being viewed, then the Next Hour
button will be grayed out and not selectable.

# Previous Hour Option {#previous-hour-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The previous hour option selects and displays the previous hour's worth
of MPE data. Like the next hour option, the application keeps track of
the specific field the user is looking at so that the same product can
be properly loaded when showing the previous hour's data. Again, this
provides continuity for viewing the products while making certain the
user does not have to reset the field type every time a new hour is
selected.

For the radar mosaic, mean field bias radar mosaic, local bias radar
mosaic, gage-only analysis, multisensor mosaic, and best estimate QPE,
when the previous hour option is selected and the field currently being
viewed has not been saved, a warning dialog box is launched stating that
the data has not been saved. This dialog box gives the user the option
to cancel the previous hour callback and save the data first or to
discard any changes made and continue to load the previous hour's worth
of data.

If data for the oldest hour is being viewed, then the Previous Hour menu
option will be grayed out and not selectable.

# Choose Hour Option \... {#choose-hour-option-... .hmap_mpe_header4}

The choose hour window provides the ability to select a date and a time
for which to display an hour's worth of MPE. This window shows a table
of allowable hours that may be selected for processing. The number of
entries in this table is controlled by the num_hours_wind field in the
IHFS RWPrefs table. There are three columns of information in the main
window of the choose hour GUI. The first column, labeled "Hour of Run",
lists the date/hour to be selected for MPE processing. The hour
specified is the end of each hourly period of rainfall accumulation. The
second column, labeled "Last Saved", shows the last time that a field
was saved for the given hour. If "n/a" is displayed in this column, it
means that a field has not previously been saved for this hour. The
third column, labeled "Last Input", shows the last hour that the
MPE_fieldgen process was run for the hour listed in the Hour of Run
column. A "n/a" in this column indicates that a MPE_fieldgen run for the
hour has not yet been done. The times displayed in columns one, two and
three are GMT. The baseline oper crontab executes MPE_fieldgen at 25
minutes after the top of the hour. If the Choose Hour window is opened
between the top of the hour and 25 minutes after the top of the hour,
the Last Input column for the current hour will display "n/a."

The first date/hour listed in the choose hour window by default is the
current date and hour. Note that this can be changed by specifying the
date/hour in the form yyyymmddhh (Z time) as an argument to the "-t"
option on the command line of the call to the Hydroview/MPE application
in the start_hydroview/mpe startup script.

A date/hour is selected from the "choose hour" window simply by clicking
on it with the mouse. To display the data for that hour, simply click on
the "OK" button at the bottom of the GUI. The "Cancel" button pops-down
the "choose hour" window. The "Help" button launches the Help window
which provides help about a variety of Hydroview/MPE topics.

# Save Hour's Data Option \... {#save-hours-data-option-... .hmap_mpe_header4}

Choosing this option saves the currently displayed MPE precipitation
field as the "best estimated" precipitation field for the hour. It is
saved as a xmrg-formatted file. When a file is saved, a record is
written to the IHFS RWResult table containing the filename, the id of
the user running the Hydroview/MPE application (as indicated by the
LOGNAME environmental variable), and the date/time that the file was
saved. Note that missing values are replaced by 0.0 in the precipitation
field before creating the xmrg file. This is done specifically for MAPX,
an OFS function which relies on these xmrg precipitation estimates not
being missing.

The option to save the best estimate precipitation field only exists for
valid precipitation fields. Reference data fields, which include the
"Radar Coverage", "Height", "Local Span", "Local Bias", and "Prism"
fields under the "MPEfields" menu, cannot be saved as best estimate
data.

The "Save Hour's Data" option will also save the data in a netCDF
format, gif format, jpeg format, or in grib format depending on the
values of the "mpe_save_netcdf", "mpe_save_gif", "mpe_save_jpeg", and
"mpe_save_grib" tokens in the .Apps_defaults file(s). When saving gif
and jpeg images, make sure that the MPE main window is on top of the
window stack until the confirmation message is printed. Failure to do
this will result in creation of an image with other windows obscuring
the main window.

Saving data also sets the auto_save flag to 'F' in the RWResult table
for that hour. This prevents MPE FieldGen from overwriting the best
estimate precipitation field during a subsequent cron or manual rerun.
This preserves the user's edits.

# Clear Data Option \... {#clear-data-option-... .hmap_mpe_header4}

This is a new option. Since Hydroview and MPE are merged applications,
it is necessary to provide a way of clearing the MPE data from the
screen if the user wants to work solely with the Hydroview point
datasets. The "Clear Data" button has been provided to erase any MPE
information from the Hydroview/MPE display. Note that once this data has
been erased, the only way to redisplay the data is to select a new
date/hour from the "Choose Hour" menu item.

# Rerun Fieldgen Option \... {#rerun-fieldgen-option-... .hmap_mpe_header4}

When modifying precipitation and gage data, the user may wish to
incorporate these changes into the the MPE fields and mosaics. An
example of this would be if a radar site was "ignored" (through the
Single Site Radar window) and two new gages are added using the "Add
Pseudo Gage" option. To incorporate this new data into the "Field Bias
Radar Mosaic", "Local Bias Radar Mosaic", "Gage Only Analysis", and
"Multisensor Mosaic", Fieldgen should be rerun. FieldGen will recompute
each of these fields with the new data. If the "Best Estimate QPE" field
has not yet been manually saved for that hour, then it too will be
updated by rerunning FieldGen. Otherwise, it will be left unchanged. For
this reason, the user should first perform gage and radar data edits,
then rerun FieldGen, then perform polygon edits, and finally save the
hour's data as the Best Estimate QPE.

When the rerun fieldgen option is selected, the "Rerun FieldGen Dialog"
pop-up window appears. Because rerunning FieldGen can be a time
consuming enterprise, this dialog box provides the opportunity to abort
the attempt to rerun by selecting "No". Note that if "Yes" is selected,
the rerun may take up to several minutes, depending upon the size of the
MPE area and the load on the system.

# Draw Polygons Option \... {#draw-polygons-option-... .hmap_mpe_header4}

The draw polygons option allows the user to manually draw precipitation
areas onto the main window by drawing edit polygons. The user has a
choice of assigning a precipitation value to a polygon or substituting a
precipitation value from other MPE_fieldgen generated fields. The
modified field should then be saved. Otherwise the edits will be lost
when switching products or changing hours.

Precipitation areas may be drawn on the main window as follows:

1\) Select the Draw Polygons option on the MPEcontrol menu. The program
enters the draw mode.

2\) A polygon may now be drawn by using the mouse and left clicking
wherever a polygon vertice is desired. To close the polygon, the right
mouse button needs to be clicked once. The polygon may only contain up
to 19 points. If drawing 19 points or more, the polygon will
automatically close.

3\) Once the polygon is closed, the "Edit Precipitation" GUI will
appear.

This GUI contains options for modifying the data contained within the
polygon. The top part of the GUI contains a slider bar with four
buttons, "Set", "Raise", "Lower", and "Scale" located just below it .
The slider bar acts in conjunction with each of these buttons as
follows:

Set - This button sets all grid boxes contained within the polygon to
the value specified by the slider bar.

Raise - This feature sets the minimum value a grid bin contained within
the polygon may have. This threshold value is specified by the slider
bar. All grid bins with values lower than this threshold are raised to
it. All grid bins with values higher than this threshold are left
unchanged.

Lower - This feature sets the maximum value a grid bin contained within
the polygon may have. This threshold value is set by the slider bar. All
grid bins with values higher than this threshold are lower to it. All
grid bins with values equal to or lower than this threshold are left
unchanged.

Scale - This feature takes the value of each grid bin contained within
the polygon and multiplies it by the value specified on the slider bar.

In addition to this, values from the other precipitation fields may be
substituted into the polygon. The bottom part of the Edit Precipitation
GUI contains a list of radio buttons corresponding to the precipitation
products which may be substituted into the polygon. These are the Radar
Mosaic, Field Bias Mosiac, Local Bias Mosaic, Multisensor Mosaic, Gage
Only Analysis, Satellite Precipitation, and the Best Estimate QPE. The
Substitute button positioned below these options will fill the polygon
with data from the currently selected precipitation product.

4\) Steps 2 and 3 may be repeated several times to draw multiple
polygons.

The first polygon point must be placed within the bounds of the MPE
forecast area. If it is not, then an error dialog will be displayed
stating that the cursor is out of range. Subsequent points in the
polygon may be drawn inside or outside of the forecast area. If a point
is placed outside of the forecast area's bounds, then it will be
"snapped" back so that it is positioned just inside of the boundary.

In order for the draw polygon changes to be made permanent, the data
field must be saved.

# Show Single Radar Site \... {#show-single-radar-site-... .hmap_mpe_header4}

The show single radar site option initially brings up the "Radar Sites"
window. This window allows the selection of a specific radar site that
provides coverage within the MPE forecast area. By highlighting a site
and selecting the "Ok" button, the "Single Radar Site" GUI is launched.
This window has four panes or panels. Going clockwise starting in the
upper left hand corner of the window the panes are "Raw Radar", "Radar
Climatology", "Radar Coverage Map", and "Mean Field Bias Corrected
Radar".

The "Raw Radar" map is the radar based digital precipitation product
which has not had a bias correction applied to it to unbias it. It is a
131 by 131 km grid centered on the specific radar site. The "Radar
Climatology Grid" is the climatological radar precipitation value for
each of the grid boxes. The "Radar Coverage Map" is a map of the radar
beam blockages. It is displayed using black and red colors. The black
grid boxes are the grid boxes for which there is no radar coverage
available due to radar beam blockages. The red grid boxes do have radar
coverage available. This information is read from a file in the "misbin"
directory. If the file is not available, then the circle will be drawn
all filled in. The "Mean Field Bias Corrected Radar" is the raw radar
field data values multiplied by the mean field bias value (which is
displayed at the bottom of the screen). If data is not available for the
selected radar site, then the text "Missing Radar" is displayed within
the "Raw Radar" and the "Mean Field Bias Corrected Radar" panes.

The menubar across the top of the "Single Radar Site" window contains
the "Control", "Options", and "Overlays" submenus. The "Control" menu
contains the "Close" button. This simply closes the single site window.

The "Options" menu contains the "Edit Bias Value", "Ignore Radar",
"Display Adaptable Param", and "Display Supplemental Data" items. The
"Edit Bias Value" option provides the means to alter the radar mean
field bias value used to "correct" its precipitation estimates to be
closer to gage estimates. It launches the "Edit Bias Value" popup slider
bar window through which the mean field bias value can be easily
changed. The "Ignore Radar" option provides the means of excluding a
specific radar's data (if for example it is corrupt or bad) from the
derived MPE precipitation. In this release, there is no way to turn a
radar back on after it has been ignored for the given hour. A future
enhancement will allow the radar to be unignored for the given hour.
Note that for both the "Edit Bias Value" and the "Ignore Radar" options,
the "Rerun FieldGen" option must be selected so that all of the MPE
fields can be recomputed without that radar's data.

The "Display Adaptable Param" option displays the radar-specific
adaptable parameters which include preprocessing algorithm parameters,
rate algorithm parameters, accumulation algorithm parameters, and
adjustment algorithm parameters. The "Display Supplemental Data" option
displays data derived from the radar field. This information includes
the product generation time, the volume coverage pattern, the
operational weather mode, the maximum data value, and whether or not
precipitation was detected during the hour leading up to this product.

Finally, the "Overlays" submenu contains the following options: "RFC
boundaries", "States", "County", "Cities/Towns", "Basin boundaries",
"Rivers", "Precip Gages", and "Radar Umbrella". Each of these overlays
provides a way of toggling on and off a specific overlay. Depending on
the overlay's initial state, the overlay selected is displayed or
cleared in each of the four panes of the "Single Radar Site" window.

The user may display more than one Single Site Radar Window at a time.
One window may be opened for each of the radars providing coverage to
the site's MPE forecast area.

# The Gage Submenu {#the-gage-submenu .hmap_mpe_header4}

The gage submenu, shown in Figure 3- , contains the "Add Pseudo Gage",
"Show Gage Table \...", "Show Gage Identifiers", "Show Gage Values",
"Show Missing Gages", and "Gage Color" options. The Gage Color option
leads to a submenu containing the "Solid Color", "Contrast Color",
"Color By QC", and "Color By Value" options. These functions operate as
follows:![](media/image18.jpeg){width="3.472916666666667in"
height="1.3770833333333334in"}

# Add Pseudo Gage {#add-pseudo-gage .hmap_mpe_header5}

This option allows the user to add a false (pseudo) gage report. When
this option is selected, the mouse pointer temporarily turns int a
leftward pointing hand to indicate that the application is in "pseudo
gage mode". Left clicking on the portion of the Hydroview/MPE viewing
area that the user would like to insert the new gage brings up the "Add
Pseudo Gage" window. This subwindow consists of a slider bar to set the
gage's value and option buttons which allow the user to set the value,
to cancel the value selection, and to get more help about the add pseudo
gage functionality. Once the slider bar is set to the desired value and
the "Ok" button is selected, the new gage report is created in the
database by inserting a new record into the PseudoGage table. In order
to actually use the new gage data in the generated fields, the "Rerun
FieldGen" option must be selected. After FieldGen has been rerun, the
"Gage Only" and "Multisensor Mosaic" analyses will reflect the new gage.
If displaying the gage identifiers, then once FieldGen is rerun, the
pseudo gage will have a name like "pseudoN" where N is the number of
pseudo gages created for the hour, starting with the number "00\".

# Show Gage Table \... {#show-gage-table-... .hmap_mpe_header5}

The gage table provides a tabular display of all of the gages contained
within the WFO or RFC area's HRAP grid. These are the gages that
contribute to the "Multisensor" and "Gage Only" fields and to the
calculation of the mean field bias. This gage listing includes any
pseudo gages created by the user. The GUI consists of a simple menu bar
with the submenu headings "Control", "Sort Gages", and "Help". "Control"
provides the option to quit the gage table. "Sort Gages" provides the
ability to sort gages by gage value, by gage identifier, and by radar
identifier. "Help" provides access to the help gui. The three columns in
the table have the headings "Gage Id", "Gage", and "Edit". Each row in
the table corresponds to a specific gage location. The identifier of the
gage is listed under "GageID", the value of the gage is listed under
"Gage", and a new value for the gage may be entered in the "Edit"
column. A missing value must be denoted as either "M" or "m". Note that
when "quit" is selected from the "Control" menu, the application
automatically searches the edit column for changes. FieldGen must be
rerun in order to make the modifications visible.

The main body of this GUI consists of a large table which contains a row
for each of the gages contained within the WFO or RFC area's HRAP grid.
There are 11 columns. These are "GageID", "Gage", "BestQPE",
"MultiSensor", "RadarID", "RadarMosaic", "FieldBias", "LocalBias",
"GageOnly", "Satellite", and "Edit". The "Gage Id" column displays the
identifier of the gage. The "Gage" column displays the value of the
gage. The "BestQPE" column displays the best estimate QPE for the HRAP
bin that the gage occupies. The "MultiSensor" column displays the
multi-sensor precipitation estimate for the gage's HRAP bin. The
"RadarID" column indicates which radar umbrella the gage is covered by.
The "RadarMosaic" column shows the radar estimated rainfall for the HRAP
bin the gage is located in. The "FieldBias" and "LocalBias" columns
display the field bias radar mosaic and local bias radar mosaic values,
respectively, for the HRAP bin the gage is located in. The "GageOnly"
column displays the value from the Gage Only Analysis field
corresponding to the gage's location. The "Satellite" column displays
the value from the Satellite Precip field corresponding to the gage's
location.

# Show Gage Identifiers {#show-gage-identifiers .hmap_mpe_header5}

The show gage identifiers option toggles on and off the display of the
gage ids on the Hydroview/MPE display.

# Show Gage Values {#show-gage-values .hmap_mpe_header5}

The **Show Gage Values** option toggles on and off the display of the
gage values on the Hydroview/MPE display. A missing gage value is
signified by the character "m".

# Show Missing Gages  {#show-missing-gages .hmap_mpe_header5}

The **Show Missing Gages** submenu provides three options for
controlling how missing MPE gage data are displayed. As shown in Figure
3- , these are: All Missing, Reported Missing, and No Missing.
![](media/image19.jpeg){width="3.2958333333333334in"
height="1.8541666666666667in"}

There are two categories of missing MPE gage data. The first includes
hourly precipitation totals that are incomplete because a precipitation
report has not been received for the hour. The second, the reported
missing category, includes hourly precipitation totals either manually
set to missing by the forecaster or reported missing (-9999) by the gage
station. The distinction is important because when viewing MPE gage
values for the most recent hour some gage reports may not have been
received yet. These gage reports may eventually arrive. Being able to
view the reported missing gage values separately from the reports which
are missing because a lack of data gives the forecaster an idea of for
which gages data still may still be received.

Missing gage values are displayed as "m". When the All Missing option is
selected then missing gages are displayed regardless of whether or not
they are reported missing. When the Reported Missing option is selected,
then only the missing gages which were either manually set to missing or
reported with a value of -9999 are displayed. If the No Missing option
is selected, then no missing gages are
displayed.![](media/image20.jpeg){width="3.4305555555555554in"
height="1.3194444444444444in"}

# Gage Color {#gage-color .hmap_mpe_header5}

The Gage Color item launches the submenu shown in Figure 3- . The
options are as follows:

# Solid Color {#solid-color .hmap_mpe_header6}

Gage values and identifiers are displayed in a single color. This color
is "Sandy Brown".

# Contrast Color {#contrast-color .hmap_mpe_header6}

The gage value and identifier colors are selected in such a way that
they remain visible against their background. This eliminates the
problem where a gage may be the same color as its background, rendering
it hard to see or even invisible.

# Color By QC {#color-by-qc .hmap_mpe_header6}

Gage values and identifiers are colored according to whether or not they
have passed the spatial consistency and multi-sensor quality control
checks. The gage identifier and value will colored red if the gage did
not pass the spatial consistency check. The gage identifier and value
will be colored yellow if the gage did not pass the multi-sensor check.
If the gage has passed these QC checks, then it will be colored sandy
brown.

# Color By Value {#color-by-value .hmap_mpe_header6}

Using this color option, gage data which are overlain on a MPE
precipitation or gage mosaic will be colored according to their values.
The gages are colored according to the color bar associate with the MPE
field they are drawn on top of. For nonprecipitation MPE fields (PRISM,
Height Field, Radar Coverage Field, Local Span Field, Local Bias Field),
the gages are drawn using the color sandy brown.

# Time Lapse Submenu {#time-lapse-submenu .hmap_mpe_header4}

As shown in Figure 3- , the time lapse submenu contains the following
options: "6hr", "12hr", "24hr", "Other \...", and "End Loop". The first
four options specify the duration of the time lapse. All time lapse
durations end with the current hour of data being examined. So, if the 6
hour time lapse is chosen, then Hydroview/MPE data for the last five
hours plus the current hour are displayed in the time lapse. By default,
when time lapse is started, it begins with the oldest data field and
loops to the most recent data field. It then resets back to the oldest
data field and loops again to the most recent data field. This process
continues until the user ends the time lapse by selecting the "End Loop"
menu item, selects manual loop frame stepping, or performs a zoom, pan
or recenter action.![](media/image21.jpeg){width="2.9541666666666666in"
height="1.2090277777777778in"}

When the "End Loop" option is selected, the image displayed in
Hydroview/MPE is the one being viewed before the time lapse was started.

To select manual loop frame stepping, the left or right key on the
keyboard needs to be selected. The left arrow is for reverse looping
while the right arrow key is for normal looping. Pressing the left arrow
key will set the display to the current hour's data field. Subsequent
left arrow key presses will loop backward in time from there. Pressing
the right arrow keyboard button will set the display to the oldest
hour's worth of data within the selected time lapse range. Subsequent
right arrow key presses will loop forward in time from there. To resume
automatic time lapsing the up or down keyboard key needs to be pressed.

In addition to the "End Loop" menu option, the time lapse may be stopped
by performing a zooming, panning or recentering action on the time
lapsing image. For instance, if an interesting precipitation feature is
observed in a particular frame during time lapsing, by placing the mouse
cursor over the image and clicking the middle mouse button, the time
lapse will stop on that frame and recenter and zoom into that feature.
If a left mouse click was performed instead, then the time lapse would
stop on the frame and recenter on the click point and zoom out.

See time lag between the successive image displays in the time lapse is
specified by the token "hydroview_mpe_timelapse". It is a value in
milliseconds. If the token is not set, then the default duration is 1
second (1000 milliseconds).

A time lapse with a duration other than those explicitly shown on the
time lapse submenu can be set by selecting the "Other \..." option. This
launches a gui with a slider bar that allows the duration of the time
lapse to be set to any value from 1 hour to 24 hours.

# MPEfield Menu Options {#mpefield-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

As shown in Figure 3- , these menu options allow the display of the
different Hydroview/MPE data and reference fields. The first eight field
options listed on the menu are the "Radar Mosaic", the "Field Bias Radar
Mosaic", the "Local Bias Radar Mosaic", the "Gage Only Analysis", the
"Satellite Precip" field, the "Local Bias Satellite Precip" field, the
"Multisensor Mosaic", and the "Local Bias Multisensor Mosaic". These
mosaics and fields are derived from remotely sensed precipitation
estimates (from radar and the satellite autoestimator) and ground truth
rain gauge observations. The next two fields on the MPEfields menu are
the "Best Estimate QPE" and the "Multi-Hour QPE" which represent the
most representative hourly precipitation field and a multi-hour
precipitation accumulation, respectively. The "Local Span", "Local
Bias", "Height Field", "Radar Coverage Field", and "Prism" on the
MPEfields menu are reference fields. They describe radar height and
coverage characteristics as well as how radar estimates were corrected
using observed gauge amounts to produce more reliable precipitation
amounts.![](media/image22.jpeg){width="1.7638888888888888in"
height="3.85625in"}

The "Display Bias Table" option provides the ability to display the
individual mean field biases for each of the radars providing at least
some coverage for the WFO or RFC area. The "Display 7 x 7\" option
allows the display a gage point and the 7 x 7 matrix of HRAP grids
centered on it. The value of the gage may be edited. The "Set Colors"
option allows the color schemes of the various MPE products to be
modified.

The availability of the first eight field options listed on the
MPEfields Menu depends on the setting of the mpe_generate_list and
mpe_qpe_fieldtype tokens. The mpe_generate_list token allows the
forecast office to pick which MPE products it needs for its operations.
Only these products will be generated by MPE FieldGen and available for
viewing in Hydroview/MPE. The fields which are not available will be
grayed out in the MPEfields menu.

A complete discussion of the mpe_generate_list token, the
mpe_qpe_fieldtype token, and interproduct dependencies is available in
the Hydroview/MPE Implementation Guide.

# Radar Mosaic Option {#radar-mosaic-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This field represents the rainfall estimate as derived directly from the
mosaic of DPA grids for each of the individual radar sites that provide
coverage for the WFO or RFC area. It is the raw radar precipitation
estimate. Selecting this option will cause the radar mosaic to be
displayed on the Hydroview/MPE viewing area. It should be noted that for
each HRAP grid bin in the raw radar mosaic, the radar which provides
coverage at the lowest height above sea level is selected to fill that
bin. The "Height" and "Radar Coverage" fields described below are used
in determining this optimal radar value for each of the grid bins.

# Field Bias Radar Mosaic Option {#field-bias-radar-mosaic-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

This option displays the raw radar mosaic with the mean field bias
applied to it. Each radar site has its own mean field bias value for
"correcting" the precipitation based on gage data. These mean field bias
values are viewable in the "Display Bias Table" menu option, discussed
more in depth below. The application of the mean field bias value is an
attempt to make the radar-estimated precipitation amounts more accurate
and reliable. In effect, the mean field bias value is applied to unbias
the radar estimated precipitation amounts.

The bias values are arrived at by comparing ground truth precipitation
observations (from gages) with the raw radar-estimated rainfall amounts
over ten different spans of time (also known as memory spans) ranging
from under an hour, daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, to period of
record.

# Local Bias Radar Mosaic Option {#local-bias-radar-mosaic-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The local bias mosaic is created by computing the bias for each grid box
of the HRAP grid that represents a WFO or RFC area. The resulting grid
of local bias values is then applied to the raw radar mosaic to produce
the local bias radar mosaic. By computing the bias for each HRAP grid
bin, it is hoped that local geographical effects on rainfall can be
captured. The actual bias value for each grid bin can be viewed with the
"Local Bias" field.

# Gage Only Analysis Option {#gage-only-analysis-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The gage only analysis represents the precipitation as estimated by
gages only. In order to compensate for the generally large spacing
between gages, an attempt is made to spatially smooth the precipitation
around a gage point when there are other nonmissing gage reports nearby.

The mpe_del_gage_zeros token controls the handling of gages reporting
values of zero. If this token is set to "ON", then a gage reporting zero
is not considered in the gage only analysis if radar is reporting
precipitation over the gage's locations. If the mpe_del_gage_zeros token
is set to "OFF", the default value, then a gage reporting zero is used
regardless of whether or not radar is reporting precipitation over its
location.

The radius of influence of a gage report is 60 km. This means if an HRAP
grid bin is more than 60 km from the nearest gage site, then it will be
assigned a missing value and will be displayed grayed out. If the grid
bin is within 60 km of several gages, then the gage values are weighted
based on their distance and the mean weighted value is assigned to the
HRAP grid bin.

# Satellite Precip Option  {#satellite-precip-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The satellite precipitation option allows satellite estimated
precipitation amounts to be viewed in the Hydroview/MPE display.
Satellite precipitation estimates (SPE) are not included in the
multisensor mosaic.

Note that the SPE product may be time lapsed just like any of the other
products. Also, it may be saved as the best estimate QPE just like any
of the other products. Unlike many of the other MPE precipitation
products, the satellite precipitation field is not created by MPE
Fieldgen. It is created on the fly by Hydroview/MPE by reading the D2D
national Auto Satellite Precipitation Estimate (Auto SPE) and displaying
the subsection corresponding to the site's MPE forecast area.

# Local Bias Satellite Precip Option {#local-bias-satellite-precip-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The concept behind this product is similar to the Local Bias Radar
Mosaic. A bias value is computed for each HRAP grid bin in the site's
MPE forecast area. These biases are then applied to each HRAP grid bin
the satellite precipitation field. The net effect of this is to
"correct" or "unbias" the satellite precipitation estimates. This should
make the satellite precipitation estimates more accurate and reliable.
Note that the Local Span Field and Local Bias Field do not apply to this
product. They apply only to the Local Bias Radar Mosaic. The local span
and local bias information for the Local Bias Satellite Precip field are
held internally.

# Multisensor Mosaic Option {#multisensor-mosaic-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The power of multisensor precipitation estimation is reflected in the
mutlisensor mosaic. It is a combination of bias corrected radar values
and gage values. Each grid bin in the MPE forecast area is assigned a
value based on neighboring gage and bias corrected radar values. If the
grid bin contains a gage site reporting a non missing value, then it is
assigned the gage's value. Otherwise, it is assigned a value based on
its radar estimated precipitation value and the value of the closest
gage. If there are no nearby gages, then the HRAP bin is assigned the
radar value.

The multisensor mosaic also incorporates Parameter-elevation Regressions
on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM) data (see below). This is done in
areas where there is no radar data but there are some nearby gages. This
often occurs in mountainous regions where the mountain peaks block the
radar beam. If there are a few gages scattered around the mountain
bases, then the climatological PRISM data is applied to the gage values
to estimate what the precipitation amounts were over the higher terrain.

# Local Bias Multisensor Mosaic {#local-bias-multisensor-mosaic .hmap_mpe_header4}

Unlike the Multisensor Mosaic which incorporates the mean field bias (a
bias determined on a radar by radar basis), the Local Bias Multisensor
Mosaic incorporates a bias computed at a HRAP grid bin resolution. The
computed bias for each grid bin can be seen by viewing the Local Bias
Field. The memory spans used to compute these local biases can be seen
by viewing the Local Span Field. The local bias multisensor mosaic is
the result of combining local bias corrected radar estimates with gage
data.

# Best Estimate QPE Option {#best-estimate-qpe-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The Best Estimate QPE defaults to the multisensor mosaic when FieldGen
is initially run to create the MPE data fields (however a new token
named "mpe_qpe_fieldtype" has been added to the latest version of
FieldGen which allows other fields to be used as the Best Estimate QPE).
Using options such as substituting precipitation areas (through the
"Draw Polygons" menu item on the MPEcontrol menu) and adding gages
(through the AAdd Pseudo Gage Option on the MPEcontrol Gage submenu) the
Best Estimate QPE field may be easily modified.

# Multi-Hour QPE {#multi-hour-qpe .hmap_mpe_header4}

This provides the ability to display multihour precipitation estimates.
At this time, these rainfall totals are derived by summing together the
hourly best estimate QPE products. The user is given full control over
when and how long to tally these rainfall estimates through a simple
GUI.

This feature is accessed by selecting the "Multi-Hour QPE" item on the
"MPEfields" menu. This displays the "Multi-Hour Precipitation
Accumulation" GUI. This interface is divided into two distinct frames,
namely the Accumulation Interval Setup frame and the Accumulation
Display Control frame. The Accumulation Interval Setup frame has a drop
down menu labeled "Duration:" which allows the user to select the
interval over which to sum the rainfall amounts. If the desired duration
is not on the option menu, then the user may select Other (at the bottom
of the option menu). This will create the "Accumulation Interval" slider
bar which allows which allows any interval from 1 to 72 hours to be
chosen.

Just below the duration option menu is the ending time text field. This
text field specifies the end time of the interval that multi-hour
rainfall totals are being computed over. By default this text field
displays the time of the MPE data field currently being viewed in the
main window. However, it may be easily modified through the use of the
incrementing and decrementing arrow buttons at either end of the
end-time text field. The arrow buttons to the left of the text field,
labeled "Day Adjust" allow the day portion of the date to be modified.
The arrows buttons to the right of the text field, labeled "Hour
Adjust", allow the hour portion of the date to be modified. The user
cannot enter a date directly in the text field.

The "Accumulation Display Control" provides the "Display As" option menu
which allows multi-hour precipitation totals to be displayed as HRAP
grid values, basin averages, county averages, or zone averages. The
"Show Data" button triggers the display of the multi-hour precipitation
estimate based on the user-selected duration, ending time, and display
resolution (HRAP grid, basins, counties, or zones). The identifiers and
values of the precipitation areas may be shown using the "Values" and
"Ids" annotation toggle buttons.

Below the Accumulation Display Control frame are the "Close" and "Help"
buttons which, respectively, destroy the GUI and allow for the retrieval
of topic-specific help.

When the multi-hour precipitation option is being used, the user may not
access any of the items on the MPEcontrol menu. This means that a
multi-hour precipitation field cannot be saved as the best estimate QPE,
time lapsed, have polygons drawn on it, or have pseudo gages plotted on
it. Also, since this product spans a multi-hour interval, the concept of
choosing the next or previous hour's worth of data does not apply. The
reason for this is that the Multi-hour precipitation estimate is not one
of the base xmrg fields that is saved on disk for future reference. It
is simply a displayed product that can be used for current reference. In
order to regain access to the MPEcontrol menu items, one of the fields
other than the multi-hour precipitation estimate must be selected from
the MPEfields menu. In this release of the Hydroview/MPE application,
missing values encountered during the accumulation of hourly
precipitation totals are not reported to the user. Missing values may be
present on a grid bin by grid bin basis or as entire missing fields.
Keeping this in mind, it is important to remember that because of
missing data, a displayed multi-hour precipitation estimate for a given
number of hours may not have been able to find data for all of the
hours.

When viewing basin-averaged multi-hour rainfall estimates, each basin
must be covered by a minimum percentage of valid, non-missing values in
order to be assigned an average rainfall estimate. If this minimum
percentage is not met, then the basin is assigned a value of missing and
colored as light gray.

# Local Span Option {#local-span-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The local span field reflects the memory span that is used for computing
the local bias of each of the HRAP grid bins. Just as the local bias can
be different for each of the grid bins, so is the memory span value
different for each of the grid bins. The "Local Span" and "Local Bias"
fields are used together to compute the "Local Bias" precipitation
mosaic.

# Local Bias Option {#local-bias-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The "Local Bias" field reflects the local bias value for each of the
grid bins in the HRAP grid. The span of time (the memory span) over
which the local bias was calculated is represented by the corresponding
HRAP grid bin in the "Local Span" field described above.

# Height Field Option {#height-field-option .hmap_mpe_header4}

The height field displays the lowest available radar height that
provides coverage for a particular HRAP grid bin. If a low elevation
radar beam is blocked relatively close to the radar emitter, then the
next higher elevation radar beam is selected in hope that it will be
high enough to "see" over the obstacle. If, because of missing radars or
ground obstacles, the grid bin has no coverage from any radar, then it
is assigned a missing value.

# Radar Coverage Field {#radar-coverage-field .hmap_mpe_header4}

Based on the "Height Field", the radar coverage field displays which
radar site is providing coverage for each HRAP grid bin. The "Height
Field" is used in determining which radar location provides the lowest
coverage for each of the bins. If no radar is providing coverage for a
grid bin, then the grid bin receives a missing value. Ultimately, this
field is used in determining the radar biases that are applied to each
of the grid bins when computing products such as the "Field Bias"
mosaic.

# PRISM {#prism .hmap_mpe_header4}

PRISM (Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model) data
is long term climatological precipitation data. The multisensor
precipitation estimates are scaled by the PRISM climatologies to improve
estimates especially in mountainous regions which are subject to large
orographic influences.

# Display Bias Table  {#display-bias-table .hmap_mpe_header4}

The "Display Bias Table" option launches the "Edit Bias Table" GUI. From
here, the user may easily view the radar-specific biases for the radar
sites which provide coverage for the WFO or RFC area. The three buttons
across the top of this GUI, "Close", "Apply", and "Help" provide the
means for closing the application, applying bias changes, and getting
more information respectively. There are five columns of data in this
table. Each row in this table provides bias information specific to a
particular radar site. This information includes the radar's identifier,
its mean field bias value, whether the mean field bias has been manually
updated, and the A and B coefficients used in the Z-R relationship by
the Radar Product Generator when producing the DPA product. Note that by
selecting any one of the radars listed in the bias table window, a
window displaying the memory span information used at computing that
radar's mean field bias is shown.

# Display 7 x 7 {#display-7-x-7 .hmap_mpe_header4}

The "Display 7 x 7\" option provides the ability to view a 7 x 7 grid of
HRAP bins centered on a precipitation gage. This feature, which is a
carry over from the original MPE application, is intended to give the
forecaster the capability of analyzing the precipitation distribution at
a very detailed scale of resolution around a gage site. It also provides
the ability to modify the gage's value. For example, the user may wish
to lower or raise the gage's precipitation amount to make it more
consistent with the estimated precipitation amounts in the HRAP bins
surrounding it.

When the "Display 7 x 7\" option is chosen from the MPEfields menu, the
mouse pointer changes to a leftward pointing hand. A gage is selected by
positioning the hand over it and executing a single click of the left
mouse button. If a gage is not directly under the clicked point on the
map, then the gage that is closest to the click point is selected as the
center of the 7 x 7 display. After clicking on or near a precipitation
gage the 7 x 7 GUI window appears. This simple GUI contains the
identifier of the gage the grid is centered on, the value of the gage,
and a 7 column by 7 row table where each element represents the
estimated precipitation value of one of the HRAP bins in the vicinity of
the gage.

The values displayed in the grid reflect the type of field that the user
is viewing in the main window. For example, if the best estimate qpe
field is being viewed in the main window, then the values inserted into
the 7 x 7 grid will also be best estimate qpe. The colors assigned to
the values in the 7 x 7 hrap grid follow the legend displayed with the
MPE product being viewed in the main window.

In OB3, the 7 x 7 GUI does not have to be closed between successive gage
edits. The 7 x 7 GUI display automatically updates each time a new gage
is selected in the Hydroview/MPE display.

The 7 x 7 GUI has four buttons arranged down its left side. The Apply
button applies the value specified by the Edit Gage Value slider bar to
the gage being edited. The Undo button returns the gage to the value it
had before the most recent edit. The Set Missing button sets the gage's
value to missing. The Close button closes the 7 x 7 GUI and exits
Hydroview/MPE from 7 x7 mode.

# Set Colors {#set-colors .hmap_mpe_header4}

Selecting this menu item launches the Color Thresholds GUI (see Figure
3- ). This GUI allows the precipitation ranges and the colors associated
with them to be defined for each of the MPE fields and mosaics. These
colors are set on a user by user basis allowing color schemes to be
tailored to an individual's preferences and needs. This color
information is stored in the ColorValues table in the IHFS database. If
a user does not have color information setup, then the default color
scheme is used.

The large scrolled list which occupies the top half of the Color
Thresholds GUI presents the thresholds and the color data associated
with them for the currently selected product. This list box displays the
name of the product, the duration of the product, the numeric threhold,
and the color associated with that threshold. If a product has color
thresholds defined for multiple durations, then all of the color
thresholds defined for the product are displayed in the scrolled list
ordered by increasing duration and increasing threshold value. This
provides a simple way to copy and modify a color threshold for a new
duration.

The bottom half of the Color Thresholds GUI contains the options which
control which product is displayed in the selection list and allow the
setting of individual thresholds and the colors associated with them.
The ColorUse option menu allows the following MPE products to be
selected: Radar Mosaic, Field Bias Radar Mosaic, Local Bias Radar
Mosaic, Gage Only Analysis, Satellite Precip, Multisensor Mosaic, Best
Estimate QPE, Multi-Hour QPE, Local Span, Local Bias, Height, Radar
Coverage, and PRISM.

The duration text field specifies the number of hours the MPE product
spans. This text field can be used to define color thresholds of
differing durations for a MPE product. This will be useful for defining
different color scales for different duration displays of multi-hour
QPE. For example, separate color scales may be defined and used for 3
hour and 24 hour precipitation accumulations. When displaying a
multi-hour QPE for a duration not specified in the ColorValues table,
the color scheme of the closest matching duration will be used. For
example, if a 9 hour multi-hour QPE product is displayed, but there are
color schemes defined for 3 and 12 hour accumulations, then the 12 hour
color scheme will be used.

The threshold may be Missing, \< Min Threshold, \>=Value. Note that each
product must have a Missing and a \< Min Threshold Value defined for it.

The Value text box specifies the value associated with the threshold. A
value does not apply to the Missing and \< Min Threshold categories -
they are assigned internally by the Hydroview/MPE
application.![](media/image23.png){width="3.0215277777777776in"
height="4.41875in"}

Below these options is the Color Name scrolled list. This list contains
the names of all the colors which may be used in defining the
thresholds. These are read in from the ColorNames table in the IHFS
database.

The four buttons at the bottom of the Color Thresholds GUI behave as
follows:

Apply - Updates the color scheme for the selected product. This includes
adding a new color threshold and associated color or modifying an
existing color threshold.

Delete - Removes the color threshold selected in the list of color
thresholds. The Missing and \< Min Threshold definitions may not be
removed.

Default - Resets the color scheme for the selected product back to the
default. The default color scheme is arrived at by first checking the
ColorValues table for user "default" and then determining if the
currently selected product has defined color threholds. If there is no
user "default", then hard coded colors are used.

Close - Closes the Color Thresholds GUI.

# Help Menu Options {#help-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header3}

![](media/image24.png){width="2.196527777777778in"
height="1.9916666666666667in"}

The Help menu displays three menu items: "Help Topics", "About" and "Map
Legend" (see ). The "Help Topics" item launches the Hydroview/MPE help
window which provides detailed instruction on the use of the features of
the application. It also allows the user to search for keywords in the
help topics. The "About" item provides the version and release of the
Hydroview/MPE application.

The "Map Legend" toggle button turns "on" and "off" the MPE data map
legend and the Station Legend GUI. When MPE data is not being viewed,
then only the Station Legend will be displayed. When MPE data is being
displayed, then both legends are displayed.

The Station Legend explains the symbols used by the point display
control when plotting station data. It can be closed by selecting the
close button at the bottom of the Station Legend GUI.

# Mouse Controls and Hot Keys {#mouse-controls-and-hot-keys .hmap_mpe_header1}

Hydroview/MPE provides flexible mouse controls and a number of hot keys
which are intended to speed up the use of the application. Table 4-1
shows the behaviors associated with a standard three-button mouse.

  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
  **Mouse Button**                    **Functionality that Results**

  **Single Left Button Click**        **Zoom out and recenter at the
                                      click point**

  **Single Middle Button Click**      **Zoom in and recenter at the click
                                      point**

  **Single Right Button Click**       **Displays a "pop up" menu near the
                                      click point with additional options
                                      (see below)**

  **Double Left Button Click**        **Select a station. A red box will
                                      highlight the station that is
                                      selected. If a selected station is
                                      double clicked on, then it is
                                      deselected.**

  **Double Middle Button Click**      **Select a station and launch the
                                      Time Series Control window for it.
                                      A red box will highlight the
                                      station if it is not already
                                      highlighted.**

  **Left Mouse Button Press and       **Draw a zoom rectangle. The
  Drag**                              rectangle is completed when the
                                      left mouse button is released. To
                                      zoom into the area defined by the
                                      rectangle, press CTRL + Z. To zoom
                                      out, press CTRL+Z again.**

  **Right Mouse Button Press**        **Displays a "pop up" menu with
                                      additional options (see below). A
                                      release of the right mouse button
                                      pops down the menu.**
  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------

[]{#__RefHeading___Toc126370499 .anchor}Table 4- Hydroview/MPE Mouse
Functionality

# Exceptions to Mouse Functionality {#exceptions-to-mouse-functionality .hmap_mpe_header2}

There are several cases in Hydroview/MPE when the default mouse behavior
is temporarily overridden.

When adding a pseudo gage ( reached from the **Add Pseudo Gage** item
under the **Gages** submenu on the  **MPEcontrol** menu ), a left mouse
click will select the location on the map to place the pseudo gage. To
indicate that the mouse is in "add pseudo gage mode", the mouse pointer
changes from an arrow to a hand until the location of the new gage is
selected.

When drawing a new polygon (reached from the **Draw Polygons** item
under the **MPEcontrol**), a left mouse click draws the vertices of the
polygon. A middle or right mouse button click closes the polygon

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| #  {#section .hmap_mpe_table_header}                                  |
+=======================================================================+
| **In** - Zoom the map in.                                             |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Out** - Zoom the map out.                                           |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Recenter** - Recenter the map on the point where the user clicks    |
| next.                                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Up** - Pan the map up.                                              |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Down** - Pan the map down.                                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Left** - Pan the map left.                                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Right** - Pan the map right.                                        |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Lat/Lon** - Turn on or off the latitude / longitude information     |
| that chases the cursor.                                               |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **MPE Info** - Turn on or off the MPE legend                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Timeseries** - Highlight the station that was clicked on (if it     |
| wasn't already highlighted) and launch the time series control for    |
| it.                                                                   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| **Damcrest** -- Launch the Damcrest application for the dam           |
| underneath the mouse pointer. Dam locations must first be displayed   |
| by selecting the Dam Locations option from under the Live Data menu   |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Zoom mode is disabled when the user chooses the **MPEcontrol-\>Draw
Polygons** or **MPE Control-\>Gage-\>AddPseudoGage** menu item.
**Gage-\>ShowGageIdentifiers/Values** menu options are available in
regular or zoom mode.

When the display 7x7 option is selected from the MPEfields menu, a click
of the left mouse button will select the gage closest to the click point
on the Hydroview/MPE display and launch the Display 7 X 7 Gage Editing
Utility GUI.

# Pop Up Menu Options {#pop-up-menu-options .hmap_mpe_header2}

A single click of the right mouse button or holding down the right mouse
button while the mouse cursor is over the main viewing area will cause a
"pop up" menu to be displayed at the click point. This popup menu
contains the options shown in Table 4- .

# Hot Keys {#hot-keys .hmap_mpe_header2}

Hydroview/MPE offers several hot keys for accessing some of the more
heavily used features. These are shown in Table 4-2.

  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
  **Hot Key**                         **Action**

  **Alt +C**                          **Close the Hydroview/MPE
                                      Application**

  **Alt+R**                           **Show a single radar site**

  **Alt+S**                           **Save the Hydroview/MPE screen as
                                      a GIF**

  **Alt+U**                           **Draw the radar rings**

  **Ctrl+B**                          **Display the basins overlay**

  **Ctrl+D**                          **Pan down the display**

  **Ctrl+I**                          **Zoom in the display**

  **Ctrl+L**                          **Pan left the display**

  **Ctrl+N**                          **Show the next hour's data field**

  **Ctrl+O**                          **Zoom out the display**

  **Ctrl+P**                          **Show the previous hour's data
                                      field**

  **Ctrl+R**                          **Pan right the display**

  **Ctrl+S**                          **Save the displayed MPE field as
                                      the best estimate field**

  **Ctrl+T**                          **Toggle the toolbar on and off**

  **Ctrl+U**                          **Pan up the display**

  **Ctrl+Z**                          **Zoom in or out of a zoom
                                      rectangle. This hot key can also be
                                      used to undo the previous zoom,
                                      pan, or recenter operation.**
  ----------------------------------- -----------------------------------

# Table 4- Hydroview/MPE Hot Keys {#table-4--hydroviewmpe-hot-keys .hmap_mpe_table_header}