General Controls
To use this visualizer first select a region of the globe from the "Region" menu, next select a type of parameter to view for this region. Then, select the month and year of the data of interest. As you make changes to these menus, the central display will update to display the selected data.
Region
Use this drop-list to select a region of the globe for study. The data is viewable in 15 different regions.
Parameter
Use this drop list to select the type of data to be shown in the main visualizer map - sea surface current: speed, direction, convergence, vorticity and their anomaly values.
- Speed: Measures how far the water surface moves in a unit of time
- Alignment: Measures how uniformly aligned are the nearby current arrows (1 = aligned, 0 = unaligned, -1 oppositely aligned)
- Direction: Four main colors indicate the direction of flow (Blue = East, Red = North, Yellow = West, Green = South). The darkness of the color indicates how well aligned the arrows are within a small region (Dark = very aligned, White = not aligned).
- Convergence: Measures convergence of flow into a region (positive = convergence, negative = divergence). A negative convergence indicates flow outwards and is evidence of upwelling (deeper water rising to the surface).
- Vorticity: Measures the intensity of circular, fluid movement around a site. Positive (negative) vorticity indicates counterclockwise (clockwise) rotation of water. Vortices indicate turbulence and they are important because as an indication of mixing of water.
Year
Use this drop list to select the year of the data shown in the visualizer map.
Month
Use this drop list to select the month of the data shown in the visualizer map.
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Interactive Controls
In addition to being able to update the overall map, one can select or click on sections of the map to bring up a new window with data over a series of timesteps for the clicked region.
PopUp Copy
Press this button to put a copy of the map in a separate pop-up window.
Click-On-Map Data
Click on a 5°x5° region of the map which has significant water coverage and a popup window will display a time series of data in the region or an image of ship drift water currents for the month whose data appears in the visualizer map.
Animation Controls
The main viewer can also present animated forms of the data by using the animation controls described.
Animation
Select the number of frames and press this button to animate the image.
Next Frame
Press this button to view the map on the next available date.
Previous Frame
Press this button to view the map on the next available date.
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