WDSSII GUI (usually called “wg” or “w2gui”) is a special computer program used by weather experts to look at severe weather data in 3D. It was made by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL). It helps meteorologists see storms from top to bottom instead of just looking at flat, 2D radar images. Here is how you use it to see and study severe weather. 1. Bring Data Into the System
Before you can see anything on the screen, you have to get the raw weather data ready.
The Ingest Step: You take raw weather data, like Doppler radar files (Level-II) or weather models, and feed them into the WDSSII software tools.
NetCDF Format: The software changes these files into a clean format called NetCDF. This format makes it easy for the 3D viewer to read the files fast. 2. Merge Multiple Radars Together
One of the best features of WDSSII is its ability to combine data from many different radar towers at the same time.
Creating a Grid: You use a tool in the software package called w2merger.
The Mosaic: This tool stitches all the different radar views into one big 3D map. This way, you do not have to flip between different radar locations to follow a long storm. 3. Open and Control the Visual Display
Once the data is ready, you open the graphical interface (wg) to look at the storms.
Layering the Data: Like Google Earth, the GUI lets you stack layers of data on top of each other. You can look at maps, city lines, and radar data all at once.
3D Controls: You can rotate, tilt, and zoom in on a storm. This allows you to see the actual height of a thunderstorm and look inside it. 4. Look at Severe Weather Products
The GUI lets you click through different weather tools to find out if a storm is dangerous: The WDSS-II Blog – Inside NSSL
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