Robert Dewey
EF5
Yes, there have been previous threads on the IDV... but I'm not about to dig them up from their grave, so deal with it.
Just tried the latest version of the IDV - 2.9u2. I have to say they've made great improvements since the first time I tried it; it's faster & there are more available data sources. To be honest, I hated the software when it first came out. I really can't stand the 3D display, it's great for conceptualizing data and presentation eye candy... but it's pretty useless in real-time forecasting IMO.
I really like the fact that you can quickly create a surface analysis from METAR data, overlay various imagery in one display (i.e. VIS satellite with a semi-transparent IR overlay shadowing the cloud tops), access a plethora of satellite data & radar data (built-in L2, L3, TDWR, and national composite), modify soundings from UA data and gridded data, use built-in drawing tools, open multi-panel display, etc.
My main problems are:
There are a couple small annoyances that I had to change to make the program suit me: The color schemes, the default map and projection, color tables, the METAR layout (monstrously huge), etc.
Overall, it is probably something I will continue to use. I'll probably switch back and forth with MetWise Net as it has lightning data and better tools for cross sections.
Just tried the latest version of the IDV - 2.9u2. I have to say they've made great improvements since the first time I tried it; it's faster & there are more available data sources. To be honest, I hated the software when it first came out. I really can't stand the 3D display, it's great for conceptualizing data and presentation eye candy... but it's pretty useless in real-time forecasting IMO.
I really like the fact that you can quickly create a surface analysis from METAR data, overlay various imagery in one display (i.e. VIS satellite with a semi-transparent IR overlay shadowing the cloud tops), access a plethora of satellite data & radar data (built-in L2, L3, TDWR, and national composite), modify soundings from UA data and gridded data, use built-in drawing tools, open multi-panel display, etc.
My main problems are:
- Model cross-sections suck. There is only one vertical coordinate (meters AGL), and I haven't figured out how to overlay different data (i.e. barbs + isotachs). This is a no-go for winter forecasting.
- I'd like to scale down the satellite images to a specific geographic area, so I'm not downloading an entire file (a 1km VIS is HUGE). You could do this in McIDAS with the ADDE servers. Same with the 1km national nexrad composite. (I think I just solved this one)
- It's faster than what it used to be, but still not fast enough. I suppose this is more of a problem on my end, however.
There are a couple small annoyances that I had to change to make the program suit me: The color schemes, the default map and projection, color tables, the METAR layout (monstrously huge), etc.
Overall, it is probably something I will continue to use. I'll probably switch back and forth with MetWise Net as it has lightning data and better tools for cross sections.
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