IDV

Overview

The Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) from Unidata is a Java™-based software framework for analyzing and visualizing geoscience data. This IDV release includes a software library and a reference application made from that software. It uses the VisAD (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~billh/visad.html) and netCDF-Java (http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf-java) libraries and other Java-based utility packages.

The IDV is developed at the Unidata Program Center (UPC), part of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Boulder, Colorado, which is funded by the National Science Foundation. The software is freely available under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License.

The IDV "reference application" is a geoscience display and analysis software system with many of the standard data displays that other Unidata software (e.g. GEMPAK and McIDAS) provide. It brings together the ability to display and work with satellite imagery, gridded data (for example, numerical weather prediction model output), surface observations, balloon soundings, NWS WSR-88D Level II and Level III RADAR data, and NOAA National Profiler Network data, all within a unified interface. It also provides 3-D views of the earth system and allows users to interactively slice, dice, and probe the data, creating cross-sections, profiles, animations and value read-outs of multi-dimensional data sets. The IDV can display any Earth-located data if it is provided in a known format

Quick Start Guide

The IDV website is a great source for learning how to use this viewer. What follows is a quick start tutorial for viewing 3D meshes in netCDF format.

You will need:

• IDV s/w distribution (registration is required, but it is free)
• A 3D mesh in netCDF format. See CVM-SI or CVM-H versus CVM-S for an example mesh.

Tutorial:

• Install Java (if necessary) followed by IDV
• Start up IDV. Two windows will appear: The viewer, and the dashboard.
• In the dashboard, click the "Data Choosers" tab and navigate the folders on your computer to find the mesh you wish to view. Then select the "Add source" button.
• In the "Field Selector" tab, select which field you wish to view. For SCEC 3D meshes, this will be Vp, Vs, or density. In the "Display" frame of that same tab, select what type of plot you want: Color shaded plan view (map), Cross-section (profile), 3D surface (volume viz), etc. You can select a specific depth slice or all levels from the Level frame. Click the "Create Display" button.
• After a possible delay, depending on the plot and size of the mesh, the "Displays" tab will be put in focus. Here you may edit the color table or other display properties. Meanwhile, the viewing window should show the plot you just configured.

Downloads

• IDV Official site: IDV
• SCEC Velocity Difference Color Table (for difference plots): Velocity Difference Color Table