Adding gridded NUCAPS field to new AWIPS RGB loads
This presentation from the TOWR-S Satellite Book Club details TOWR-S RPM 22 additions to AWIPS (additions spearheaded by Tim Schmit and Bill Line, both from NOAA/STAR) that add Level 2 product readouts to RGBs in AWIPS. Thus, for example, the Airmass RGB, above, is underlain by Level 2 products: Cloud Mask and Total Precipitable Water (TPW) and Level 2 Stability Indices (CAPE and Lifted Index). Those Level 2 products are all clear-sky only, however, so sampling in cloudy regions will not yield level 2 product information.
Adding Gridded NUCAPS fields (in the example above and below, total precipitable water has been added; one could also add CAPE and Lifted Index), is an effective way of including estimates of atmospheric thermodynamics in clear and cloudy regions that can then be sampled, as shown below with two sampling examples, one each in clear and cloudy skies. The sampling location is just northwest of the Clear Sky Mask value (i.e., the screen capture did not capture the cursor).
An efficient way to load these data in AWIPS is via a procedure. The augmented RGB loads are part of TOWR-S RPM 22.