Make it easier to configure HiRA options in Point-Stat.

[JohnHalleyGotway]

Describe the Enhancement

This enhancement request arose from a met-help question from John Raby:
https://rt.rap.ucar.edu/rt/Ticket/Display.html?id=95790

He's trying out the HiRA methodology in Point-Stat and found the prob_cat_thresh settings confusing. He configured Point-Stat to verify multiple variables, including TMP, RH, and winds. He defined cat_thresh for each and requested categorical counts and statistics.

The prob_cat_thresh setting is used in the computation of the Ranked Probability Score (RPS) line type. He assumed those same cat_thresh thresholds would be applied when computing RPS for HiRA, but they are not. Instead, the thresholds are defined by hira.prob_cat_thresh. If hira.prob_cat_thresh is left empty AND climo bins are provided, then Point-Stat will use those thresholds instead. But if none of those are the case, then point-stat will just skip the computation of RPS.

If HiRA RPS output is desired when not using climatologies, then setting the prob_cat_thresh thresholds well becomes very cumbersome. The user would need to define prob_cat_thresh thresholds separately for each field... meaning they'd need to re-define the HiRA dictionary settings for each variable! And that's very cumbersome.

To make this easier, tweak the logic as follows. When computing the HiRA RPS scores, if prob_cat_thresh is empty AND there's no climo bins, simply use the observation cat_thresh thresholds to define RPS. This change will enable users to define the hira dictionary only once and apply it to multiple variables.

Time Estimate

4 hours

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