Update "displaying wind vectors in ArcMap" tutorial

[nwagenbrenner]

From Chuck:

Natlie et al. FYI, that the document “displaying_wind_vectors_in_ArcMap.pdf” in the \WindNinja\WindNinja-3.11.1\share\windninja\doc\ location is no longer valid.

ArcMap has been deprecated by ESRI and the current version of ArcGISPro being supported by the USFS and others is version 3.3.

ESRI has changed so much of the look and operation of the symbology in ArcGISPro to rotate and scale the wind arrows that the ArcMap version of the document is no longer helpful.

[masonwillman]

Reached out to Charles and Gabe about getting the tutorial. Current plan is for them to make draft of a new tutorial in word -> I translate that into Latex -> send it back to them for review -> and repeat until we have a finished tutorial.

[masonwillman]

Gabe finished getting the appropriate screenshots and adjustments for the tutorial, so I need to implement that into the LaTeX. Will create a branch and reference here for review once it is ready.

[masonwillman]

I have copied over the images and .tex file and have adjusted the code to properly display the tutorial. The branch is ArcMap-tutorial-update-to-ArcGIS-Pro. @nwagenbrenner @latwood if either of you could take a look at the tutorial and provide feedback, that would be appreciated. Specifically, Gabe wanted to know if we should incorporate the Appendix into the main steps, as he felt the information there was important.

[latwood]

Just finished looking it over, side by side with the old one too to watch out for anything major that might be missing. Looks great!

That being said, the "Query the Gridded Wind Output in ArcGIS Pro" section related to the ascii grid files, still seems quirky to me. The fact that the ascii files are being brought up at all, without a description of what they are used for, is a bit confusing. Because the reason why they are required is not being described, I think the "raster" vs "vector" vs "grid" terminology needs to be double checked in that section. See figure captions for figure 14 in the new vs figure 11 in the old for an example of this. Also figure captions 15 vs 12.

Now that I've read this tutorial more closely, I wonder if the "ESRI GRID" described in the old tutorial, is describing a separate file format to combine and convert the ascii grids to, maybe not necessarily in ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro, but maybe externally with some kind of command line tool, or with Flammap/Farsite. It definitely seems like the idea is to take the ascii files, and show how to use them similarly to the shape files, comparing the two sets of files side by side, but it requires some kind of combining step or something.

Comparing the tutorial with the old version side by side, there are still a few spots that need to be bolded correctly in the appendix, though it is still readable with the bolding as it is. I really like the addition of the word "actual" in the sentence on page 12 of the new tutorial, "This can lead to a misunderstanding of what the maximum and minimum wind speed values really are", though I think the word "really" needs to be added back in. I might just do these changes next chance I get, might make it clearer what I'm describing.

Something that has been bugging me a bit. The old tutorial has an AM_dir of 359 degrees and a wind dir of 269 degrees, the new tutorial has an AM_dir of 343 degrees and a wind dir of 253 degrees. So the results shouldn't be that different in wind direction. Yet, the wind vectors look to be pointed into completely different directions between the two tutorials. A wind dir of 253 degrees would mean that the winds are coming "from" between WSW and W "to" between ENE and E, yet the new tutorial has the winds going at what looks like from maybe 180 to 155 degrees. Almost seems like the values could be off by +90 - 180? Though not sure why.

I like the addition of the "Color Scheme" section, though it might be good to use some kind of blue to red rainbow if available to match WindNinja's normal color scheme style.

I might need to double check the appendix 10,000 items section again, the histogram vs the record count parts of that section seemed to have a lot more required changes and it got kind of late for me. I also have not yet tried clicking on each of the number links to see if they go to the correct corresponding figures.

Great work on this. Hopefully my comments are clear enough. Let me know if you have any questions next chance we run into each other.

[masonwillman]

Action items for next iteration of tutorial:

• Query the Gridded Wind Output in ArcGIS Pro Section
  • Ascii file information should be looked at
  • raster, vector, grid terminology standardized
• Appendix needs checked for bolding, wording, etc.
• Potentially match color scheme to WindNinja

On your point about the AM_dir and wind dir, I think that is just a matter of the landscape being displayed. The data itself is valid from windninja, so I don't think we need to worry about making sure the vectors match from the old to the new tutorial. Also, what were your thoughts on removing the Appendix and incorporating it into the main steps of the tutorial. As I said, that was an important question Gabe wanted to ask.

[latwood]

I kind of liked how it was organized with the appendix, because then it becomes information you can go back to specifically, but is separate from the topic at hand. That being said, I think it would be up to what Natalie thinks. Would also depend on if you guys saw other things that might be good to add to the tutorial.

So, the AM_dir and wind dir look good as far as I can tell, but the resulting wind vectors rotation in the plots does not make sense. If the wind direction is 253 degrees, then the output wind vectors should come out looking rotated in the same way. Instead, they are going north? So off by ~90 degrees and maybe a sign. So something seems to be off here in how they are displayed. If I run a simulation with 253 degrees as input, then yes there may be regions of recirculation or change in direction, especially with variations in the terrain, but you would then expect to see the general direction of the output winds to go roughly in the same direction as the input winds.

[masonwillman]

If possible, could @latwood review the new version of the tutorial? The latest pdf can be found at the latest commit of the branch ArcMap-tutorial-update-to-ArcGIS-Pro. Let me know what you think, and if there aren't many thoughts, then I think we can have Natalie review the document.

[masonwillman]

Additional Comments from @latwood that need implemented

• Be more explanatory and clear with figure captions 14 and 15.
• Add underlines or bolds to emphasis particular information and its importance
• Potentially change labels for appendix figures (ex: A1, A2, A3).

[masonwillman]

Tutorial last updated in commit 6f9d36c. Decided to not add labels for appendix figures as Gabe and I felt it was unnecessary.