Month: March 2021

RadarScope 4.2 gives Pro Tier Two subscribers the ability to change the standard color palettes for radar products. Custom color palettes give you the ability to choose color palettes that better meet your needs or viewing preferences. In this post, we’ll learn how to import custom color palettes, and we’ll walk through the process of importing an existing color palette file.

Color Palette Files

RadarScope color palettes specify which colors to apply to data values in a radar product. They’re defined in plain text files with a filename extension of “.pal” The contents of the file specify the product types for which the color palette can be used (e.g. reflectivity, velocity, etc.), the units of data values in the file (e.g. dBZ, miles per hour, etc.), and the colors to associate with those data values. RadarScope color palettes are based on the Color Table File Specification originally created by Gibson Ridge Software, with some modifications to support certain RadarScope features.

Importing a Reflectivity Color Palette on iOS

Follow these steps to import an existing color palette file on iOS:

1. To start, you’ll need to put the file somewhere where RadarScope can find it. Your iCloud Drive is a good place.
2. Tap the Settings icon in the lower right corner.
3. Select the Settings tab, then scroll down to the Appearance section and tap “Color Palettes”.
4. Tap “Reflectivity”.
5. Tap “Import Color Palette…”
6. Using the standard iOS Document Picker, navigate to and select the color palette file you wish to import.
7. Edit the name of the color palette if you wish to do so, then tap “Import”.
8. Tap the name of the newly imported color palette to use it when displaying reflectivity products.
9. Tap “Done”.

Importing a Reflectivity Color Palette on macOS

Follow these steps to import an existing color palette file on macOS:

1. To start, you’ll need to put the file somewhere that RadarScope can find it. Your local Home directory, Downloads folder, or iCloud Drive are good options.
2. In the menu bar, select Colors > Reflectivity > Import Color Table.
3. Using the standard macOS File Picker, navigate to and select the color palette file you wish to import, then click “Open”.
4. Edit the name of the color palette if you wish to do so, then click “OK”.
5. In the menu bar, select your newly imported color palette from the options in Colors > Reflectivity to use it when displaying reflectivity products.

Importing a Reflectivity Color Palette on Windows 10

Follow these steps to import an existing color palette file on Windows 10:

1. To start, you’ll need to put the file somewhere where RadarScope can find it. Your Documents folder is a good place.
2. Click in the Settings icon in the lower left corner.
3. Select the Color Palettes tab.
4. Click on “Reflectivity”.
5. Click on the “+” button at the top right of the color palette list.
6. Use File Explorer to select the color palette file you wish to import.
7. Edit the name of the color palette if you wish to do so, then click “Import”.
8. Click on the name of the newly imported color palette to use it when displaying reflectivity products.
9. Click on the close button to exit settings.

Importing a Reflectivity Color Palette on Android

Follow these steps to import an existing color palette file on Android:

1. To start, you’ll need to put the file somewhere where RadarScope can find it. Your Google Drive is a good place.
2. Tap on the menu icon at the top left corner.
3. Tap on Settings
4. Select the Options tab and scroll to the Appearance section and tap “Color Palettes”.
5. Tap on “Reflectivity”.
6. Tap on the “more” button at the top right corner and select “Import Color Palette”.
7. Use the document picker to select the color palette file you wish to import.
8. Edit the name of the color palette if you wish to do so, then click “Import”.
9. Tap on the name of the newly imported color palette to use it when displaying reflectivity products.
10. Tap on the back button until you exit settings.

RadarScope 4.2 gives Pro Tier Two subscribers the ability to change the standard color palettes for radar products. Custom color palettes let you choose colors that better meet your needs or viewing preferences. In this post, we’ll walk through the process of creating your own custom color palette from scratch. We’ll be using macOS in this example. The steps are similar on other platforms, with some differences depending on the app you to edit the files.

RadarScope color palettes are defined in plain text files with a “.pal” filename extension. They are based on the format used by Gibson Ridge Software, with some modifications to support certain RadarScope features. You can create a color a palette using any text editor the platform of your choice. For this example, we’ll be using the TextEdit app on macOS to create a custom color palette for reflectivity products.

1. Open the TextEdit app.

Locate the TextEdit app in the Applications folder on your Mac. Double-click the icon to open it.

2. Create a new document.

From the File menu, select “New” to create a new document. Then from the Format menu, select “Make Plain Text” to change the document format to a plain text file.

3. Enter the Statements to Define the Color Palette.

In your document, you’ll type a series of statements that define your custom color palette. Just enter each of them as shown here. First, every color palette needs a Product statement, which specifies the types of radar products for which it can be used. We’re creating a reflectivity color palette, so we need to enter “BR” or “DR” as the product type.

Product: BR

Every color palette also needs a Units statement to tell RadarScope what units to use when translating the colors in the palette to values in the radar data. Reflectivity products always use units of “DBZ”.

Units: DBZ

Next, you’ll enter a series of Color statements that match values in the radar data with the colors you wish to use to display them. There are several variations of color statements supported by RadarScope. We’ll use the SolidColor variation here. Each statement includes a data value and a set of three values that define the red, green, and blue components of the color. We’ll enter colors for reflectivity values ranging from 5 dBZ to 80 dBZ.

SolidColor: 5 30 0 52
SolidColor: 10 38 6 66
SolidColor: 15 48 15 79
SolidColor: 20 56 24 91
SolidColor: 25 64 31 104
SolidColor: 30 71 36 118
SolidColor: 35 78 42 132
SolidColor: 40 91 60 140
SolidColor: 45 104 76 150
SolidColor: 50 117 93 159
SolidColor: 55 131 110 169
SolidColor: 60 146 127 182
SolidColor: 65 163 146 192
SolidColor: 70 182 170 208
SolidColor: 75 203 194 221
SolidColor: 80 225 221 235

Now that you’ve entered all of those statements, your document should look something like this:

4. Save the file.

You’ve created your color palette. Now you need to save the file so you can import it into RadarScope. From the File menu, select “Save…” Give the file a name and select a location in which to save it.

In this example, we’ll be importing the color palette into RadarScope for macOS, so you can save it anywhere on your local disk. If you’re importing the palette into RadarScope for iOS, you may want to save the file to your iCloud Drive where your iOS device can access it.

5. Import the file into RadarScope.

To import your color palette, open RadarScope for macOS. In the Colors menu, select “Reflectivity”, then “Import Color Palette…”

Locate the color palette file you just saved, select it, and click “Open”.

If you entered the statements correctly, your file should import without any errors. If errors are reported, open the file in TextEdit again, fix any typos, then try to import it again.

6. Select the Color Palette

Now that you’ve imported your color palette, RadarScope can use it to display reflectivity products. In the Colors menu, select Reflectivity, then the name of your new color palette.

You’re all set! Now RadarScope will use your new color palette when displaying reflectivity products.