[OpenMadrigal-developers] Madrigal 2.4 graphing functional specification

[William Rideout]

I've started to plan the features to be added to Madrigal 2.4.  One of the main
features I'm planning is to allow the user to generate plots directly from the
Madrigal site.  These plots are meant to allow quick looks at the data; I'm
assuming that ultimately users will download the data and create their own
publication quality plots.  These plots will be generated dynamically, so that
the user has as much flexibility as possible in viewing the data they're
interested in.  Madrigal, being web-based, already allows static plots to be
included in experiments.  These static plots are typically generated with
knowledge about the type of experiment run.  The dynamic plots I'll be adding
are meant to complement the experiment-specific plots with their flexibility.

Types of plots:

Five types of plots will be available, with clickable example graphics to make 
it easier for the user to choose which type they want:

1.  An Altitude vs Time color plot of a user-specified 2D parameter.  For
example, the user might choose to have the color represent Te.  The user would
specify time and altitude range (defaults would be the maximum altitude and the
whole experiments).

2. A Magnitude vs Time line plot of one or more user-specified 1D parameters.
Examples of 1D parameters include Kp, Dst, or a 2D parameter such as Te at a set
altitude.  The user would specify time and Y range (defaults would be the
maximum Y value and the whole experiment time).  Only one Y scale would exist, 
so it would be up to the user to chose parameters that can be reasonably shown 
on the same plot.

3. A series of stacked plots of type 1 or 2 above with a common time range.
They would be vertically stacked when displayed so their time scales line up.
The user would specify the plots as above, except that the time scale would only
be specified once.

5. A scatterplot of any parameter versus any parameter.  The user would choose
the two parameters, the scales (defaults would be the maximum values), and the
time range (default to the whole experiment).  An example might be Te versus 
Altitude.

6. A three parameter color scatterplot.  The user would choose the three
parameters, the scales (defaults would be the maximum values), and the time
range (default to the whole experiment).

Data filtering:

All plots will allow the same arbitrary filters to be applied that are available
on the isprint web page.  The parameters used in the filters do not need to be
the same as the parameters being plotted.

Plot output:

Plots will be displayed in the browser as *.png files, but may also be
downloaded as eps.

Raw data availability:

Users will be able to go directly to isprint output of the data they plot.  The
  output data will be filtered both by the plotting limits and by any additional
isprint-like filters the user enters.  If desired, the user can also output the
isprint command generating the data set.

Required software:

All supporting software must be open-source, and will be included in the
installation program.

Bill


-- 
Bill Rideout
MIT Haystack Observatory
Email: brideout at haystack.mit.edu
Phone: 781 981-5624