Using Color vs Shade of Gray to Show Thunder Storm Activity - Term Paper Example

Using Color vs. Shade of Gray to show Thunder storm activity Understanding and comprehending the role of thunder storm activity reading is very significant in order to ensure that one is able to read and analyze the effect if the thunder storm in the long run. In the following paper the focus will be a discussion on the role of color and the use of the gray to analyze and study the thunder storm activity. The focus will be not only on the role of such analysis and understanding how color and gray are utilized in the interpretation of data and look at understanding the significance of how it is effectively used by professionals in the field to ensure that they can function in an effective manner. The paper will also look at establishing the use of these in understanding the thunder storm activity in the various levels of aviation and military use. The scope of the analysis that is being conducted is high as the subject matter is one which has not been analyzed and looked into by many professionals and understanding the psychology of color behind the use of the technology in the field helps one realize the various risks that are involved. In fact this field has been almost left untouched by most scholars. The paper will thus look at a new area of the tourism sector, which has not been explored before. The significance of the research topic is very significant, in fact it goes into areas which have till yet not been explored. The topic that has been chosen is an important one as it does not only have social and psychological areas of focus but is also important for the economical impact of the topic cannot be undermined, as it has to be kept that it helps in the functioning of commercial flights as well as military aviation. Before the paper looks into the effectiveness and significance of the topic that is being discussed, and look into the role that is played by colour in the understanding of the activity of thunder storm and how it will develop and act. These methods are very important in the functioning of various aircrafts as well as for the people, and therefore it is important that it is established if the use of color or the use of gray and black is better for the representation of thunder storm activity when understanding and analyzing the role of climatic changes for various reasons. It has been observed that in the past, when an aircraft would take off during a storm or any turbulent weather it would register with the air craft controlling panel, and the controllers there would look at the climate predictions and then would communicate these to the pilots who would then negotiate the flight in accordance to these instructions. But with time, there have been evolved various equipment which allow the pilots to have direct access to the information and have a birds view of the thunder storm activity that might be developing in an area. Equipment such as NAM, GFS, extended GFS (GFSx), RUC and ECWMF model plots, allow for pilots to be able to look at and comprehend the pressure that may be developing over an area, and be able to use this data to access a route which is safe for navigation of the air craft. The equipment allows for the understanding of the movement of the thunder storm and its speed through various calculations and through reading the precipitation and height of the activity. Green represents light, yellow represents moderate and red is representative of a high level of precipitation, and in accordance the level and intensity of the thunder storm can be established. Once the intensity and the speed of the thunder storm has been established it becomes important that the direction and movement and activity of the thunder storm is understood and analyzed as it is only through this that one can navigate and fly in the region of changing pressures. If the thunderstorm is stationary, you will only see a single yellow line (with 3 digits) extending from the precipitation area (Abram, G. and L. Treinish, 1995). If, however, the thunderstorm is moving, there will be another yellow line extending from the precipitation center which ends with an arrow. The direction the arrow is pointed is where the thunderstorm is moving. If there is movement as indicted by the arrow, there will be 2 digits at the tip of the arrow indicating how fast the thunderstorm is moving in that direction. EX. 20, means the storm is moving at 20 knots. The equipment that is used usually calculates and reflects the air pressure and speed of wind and other such activities so as to point out the intensity of the thunder storm to the person who is in charge of the air craft while it is air bound. But it has to be realized that although it lends a certain amount of freedom to the pilot and the flight attendant, it is also important that one recognises that it has a certain amount of risk factor involved with it (Jankun-Kelly, T. J. and K-L. Ma, 2000). When one sees the images that reflect the data about the pressures and the wind activity that reflects the thunder storm activity to the pilots, there can be two images that can be used, one which makes the use of color to depict the various activities and pressure belts, whereas the other image is one which looks at the changes in the pressures over the sea level through the use of the color gray and black, where the pressures and the movement of the thunder storm is followed and traced through the gray color on screen. The figure that has been depicted below reflects both the color as well as the gray and black image of thunder storm activity and the focus is on the tracing of the thunder storm activity in a region. It is important that one understands how the thunder storm activity is depicted in that one can understand the role of use of color and gray when tracing the activity of the thunder storm (Treinish, L, 2000). In the color image, the activity and the intensity of the thunder storm is depicted through the color red, which represents the highest levels of pressure, whereas the green reflects the areas with medium pressure whereas the blue depict the areas with the lowest levels of pressure which is above normal, and it is only through reading and analyzing such data that one can understand the movement of thunderstorm activity and also focus on areas which have the threat of facing thunder storm activity in the future (Hasler, F., K. Palaniappan and M. Manyin 1994). On the other hand the color gray reflects the areas with areas of high pressure, thus areas which can and will be affected by wind changes and where the chances of thunder storm activity is high. It reflects the epicenter where the pressure is building up and also reflects the movement of the thunder storm in the region, but it fails to display very clearly where exactly the highest level of pressures being experienced in the area is. Thus there are certain scholars who believe that the color image is more specific and more effective in comparison to the gray image which leaves a person with a certain amount of data but fails to ensure that all the data that may be required by a personnel or professional is supplied. Yet the use of this cannot be denied and it is very important that all the data that is interpreted in the gray image is also done so that all the details are completely analyzed. Figure I: Represents the Infra Red images that have been taken of a region experiencing thunder storm activity.  In the following section of the paper, the various areas that have been researched in relation to the study will be listed. This will help ensure that the various findings of the research are noted down. Once that the findings have been researched and enlisted, the findings will be analyzed, following which the conclusions of the research paper will be drawn. This will help ensure that the research that is developed is holistic in nature and looks into all the various facets that are related to the use of colour or the shade of gray in understanding the thunder storm activity. It has been observed that the use of color has become more prominent in the current time to trace and track the movement of thunder storm activity than the gray and black images due to the fact that it is believed that the color images give a more precise and detailed interpretation of the activity of the thunderstorm activity. It has been observed that the role and the usage of the color is higher than the use of gray due to that it allows for more space for details than the gray image of the thunder storm activity does. Under the interpretation of the color image one is able to look at Thunder storm Event that is occurring in a belt, and also at the various other pressure belts that might be present so as to ensure that the other areas which may also be affected are visible, which may later experience Thunder storm Event. Advantages of this are that the color red is seen by the human mind as the color of danger and it is important that the gravity of the situation is reflected. When the human brain observes the color red its immediate reaction is to face an adrenalin rush, and this makes a person more aware and alert. This helps ensure that the gravity of the situation is realized. The use of Blue and green is to reflect the clouds of various altitudes, which is difficult to achieve in case of the gray image. But there are also certain disadvantages that are present in case of the use of the color images in the depiction of the pressures in any region. One of the most significant problems that are faced by people who are color blind is that they fail to observe and understand the various colors that are represented and therefore fail to navigate in accordance to the readings of the images of the NAM system. This is one of the most important draw backs of the system of color data collection and assimilation, as it has certain amount of limitations when being used by the pilots. Also it has to be realized that although the readings are usually accurate, the activity of a thunder storm is very sudden and can change without any warnings and therefore it is important that not only is it understood that the area which is under red is avoided but also other areas which reflect low or high pressures are navigated with care and caution (Treinish, L, 1999). But it is observed that the representations of these potential fronts in the graphs are in blue and green lead to mainly relaxation as these colors are usually perceived as safe and neutral and even calming in nature. It is therefore significant that when the person is being shown the color images, he or she is able to interpret it and understand it. These are some of the disadvantages of the use of color images when tracing and understanding the role of Thunder storm activity. These represent the clouds in the various levels of altitude and therefore it is important that these are analyzed as required. On the other hand the use of color gray makes it difficult to understand the various levels at which the clouds are placed in the atmosphere and it thus becomes more difficult to navigate the planes through the various levels of atmosphere over the region where the thunder storm activity is being experienced. This defeats the purpose of understanding and studying the activity of the thunder storm. But it has to be realized that there are a number of positives also of using the gray to represent the activity. The gray shade that is used represents the brightness temperature,” (which for the infrared channels traditionally used for IR imagery are good approximations to the actual (thermodynamic) temperature) rather than reflected light as in visible satellite images (Pielke, R. A., W. R. Cotton, R. L. Walko, C. J. Tremback, W. A. Lyons, L. D.Grasso, M. E. Nicholls, M D. Moran, D. A. Wesley, T. J. Lee and J.H. Copeland, 1992). There is usually a color table bar (see legend in color-enhanced IR image in figure above) that matches the particular color to a temperature. A computer can see up to about 256 shades of grey, but to the normal human eye can only see up to 20 shades of grey, which is representative of the various levels of temperature levels of the region that is being represented in the image. It is important that the human eye is able to see the various different shades of gray that are represented in the image as without it one will be unable to understand the various variations in temperature that are occurring in a region (General METSAT Information, Online). In the military it has been observed that the roles of the color red and gray are very closely linked and it becomes almost impossible for a person to be able to fly without being able to understand both. It has been observed that from a certain height the color red is viewed only as gray and these are used in low density to guide the military to show directions and landing space for military use. Thus in such cases it becomes important that they be able to use the gray image for understanding and development of temperatures and navigation, as without it, it will be impossible for them to fly and navigate in the field and be functional in the long run. References Abram, G. and L. Treinish, 1995. An Extended Data-Flow Architecture for DataAnalysis and Visualization. Proceedings of the IEEE Visualization 1995 Conference, October 1995, Atlanta, pp. 263-270. Carter C M 1972, A model of tunder storm activity, use of the compound negative binomial positive distribution, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Issue C, pp 196, 204 General METSAT Information (Online), accessed on February 23, 2011 at http://www.fas.org/spp/military/docops/afwa/metsat-U1.htm Jankun-Kelly, T. J. and K-L. Ma, 2000. A Spreadsheet Interface for Visualization Exploration. Proceedings of the IEEE Visualization 2000 Conference, October 2000, Salt Lake City, pp. 69-76, 541. Hasler, F., K. Palaniappan and M. Manyin 1994, A High-Performance Interactive ImageSpreadsheet (IISS). Computers in Physics, 8, May/June 1994, pp. 325-342. Pielke, R. A., W. R. Cotton, R. L. Walko, C. J. Tremback, W. A. Lyons, L. D.Grasso, M. E. Nicholls, M.-D. Moran, D. A. Wesley, T. J. Lee and J.H. Copeland 1992, A Comprehensive Meteorological Modeling System -RAMS. Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics, 49, 1992, pp. 69-91 Treinish, L, 1999. Task-Specific Visualization Design. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 19, n. 5, September/October 1999, pp. 72-77. Treinish, L, 2000. Multi-Resolution Visualization Techniques for Nested Weather Models. Proceedings of the IEEE Visualization 2000 Conference, October 2000, Salt Lake City, pp. 513-516, 602. Read More