LinkWinds new version, 2.2 is now available at http://linkwinds.jpl. nasa.gov/

--Lee Elson (elson@magus.jpl.nasa.gov), Jet Propulsion Laboratory

For those of you not familiar with this free visualization package, here is a brief summary of its basic features:

LinkWinds applies a unique data-linking paradigm resulting in a system that functions much like a graphical spreadsheet. It is not only a powerful method for organizing large amounts of data for analysis, but provides a highly intuitive, easy-to-learn, easy-to-retain user interface on top of the traditional graphical user interface. The linking of data displays and controls for their manipulation provides great flexibility in rapidly exploring large masses of complex data to quickly detect trends, correlations, and anomalies. The system comprises a large and expanding suite of non-domain-specific applications and provides for the ingestion of a variety of database formats. Its many functions and services include

• 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional graphical displays of data.

• The ability to deal with very large data files.

• Interactive visual data subsetting either at the input or output.

• Supersetting to construct higher dimensionality data sets from sets of data files. This is useful for building time series from daily data accumulations.

• Simultaneous display and analysis of multiple data sets which may be totally unrelated.

• A unique and easy-to-use animation creation and display capability.

• Interactive color manipulation.

• A journal and macro capability allowing replay of an entire session or any portion thereof.

• Hard copy of graphical displays and text.

• A context-sensitive help system.

• Network support for collaborative data analysis with partners anywhere on the Internet, using virtually no bandwidth.

• In addition to archived data sets, LinkWinds has demonstrated an ability to ingest and display real-time data, which may be from spacecraft, laboratory experiments, or computer simulations.<

The new version, 16 months in the making, has many new capabilities including the ability to run on Sun, HP, and Linux (PC) platforms in addition to the SGI family for which it was originally developed. Several new tools have been implemented including ValueView (displays numerical values), VolumeView (displays a volumetric rendering), enhanced hard-copy capabilities, and PointInterp which will draw an image from non-uniform sparse data such as that in the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Level 3 AT files. In addition to UARS files, LinkWinds can accept data in the following formats:

1. Raw binary data in signed and unsigned 1-, 2-, and 4-byte integers and 4- and 8-byte floating point.

2. The Hierarchical Data Format (HDF).

3. The Common Data Format (CDF).

4. NetCDF.

5. The Silicon Graphics, Inc. native RGB image format.

6. Data with Planetary Data System (PDS) headers.

7. The astrophysics Flexible Image Transport System (FITS).

8. ASCII text data.

9. Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) data format.

LinkWinds can act as an application spawned by Netscape or another Web browser. Thus, for example, one can download HDF files from the EOS DAACs and have them appear in LinkWinds as data objects.

Collaborative sessions or tutorials with anyone on the Internet are easily carried out using a low-bandwidth protocol.

For more information, visit our Web site (http://linkwinds.jpl.nasa.gov/) or send us e-mail (linkwind@twinky.jpl.nasa.gov).