RasterScope

Quick Start Guide

Only the first two steps below are required to get from a file on disk to a fine plot.

1. 1

   Open a file

   Use File ▸ Open… (⌘O), or drag a file onto the app icon or an open window. RasterScope reads NetCDF, HDF5, GRIB, Surfer GRD, Arc/Info ASCII Grid and GeoTIFF.

2. 2

   Pick a variable

   The Sidebar lists all the 2D and 3D variables in the file. Click one to plot it.

3. 3

   Step through time and level

   If the variable has a time or vertical-level dimension, use the Sidebar’s time/level controls to move between steps or ⌘[ / ⌘] to jump to the previous/next time step.

4. 4

   Choose a plot type

   Switch between Heatmap (⌘1) and Filled Contour (⌘2) from the toolbar or the Plot menu.

5. 5

   Choose a color scheme

   Open the Inspector (⌃⌘I) to change the color scheme, invert it or toggle interpolation for smoother heatmap shading.

6. 6

   Set the color range

   In the same Inspector, set a custom min/max range, switch between linear and logarithmic scaling and (in Filled Contour mode) adjust the number of bands or edit exact level values.

7. 7

   Draw contour lines

   Pick a second variable in the Sidebar’s Contours section to trace it as line contours over the plot, with a configurable interval and value labels.

8. 8

   Show a vector field

   In the Sidebar’s Vector Field section, select U and V component variables to plot vector fields over the map, with adjustable arrow length and cell-skipping to reduce clutter.

9. 9

   Add reference layers

   In the Vector Overlay section of the Sidebar, import Shapefile, GeoJSON, GPKG or KML files to mark boundaries, coastlines or points of interest. The vector files are automatically reprojected to match the raster.

10. 10

    Check statistics and metadata

    Open the bottom info panel (⌘/) for global dimensions, global attributes, variable attributes and variable statistics (⌥⌘1–⌥⌘4 jump straight to each section).

11. 11

    Right-click the plot for details

    Right-click any point on the plot to pin its local value or, when the variable has the vertical-level or time dimensions, jump straight to its vertical profile or time series at that location.

12. 12

    Zoom and export

    Use ⌘+/⌘-/⌘0 to zoom, or ⌃⌘0 for a drag-to-zoom rectangle. When you’re ready, ⌘E exports the current plot as a PNG.

RasterScope Keyboard Shortcuts

All shortcuts below apply to the focused document window; they’re disabled (greyed out in their menu) when no document is focused or the relevant control doesn’t apply to the current plot.

File

Plot

The Plot menu’s Edit Levels command has no shortcut and is only enabled in Filled Contour mode.

View

Contact

Have a question? Found a bug? Want to submit a feature request?
Email us at rasterscope@simularia.it.
Helpful information: RasterScope version, macOS version, steps to reproduce (for bugs).