Components of Weather Trainer Library

Content of the Weather Trainer Library is located within one of several sections or components. Each section can be reached from the section menu bar at the top of each page. You can navigate directly from one to the other, or return to the Library page, which is the hub of all the sections. Each are described briefly below.

Library
The Library is an interactive graphic index to the various sections of the program. There are several links here that take you to subsections of the program devoted to specific topics. These subsections are called Atlases. Thus if you click the clouds in the port light you go to the Cloud Atlas, which is a collection of all of the resources related to clouds. Likewise, click the barometer to reach the Barometer Atlas, which is the starting point for finding all materials in the program related to barometers.

Subsections accessible from the Library page include:

There is also an Ocean and Tidal Currents Atlas, accessible from Ocean Currents section of the World Atlas and from the Resources.

The Weather Trainer is a large collection of materials, which are interlinked in many ways. It is possible to surf through the materials following related leads and end up rather far from where you started. To get back to where you started, any of the back buttons will step you back through the history of your route, or you can go directly back to the Library page with a click of the Library link in the main menu followed by a click to home page in the left panel.

Resources
The Resources section is another index to the Atlases available, as well as a compilation of specific functions and references. Links to specific computers are in this section, such as true wind from apparent, as well as links to various schedules and other sources of weather information, both for planning and for use underway.

Glossary
The Weather Trainer Glossary is an extensive document that includes all of the terms we are likely to use in both marine weather and navigation. There is a cross linked interactive version online, as well as an archived version for use offline. The online version is accessible from any Internet connection using www.starpath.com/glossary. You do not need to be logged into the online course.

Articles
This section includes a collection of illustrated and cross linked articles on special topics in marine weather. Some of these have been replaced by new descriptions presented in textbooks Modern Marine Weather and The Barometer Handbook. Some of these documents are also just compilations of links to other parts of the program that cover the topics.

Ask-Me
This is the place you go to ask questions about marine weather and related matters of oceanography and navigation. It is an extensive set of questions with detailed answers that have come up over the years as we taught the course. You can look for the question you have from the index of topics or from the list of full questions. More details on how to use this section is covered in the Instructions. You can also post here a new question if you do not find what you want.

Graphics
The Graphics Index is a way to flip through the pictures in the program as we might flip though the pages of a magazine waiting to see the dentist. Keywords have been added to each graphics title to help find one by searching the list of titles.

Practice Questions
The Instructions explain the suggested Lesson Plans for study on your own, as well as how to use the online course for more structured training. Each approach uses a set of practice questions to guide you through the materials. The questions often include Hints to help put the question into perspective, as well as solutions, often including cross references to other parts of the program.

These questions serve not only to help you verify your knowledge at the end of a lesson, but they also serve as an outline or work form to be filled in as you proceed with your study. See the Instructions for details.

World Atlas
This section presents several samples of worldwide weather data or statistics, along with links to related sections or to online counterparts, which will often offer more details. Samples include global winds and pressures by season, global wind patterns, tropical storm statistics, and weather reporting zones. There are also links to our unique US coastal weather modules.

Live Weather
Go to this section for Internet links to real time weather data worldwide. The data include maps and text from these regions:

This is a dynamic section, which means it will change and evolve with time in an attempt to keep up with the best resources, adding new ones as we find them. There are several global weather services to monitor, but in the end only few remain the most dependable sources.

Help
The Help link in the menu bar brings you to the sequence of help documents and instructions that you are now reading. If you do not find the answer you are looking for in these documents, then please refer to the More Help link, which provides additional online, email, and telephone support.

Search
You can search the entire Weather Trainer content from the Seach button in the menubar. You can specify the sections to be searched or search all content. Once you are on a specific page of material, you can use Right Click from anywhere inside the Weather Trainer window to access the Find option, which seaches just the page you are viewing.

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Menu Interactions
When you click an item from the section menu bar (Library, References, Glossary, etc.) the submenu of topics appears in the left panel (the main screen itself does not change at this point). Then click a topic from the left panel to have it open in the main window. Back and Forward links are on the left panel, and also available from a right click on the any panel of any screen.