Panoply netCDF, HDF and GRIB Data Viewer
Additional Color Tables
The Panoply application distribution includes over 100 color tables that may be used as scale colorbars in plots. Many additional color tables are provided here.
Please see the notes at the bottom of this page to learn more about the origins of these color tables.
To use a color table in Panoply that you have downloaded from this page or from compatible sources, just open it using the Open command in the File menu. You will then be asked whether you would like to add the color table to Panoply's application support library for future use.
Formats
Panoply is able to read and apply several different color table formats, as identified by their filename extension. They include:
ACT indicates an Adobe Color Table, which may be created by the Photoshop program. The format allows for up to 256 distinct colors.
CPT indicates a color palette format used by the Generic Mapping Tools program. The format defines a number of solid color and/or gradient bands between the colorbar extrema rather than a finite number of distinct colors. Many Panoply-compatible CPT color tables may be obtained from the cpt-city website.
RGB indicates a color table used by the NCL Graphics (formerly NCAR Graphics) software. Although the format does not necessarily have a limit on the number of colors it may define, one does not see an RGB color table with more than 256 colors. Numerous RGB color tables are available from the NCL Graphics color table gallery.
Sequential Color Tables
Sequential palettes are useful for displaying values that range from a low value to a high value.
| Sample | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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NEO_ceres_sw | Dark blue to pale green to white. Example usage: reflected shortwave radiation. |
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NEO_modis_chlor | Dark blue to pale yellow. Example usage: chlorophyll concentration in ocean waters, with a logarithmic scale. |
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NEO_cdom | Dark blue to turquoise to tan. Example usage: dissolved organic matter in water. |
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NEO_modis_bs_albedo | Blue to white. Example usage: albedo. |
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NEO_modis_cld_fr | Blue to white. Example usage: cloud fraction. |
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NEO_gebco_bathymetry | Dark blue to white. Example usage: ocean depth. |
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NEO_modis_cld_ot | Dark blue to white. Example usage: cloud optical thickness. |
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NEO_modis_cld_ci | Dark purple to white. Example usage: cloud reflectance. |
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EO_aura_omi_formal | White to light blue to purple. Example usage: formaldehyde. |
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NEO_modis_cld_rd | White to blue. Example usage: cloud particle radius. |
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NEO_snow_water | White to dark blue. Example usage: snow water equivalent. |
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NEO_omi_ozone_to3 | Pale blue to dark blue. Example usage: ozone concentration. |
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NEO_imperv_surf | White to blue. Example usage: impervious surface area. |
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NEO_trmm_rainfall | White to blue. Example usage: rainfall. |
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NEO_soil_moisture | White to teal to blue. Example usage: soil moisture. |
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GSFC_landsat_udf_density | Pale green to dark blue, 11 colors. Example usage: undisturbed forest density. |
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NEO_modis_sky_wv | Cream to dark blue. Example usage: water vapor. |
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NEO_amsre_sst | Dark blue to purple to pale yellow. Example usage: sea surface temperature. |
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NEO_modis_sst_45 | Dark blue to white. Example usage: sea surface temperature. |
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NEO_modis_cld_wp | Blue to pink to white. Example usage: cloud water content. |
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EO_lightning_lis_otd | Dark purple to pale pink. Example usage: lightning flash rate. |
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NEO_aquarius_sss | Dark blue to pink to pale yellow. Example usage: sea surface salinity. |
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NEO_ggmcf | Black to red to yellow to blue to white. Example usage: carbon footprint, with a logarithmic scale. |
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GIST_heat | Black to red to white. |
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NEO_ceres_insol | Dark red to pale yellow. Example usage: solar insolation. |
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NEO_mopitt_co | Pale yellow to red. Example usage: carbon monoxide concentration. |
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NEO_modis_aer_od | Pale yellow to dark orange. Example usage: aerosol optical thickness. |
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NEO_omi_no2 | Pale yellow to dark orange. Example usage: nitrogen dioxide concentration. |
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NEO_pollution_conc_9 | White to brick red, 9 colors. Example usage: pollution concentration. |
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NEO_sedac_pop | White to red. Example usage: population density, with a logarithmic scale. |
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NEO_srtm_topography | Green to pale beige. Example usage: land topography. |
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NEO_modis_ndvi | Beige to dark green. Example usage: vegetation net primary productivity. |
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NEO_tree_cover | Cream to dark green. Example usage: tree cover. |
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EO_carbon_density | Pale beige to dark green. Example usage: carbon density. |
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NCDC_precip20in | Brown to green, with unevenly distributed colors and with special outlier colors. Example usage: Total precipitation. |
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SVS_soilmoisture | Yellow to green to blue. Example usage: Soil moisture. |
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NEO_ceres_lw | White to blue to red to yellow. Example usage: outgoing longwave radiation. |
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NEO_modis_lst | Blue to red to yellow. Example usage: land surface temperature. |
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MRO_ice_freq | Blue to red to yellow. |
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EO_sargassum_tamo | White to blue to yellow to deep red. Example usage: oceanic seaweed bloom. |
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NEO_omi_uvi | Pale green to pale yellow to dark purple. Example usage: UV index. |
Divergent Color Tables
Divergent palettes are useful for displaying values that diverge from a mean value or from a reference value such as 0. The middle colors of a divergent table are usually lighter colors, and often white.
| Sample | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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NCDC_temp_anom | Dark blue to dark red. 20 colors plus special outlier colors. Example usage: global surface temperature anomaly. |
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NEO_wind_spd_anom | Purple to white to dark orange. Example usage: wind speed anomaly. |
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NEO_bright_temp | pale blue to lavenar to pale yellow. Example usage: brightness temperatyure. |
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NEO_aod_diff | Purple to white to orange. Example usage: aerosol optical depth difference. |
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GMT_split | Blue to black to red. |
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NCDC_temp_anom_f | Dark blue to white to dark maroon. Example usage: surface temperature anomaly. |
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NEO_seasurf_hgt_anom | Dark teal to white to dark maroon. Example usage: sea surface height anomaly. |
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NEO_giss_temp_anom | Blue to white to red. Example usage: global temperature anomaly. |
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EO_temp_anom_4 | Blue to white to red. Example usage: global temperature anomaly. |
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NEO_ns_airtemp | Dark blue to white to dark red. Example usage: near-surface air temperature. |
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NEO_amsre_sst_anom | Dark blue to white to dark red. Example usage: sea surface temperature anomaly. |
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NEO_modis_lst_anom | Dark blue to white to dark red. Example usage: land surface temperature anomaly. |
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MODIS_L3_diverge | Dark blue to light blue then light orange to maroon. 16 colors plus special outlier colors. |
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NEO_meltseason_anom | Dark blue to white to orange Example usage: melt season anomaly. |
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SVS_tempanomaly | Dark blue to white to dark red. Example usage: global surface temperature anomaly. |
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UKM_hadcrut_10 | Dark blue to pale yellow to dark red. 12 colors, non-linear. Example usage: global surface temperature anomaly. |
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NEO_grav_anom | Dark blue to white to red. Example usage: gravity anomaly. |
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NCDC_pres_anom | Blue to pale gray to red. 15 colors, non-linear, plus special outlier colors. Example usage: Pressure height anomaly. |
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NEO_ceres_net | Blue-green to pale yellow to red. Example usage: net radiation. |
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NYT_drought | Green to pale yellow to red. 7 colors. Example usage: drought index. |
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NEO_carb_emit_anom | Green to white to brown. Example usage: carbon emission anomaly. |
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NEO_evapstress | Green to white to brown. Example usage: evaporative stress. |
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NEO_pollution_mort | Blue to white to brown. Example usage: pollution. |
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EO_soil_moisture_div | Brown to blue. Example usage: soil moisture. |
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NEO_soil_moisture_pale | Pale brown to white to pale blue, with off-center "mid-point". Example usage: soil moisture. |
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NEO_albedo_change | Pale orange to white to pale blue. Example usage: albedo change. |
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NEO_rainfall_anom_9 | Brown to white to blue. 9 colors. Example usage: rainfall rate anomaly. |
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NCDC_snow_anom | Brown to white to blue. Example usage: snow cover anomaly. |
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EVL_wind_anom | Dark brown to white to dark blue. Example usage: wind speed anomaly. |
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NEO_grace_lwe_anom | Brown to white to teal. Example usage: water equivalence anomaly. |
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NEO_div_vegetation_c | Brown to white to green. Example usage: vegetation (NDVI) anomaly. |
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NEO_div_vegetation_a | Brown to white to green. Example usage: vegetation (NDVI) anomaly. |
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NEO_div_vegetation_b | Brown to white to green. Example usage: vegetation (NDVI) anomaly. |
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NCDC_precip_anom | Brown to blue. 10 colors plus special outlier colors. Example usage: precipitation anomaly. |
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NEO_wind_spd_anomaly_pwg | Purple to white to dark turquoise. Example usage: wind speed anomaly. |
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NEO_soil_moisture_anom | Maroon to white to dark turquoise. Example usage: soil moisture anomaly. |
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NEO_soil_moisture_anom_nl | Red to white to blue, non-linear. Example usage: soil moisture anomaly. |
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NEO_chlorophyll | Blue to white to green. Example usage: chlorophyll concentration in water. |
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NEO_chlorophyll_oc | Blue to white to green, with off-center "mid-point". Example usage: chlorophyll concentration in water. |
Topographic (or Earth/Ocean) Color Tables
Topographic color tables are, in a sense, a form of sequential color table specifically designed for showing topographic relief. However, color shifts may be dis-continuous, particularly if the color table is designed to show both ocean depth and land height. Use of topographic color tables usually requires knowledge of the minimum and maximum values for which a specific color table is designed.
| Sample | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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GIST_earth | Example usage: Ocean and land topography. |
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GMT_globe | Example usage: Ocean and land topography. |
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GMT_relief | Example usage: Ocean and land topography. |
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NEO_srtm_topography | Green to white. Example usage: land topography. |
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NEO_gebco_bathymetry | Dark blue to white. Example usage: ocean depth. |
Rainbow Color Tables
Rainbow color tables are a form of sequential color table that to some degree mimics the color spectrum. They may begin with red and progress through orange, yellow, green and blue to reach purple, or vice versa. Sometimes they are cyclic, wrapping around so that red follows purple. Although rainbow color tables are very often used to display sequential data, their use is discouraged because they can be hard to interpret by persons who have some form of color blindness or vision deficiency.
| Sample | Name | Comments |
|---|---|---|
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GISS_isccp_rainbow | Rainbow. |
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GISS_isccp_rainbow_20 | Rainbow. 20 colors. |
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GMT_seis | Rainbow. |
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GMT_seis_20 | Rainbow. 20 colors. |
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GMT_cyclic | Rainbow, cyclic. |
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GMT_haxby | Rainbow. 32 colors. |
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MODIS_L3_rainbow | Rainbow. 16 colors plus special outlier colors. |
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NCDC_temp100f | Dark blue to pale yellow to dark red. 20 colors plus special outlier colors. Example usage: Surface temperature. |
Qualitative or Category Color Tables
A qualitative color table is typically used to indicate a number of discrete values that probably do not have a logical progression. They might, for example, be category IDs. The hue and saturation of each color in the table may also be used to show some relative factor such as strength or importance.
Sources
Many color tables built into Panoply and also those available here come from several sources. Among them are:
CB. Color tables whose names begin with the prefix "CB" are based on color information obtained from ColorBrewer2.org by Cynthia A. Brewer of the Dept. of Geography at Pennsylvania State University.
EO and NEO. Color tables whose names begin with "EO" or "NEO" are based on color schemes used in graphics on the NASA Earth Observatory and NASA Earth Observations websites by the EOS Project Science Office at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
EVL. Color tables whose names begin with "EVL" are based on color schemes used in graphics posted on the NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory.
GMT. Color tables whose names begin with "GMT" are based on color schemes included in the Generic Mapping Tools software from SOEST at the University of Hawai'i.
JS. Color tables whose names begin with "JS" are based on color schemes created by Joshua Stevens.
MODIS. Color tables whose names begin with "MODIS" are based on color schemes suggested by members of the MODIS instrument team at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
NCDC. Color tables whose names begin with "NCDC" are based on color schemes used by the NOAA National Climatic Data Center, now part of the National Centers for Environmental Information.
NCL. Color tables whose names begin with "NCL" are based on color schemes from the NCL Graphics Color Table Gallery from UCAR.
NYT. Color tables whose names begin with "NYT" are based on color schemes used in graphics that appeared in the New York Times.
OCM. Color tables whose names begin with "OCM" are based on color schemes included in True Colors of Oceanography by Thyng et al.
SCM. Color tables whose names begin with "SCM" are based on color schemes included in Scientific Color Maps 6 by Crameri et al.
SVS. Color tables whose names begin with "SVS" are based on color schemes used by the Scientific Visualization Studio at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
UO. Color tables whose names begin with "UO" are based on color schemes described by Light & Bartlein of the Department of Geography at the University of Oregon.
UKM. Color tables whose names begin with "UKM" are based on color schemes used by the UK Met Office.
