Re: [ibtracs-qa] Complete Tracks for TC analysis in QGIS

[Jennifer Gahtan - NOAA Federal]

Hi Diana,

I am not equipped to help with qgis specific questions, but IBTrACS contains data from multiple sources so it may be worth checking if multiple source versions are plotted for the same storm or if some of your tracks are spurs (see section 6.8 of the user documentation). 

In terms of your perceived "cut" off of storms, I think this is due to the inherent nature of the data and not an issue with your plotting. Tropical cyclones weaken as they move polewards and there are far fewer storms once you get too far North. Additionally, TC records during the period of time you are looking at are far less complete than modern records, and if no one was measuring (e.g. ship, land measurements), the records don't exist.

A track density map is shown on the link below so you can get an idea of where recorded tracks are throughout the entire record.

https://ncics.org/ibtracs/index.php?name=browse-location

Hope this helps,

Jennifer

On Sun, Mar 30, 2025 at 9:35 AM Diana Zhunussova <dianazhu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear all,

I am currently working on my master's thesis the IBTrACS is an amazing data source for me. I my research I need to use TC tracks for Taiwan and South East China and have some questions reagrding the use of this data since I am very new to this field:

- When I use this data in QGIS, each TC line is "broken" in multiple lines (s. screenshot in the attachment). Do you know any way to connect those lines in one single line when it is the same TC? 

- I've also selected data from the earliest recording 1842 to 1907 because I need the sata for this specific period and all the lines are kind of "cut" in the upper part of the map. It seems like there is some kind of border from which the data is missing. Do you maybe know what is the reason for that and how could I fix this or have worked in th same area before? I've used the data set with all TC records. It would be really helpful to hear your recommendations or if you have any files to share. 

Thank you in advance. 

Best wishes,

Diana

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Jennifer Gahtan, Ph.D. (she/her)

Physical Scientist
Climate Science and Services Division (CSSD)
NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
151 Patton Ave. Asheville, NC 28801

jennife...@noaa.gov