19991216: model elevation question

Matt,

I guess first thing is to make sure that you can use the us.west grid
file that I provided in the tar file. If needed, I can make a file
for another area you need.

If the tercnvrt program is the culprite in creating your direct access
file, then I should check what operating system you are running on,
and your compiler version. I can see if I can duplicate your trouble here.

Steve Chiswell
Unidata User Support






>From: "Matthew G. Fearon" <address@hidden>
>Organization: Desert Research Institute
>Keywords: 199912172159.OAA25747

>Steve,
>
>I tried running the program interactively and I received the following
>error message. I am thinking something is wrong with the terrain.gsf
>file or the tercnvrt.f program. I will continue to tinker with things,
>but I thought I would send you these errors since they are
>different.
>
>Thank you again,
>Matt
>
>
>fire:/opt/nawips-5.4/terrain 74 > gdtopo
> GDFILE    Grid file                         $GEMDATA/HRCBOB.GRD
> GAREA     Grid area                         WV
> GDATTIM   Grid date/time                    LAST
> TOPOFL    Topography file name
> Parameters requested: GDFILE,GAREA,GDATTIM,TOPOFL.
> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>gdfile=us.west
> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>garea=25;-125;45;-105
> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>gdattim=990101/1200
> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>topofl=terrain.gsf
> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>r
> look read           80
> terrain.gsf
> look access           11           0
> here        41095
> look REC      534236   1.000000
>fmt: read unexpected character
>apparent state: unit 11 named terrain.gsf
>last format: (2i5)
>Unit 11 is a direct formatted external file
>*** Execution Terminated (115) ***
>
>
>
>Unidata Support wrote:
>
>> Matt,
>>
>> the error message implies that the terrain.gsf data file
>> is not being found. Since you know that the file does exist,
>> you might need to verify that:
>> 1) Your file permissions allow you to access the file from the
>>    path.
>> 2) The line in your script where you define
>>    TOPOFL    = /data1/nawips-5.4/terrain/terrain.gsf
>>
>>    check for any typos in the path or hidden cntrl characters
>>    (sometimes text editors can stick in a ^H or something if you backspace
>>    and fudge a character).
>>
>> 3) try running the program interactively instead of from your redirection
>>    to eliminate the above possibility.
>>
>> Steve Chiswell
>> Unidata User Support
>>
>> >From: "Matthew G. Fearon" <address@hidden>
>> >Organization: Desert Research Institute
>> >Keywords: 199912172026.NAA22512
>>
>> >Steve,
>> >
>> >Thank you for this information. It will be very helpful to me.
>> >I followed all the procedures after retrieving the terrain.tar.Z
>> >file. I made a direct access binary file from the ascii as well. I
>> >received the normal completion message after running
>> >tercnvrt. When I run gdtopo however, I receive the following
>> >error
>> >
>> >$GEMEXE/gdtopo << EOF
>> > GDFILE    Grid file                         $GEMDATA/HRCBOB.GRD
>> > GAREA     Grid area                         WV
>> > GDATTIM   Grid date/time                    LAST
>> > TOPOFL    Topography file name
>> > Parameters requested: GDFILE,GAREA,GDATTIM,TOPOFL.
>> > GEMPAK-GDTOPO> GEMPAK-GDTOPO> GEMPAK-GDTOPO> GEMPAK-GDTOPO> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>
>  [G
>> > DT
>> >OPO -12]  Topography file does not exist.
>> > Parameters requested: GDFILE,GAREA,GDATTIM,TOPOFL.
>> > GEMPAK-GDTOPO> GEMPAK-GDTOPO>
>> >
>> >rm *.nts
>> >
>> >Here is my gdtopo program:
>> >
>> >$GEMEXE/gdtopo <<EOF
>> >GDFILE    = us.west
>> >GAREA     = 25;-125;45;-105
>> >GDATTIM = 990101/1200
>> >TOPOFL    = /data1/nawips-5.4/terrain/terrain.gsf
>> >r
>> >
>> >exit
>> >
>> >EOF
>> >
>> >#$GEMEXE/gpend
>> >rm *.nts
>> >
>> >The terrain.gsf file does exist. Do you know what may be
>> >the problem ? Please reply at your convienence. Thank you
>> >again for all your help.
>> >
>> >Matt Fearon
>> >address@hidden
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >Unidata Support wrote:
>> >
>> >> Matt,
>> >>
>> >> All models use some smoothed form of surface data since using
>> >> terrain data at a higher resolution than the grid and/or large
>> >> discontinuities inadjacent grid point values will cause the model
>> >> to blow up with anomalous gravity waves and non-hydrostatic
>> >> forcing.
>> >>
>> >> The ETA model employs a step terrain. There are some points about
>> >> the difference in actiual station elevation and the model elevation in
>> >> the 32km ETA whitepaper at:
>> >> http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/447body.htm
>> >>
>> >> You can also look at the FSL RUC 40km topography at:
>> >> http://maps.fsl.noaa.gov/40kmtopocol.gif
>> >> They also have ascii 40km and 60km topography datasets for download at:
>> >> http://maps.fsl.noaa.gov/MAPS.domain.cgi
>> >>
>> >> We do have a 5 minute (approx 10km) gridded topography dataset for
>> >> Gempak which you can use as a gridded data set (eg gdlist, gdpoint etc).
>> >>
>> >> To use the gempak terrain dataset, download from the gbuddy ftp account
>> >> nawips-5.4/contrib/terrain.tar.Z
>> >>
>> >> and unpack on your system with:
>> >>
>> >> zcat terrain.tar.Z | tar xvf -
>> >>
>> >> This will create a directory called terrain which containe
>> >> the ascii terrain data set (63 Mb) and a program directory called
>> >> gdtopo which can be used to convert the data into a gempak
>> >> grid file.
>> >>
>> >> First you need to convert the ascii terrain file into a direct access
>> >> file (like a gempak map datafile). To do this, you need to build the
>> >> tercnvrt program from the fortran code with:
>> >>
>> >> f77 -o tercnvrt tercnvrt.f
>> >>
>> >> Then run tercnvrt to create the direct access file, eg:
>> >>
>> >> prompt% tercnvrt
>> >>
>> >> Please enter name of original terrain dataset: terrain.ascii
>> >>                                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>> >>  Now enter name of file which will
>> >>  contain sector of terrain data: terrain.gsf
>> >>                                  ^^^^^^^^^^^
>> >>
>> >> Now build and install gdtopo by cd'ing into the gdtopo directory
>> >> and building with:
>> >>
>> >> make all
>> >> make install
>> >> make clean
>> >>
>> >> (This will install the gdtopo program into the $GEMEXE directory and
>> >> install the ancillary pdf files as well).
>> >>
>> >> Now you can create a grid file for some area. Since the maximum number of
>> >> grid points by default in a gempak grid file is ~97,000 points, this
>> >> is approximately 311x311 grid points (for the 5 minute data set this is
>> >> roughly 25 degrees x 25 degrees). In otherwords, even though the database
>> >> covers the entire globe, you can only view a 25 degree square at a time
>> >> as a gempak grid file. As an example, I created a file called us.west
>> >> in the terrain subdirectory that is a 20x20 degree file (garea =
>> >> 25;-125;45;-105) as an example which you can use.
>> >>
>> >> To create your own grid file area, run gdtopo:
>> >>
>> >>  GDFILE   = us.west
>> >>  GAREA    = 25;-125;45;-105
>> >>  GDATTIM  = 990101/1200
>> >>  TOPOFL   = terrain.gsf
>> >>  GEMPAK-GDTOPO>r
>> >>
>> >> The gdattim is only used to create a grid time in the output file but
>> >> really doesn't do anything else.
>> >>
>> >> An example of running gdcntr with the us.west grid file that is produced:
>> >>  GDATTIM  = 990101/1200
>> >>  GLEVEL   = 0
>> >>  GVCORD   = pres
>> >>  GFUNC    = topo
>> >>  GDFILE   = us.west
>> >>  CINT     = 200
>> >>  LINE     = 5/1/1/0
>> >>  MAP      = 6
>> >>  TITLE    = 1
>> >>  DEVICE   = ps
>> >>  SATFIL   =
>> >>  RADFIL   =
>> >>  PROJ     = ced
>> >>  GAREA    = grid
>> >>  CLEAR    = y
>> >>  PANEL    = 0
>> >>  TEXT     = .5
>> >>  SCALE    = 0
>> >>  LATLON   = 7/10/1//1;1
>> >>  HILO     =
>> >>  HLSYM    =
>> >>  CLRBAR   =
>> >>  CONTUR   = 0
>> >>  SKIP     = 0
>> >>  FINT     = 200
>> >>  FLINE    = 30-7
>> >>  CTYPE    = c
>> >>  LUTFIL   =
>> >>  STNPLT   =
>> >>  GEMPAK-GDCNTR>r
>> >> Creating process: ps for queue 251454
>> >>
>> >>  Grid file: us.west
>> >>  GRID IDENTIFIER:
>> >>     TIME1             TIME2         LEVL1 LEVL2   VCORD PARM
>> >> 990101/1200                             0          PRES TOPO
>> >>
>> >>  GAREA:     grid
>> >>
>> >>  MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM VALUES -4765.00  3790.00
>> >>
>> >>  LINE CONTOURS:
>> >>
>> >>  LEVELS:     -4600.00 -4400.00 -4200.00 -4000.00 -3800.00 -3600.00 -3400.
> 00
>> >>  COLORS:            5        5        5        5        5        5       
>  5
>> >>  LINTYP:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LINWID:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LABEL:             0        0        0        0        0        0       
>  0
>> >>
>> >>  LEVELS:     -3200.00 -3000.00 -2800.00 -2600.00 -2400.00 -2200.00 -2000.
> 00
>> >>  COLORS:            5        5        5        5        5        5       
>  5
>> >>  LINTYP:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LINWID:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LABEL:             0        0        0        0        0        0       
>  0
>> >>
>> >>  LEVELS:     -1800.00 -1600.00 -1400.00 -1200.00 -1000.00  -800.00  -600.
> 00
>> >>  COLORS:            5        5        5        5        5        5       
>  5
>> >>  LINTYP:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LINWID:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LABEL:             0        0        0        0        0        0       
>  0
>> >>
>> >>  LEVELS:      -400.00  -200.00     0.00   200.00   400.00   600.00   800.
> 00
>> >>  COLORS:            5        5        5        5        5        5       
>  5
>> >>  LINTYP:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LINWID:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LABEL:             0        0        0        0        0        0       
>  0
>> >>
>> >>  LEVELS:      1000.00  1200.00  1400.00  1600.00  1800.00  2000.00  2200.
> 00
>> >>  COLORS:            5        5        5        5        5        5       
>  5
>> >>  LINTYP:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LINWID:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LABEL:             0        0        0        0        0        0       
>  0
>> >>
>> >>  LEVELS:      2400.00  2600.00  2800.00  3000.00  3200.00  3400.00  3600.
> 00
>> >>  COLORS:            5        5        5        5        5        5       
>  5
>> >>  LINTYP:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LINWID:            1        1        1        1        1        1       
>  1
>> >>  LABEL:             0        0        0        0        0        0       
>  0
>> >> Enter <cr> to accept parameters or type EXIT:
>> >>
>> >> I hope this helps you with your work.
>> >>
>> >> Steve Chiswell
>> >> Unidata User Support
>> >>
>> >> >From: "Matthew G. Fearon" <address@hidden>
>> >> >Organization: Desert Research Institute
>> >> >Keywords: 199912170024.RAA17299
>> >>
>> >> >Steve,
>> >> >
>> >> >I attached my question below. I just figure I would mention briefly
>> >> >what I am trying to accomplish first.
>> >> >
>> >> >I have created a text file of 40km eta model hght@0%none field or
>> >> >what is consider the ground surface in the eta model. I have done
>> >> >this for each grid point for the entire eta grid and each hght has a
>> >> >corresponding latitude and longitude. I then compared the true
>> >> >ground surface of certain sounding stations to the heights
>> >> >from the eta model by locating the closet lat/lon relationship. From
>> >> >this comparison, I am noticing that the eta heights are always quite
>> >> >higher than the true ground surface of the sounding sites, except for
>> >> >FSX which is lower. I attached a list below, the heights are in meters:
>> >> >
>> >> >stn       sounding      eta
>> >> >RNO    1341.5      1776.8
>> >> >UIL      54.880      229.29
>> >> >OAK    3.0500      109.45
>> >> >FSX     2134.1      1740.0
>> >> >EKO    1551.8       1872.2
>> >> >BOI      871.95      1371.6
>> >> >DEN    1612.8       2238.7
>> >> >TUS     786.59      1084.6
>> >> >GGW   695.12      832.76
>> >> >
>> >> >Do you know if there is a prewritten grid file containing the true
>> >> >ground
>> >> >surface elevation (hgt above mean sea level) that I could match to the
>> >> >lat/lons that are available from the 40km eta ?
>> >> >
>> >> >Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>> >> >Thank you in advance,
>> >> >
>> >> >Matt Fearon
>> >> >address@hidden
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> *************************************************************************
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> ram
>> >> (303)497-8644                                                  P.O. Box 3
> 000
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>>
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>