This archive contains answers to questions sent to Unidata support through mid-2025. Note that the archive is no longer being updated. We provide the archive for reference; many of the answers presented here remain technically correct, even if somewhat outdated. For the most up-to-date information on the use of NSF Unidata software and data services, please consult the Software Documentation first.
Nancy, The best way to store the files for GEMPAK is to use the X_YYYYMMDD_HHNN format ao that the GUI programs can find the data as well as your scripts. Examples are provided in the $NAWIPS/ldm/etc/templates/pqact.gempak_images file. To select the latest GOES10 IR file in a directory following the $SAT naming convention hierarchy, you could do: (csh example) cd $SAT/GOES-10/4km/IR set LATEST=`ls | tail -1` Then use the variable $LATEST in your script for the input to the GEMPAK SATFIL parameter. Steve Chiswell Unidata User Support On Wed, 2004-07-21 at 16:25, Nancy Selover wrote: > I am trying to identify the latest satellite image (IR in this case), > so I can call it up in a Gempak script to generate a *.gif image for a > web page. I don't know whether to have a copy of the latest image > stored in a temporary subdirectory using pqact.conf, or whether to > have the last 2 digits of the Mcidas area file (AREA13XX) saved into a > file - then use that string to name the latest area file. Is it > preferable to use the AREA file name or the pointer (e.g. > IR_20040721_1915) in sfmap to get the image? > > Thanks for the guidance. I'm not Unix fluent. > > Nancy > Nancy J. Selover > Asst. State Climatologist > Office of Climatology tel: 480-965-0580 > Arizona State University fax: 480-965-1473 > Tempe, AZ 85287-1508 e-mail: address@hidden > >