20000815: IMGDISP/DATASET

>From: address@hidden
>Organization: Western Michigan
>Keywords: 200008152046.e7FKkFN03558 McIDAS ADDE AREA Unidata-Wisconsin

Elen,

>I just downloaded a few satellite images sent from SSEC.  These did not
>come in AREAXXXX format.

The format is AREA, but the name is not.

>Where do I create the database?

For McIDAS 7.6 and previous, you have to rename the files so that their
names follow the AREAnnnn form.  In McIDAS-X 7.7 (not yet released)
this will be a log easier.

>Is it a directory inside mcidas/data/?

No.  You should put data files like AREAs somewhere other than
~mcidas/data.  Since you have a lot of room on /ilya2, I suggest that
you put the images there.  If the images are all related to one
another, like they are all part of a single investigation, then I
suggest that you put them in a directory whose name reflects that
investigation.  Suppose that these images are all related to your
investigations in Amazonia, I would put the images into a directory
named /ilya2/mcidas/data/amazonia.  You will, of course, have to create
the directory first:

<login as 'mcidas'>
cd /ilya2/mcidas/data
mkdir amazonia
mv (all of the files you downloaded) amazonia

The next thing you will have to do is come up with an AREAnnnn naming
scheme for these images.  I suggest that you choose something easy to
remember.

>I don't see examples for IMGDISP that could help me with this.

We will get to that in a second.

>The data format is:
>goes8_14_1999_018_0245

That is the naming convention.  Are these multibanded images?  I will
assume so since the name doesn't immediately tell me what band the
image might be (I am assuming that the 1999_018_0245 means: 1999, Julian
day 018, time of 2:45 UTC; what I don't know about is '14').

>There are 168 of them.  For now only 3 are in /ilya2/mcidas/data

Again, if these files are related to a project (most likely), I
recommend putting them in their own directory whose name relates to the
project.  Then go into the directory and either rename the files or
make links to them.  In both cases, the names you will choose have to
be of the form AREAnnnn.  As far as the AREA file names go, choose a
range of AREA numbers that will not overlap with those from the realtime
IDD broadcast.  I suggest using the 2000 range.  So, I would:

<login as 'mcidas'>
cd /ilya2/mcidas/data
mkdir amazonia                 (or whatever name you like)
mv (all of the files you downloaded) amazonia)
cd amazonia
ln -s goes8_14_1999_018_0245 AREA2000
 etc.

Now, you need to create an ADDE dataset that accesses these files.

<as 'mcidas' still>

cd ~mcidas/workdata
dsserve.k ADD AMAZONIA/IMAGES AREA 2000 2168 TYPE=IMAGE \"Cutrim Amazonia Images

This should create the ADDE dataset AMAZONIA/IMAGES and store the definition
in the file ~mcidas/workdata/RESOLV.SRV.  The next thing is making sure that
McIDAS can find those images:

<still as 'mcidas' so the images can be found through the remote ADDE server>
cd ~mcidas/workdata
redirect.k ADD AREA2\* \"/ilya2/mcidas/data/amazonia

Now, test whether or not you typed in everything correctly:

dmap.k AREA2

You should get a list of the AREA file links or renames that you made
in /ilya2/mcidas/data/amazonia.  If you don't go back and see which step
failed.  If you do get the correct list (you should), then see if
you can access the images from the remote ADDE server:

<still as 'mcidas' and still in the workdata directory>

dataloc.k ADD AMAZONIA s418.lab2.cc.wmich.edu

dsinfo.k I AMAZONIA

If the dsinfo.k command shows AMAZONIA/IMAGES then you are ready to go:

imglist.k AMAZONIA/IMAGES.ALL

>How can I display these images?

As far as you being yourself and not the user 'mcidas', do all of the steps
above and also:

<login as yourself>
cd mcidas/data
dataloc.k ADD AMAZONIA s418.lab2.cc.wmich.edu
dsinfo.k I AMAZONIA
imglist.k AMAZONIA/IMAGES.ALL

Let me know if this doesn't work for you, or if you don't understand a step
or two.

Tom

>From address@hidden Tue Aug 15 16:12:25 2000
>Subject: Re: 20000815: IMGDISP/DATASET

Thanks Tom!  

No wonder I could not do this all by myself!:)
You walked me through the process very nicely.  I promise that by tomorrow
at noon you will not hear from me again until January 3.  I will be
working in the Brazilian Amazon region.

I appreciate all the time you have given to re-install McIDAS at WMU and
particularly help me through my Amazonia satellite data analysis.  Truly,
I had done research on maine frame McIDAS and OS-2 McIDAS only.  I have
learned a lot this past week.  Thanks a lot!

Elen

Elen Cutrim
Associate Professor
Geography Department
Western Michigan University
Ph: (616)387-3418
FAX:(616)387-3442
email: address@hidden