20020212: reading/writing McIDAS area files for use in GEMPAK (cont.)

>From: David Ovens <address@hidden>
>Organization: University of Washington
>Keywords: 200202121913.g1CJDNx21764 McIDAS AREA

David,

>Thanks for the info.  The quick answer is that neither GEMPAK nor
>McIDAS-X seem to care about what I stick in word 3, 16, or 45 (spots
>that had the "102042" value).  Looks like I'll have to delve a lot
>deeper.

Hmm...  Now I know that you are talking about words in the AREA file
header, not the NAV portion of the header.  In this case, the words
are the DAY [YYYJJJ] of the image.  Information on what the header
words mean can be found in the online McIDAS Programmer's Reference
Manual:

http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mug/prog_man/prog_man.html

Look in the section 'Format of the Data Files'.

I think that once you start looking into the parameters that are used
for GVAR navigation, you will quickly either run screaming from the
room while holding your head (the GVAR navigation model is very
complex), or begin looking for a different projection to use.  The
Lambert Conformal ones (CONF and TANC) or Polar Stereographic should be
most useful in what you are trying to accomplish.

Good luck!

Tom