20021001: GOES-8 navigation in IDL

>From: Gilles Molinie <address@hidden>
>Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
>Keywords: 200210011729.g91HTQ111930 McIDAS AREA IDL

Gilles,

>I am a postdoc at the Los Alamos Nat. Lab.. We have purchased a large
>amount of GOES-8 data at NCDC that dessiminated these data under the
>McIdas format. I am trying to read these files. I use a routine found on
>the web written in IDL. This routine call a function 'goes8latlongs'. Have
>you heard  something about this function?

Unfortunately, no.  I am not familar with the use of IDL for GOES imagery
data in McIDAS AREA format.

>More generally, I have read the block of navigation data in the AREA file
>but I can not figure out how to deduce the pixels postions from the values
>find in this data block like reference latitude, reference longitude,
>reference yaw.....

I did a quick Google (tm) search using 'IDL +GOES' as a search key and
found the following site at the Cooperative Institute for Research in
the Atmosphere (CIRA) at Colorado State University:

Usage of IDL
http://www.cira.colostate.edu/special/csuidl/tips.htm

  Reading McIDAS AREA files - Tips... 
  http://www.cira.colostate.edu/special/csuidl/IDLMcIDAS.htm

The Site Index for the above:

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/special/csuidl/index.htm

lists several IDL applications developed at CSU/CIRA for displaying
GOES GVAR imagery stored in McIDAS AREA format.

In particular, one called 'GVAR View' (or GVIEW) appears like it would
be useful to you:

http://www.cira.colostate.edu/special/gview/gview.htm

>Have you an idea of where to find the necessary informations to retrieve
>the navigation data of GOES-8.

I think that the CSU/CIRA site should get you going.

>Thanks a lot for your help.

No worries.

>Gilles
>
>Gilles Molinie
>NIS-1 Group Office (Space and Atmospheric Sciences)
>TA-3/1888/01U
>Bikini Atoll Rd., SM-30
>Los Alamos National Laboratory
>P. O. Box 1663, MS D466
>Los Alamos, NM 87545
>e-mail : address@hidden
>Phone : 505 667 6104

Tom Yoksas