20031109: data types supported by McIDAS

>From: "Ayhan Sayin" <address@hidden>
>Organization: Turkish State  Meteorological Service
>Keywords: 200311091204.hA9C4POb022575

Ayhan,

>I  wish  to   learn that    what  kind  of  data  types (  formats)
>Mcidas  support?. does  Mcidas  support    hdf,  level 1.5 and  grib
>formats?  or  does  it have  special  its  own format?

McIDAS has some support for data in HDF EOS format.  This was added
so that McIDAS could use data from the Terra and Aqua polar orbiting
satellites whose data is stored in HDF EOS format.

Here are the comments from the online help for the ADDE dataset
definition facility, DSSERVE, that relate to MODIS HDF data:

  **********************  MODIS HDF Dataset Remarks  ***********************
     You can read/access MODIS Level 1b HDF files with the IMG* commands by
     using DSSERVE to assign a dataset name to the files. When doing so,
     specify "MODS" in the 'format' parameter, TYPE=IMAGE, and the directory
     and file masks in the DIRFILE keyword.
  
     You can read/access MODIS Level 2 MOD06 (cloud top properties), MOD07
     (atmospheric profile) and MOD35 (cloud mask) products in HDF format
     with the IMG* commands by using DSSERVE to assign a dataset name to the
     files. When doing so, specify "MODX" in the 'format' parameter,
     TYPE=IMAGE, and the directory and file masks in the DIRFILE keyword.
  
     You can read/access MODIS (and potentially other) HDF files as point
     data in MODS-format datasets created using DSSERVE with the TYPE,
     DIRFILE and INFO keywords. The TYPE keyword specifies the data type
     (POINT) of the HDF files in the dataset. The DIRFILE keyword specifies
     the directory and file masks to locate the HDF files. The INFO keyword
     specifies the name of the configuration file that maps the HDF file
     parameter names to McIDAS parameter names. The configuration file must
     be tailored specifically to the HDF files in the dataset. Two sample
     configuration files, named MOD06.cfg and MOD07.cfg, are available in
     the ~mcidas/data directory. Refer to those files when creating
     configuration files for your HDF point datasets.
  
     When creating MODIS HDF image or point datasets, the file names must
     match the standard Goddard DAAC (Distributed Active Archive System)
     naming conventions. For example, 1 km Terra MODIS Level 1b HDF image
     files must follow the format MOD021KM.Ayyyyddd.hhmm.002.yyyyddd.hdf.
     Aqua files must begin with MYD instead of MOD, and 1/2 km and 1/4 km
     resolution files are denoted as HKM and QKM instead of 1KM. See
     http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/MODIS/FAQ/A_gen_naming.shtml on the Goddard
     DAAC web site for detailed information on the file naming convention,
     and http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/MODIS/FAQ/FAQ_category_ordering.shtml
     for information about ordering data from the DAAC.

As far as GRIB goes, McIDAS-XCD, a package that non-Unidata sites can
license from SSEC, contains a decoder that turns model output stored
in GRIB format into a McIDAS-specific GRID file format.  I can tell
you that SSEC is working on serving GRIB data directly, but it is
not yet available, and I don't know the timetable for when it will
be available.

I hope that the above information helped.

Also, it strikes me that you may have meant to send your question directly
to the McIDAS Help Desk at the SSEC at the University of Wisconsin.  If
this is the case, you should send your inquiry to address@hidden.

>kindest  regards

Cheers,

>ayhan sayin
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
>Mr. Ayhan Sayin
>Turkish State  Meteorological Service
>Remote Sensing Division
>CC 401=20
>06120   Ankara
>Turkey
>phone: +90 312 302 26 23
>fax:        +90 312 359 34 30
>email: address@hidden
>web:   www.meteor.gov.tr
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Tom Yoksas