[McIDAS #MCZ-288208]: McIDAS Documentation Comments

Hi Brendon,

Sorry for the tardy reply (User Committee meeting)...

> We recently had a student who was interested in using McIDAS to view
> NCDC archived nexrad data.  I was able to find the answers she was
> looking for in the mailing archive, but it did take a considerable
> amount of time poking the support email archives.  I was wondering if it
> would be possible to improve the upfront documentation so that users who
> want to use McIDAS to view archived data can find something a bit faster
> to guide them (maybe some kind of FAQ?)

OK.  I would like to point out, however, that the online McIDAS training
workshop materials have an exercise that walks one through the steps
needed to create an ADDE dataset from a collection of files.

> In the Unidata community
> spirit, here is the how-to email I sent to the student, feel free to post.

Will do.  Thanks!

> I was also surprised that the DSSERVE page in the users guide doesn't
> mention the NEXR type.

I had not noticed this! I will report this shortcoming to SSEC for correction
in the next McIDAS release (v2006).

> Also, the alphabetic pointers at the top of
> http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/mcidas/2005/users_guide/mainindex.html
> appear not to be working.

Thanks for reporting this.  I affected the fix so they work now (missing link).

> Brendon Hoch wrote:
> > Melissa,
> >
> > Here are the procedures I used for viewing the radar data that you
> > downloaded.  Other students in your class may benefit from this
> > information.
> >
> > 1. Download your radar data into a directory structure as follows:
> > /some/path/ID/TYPE
> >
> > where
> >
> > ID = three letter station ID
> > TYPE = three letter/number radar product type
> >
> > In our example Melissa's data is located in
> > /home/username/RadarMeteorology/GYX/N0Z and
> > /home/username/RadarMeteorology/GYX/NCZ
> >
> > 2. Create a configuration file so that McIDAS knows where to find your
> > data.  The recommended procedure is to copy
> > /usr/local/mcidas/workdata/NNEXRAD.CFG to a directory and
> > renaming/modifying to meet your needs.  The file itself is comprised
> > mainly of documentation (please read), but there are two lines
> > at the bottom that you will want to modify; this will allow McIDAS to
> > use regular expressions to find the proper data:
> >
> > DIRMASK: It should equal the pathname where your files are located.
> > There are some keywords to use
> >
> > FILEMASK: You can also use keywords here if you want to get specific
> > with filename formats
> >
> > In our example, the file was copied to
> > /home2/share/m_wellman/RadarMeteorology and renamed as MWNCDCRAD.CFG The
> > file was modified as follows:
> >
> > DIRMASK=/home2/share/m_wellman/RadarMeteorology/\ID/\TYPE
> > FILEMASK=*\ID*
> >
> > This means that each filename must contain the three letter radar
> > station identifier.
> >
> > 3. Start McIDAS, and load your data (DSSERVE commands should be on one
> > line):
> >
> > DATALOC ADD MYRAD LOCAL-DATA
> >
> > DSSERVE ADD MYRAD/N0Z NEXR 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE
> > INFO='/home2/share/m_wellman/RadarMeteorology/MWNCDCRAD.CFG' "Base
> > reflectivity 248 nm
> >
> > DSSERVE ADD MYRAD/NCZ NEXR 1 9999 TYPE=IMAGE
> > INFO='/home2/share/m_wellman/RadarMeteorology/MWNCDCRAD.CFG' "Composite
> > Reflectivity (16 Levels) 248 nm
> >
> > If you want to list your data, use IMGLIST, if you want to display it, use
> > IMGDISP, you will need to specify the three letter ID of the station you
> > want:
> >
> > IMGLIST MYRAD/N0Z.ALL ID=GYX
> >
> > IMGDISP MYRAD/NCZ.1 ID=GYX; MAP H
> >
> > 4. You will need to experiment with zoom (using the MAG keyword) and
> > color tables (using the EU command), for example
> >
> > ERASE F 1
> >
> > IMGDISP MYRAD/NCZ.1 ID=GYX MAG=3; MAP H
> >
> > EU REST NOWRAD.ET
> >
> >
> > You can also get some data on specific points:
> >
> > PC E 43.9 70.25 (don't move mouse!)
> >
> > IMGPROBE MODE=N
> >
> >
> > See also:
> > http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/support/help/MailArchives/mcidas/msg01300.html
> > http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/support/help/MailArchives/mcidas/msg01307.html
> >
> > Hope this helps,
> > Brendon
> 
> 
> --
> Brendon Hoch
> Technology Manager
> Judd Gregg Meteorology Institute
> MSC 48, Boyd Hall 321A
> Plymouth State University
> Plymouth, NH 03264
> (603)535-2818 Fax: (603)535-2723
> http://vortex.plymouth.edu/~bhoch


Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: MCZ-288208
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed