20100219: Inquiry 14708 updated (cont.)

Hi Barry,

re:
>Thanks very much for this nice summary, and for all the code work!

No worries.

re:
>Ironically, just before seeing your email I sent Kevin a message saying
>that we're going to have to learn a bunch about all the new radar
>products that are becoming available, figure out what we want to make
>available, what to name their datasets, how to test them in both -X and
>-XCD, when to release it all, etc.

I had an exchange with Dave Santek (just before he left for Tokyo) on
the code updates, etc.  My comment to Dave was that the testing for the
new products would be much, if not exactly, the same as for the existing
Nexrad Level III products.  The TDWR products are also much the same:
reflectivity and velicity, so how the tests should be familiar.

The big difference is that the TDWR stations are different from the
Level III stations.  I noted in my email at code checking that these
stations need to be added to the McIDAS station database, STNDB.CORE.
The short term solution might be to create a BATCH file that would add
the information to the STNDB.SITE file.  The problem with that approach
is that the end users will need to be mindful of the need to remove
those definitions when the stations are added to the core database.

re:
>By "we" I meant us at SSEC; it sounds
>like you already have a very good handle on what's out there.

Yup, we have been busily upgrading our packages to support the new
Level III products, and we have been discussing the dualpol products
that might be added to NOAAport by November.  I had been remis in not
updating McIDAS for the TDWR products way back when they became availble;
that oversight has now been corrected.

re:
>(So you may get a few questions from us... :-)

No worries on asking questions. The issues are fresh in my mind,
so the sooner the better.

re:
>Also, I'm not sure if the info below applies to just us at SSEC, or to
>you as well. But here goes... I think we might also need to include some
>new enhancement files (*.ET)

One of my comments to Dave S. was that I might be creating new
enhancements for the new products.  I am conflicted about the need to
do this, however.  After all, the new Level III products are simply
"higher resolution" versions of products that are already supported.
I noted to Dave that I look to SSEC for comments on the need to
create new enhancements.

re:
>and possibly? make updates to IMGDISP.CORE

I was planning on making mods to IMGDISP.CORE for the Unidata distribution
today.  The good news is that the mods are very simple editing exercises:
replicate lines of other entries and modify a little bit of the entry.

re:
>if we want to continue to make it easy to IMGDISP the new types of radar
>data. For example, we have some pretty lengthy entries in IMGDISP.CORE
>that let the user run a short command like IMGDISP MKX_BREF1 ID=DVN
>ALL=1 7 to do all this: display a seven-frame loop of radar data
>centered on the Quad Cities using the NEXRAD/BREF1 dataset, BREF.ET
>enhancement, draw the BAR, put a map up with dashed county outlines and
>FOUS stations plotted (FOUS chosen so it's just a few major stations
>[i.e., not cluttered]), and relabel the frame to something more
>descriptive.

I am glad you brought this up.  The IMGDISP.CORE entries do not center the
displays on the station; rather, they load the image using the upper left
hand corner of the image.  One needs to add the STA= keyword to center on
the station.  If the display was centered on the station automatically,
then I could add an invocation of CIRCLE (I added CIRCLE to the "core"
part of the Unidata McIDAS distribution) to draw range rings around
the station.  Range rings make the Level III and TDWR displays look
very nice.

re:
>IMGDISP.CORE also has a "lighter" version for each product that just
>picks the correct dataset and enhancement (no MAP, BAR, FRMLABEL, etc)
>by running a command like IMGDISP NEXRAD/BREF1 ALL=11 17 ID=DVN.

Yup, I was playing with IMGDISP.x (via IMGDISP.USER) settings last
Saturday trying to understand their ins and outs. That is when I learned
that the displayed images are not centered on the station by default.

>Thanks!

No worries.  Talk to you soon...

Cheers,

Tom

>On 2/19/2010 4:45 PM address@hidden said the following:
>> Inquiry
>>   14708
>>
>> Summary
>>   Need to add support for new 
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I made additional changes to McIDAS code to support the new "high resolution
> " Nexrad Level III and TDWR radar products that are now being delivered via N
> OAAPort and through the IDD NEXRAD3 feed.  I also updated the BAR routine to 
> understand the new images that have 256 display levels.
>>
>> The code has already been incorporated into Unidata McIDAS- X/-XCD v2009c, a
> nd the products have been made available via ADDE.  The new data are availabl
> e in two different datasets:
>>
>> RTNEXRAD - additional descriptors for the "high resolution" Level III produc
> ts (descriptors: N0Q, NAQ, N1Q, NBQ, N2Q, N3Q, N0U, NAU, N1U, NBU, N2U, N3U, 
> DVL, EET)
>>
>> RTTDWR - a new dataset for the TDWR radar products (descriptors: TR0, TR1, T
> R2, TZL, TV0, TV1, TV2)
>>
>> The decision was made to put the TDWR images into a separate dataset since t
> he list of TDWR sites is completely different from the list for Nexrad Level 
> III sites.
>>
>> NB: I added the locations of TDWR stations to the STNDB.SITE file that is pa
> rt of Unidata McIDAS v2009c.  These stations need to be added to the primary 
> McIDAS station database, STNDB.CORE, but I do not know how to do that through
>  the CVS.
>>
>> The new data can be viewed in McIDAS from the Unidata-operated ADDE servers:
>>
>> GROUPS: RTNEXRAD, RTTDWR
>> Servers: adde.ucar.edu, ingest.cise-nsf.gov
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Tom
>>
>> http://dcdbs.ssec.wisc.edu/inquiry-x/index.php?inquiry=14708

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