This archive contains answers to questions sent to Unidata support through mid-2025. Note that the archive is no longer being updated. We provide the archive for reference; many of the answers presented here remain technically correct, even if somewhat outdated. For the most up-to-date information on the use of NSF Unidata software and data services, please consult the Software Documentation first.
Hi Justin, re: > Awesome. I will give NMAP2 a try. I may need to open a GEMPAK ticket for it > to make sure I get the environment setup correctly for the data. OK. re: > Do all > files need to be converted to .gem through the ldm decoders to be used in > NMAP2 or can it read raw mcidas area files? Imagery formats (GINI from NIMAGE and FNEXRAD, AREA from UNIWISC, and NEXRAD Level II/III from NEXRAD2/NEXRAD3) are understood directly; no "decoding" is needed. However, the GINI, FNEXRAD and AREA images being delivered in the IDD are compressed (method depends on image). GEMPAK, McIDAS-X, and the IDV understand the compressed images directly. McIDAS-V should understand the compressed GINI images, but I don't think that it will understand the compressed AREA images (we create the UNIWISC images and use a PNG compression on the image portion of the products; we added support for the compressed and uncompressed images to GEMPAK and McIDAS-X a _long_ time ago, and I don't think that SSEC has ever incorporated my code into their ADDE servers, so it is likely that datasets created in/by McIDAS-V will not understand the images. If you are getting images in McIDAS AREA file format from other places, they are likely to _not_ be compressed, so they should be directly usable in all of the packages. re: > I would like to also give both McIDAS-V and McIDAS-X a try and compare if I > could. Sure. I think you should start with McIDAS-V... it can be downloaded from SSEC as follows: SSEC McIDAS HomePage http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas McIDAS-V http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/software/v/ You can download the IDV from the Downloads pages on our web server, http://www.unidata.ucar.edu. Question: - are you registered with our website under your address@hidden email address? If yes, I will add you to the list of non-'.edu' users that are allowed to download McIDAS-X. re: > Thank for your time, Tom! No worries. Cheers, Tom -- **************************************************************************** Unidata User Support UCAR Unidata Program (303) 497-8642 P.O. Box 3000 address@hidden Boulder, CO 80307 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unidata HomePage http://www.unidata.ucar.edu **************************************************************************** Ticket Details =================== Ticket ID: WGX-237531 Department: Support McIDAS Priority: Normal Status: Closed