McIDAS-XRD Instructions and Software v. 2021.1

The McIDAS-XRD 2021.1 package includes commands, servers, data files and a Python package for optional use with McIDAS-X. See the sections below for the corresponding contents.

Instructions

McIDAS-XRD version 2021.1 was distributed in December 2021 and is included in the McIDAS-X 2021.1 installation files. Use the information in the bullets below to determine if you have already installed McIDAS-XRD 2021.1, or if you still need to install McIDAS-XRD.

  • If you used the “all” packages option when installing McIDAS-X 2021.1, you have McIDAS-XRD 2021.1 installed and can start using the -XRD commands.
  • If you used the “x” packages option when installing McIDAS-X 2021.1, go to Building and Installing McIDAS-X 2021.1 and follow the installation instructions using the “xrd” packages option to install -XRD.

Once the installation steps are completed, you should be able to use any of the software in the McIDAS-XRD 2021.1 package.

Python Package

McIDAS-XRD contains a Python package that can be used to run McIDAS-X commands in a Python environment.

A tutorial and zip file with sample scripts are available in the links below. They are written using Python 3 syntax and rules. If you are still using a Python version prior to 2.7, you may download the Python 2 tutorial and scripts from the McIDAS-XRD 2019.1 page.

The tutorial contains instructions for installing the Python package using the mcxpyinstall installation script. The user must install the package in their own account (not the mcidas account). The tutorial also uses six sample scripts that are available in the mcxpy.zip file in the Data link below. If you elect to install the mcxpy.zip file, download it to your $HOME/mcidas/mcxpy/ directory (which you may need to create).

Python Tutorial | Data

Commands

Command Name Contributing Site Description
ABBA SSEC Decodes and Plots Wild Fire ABBA products
ABITRUCOL SSEC Displays a corrected ABI true-color RGB image
ADVDISP SSEC Plots flight advisories (airmets and sigmets)
ANGLES SSEC Lists satellite zenith, solar zenith, and relative angles at the cursor location
ASTAT SSEC Measures image statistics
AWSLAPSE_TS AMRC Plots temperature difference time series
AWSLOC AMRC Lists AWS stations
AWSMG AMRC Plots an automated weather station meteorogram
AWSP_TS AMRC Plots a pressure difference time series
BARCP NASA-Langley Displays a grayscale bar on NASA-Langley cloud products
BEEP SSEC Sounds a number of beeps for a specified length and frequency
BINNAV SSEC Displays binary navigation files created from AXFORM
CANRAD SSEC Decodes Canadian radar text files
CATOMTP SSEC Compresses OMTP segments into a single file
CHANGECAL AMRC Updates calibration constants for NOAA-15 images
CIRCLE SSEC Draws circles or arcs around a point
CLDTOPO SSEC Combines IR, VIS and topography data
CLOUDH SSEC Calculates cloud heights using a VAS first-guess MD file
COLIMGPLOT NSSL Displays a multi-color scatter plot of data from two images
COMP_ALLBAND SSEC Composites all bands for multiple satellite images
COMPGG SSEC Compares values of two colocated grids
COMPMG SSEC Compares an MD file’s values to a colocated grid’s values
COMPMM SSEC Compares values of two MD files
CONVERT_LEV1B SSEC Converts AVHRR data in Level 1B format into McIDAS area format
CRASIMG SSEC Creates McIDAS image files from CRAS model grids
DIRLIST SSEC Lists image directory information
FCSTCON SSEC Contours FOUS14 forecast data
FCSTPLOT SSEC Plots FOUS14 forecast data
FILTER SSEC Applies 2-Dimensional filter or smoothing to a grid
FIXDEF SSEC Fix DEFLOOPs created before McIDAS-X 2017.2
FIXFY2D_NAV2012 SSEC Fixes bad navigation of FY2D area files with wrong satellite subpoint
FIXGRIBID SSEC Updates GRIB ID for stitched global grids to match new convention
FIXRAW SSEC Applies IMGFILT Clean Filter and preserves 2 byte data
FRMDIR SSEC Lists complete contents of a frame directory
FRONT Unidata Draws fronts using ASUS1 or FSUS2 frontal analysis bulletins
FRONTPTH SSEC Draws a front or curve through points generated by the PATH command
GET_POINT_SFC NASA-Langley Extracts parameter from MD file and writes value to a grid
GETCOMPOSITES AMRC Transfers composite satellite images from SSEC to AMRC
GETDMSP AMRC Gets latest DMSP image centered on pole
GETGAC AMRC Gets latest GAC (band 4) image centered on pole
GETHRPT AMRC Gets latest HRPT (band 4) image centered on pole
GLMIMG SSEC Creates a GLM density image by counting points in lat/lon bins
GRAYLABEL SSEC Plots image brightness temperature or albedo values along the grayscale bar
GVARINFO SSEC Displays information from a GVAR area line
GVVA SSEC Examines a grid value at the cursor location
HURR SSEC Plots TPC forecasted tropical cyclone positions
IFR SSEC Plots color coded IFR conditions from METAR reports
IGTV SSEC Generates contours and streamlines from grids
IMGCHECK SSEC Lists basic statistical values for an image
IMGCOMBO SSEC Combines multiple single-band areas into a multi-band area
IMGDISPCP NASA-Langley Displays NASA-Langley cloud products, map and color bar
IMGFLOAT SSEC Puts image data on top of a graphic in the frame
IMGGRA SSEC Fills graphics frame with colors based on image brightness levels
IMGGRD SSEC Generates a grid from an area
IMGMAKE Weathernews, Inc. Creates a McIDAS area from a binary file
IMGNORM AWC Corrects for brightness normalization and limb darkening
IMGPROC SSEC Applies a point spread function to an image
IRT SSEC Calculates rain rates based on Goodman et al., 1990 scheme
LIMBFIT SSEC Utility for Earth limb curve fitting
LLBOX SSEC Draws a Latitude/Longitude box over a navigated frame
MAKE_MULTIB NASA-Langley Makes a multi-banded area file from single banded area files
MAKEIMG SSEC Creates a McIDAS area from a general format
MAKEMAP SSEC Creates a McIDAS map file from a text file
MAKETOPO SSEC Creates a McIDAS area file from a USGS DEM file
MAP2TEXT SSEC Converts a McIDAS map file to a text file
MCAWIPS SSEC Transforms McIDAS images into standard AWIPS format and projection
MDDPI SSEC Creates a derived product image from an MD and an area file
MDSCAT SSEC Displays a scatter plot of MD file data
MERGE_GEO NASA-Langley Merges geostationary satellite imagery
MERGE_GOES NASA-Langley Merges GOES-East and GOES-West satellite imagery
MERGE_GOESNS NASA-Langley Merges GOES-East or GOES-West NH and SH images
MERGE_POLAR NASA-Langley Merges polar orbiting images
MGXS SSEC Displays a meteorogram cross-section of surface data
MOSLIST SSEC Lists MOS from an ADDE point dataset
NAVPASS AMRC Attaches navigation to TeraScan AVHRR passes
ND AMRC Deletes data from current system navigation file
NEXRAD SSEC NEXRAD dataset utility
NK AMRC Generates a navigation codicil from the master file
NL AMRC Lists data from a navigation file
NM AMRC Moves navigation data to another file
NORTEL SSEC Combines two images by alternating pixel values
NOWCAST SSEC Lists NowCAST Forecast for specified city
NVU AMRC Navigation file utility
OLDSVF SSEC SVF command from McIDAS-X versions prior to 7.7
PATH SSEC Displays a 2-dimensional path for object tracking
PIRPPLOT SSEC Plots pilot and air reports from PIRP schema point files
PLT_SPC_RPTS SSEC Plots Storm Prediction Center (SPC) storm reports or locations of storm reports
POESCAL SSEC Calibrates POES images
PRED AMRC Predicts navigation parameters from a master navigation entry
PROPLT SSEC Displays a vertical time series of profiler wind fields
RADAR SSEC Finds and displays a radar image over a point or region
RAIN SSEC Calculates rainfall rates from Meteosat infrared temperatures
REMAP2 SSEC Remaps a 2-byte area into a different projection
RGB SSEC Displays an RGB image from pre-defined equations or user-defined GAMMA values
RMRTMDG SSEC Deletes real-time MD or grid files
ROADMAP SSEC Draws a road map from a specified file
ROTIRO SSEC Rotates a POES image 180 degrees
SANDWICH SSEC Creates sandwich product from visible and infrared satellite images
SATCOMP SSEC Creates a composite image from multiple satellites
SC SSEC Grids and contours surface data from an MD file
SFCTIME SSEC Creates several strings for current observation hour and date
SMOOFT SSEC Applies a 2-D low pass Fast Fourier Transform filter to a grid
SP SSEC Plots surface data from an MD file
STG SSEC Displays an 8-hour space-time graph of surface data
SVGA SSEC Writes a virtual graphic to an area
SVPS ABoM Saves a McIDAS frame to a PostScript(tm) file
TAFLIST SSEC Lists or displays decoded terminal aerodrome forecasts
THPASS SSEC Applies a 2-D sixth order high-pass implicit tangent filter to a grid
TIMEINC AMRC Returns the new day and time when given a day, time and time increment
TIRCHK AMRC Calculates time differences between actual and calculated scan lines
TLPASS SSEC Applies a 2-D sixth order low-pass implicit tangent filter to a grid
TNAVDEC AMRC Files polar orbiter navigation
TORDEC SSEC Decodes tornado reports
TORDISP SSEC Displays decoded tornado warnings
TORLIST SSEC Lists decoded tornado warnings
TXT2MSG SSEC Reads text formatted MSG data and creates a McIDAS area file
TXTNAV SSEC Displays text navigation files created from AXFORM
UC SSEC Grids and contours upper air data from an MD file
UP SSEC Plots upper air data from an MD file
WHEN SSEC Extrapolates features and computes arrival times
WINDBOX SSEC Plots WINDCO MD file target and search box locations
WINDFLAG SSEC Plots a wind flag at a specified location
WRTEXT SSEC Displays the contents of a text file on a graphic frame
WUUS SSEC Plots and lists SPC Probabilistic Outlook Regions (WUUS01)
WXSDITH SSEC Writes weather symbols into a temperature image
WXSYMB SSEC Plots and lists weather symbols
XFGRID SSEC Subsects grids by reducing the geographic coverage and/or grid point interval
XSECTG Unidata Displays a vertical cross section of gridded fields
ZFP SSEC Lists the zone forecast product for a specified city

Servers

As noted in the McIDAS-XRD Information page, the software here is not MUG-supported and is provided on an “as is” basis, with limited documentation. Most of the servers in McIDAS-XRD are configured and used the same way as the majority of the MUG-supported servers that are fully documented in the DSSERVE command. Thus, in the DSSERVE command you run to add a dataset you will specify the letters that precede the ending “aget” or “adir” of the server name in the format parameter, TYPE=IMAGE, and the directory and file masks of the data files in the DIRFILE keyword. For example, if you have MODIS NDVI files you want to try with the modiadir and modiaget servers the DSSERVE command you would run is similar to: DSSERVE ADD MODIS/NDVI MODI TYPE=IMAGE DIRFILE=’/home/data/modis/ndvi/*.hdf’. You can also look at the source code of the servers to see if it has information about the servers, what file formats they work with, etc. The source code (e.g., modiadir.cp and modiaget.cp) is found in the /home/mcidas/mcidasversion#/xrd/src/ directory.

Server Contributing Site Description
airxadir, airxaget SSEC AIRS Sounder area directory and data servers
amrradir, amrraget SSEC HDF-EOS AMSR-E rain rate product area directory and data servers
amseadir, amseaget SSEC HDF-EOS AMSR-E L2A area directory and data servers
amsradir, amsraget SSEC HDF-EOS AMSR-E L1B area directory and data servers
ashxadir, ashxaget SSEC CLAVR-X ash products directory and data servers
awipadir, awipaget SSEC AWIPS netCDF directory and data servers
awipaput SSEC AWIPS netCDF write server
awp2aput MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center’s generalized AWIPS netCDF write server
catgadir, catgaget SSEC GEOCAT GOES products directory and data servers
kalpadir, kalpaget SSEC Kalpana area directory and data servers
maaaadir, maaaaget SSEC Mode AAA area directory and data servers
maaadir, maaaget SSEC Mode AA area directory and data servers
maadir, maaget SSEC Mode A area directory and data servers
mod3adir, mod3aget SSEC MOD3 area directory and data servers
modcadir, modcaget SSEC MODIS Cloud Mask V2 directory and data servers
modiadir, modiaget SSEC MODIS NDVI area directory and data servers
modladir, modlaget SSEC MODIS land/sea temperature product area directory and data servers
modvadir, modvaget SSEC GEOCAT POES products directory and data servers
nssxadir, nssxaget SSEC CLAVR-X composite (OBServed, CLouD, SST) products directory and data servers

Note: When using DSSERVE to create a CLAVR-X dataset, specify “NSSX” in the format parameter, TYPE=IMAGE, and the directory and file masks to the data files in the DIRFILE= keyword. The file names must match the supported formats. For files that match the NSS.HRPT.* format, the two-character code can be TN for TIROS-N; NA, NC, NE, NF for NOAA-6 thru -9; NG, NH, ND, NI, NJ, NK, NL, NM, NN, NP for NOAA-10 thru NOAA-19; M2, M1 for Metop-A and -B.  See example file names below.

  • npp_2018_052_1247.level2.hdf
  • NSS.HRPT.NN.D18080.S1900.level2.hdf
  • NSS.HRPT.M2.D11093.S1735.E1743.B2311414.MO.level2.hdf
omtpadir, omtpaget SSEC Meteosat Open MTP directory and data servers
scmiadir, scmiaget Unidata GOES-R Series SCMI directory and data servers

Note: When using DSSERVE to create an SCMI (Sectorized Cloud and Moisture Images) dataset, specify “SCMI” in the format parameter, TYPE=IMAGE, and the directory and file masks in the DIRFILE= keyword. The SCMI data is distributed as tiles in NOAAPORT. The files supported by these servers should be full scenes created by stitching together the individual tiles by routines such as Unidata’s freely available ldm-alchemy package that is available in the Unidata section of Github.
sminadir, sminaget SSEC SSMI area directory and data servers
tminadir, tminaget SSEC TRMM-TMI area directory and data servers
virnadir, virnaget SSEC VIRN directory and data servers (SVI, SVM files)

Note: When using DSSERVE to create a VIIRS dataset, specify “VIRN” in the format parameter, TYPE=IMAGE, the directory and file masks to the data files in the DIRFILE= keyword, and the directory and file masks to the geolocation files in the INFO= keyword. The server reads NASA format netCDF VIIRS granule files. Examples:

  • VJ102IMG.A2018060.1724.001.2018060223655.uwssec.nc   (SVI data)
  • VJ103IMG.A2018060.1724.001.2018060223656.uwssec.nc   (SVI geolocation)
  • VJ102MOD.A2018060.1724.001.2018060223655.uwssec.nc   (SVM data)
  • VJ103MOD.A2018060.1724.001.2018060223656.uwssec.nc   (SVM geolocation)

Data Files

Data File Contributing Site Description
ADVDISP.CORE SSEC Configuration file for ADVDISP
ADVSRY.DAT SSEC Station location file for ADVDISP
AWSLOC.TXT AMRC Station location file for AWSLOC
CIRCLE.CORE SSEC Configuration file for CIRCLE
DATOR SSEC Schema file for TORDEC
GMS5NAV Weathernews, Inc. GMS5 navigation block for IMGMAKE
HURMAP-PLOTS.GIF SSEC Graphic showing map outlines for HURMAP(1-8)
HURMAP(1-8) SSEC High resolution map file provided by CIMSS Tropical Cyclone Group
HURR-Atlantic SSEC Atlantic basemap (area format) for use with HURR.MCB
HURR-Atlantic-graphic SSEC Virtual graphic overlay for HURR-Atlantic
HURR-Caribbean SSEC Caribbean basemap (area format) for use with HURR.MCB
HURR-Caribbean-graphic SSEC Virtual graphic overlay for HURR-Caribbean
HURR-Pacific SSEC Pacific basemap (area format) for use with HURR.MCB
HURR-Pacific-graphic SSEC Virtual graphic overlay for HURR-Pacific
IAHWY* SSEC Text files containing points for Iowa Highways plotted with ROADMAP
IAINT* SSEC Text files containing points for Iowa Interstate Highways plotted with ROADMAP
IMGMAKE.CORE Weathernews, Inc. Configuration file for IMGMAKE
KALPANA1NAV Weathernews, Inc. Kalpana navigation block for IMGMAKE
L2-*.ET SSEC Enhancement files for ABI L2 products, where the “*” represents the product name (e.g., L2-ACHA.ET, L2-TPW.ET, L2-DSI-CAPE.ET, etc.)
MASTBL50 SSEC Calibration file for MAS aircraft data
MCAWIPS.CORE SSEC Configuration file for MCAWIPS
MET5NAV Weathernews, Inc. MET5 navigation block for IMGMAKE
MET7NAV Weathernews, Inc. MET7 navigation block for IMGMAKE
MNHWY* SSEC Text files containing points for Minnesota Highways plotted with ROADMAP
MNINT* SSEC Text files containing points for Minnesota Interstate Highways plotted with ROADMAP
MOSLIST.CORE SSEC Configuration file for MOSLIST
MSG48KM.MSK SSEC MSG navigation file for TXT2MSG
NOAA-*.ET SSEC Standard NOAA Enhancement files for imagery displays
where the * represents the enhancement type (e.g. AVN, IR2, WV, etc.)
[https://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Organization/FAQ/enhancements.html]
OUTBRAZILST Unidata Map file containing Brazilian states
OUTCANAL Unidata Map file containing canals
OUTINGEO Unidata Map file containing geographical features in India
OUTINPOL Unidata Map file containing political boundaries in India
OUTINSTA Unidata Map file containing state boundaries in India
OUTLSAFRST Unidata Map file containing South African states
OUTMEXICOST Unidata Map file containing Mexican states
OUTNWSCWA SSEC Map file containing NWS CWA (County Warning Area) boundaries
OUTRAIL1 Unidata Map file containing railroads
OUTRAIL2 Unidata Map file containing railroads
OUTRAIL3 Unidata Map file containing railroads
OUTSTHIW Unidata Map file containing state highways
OUTSTRD Unidata Map file containing US state roads
OUTTECTN Unidata Map file containing tectonic plates
OUTUSHIW Unidata Map file containing US highways
OUTUSINT Unidata Map file containing US interstate highways
OUTUSRIV Unidata Map file containing US rivers
OUTWOLAK Unidata Map file containing world lakes
OUTWORIV Unidata Map file containing world rivers
RADARDATA.CORE SSEC Configuration file for predefined products created by RADAR
RAWSATLOC.CFG AMRC Configuration file used with NAVPASS
RGB-*.MCB SSEC Scripts with pre-defined RGB equations for ABI, AHI, MSG, etc. for use with RGB.MCB
ROADMAP.CORE SSEC Configuration file for ROADMAP
SANDWICH.ET SSEC Color enhancement for SANDWICH command
TOPOIMG.ET SSEC Color enhancement for topography.image
TORDEC.CFG SSEC Configuration file for TORDEC
TORWARN.CORE SSEC Configuration file for TORWARN
WIHWY* SSEC Text files containing points for Wisconsin Highways plotted with ROADMAP
WIINT* SSEC Text files containing points for Wisconsin Interstate Highways plotted with ROADMAP
gms5_BRITtoTEMP.wni Weathernews, Inc. GMS5 brightness to temperature conversion tables
met5_BRITtoTEMP.wni Weathernews, Inc. MET5 brightness to temperature conversion tables
met7_BRITtoTEMP.wni Weathernews, Inc. MET7 brightness to temperature conversion tables
topography.image SSEC Area file containing world-wide values for heights above sea level. Gray shades 0-149 are below sea level, 150-255 are values above sea level. The following DSSERVE command enables you to access the data with the IMG* commands:
DSSERVE ADD XRD/TOPO AREA TYPE=IMAGE
DIRFILE=’//D/home/mcidas/data/topography.image’