NOAA-18 and -19 ATOVS Software for SDI-104 POES and SDI POES

The HIRS and AMSU decoders in the SDI-104 POES and SDI POES packages do not work with NOAA-18 and -19. Our suggestion is to use the ATOVS and AVHRR Pre-processing Package (AAPP) available from the UK Met Office to generate Level 1b HIRS and AMSU files. To do so, you must first convert the raw SDI POES files into an AAPP-compatible format using the code and example scripts in step 1 below. This is needed for use with NOAA-18 and -19, but can also be used for all the other NOAA POES satellites. Unfortunately, the HIRS and AMSU Level 1b files output by the AAPP are not displayable in McIDAS.

You can obtain the files in step 1 below if you purchased MUG support for your SDI-104 POES or SDI POES system or have been contacted and been given approval by SSEC. You will be prompted for your site’s login and password when you attempt to download the installation files. If you do not know the login and password, ask your site coordinator. If you know the login and password and still have a problem obtaining these files via the web, ask your site coordinator to contact the McIDAS Help Desk by e-mail or by phone at (608) 262-2455.

Complete the following steps to obtain and install the software.

  1. Download the following three files to the workstation in which you will using the AAPP to generate the Level 1b HIRS and AMSU files. Note that this workstation should not be the SDI since it does not contain the compilers to build the software (step 2 below).
    File name Size Description
    poescat.tar 20.5 KB software to create files to input into the AAPP
    aapp_op.ksh 3.6 KB example script to process the data
    AAPP_RUN_NOAA 15.6 KB example script to process the data
  2. Untar poescat.tar in a directory and run make.This creates the tento16 program. You point this at an SDI index file ending in .HRPT. It will create a new file with the same name, appended with .16. This new file can be input to the AAPP to create the Level 1b files.The scripts aapp_op.ksh and AAPP_RUN_NOAA are examples of scripts used here at SSEC to process the data. Note that, as stated above, the HIRS and AMSU Level 1b files generated by the AAPP are not displayable in McIDAS.