[Met_help] Point-Stat Tool --- Point Observation Component Issue

[John Halley Gotway]

Waylon,

Sounds good.  I'm busy this week with the WRF-User's Workshop.  But I'll take a look at these files next week.

Thanks,
John

Waylon.Collins wrote:
> Hello John,
> 
> Yes, lets pursue the strategy of developing a reformatting tool that
> would read an AWIPS netCDF METAR file and write a Point-Stat tool
> compatible netCDF file. I uploaded three (3) METAR files to the
> collins_data subdirectory on your FTP site. Go ahead and ignore the QC
> information and simply use the actual data values. The twelve (12)
> observation types you mentioned below are sufficient. Thanks for your help.
> 
> Waylon
> 
> John Halley Gotway wrote:
>> Waylon,
>>
>> We do not currently have tools that will do either of the things you
>> requested.  However, I took at look at the NetCDF header you sent, and
>> the format looks pretty straight-forward.  I'd be happy to
>> work with you on a reformatting tool that would read a NetCDF AWIPS
>> file and write a NetCDF file for input into the Point-Stat tool.  I
>> don't think it'd be too difficult.  But I'd need you to send me
>> a few sample files for testing and answer some questions about the
>> format.
>>
>> If you'd like to proceed with this, please send a few sample files
>> either via email or by posting them on our anonymous FTP site:
>> ftp ftp.rap.ucar.edu
>> username = anonymous
>> password = "your email address"
>> cd incoming/irap/met_help/collins_data
>> put "your sample files"
>> bye
>>
>> Looking at the NetCDF header you sent, it looks like there's a lot of
>> quality control information in the file.  The goal of this
>> reformatting tool would be to extract the actual observation values
>> you'd like to use in the verification.  Would it be reasonable
>> initially to ignore the QC information and just use the actual data
>> values?
>>
>> Here are the observation types I see that we would make sense to
>> extract to use in verification.  Each is followed by the GRIB code to
>> which it would correspond:
>> (1)  Sea Level Pressure (GRIB Code 2)
>> (2)  Temperature (GRIB Code 11)
>> (3)  Maximum Temperature (GRIB Code 15)
>> (4)  Minimum Temperature (GRIB Code 16)
>> (5)  Dewpoint (GRIB Code 17)
>> (6)  Wind Direction (GRIB Code 31)
>> (7)  Wind Speed (GRIB Code 32)
>> (8)  Wind Gust (GRIB Code 180)
>> (9)  1-hourly precip (GRIB Code 61)
>> (10) 3-hourly precip (GRIB Code 61)
>> (11) 6-hourly precip (GRIB Code 61)
>> (12) 24-hourly precip (GRIB Code 61)
>>
>> Does that set of observation types look reasonable to you?  Or am I
>> missing something?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> John Halley Gotway
>> johnhg at ucar.edu
>>
>> Waylon.Collins wrote:
>>  
>>> Dear Sir or Madam,
>>>
>>> My goal is to generate verification statistics using the Point-Stat Tool
>>> by comparing point observations with WRF-ARW gridded forecast output.
>>> With respect to the Point-Stat Tool, I understand that the netCDF
>>> obs_file should be created from pb2nc or ascii2nc. I do not have access
>>> to data in prepbufr format, thus ascii2nc would be used. However, I will
>>> be preparing verification statistics based on 3 months of data, every
>>> 3-months, time resolution of 3 hours, for 5-10 observation points.
>>> Manually creating files to match the 10 column ASCII Point Observation
>>> Format as input into ascii2nc is not practical. I need an efficient
>>> method to create the obs_file as input into point_stat. I have access to
>>> the observations in netCDF format used by AWIPS. Attached is the output
>>> from the linux command "ncdump -h" applied to one of these files. Do you
>>> have software that will either (1) convert my AWIPS netCDF files into
>>> the netCDF flavor required by point_stat, or (2) input my AWIPS netCDF
>>> files and output an ASCII file containing the data in the 10 column
>>> ASCII Point Observation Format required by ascii2nc?
>>>
>>> Waylon
>>>
>>>
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>