[Met_help] pb2nc tool

Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN Jeffrey.Hamilton at offutt.af.mil
Thu Apr 22 08:10:44 MDT 2010


Hi John,

I have a quick question for you regard MET's pb2nc conversion tool. I am currently trying to use the tool on a prepbufr file downloaded from NCDC from March 28 called gdas1.t00z.bf00, but every time that I try to run it using the default configuration file, a warning pops up saying that there are no PrepBufr messages to process in the file. This is a bit odd, considering the file size is over 111 MB. Any ideas on what the problem may be?

Thanks!
Jeff

-----Original Message-----
From: John Halley Gotway [mailto:johnhg at ucar.edu] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 11:20 AM
To: Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN
Subject: Re: Fwd: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine

Jeff,

I'm not sure if this will help, but try using the '-p' option for a "passive" ftp like this:
ftp -p ftp.rap.ucar.edu

I have had ftp problems in the past fixed when I used '-p', but I don't know if it'll do the trick for you or not.

Thanks,
John

Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN wrote:
> Hey John,
> 
> I hate to keep bugging you with this but I'm having trouble posting
> sample files to you ftp site again, even after I have significantly cut
> down the size of the forecast file. I'll show you a step by step process
> of what I have been doing to see if perhaps I have misinterpreted the
> proper procedure for the ftp site.
> 
> The three files I am trying to send to you are:
> Forecast file- LIS_APCP (320,704 bytes)
> Observation file- ST4_20100219_18 (3,457,012 bytes)
> Config file- LISQMODEconfig (16,401 bytes)
> 
> These three are all located in the same directory, so initially I go to
> that directory, then type:
> ftp ftp.rap.ucar.edu
> username= anonymous
> password= Jeffrey.Hamilton at offutt.af.mil
> cd incoming/irap/met_help
> put LIS_APCP
> 
> at this point I receive this output for all the files when attempted:
> 200 PORT command successful.
> 425 Can't build data connection: Connection timed out.
> 
> I'm curious if this is a problem you have come across before, and if you
> have any ideas as to what a solution might be.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jeff
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Halley Gotway [mailto:johnhg at rap.ucar.edu] 
> Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 5:25 PM
> To: Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN
> Cc: Craig, Robert J Civ USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN; tressa at ucar.edu
> Subject: RE: Fwd: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine
> 
> Jeff,
> 
> Yeah, I think it'd be helpful if you posted some sample data to our ftp
> site for me to take a look at.  I'm not entirely sure about your
> question.
>  The output of PCP-Combine is a NetCDF file.  The time range indicator
> is
> something specific to GRIB files.  It is fine to compare a forecast GRIB
> file with the NetCDF output of PCP-Combine.  MODE should be able to
> handle
> that fine.
> 
> Go ahead and post a sample forecast file and observation file.  Also
> include any MODE configuration file you may be using.  I'll take a look
> and see if I can better understand your question.
> 
> Just as a reminder...
> ftp ftp.rap.ucar.edu
> username=anonymous
> password="your email address"
> cd incoming/irap/met_help
> put "your files"
> bye
> 
> Thanks and have a good weekend,
> John
> 
>> John,
>>
>> I'm having another time range indicator problem similar to the one I
>> initially asked you and Tressa about, but this time it is with the
> MODE
>> tool. I have an forecast file with a time range indicator of 133 and
> an
>> observation file, resulting from PCP-combine output, with an indicator
>> of 4. I am curious if there is a process by which I could still
> compare
>> these two files with differing indicators, because I know you
> mentioned
>> that there may be differences in the grib files themselves. (and would
>> you prefer me to put the files on your ftp website so that you can
> take
>> a look at them?)
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jeff
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: John Halley Gotway [mailto:johnhg at ucar.edu]
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 11:30 AM
>> To: Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN
>> Cc: Tressa Fowler
>> Subject: Re: Fwd: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine
>>
>> Jeff,
>>
>> Great.  Glad you figured it out.  Just let us know if any more
> questions
>> come up.
>>
>> Tressa had mentioned you guys were having problems viewing the
>> PostScript output of MODE.  I'd like to help you figure that out if
>> possible.  Do you guys have the "convert" command available on your
>> machines?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> John
>>
>> Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN wrote:
>>> John,
>>>
>>> Oops! Turns out that I was trying to combine the incorrect grib
> files,
>>> and trying with the correct ones I was able to generate a combined
>> file
>>> on my first try. But I really appreciate the info and I'm sure it'll
>>> come in handy in the future!
>>>
>>> Thanks again,
>>> Jeff
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: John Halley Gotway [mailto:johnhg at ucar.edu]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 10:17 AM
>>> To: Tressa Fowler
>>> Cc: Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN
>>> Subject: Re: Fwd: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine
>>>
>>> Jeff (and Tressa),
>>>
>>> I'm not sure why your ftp is timing out.  If you think that the file
>> is
>>> too large, you could try just cutting out only the GRIB record(s) of
>>> interest and send us those.  Here's how you'd do it using
>>> the "wgrib" utility - hopefully you have that on your system...
>>>
>>> # First, figure out what GRIB record you want (I assume it's
>> accumulated
>>> precip)
>>> wgrib in_file.grib | grep APCP
>>>
>>> # The first number in the output tells you the GRIB record number
>>> corresponding to that record.  Suppose, APCP has record number 12 in
>>> your file.  Here's how you'd extract record number 12:
>>> wgrib in_file.grib -d 12 -grib -o out_file.grib
>>>
>>> # The 12-th GRIB record will be written to the output file
>>> "out_file.grib".  If you'd also like to append additional records to
>>> that output GRIB file, say record number 25, here's how you'd do
> that:
>>> wgrib in_file.grib -d 25 -grib -append -o out_file.grib
>>>
>>> So now that output GRIB file contains 2 records.  Once you'd picked
>> out
>>> the record(s) you'd like to send us, try the ftp again - or maybe the
>>> file would be small enough to email.  Hope that helps.
>>> Let me know if you have more problems transferring it.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> John
>>>
>>> Tressa Fowler wrote:
>>>> John,
>>>>
>>>> I don't know what to tell Jeff about our ftp site. Any ideas?
>>>>
>>>> Tressa
>>>>
>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>
>>>>> From: "Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN"
>>>>> <Jeffrey.Hamilton at offutt.af.mil>
>>>>> Date: February 23, 2010 7:25:52 AM MST
>>>>> To: "Tressa Fowler" <tressa at ucar.edu>
>>>>> Subject: RE: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine
>>>>>
>>>>> Tressa,
>>>>>
>>>>> I have been able to connect to the ucar anonymous ftp site, but
> when
>>> I
>>>>> try to put the grib file in the incoming/irap/met_help directory,
>> the
>>>>> connection times out. Admittedly it is a large file, so I was
>> curious
>>> if
>>>>> there were any options to get around this and what would be the
> best
>>>>> path for you?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>> Jeff
>>>>>
>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>> From: Tressa Fowler [mailto:tressa at ucar.edu]
>>>>> Sent: Monday, February 22, 2010 9:30 AM
>>>>> To: Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16 WS/WXN
>>>>> Subject: Fwd: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine
>>>>>
>>>>> Jeff,
>>>>>
>>>>> I've forwarded what John says about your error.  Can you put a file
>>> on
>>>>> our anonymous ftp site? Instructions below.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> Tressa
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     cd "the directory that contains the files you want to send"
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     ftp ftp.rap.ucar.edu <http://ftp.rap.ucar.edu/>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     username = anonymous
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     password = "your email address"
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     cd incoming/irap/met_help
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     put file
>>>>>
>>>>>     bye
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>     From: John Halley Gotway <johnhg at ucar.edu>
>>>>>     Date: February 22, 2010 8:13:27 AM MST
>>>>>     To: Tressa Fowler <tressa at ucar.edu>
>>>>>     Cc: met_help at ucar.edu
>>>>>     Subject: Re: [Met_help] Fwd: pcp-combine
>>>>>
>>>>>     Tressa (and Jeff),
>>>>>
>>>>>     I have seen that type of error before.  It usually means there
>>>>> some weirdness in the GRIB files being used.  In the Product
>>> Description
>>>>> Section (PDS) of each GRIB record, there is a header value that
>>>>>     tells you how to interpret the time information in the file.
>>>>> That value is called the "Time Range Indicator".  Here's a table
>> that
>>>>> describes the options:
>>>>>     http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/docs/on388/table5.html
>>>>>
>>>>>     When summing data up in PCP-Combine, we expect that the time
>>>>> range indicator will be set to 4 (meaning an accumulation time) for
>>>>> precipitation.  For some reason, it's not set to a value of 4.  And
>>>>>     this really may just be a symptom of larger problems reading
>>>>> this particular type of GRIB file.
>>>>>
>>>>>     It'd probably be easiest to just have Jeff send us a few sample
>>>>> GRIB files from this dataset.  I could run them through MET using
>> the
>>>>> debugger and try to really diagnose the problem.  It would be
>>>>>     helpful to know where the data is from and how the GRIB files
>>>>> were created.
>>>>>
>>>>>     Thanks,
>>>>>     John
>>>>>
>>>>>     Tressa Fowler wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         John,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Any help for Jeff? This looks to me like it should work.
>>>>> I even tried it
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         on pigpen, and my error was just that I don't have these
>>>>> input files.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Tressa
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Begin forwarded message:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             From: "Hamilton, Jeffrey A CIV USAF AFWA 16
>>>>> WS/WXN"
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             <Jeffrey.Hamilton at offutt.af.mil>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Date: February 19, 2010 3:04:04 PM MST
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             To: "Tressa Fowler" <tressa at ucar.edu>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Subject: pcp-combine
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Hi Tressa,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Hope you enjoyed your trip out here yesterday,
>>>>> Omaha is so enticing
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             this time of year isn't it? J Anyway, I have a
>>>>> MET issue about the
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             PCP-combine tool that I wanted to run by you. I
>>>>> am trying to sum two 3
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             hour obs accumulated precip grib files with the
>>>>> following code line:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             /METv2.0/bin/pcp_combine -sum 00000000_000000 3
>>>>> 20100215_180000 6
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             /METv2.0/out/pcp_combine/LIS_2010021518_06
>>>>> -pcpdir \ /METv2.0/data/LIS/
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             And I am coming up with an error:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             ERROR: check_file_time() -> time range indicator
>>>>> of
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             not currently supported.  Time range indicator
>>>>> must be accumulation
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             (Grib Code 4)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             I have tried changing the various times in my
>>>>> command line
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             (highlighted above), however, I keep coming up
>>>>> with this. I'm
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             wondering if I am not changing the right thing
>>>>> or if my code is
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             incorrect? Any suggestions?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             // SIGNED //
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             JEFF HAMILTON, Civ SCEP
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Model Analysis Team
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             16 WS/ WXN
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Air Force Weather Agency
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             Offutt AFB, NE 68113
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>             (402) 232-7207
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         _______________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Met_help mailing list
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         Met_help at mailman.ucar.edu
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>         http://mailman.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/met_help
>>>>>
>>>>>
> 


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