Instructions for ~rmaddale/bin/forecastsCmdLine
Ronald J Maddalena
September 9, 2014
forecastsCmdLine -- Generates high-frequency weather forecasts or postcasts and
saves results to files within a time-stamped directory.
SYNOPSIS
forecastsCmdLine [ -h | -help ] [ -model ( NAM | GFS3 | RUC ) [ -quiet ]
[ -sites listOfSites ] [ -readCaches ] [ -writeCaches ]
[ -average ] [ -whichOpacities listsOfOpacTypes ]
[ -calculate thingsToCalculate] [ freqList listOfFreqs ]
[ -elevTsys elevation ] [ -elevRefracAirMass elevation ]
[ -desiredTime timeDate ] [ -startTime timeDate ]
[ -stopTime timeDate ] [ -incrTime numHrs ]
[ -startFreq freq ] [ -stopFreq freq ] [ -incrFreq freq ]
[ -startElev elev ] [ -stopElev elev ] [ -incrElev elev ]
[ -startOffset offNum ] [ -stopOffset offNum ]
[ -PointMap ] [ -CoeffModel ] [ -hghtLimit meters ]
[ -mimicHistorical ] [ -saveAll ] [ -fastCalc ]
DESCRIPTION
A command line program for generating the CLEO high-frequency weather
forecasts and postcasts. Those wanting to use a GUI interface should try
the 'cleo forecasts' utility instead. 'cleo forecasts' acts as a frontend
to this command line program.
For documentation on the models, terminology, etc, and to see the latest
forecasts generated by this program, go to:
http:/www.gb.nrao.edu/~rmaddale/Weather
The program has a rich set of arguments that allows one to select the
set of calculations that are to be performed, plus specify the set of
parameters used by those calculations. Processing can be rather CPU
intensiveso I suggest calculating only what one wants. Or, one can just use
the defaults which are identical to what is performed when updating the CLEO
High Frequency weather pages.
The results of this program are a set of files that are placed in a newly-
created subdirectory of the current directory. One must have write
permissions to the current directory. The name of the directory will be:
Forecasts_yyyy_mm_dd_HHhMMmSSs
where yyyy, mm, ... represent the UT date/time of when this program was run
The directory will contain a 'Parameters_*' file that will summarize what
the user specified when the forecasts were generated. Each site and class
of calculations will be stored in similarly time stamped files. The
names of the files will suggest the class of calculation and site for which
the calculation was done (e.g. elev_Elkins_07_10_06_12:34:34.txt). Averages
are stored in files with 'avrg' embedded in the file names, instead of a
site name. All time series calculations are stored as separate columns in
the same file. The first column of each file contains the 'independent'
quantity (e.g., MJD time, elevation, frequency) for all other columns in
that file. The first line in each column contains the names of the
quantities in each column. Thus, these files can be digested easily by
most spreadsheet-like programs. The directory also include column/row
transposed versions of the output files. The names of the transposed files
start off with the word 'Transposed_'. Depending upon the user's needs,
the transposed files may prove to be useful.
UNITS
Output units for the generated quantities are:
mm
: Precipitable Water Vapor
Miles/Hour : Wind speeds
Degrees
: Wind Direction
mBar (hPa) : Pressure
°C
: Air Temperature, Dew Point
Kelvin
: System Temperature, Atmosphere Temperature, Rest
Percent
: Humidity, Cloud Cover, Probability
Nepers/Air Mass : Opacity
Nepers
: Attenuation
kg/m^2
: Precipitation Rate
m
: Ceiling Height, Visibility, Height of 0°C Isotherm
W/m^2
: Irradiance
Arc
Sec
: Refraction
Arc
Sec/m :
Refraction Squint
Air
Mass/m : Air Mass
Derivative
Unitless
: Index of refraction, K-Index, Air Mass
OPTIONS
The user can use default options by not specifying any command-line
arguments or supply values to the following arguments:
-h or -help
Brings up a help page. If specified, all other options are ignored
-model str
Which model is to be processed. Choices are NAM (3.5 days, formerly
called ETA), GFS3 (7.5 days), or RUC (12 hrs). (Default: NAM).
-quiet
Processes without generating informational messages. The default is to
generate messages.
-sites list
List of sites to process. One or more of the following:
Elkins, HotSprings, Lewisburg. Default is all three.
-PointMap
Specifies that ground-level values for Point Map Forecasts are to be
included. Only used if the GroundTime or CloudsPrecipTime calculations
have been selected.
-CoeffModel
** RECOMENDED ONLY FOR ADVANCED USERS ** Indicates that the user wants
the program to fit polynomials for Tau, Tatm, Tsys, and Rest vs.
frequency to a set of standard frequencies and produce CoeffRslts files.
-average
Averages results from the selected sites. Ignored if one site is
selected. The default is *not* to generate averages
-noCaching
Within a single run, the application uses an in-memory cache of values
for index of refraction(P,T,dewPt), Partial Pressure of water(P,T,dewPt)
and absorption coefficients(P,T,dewPt,freq). The caches significantly
reduce computation time but, since the caches use fuzzy values for P, T,
dewPt, and freq, results may differ slightly (and negligiblly) from run
to run. By specifying -noCaching, the use of the internal cache is
turned off, which should produce high accuracy and consistent results
but at a loss in performance. The default is to use the internal cache.
-readCaches
Reads in cached results from a previous run in which -writeCache was
specified. Ignored if -noCaching was specified. In most cases reading
in cached quantiies will speed up processing but at a small cost in
accuracy. The default is not to read
-writeCaches
** RECOMENDED ONLY FOR ADVANCED USERS ** Writes out internal cached
quantities for use by future runs. Ignored if -noCaching is specified.
Must have write permissions to /users/rmaddale/Weather for this to work.
The default is not to write
-whichOpacities list
List of opacities that are to be used in the model. The types are:
Hydrosols : Water droplets (clouds, fog)
H2OCont : Water continuum
H2OLine : Water lines
Dry : Dry air
O2 : Oxygen lines
The default is all opacity types.
-calculate list
The list of calculations that are to be performed.
If unspecified, will use: TsysTime TsysElev TsysFreq RestTime RestElev
RestFreq OpacityTime OpacityFreq TatmTime TatmFreq RefracTime
RefracHeight RefracDiffsTime GroundTime CloudsPrecipTime
There are over 20 types of calculations that fall into various classes:
Time Series:
GroundTime : Ground values for temperature, wind speed, wind
direction, atmodpheric pressure, temperature, dew point, and
humidity between start and stop times
CloudsPrecipTime : Values for cloud clover in the lower, middle, and
upper atmosphere, the total cloud cover, precipitaion rates,
type of precipitation, long and short-wave irradiance, K-Index
between start and stop times.
OpacityTime : Zenith opacities for the frequencies specified in
freqList between start and stop times.
RestTime : Relative effective system temperatures for the
the frequencies specified in freqList between start and stop
times for the elevTsys elevation. Rests wil be calculated for
frequencies below 116 GHz
TsysTime : Atmospheric contributions to system temperature for
the frequencies specified in freqList between start and stop
times for the elevTsys elevation
TatmTime : Opacity-weighted atmospheric temperature for the
frequencies specified in freqList between start and stop times.
The Tatm values to be used in the analysis of tippings
RainAttenTime : Attenuation (not opacity) from rain for the
frequencies specified in freqList between start and stop times
for the elevTsys elevation
RefracTime, LiebeRefracTime : Various refraction models and
quantitiesbetween start and stop times for the elevRefracAirMass
elevation.
RefracDiffsTime, LiebeRefracDiffsTime : Comparison between various
refraction models between start and stop times for the
elevRefracAirMass elevation.
AirMassTime : Various air mass models and quantities between start
and stop times for the elevRefracAirMass elevation
Frequency Series:
OpacityFreq : Zenith Opacities between start and stop frequencies
for the desired date and time
TsysFreq : Atmospheric contributions to system temperature between
start and stop frequencies for the desired date and time for the
elevTsys elevation
RestFreq : Relative effective system temperatures between start and
stop frequencies for the desired date and time for the elevTsys
elevation. Will be calculated for frequencies below 116 GHz.
TatmFreq : Opacity-weighted atmospheric temperature between start
and stop frequencies for the desired date and time
RainAttenFreq : Attenuation (not opacity and in Nepers) from rain
between the specified frequencies for the desired date and time
and elevTsys elevation
LiebeRefracFreq : Liebe's model for refraction between start and
stop frequencies for the desired date and time for the
elevRefracAirMass elevation.
Elevation Series:
TsysElev : Atmospheric contributions to system temperature between
start and stop elevations for the frequencies specified in
freqList for the desired date and time
RestElev : Relative effective system temperatures between start and
stop elevations for the frequencies specified in freqList.
Rests wil be calculated for frequencies below 116 GHz.
RefracElev, LiebeRefracElev : Various refraction models and
quantities between start and stop elevations
RefracDiffsElev, LiebeRefracDiffsElev : Comparison between various
refraction models between start and stop elevations
AirMassElev : Various air mass models and quantities between start
and stop elevations for the desired date and time
RainAttenElev : Attenuation (not opacity) from rain between the
start and stop elevations for the desired date and time.
AirMassDiffsElev : Comparison between various refraction models
between start and stop elevations for the desired date and time.
Miscellaneous:
RefracHeight, LiebeRefracHeight : Various refraction quantities as a
function of height above the selected sites
RefracDumpData : Refraction quantities and models for various
internally-selected elevations between start and stop times
-hghtLimit meters
Allows one to limit the maximum elevation to which Tau, Tatm, and Tsys
calculations will be performed. Setting hghtLimit will educe the
accuracy of the results but will improve performance. For example,
setting to 17000 will introduce a few percent inaccuracy but will
speed up the opacity-like calculations by 20%. Default is to use all
heights.
-skipO2
A flag which, if specified, will ignore all calculations of opacity,
Tsys,or RESTs that fall near the two major O2 lines (between > 52
and 68 GHz and between 171 and 197 GHz) covered by this modelling.
-freqList list
List of frequencies in
GHz. Must be >= 1 and <= 235 GHz. Used only if
the following calculations are performed: OpacityTime, TsysTime,
RestTime, TatmTime, TsysElev, or RestElev.
Default is: 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 27 30 33 36 39 42 45 48 68 74 80
86 92 98 104 110 116 GHz
-elevTsys elevation
Elevation in degrees. Must be >= 0 and <= 90. Used only if the
following calculations are performed: TsysTime, RestTime,
TsysFreq, or RestFreq. Default is 30 degrees.
-elevRefracAirMass elevation
Elevation in degrees. Must be >= 0 and <= 90. Used only if the
following calculations are performed: AirMassTime or RefracTime
TsysFreq, and RestFreq. Default is 10 degrees.
-desiredTime timeDate
A date/time of the form "MM/DD/YYYY H:M:S" (with quotation marks).
Will be able to handle most varients of this format. Used as the time
at which any of the Frequency or Elevation Series, or RefracHeight
calculations are performed. Default is the current time. Ignored if
-mimicHistorical isspecified
-startTime timeDate
-stopTime timeDate
UT Date and times of the form "MM/DD/YYYY H:M:S" (with quotation
marks) or most standard varients of this format. Used as the start and
stop times by all of the Time Series and RefracDumpData calculations.
Defaults are 12 hrs before desired time and 12, 85 or 180 hrs after
desiredTime for, respecively, the RUC, NAM or GFS3 models. If
-mimicHistorical is specified then startTime must be specified and
stopTime will be ingorned.
-incrTime numHrs
Time increment in hrs between calculations. Used by all of the
Time Series and RefracDumpData calculations. Default is 1 hr for the
NAM and RUC models, and 3 hrs for GFS model
-startFreq freq
-stopFreq freq
-incrFreq freq
Start, stop and frequency steps in GHz. Must be >= 1 and <= 235 GHz.
Used by all of the Frequency Series calculations. Default values are
6 to 116 GHz in steps of 2 GHz.
-startElev elev
-stopElev elev
-incrElev elev
Start, stop and frequency elevations in Degrees Must be >= 0 and <= 90.
Used by all of the Elevation Series calculations. Default values are 5
to 90 degrees in steps of 5 degrees.
-mimicHistorical
** RECOMENDED ONLY FOR ADVANCED USERS ** A flag which, if specified,
will indicate that one wants to use the database *as it was* at the
specified start time. That is, all archive files stored *after* the
specified start time are ignored. A start time must be specified. Any
specified stop and desiredTime will be ignored. Instead, desiredTime is
set to startTime plus half the maximum time span of a single archive
file for the specified model
-startOffset offNum
-stopOffset offNum
** RECOMENDED ONLY FOR ADVANCED USERS ** Used to specify explicitly
which time slots are to be processed within each raw data file. Units
are the time steps within each type model's file.
-fastCalc
A flag which, if set, tells the prograam to use the faster but rougher
Lehto model for opacities instead of the more accurate Liebe model
-saveAll
A flag, which if specified, will save all possible columns for the
desired calculations, instead of those the programmer has deemed most
interesting