raduf −− translate universal format radar data into cdf
raduf
Raduf reads a universal format radar file on the standard input and writes an equivalent common data format file on the standard output. The input file must have been read to disk using the tape reading program rtape, which preserves information about physical tape records.
Raduf preserves field names from the universal format file, but converts them to lower case. One variable slice is created for each ray of radar data. The static slice contains an index field named "range", which gives range values in the ray in kilometers. All data are converted to physical units, and numerous parameters from the univeral format file are converted to scalar variable fields. In particular, "sweepm" is the radar sweep mode, with 1 = PPI, 2 = coplane, and 3 = RHI. "Fangl" is the fixed angle, i. e., elevation for PPI mode, coplane angle for coplane mode, and azimuth for RHI mode. "Sweepr" is the sweep rate in degrees per second. "Pol" is the polarization transmitted, with 0 = horizontal, 1 = vertical, and 2 = circular. "Nyquist" is the Nyquist velocity in meters per second. "Pdur" is the pulse duration in microseconds. The meanings of "year", "mon", "day", "hour", "min", "sec", "azim", and "elev" are self evident. In addition, a scalar variable field named "raycnt" is added, which simply numbers the variable slices. This is useful if cdfcat is applied to combine all variable slices into one.
A one−dimensional field called rtime ("ray time") is added. This field is a function of range, but takes on the constant value of the time (kiloseconds after midnight) of the corresponding ray. The scalar time fields (sec, min, hour, etc.) are defined for each ray, but actually take on the time of the first ray of the volume. If a volume spans midnight, rtape remains monotonic through the volume by adding the number of kiloseconds in a day to those rays after midnight.
The latitude, longitude, and elevation (in meters MSL) of the radar are given as parameters. A bad data limit of 999 is set, and all bad data from the universal format file are assigned this value.
The code for handling multiple universal format records per ray of data has not been tested.
If parameters such as the range to first gate, number of range gates, and range gate spacing change during a volume, the common data format file will be erroneous.