News@UnidataUnidata newshttps://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/feed/entries/atom2024-03-06T11:18:50-07:00Apache Rollerhttps://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/community-supported-gempak-an-updateCommunity Supported GEMPAK: an UpdateUnidata News2022-01-04T15:03:52-07:002022-01-04T15:03:52-07:00<div class="img_l" >
<img width="150" src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/images/logos/gempak-400x400.png" alt="GEMPAK" />
</div>
<p>
In March of 2021, the Unidata Program Center made the community aware that it
no longer had software development resources available to support the continued
use and evolution of GEMPAK. Following discussions with community members, Unidata
published <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/a-proposal-for-community-support">A
Proposal for Community Support of GEMPAK</a>, laying out some history of the package
and the support situation, and proposing a way forward. This post describes the current situation and
includes information about the most current community supported release.
</p>
<div class="img_l" >
<img width="150" src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/images/logos/gempak-400x400.png" alt="GEMPAK" />
</div>
<p>
In March of 2021, the Unidata Program Center made the community aware that it
no longer had software development resources available to support the continued
use and evolution of GEMPAK. Following discussions with community members, Unidata
published <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/a-proposal-for-community-support">A
Proposal for Community Support of GEMPAK</a>, laying out some history of the package
and the support situation, and proposing a way forward.
</p>
<p>
At that time, long-time GEMPAK user Daryl Herzmann of Iowa State University offered
to take the lead in coordinating community-based efforts to continue making GEMPAK
available. In the intervening months, Herzmann and other community members have worked
to identify ways to synthesize Unidata's existing GEMPAK codebase with updated code
from the National Weather Service (NWS). Although the NWS remains committed to moving all
operational forecasting activities to use the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing
System (AWIPS), developers at the National Centers for
Environmental Prediction (NCEP) continue to make changes to the NAWIPS package, as
GEMPAK is known in the NWS.
</p>
<p>Recently, Herzmann made GEMPAK version 7.14.0 available, bringing the package in
line with the latest updates to NAWIPS. That version is available from the
<a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/7.14.0">GEMPAK repository on Github</a>.
</p>
<p>
To summarize the current situation:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
GEMPAK is no longer being actively maintained or supported by the Unidata Program
Center.
</li>
<li>
GEMPAK distributions created and maintained by community members are available
from the <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak">GEMPAK Github repository</a>,
hosted by Unidata.
</li>
<li>
Unidata will continue to host and maintain the gembud mailing list as a service
to community users of GEMPAK:
<ul>
<li>list archives: <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing_lists/archives/gembud/">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/mailing_lists/archives/gembud/</a></li>
<li>subscribe: <a href="mailto:gembud-join@unidata.ucar.edu">gembud-join@unidata.ucar.edu</a></li>
</ul>
<p></li>
<li>
GEMPAK downloads can be accessed at: <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a>
</li>
<li>
Community members who wish to contribute development or other efforts to the
GEMPAK project should visit <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak</a>.
</li>
</ul></p>
<h2>GEMPAK Downloads from Unidata Discontinued</h2>
<p>Unidata has been hosting downloads of compiled GEMPAK binaries for
version 7.5.1 — released in February 2019. This was the last version we had
development resources available to create.
While using the most recent version (7.14.0) does require the user to build the package
from source code, Unidata now feels that the binary version we have available is
too old to continue distributing. GEMPAK version 7.5.1 binaries have been removed from
Unidata's download server.
</p>
<p>
Note that version 7.5.1 <em>documentation</em> continues to be available on Unidata's
documentation server: <a href="https://docs.unidata.ucar.edu/gempak/">GEMPAK Documentation</a>.
While Unidata has no plans to update this documentation set, it remains useful.
</p>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/a-proposal-for-community-supportA Proposal for Community Support of GEMPAKUnidata News2021-03-02T15:00:01-07:002021-04-05T11:20:49-06:00<div class="img_l" style="width: 200px;padding-top:0.4em;">
<img width="200" src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/images/logos/gempak-400x400.png" alt="GEMPAK" />
</div>
<p>
The Unidata program has been providing the geoscience community with access to and
technical support for the GEMPAK software package for nearly thirty years.
This post describes the current circumstances surrounding Unidata’s support
for GEMPAK, and suggests some possible future actions to ensure
continued community access to this resource.
</p>
<div class="img_l" style="width: 200px;padding-top:0.4em;">
<img width="200" src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/images/logos/gempak-400x400.png" alt="GEMPAK" />
</div>
<p>
The Unidata program has been providing the geoscience community with access to and
technical support for the GEMPAK software package for nearly thirty years.
This post describes the current circumstances surrounding Unidata’s support
for GEMPAK, and suggests some possible future actions to ensure
continued community access to this resource.
</p>
<h3>But First, Some History</h3>
<p>
GEMPAK, the GEneral Meteorology PAcKage, is a suite of software for the analysis,
display, and diagnosis of geo-referenced data. GEMPAK was originally developed by
the Severe Storms Laboratory at the Goddard Space Flight Center of NASA in the early
1980s, and the Unidata Program began officially supporting community use of GEMPAK
on UNIX systems in 1992. In 1995 NOAA adopted GEMPAK as the basis for their N-AWIPS
package. Since then, Unidata has collaborated with the National Centers for
Environmental Prediction (NCEP) to provide the package to the university community.
Primary development of GEMPAK took place at NCEP; Unidata made code modifications to
support the education and research community, many of which were re-incorporated
into NCEP’s code base. Throughout, Unidata has provided a channel by which community
members could get both the package itself and technical support in its use.
</p>
<p>
Beginning in 2007, NCEP began planning for the transition of National Centers and
NWS forecast offices to a new AWIPS architecture, referred to at the time as
“AWIPS-II.” As part of this transition, plans were put in place to phase out
development (and use) of GEMPAK (known within NOAA as NAWIPS) at NCEP; Unidata began
adjusting its own plans to follow suit. The transition was envisioned as a leisurely
move from use of GEMPAK to use of the new AWIPS package, with AWIPS meeting the
needs of existing GEMPAK users.
</p>
<p>
For a variety of reasons, development of the new version of AWIPS by the NWS (and
its contracted developer) took longer than anticipated. Throughout this transition,
Unidata continued to make GEMPAK available to the university community alongside
versions of the new AWIPS system, which incorporates GEMPAK functionality via its
user interface but does not include a scripting interface. While NCEP developers
have continued to provide bug fixes and small modifications to GEMPAK/NAWIPS, NCEP’s stated
policy has been that community support for the package will continue only until all NWS
organizations have fully transitioned to the new AWIPS system.
</p>
<p>
Following its strategic planning for the transition, Unidata over time decreased
the resources dedicated to maintaining GEMPAK, while continuing to provide access to
updates from NCEP where possible. By 2019, only one developer at the Unidata Program
Center had specific GEMPAK expertise, and he devoted only a small fraction of his
time to its maintenance.
</p>
<h3>Where We Are Today</h3>
<p>
As a result of a tragic accident, the Unidata program has had no in-house GEMPAK
development expertise since mid-2019. Following the guidance of our two governing
committees, Unidata has not sought to hire a new developer to work on GEMPAK, but
has instead focused resources on supporting community use of the AWIPS package,
which is now in use at all NWS Weather Forecast Offices and is being adopted more
widely by the NWS National Centers and in the university community. We have
continued to make the latest Unidata version of GEMPAK (released in February 2019)
available.
</p>
<p>
On January 1, 2021, a lurking “Y2K21” bug in GEMPAK that caused dates in 2021 to
be interpreted as being in 1921 disrupted use of the package within NWS and
elsewhere. While fixes for the problem were found and implemented relatively quickly
in the GEMPAK codebase, the incident highlighted the need for a new, community-based
mechanism to support updates to and distribution of the software.
</p>
<p>
The Unidata Program has long been a champion and supplier of GEMPAK in the
university community. While the program no longer has either dedicated coding
expertise or resources to maintain the package, we hope to serve in a convening role
to support a community-based effort in taking over long-term maintenance and any
additional development.
</p>
<p>
Note that Unidata continues to develop and support alternative technologies that
provide GEMPAK-like functionality, including our distribution of the AWIPS package
tailored to university or individual use and the associated Python Data Access
Framework (the “python-awips” package). Additionally, the MetPy suite of Python
tools brings much of the domain-specific functionality of GEMPAK to the scientific
Python ecosystem, and includes a “declarative” interface designed to help existing
GEMPAK users transition to Python-based programming workflows.
</p>
<h3>What Community Maintenance of GEMPAK Might Look Like</h3>
<p>
GEMPAK is an open source software package, and can in theory be adopted by anyone
who wishes to nurture the code base. Unidata is looking for community members who
are willing and able to assume the duties of managing GEMPAK as an open source
project. While the Unidata Program Center no longer has the resources necessary to
participate directly in development and maintenance of GEMPAK, we understand that
the package is still important in the community. In order to support a smooth
transition to community-based maintenance, we propose taking the following
steps:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Convening a group of community members interested in the future of GEMPAK to
determine project governance mechanisms and next steps for the project.
</li>
<li>
Providing commit access to Unidata’s GEMPAK repository on Github to a new
community-based maintenance team.
</li>
<li>
Working with the community-based team to determine where GEMPAK documentation
should be hosted. Documentation will remain available on Unidata’s web site until a
suitable replacement is available.
</li>
<li>
Working with the community-based team to determine the future role of the gembud
mailing list. The mailing list will remain in operation under Unidata’s auspices
until a suitable replacement is available.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
We envision the community-based GEMPAK open source effort as a self-sustaining
program, with Unidata acting as a community member rather than as the software’s
official maintainer. Once the GEMPAK community has put its own governance structures
in place, Unidata’s role will shift to that of a supporting player. Possibilities
for future involvement by Unidata include:
</p>
<ul>
<li>Continuing to host the project under Unidata’s organizational Github repository</li>
<li>Continuing to host the gembud mailing list</li>
<li>Hosting on-line documentation</li>
<li>Assisting the community-based team in assuming the maintenance role by convening
meetings or providing technical advice where possible
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Unidata’s hope in setting this process in motion is that through community
involvement, educators and researchers can retain access to the GEMPAK software for
as long as it is useful to them. We will continue our efforts to provide alternative
software packages and workflows that meet the needs of the GEMPAK community,
allowing community members to transition to newer technologies.
</p>
<h3>Next Steps</h3>
<p>
After receiving the Unidata Users Committee's input into and approval of this
transition plan, we are soliciting interested volunteers to begin the process
of self-organization and hand-off of the code base. We hope to find individuals
interested in taking on a range of project roles including:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Community Organizer: someone who facilitates the Github repository, provides
requested reporting, and serves as a primary point of contact with Unidata and
NCEP.
</li>
<li>
Developers: community members who wish to contribute to code development
and/or provide code review of Github pull requests.
</li>
<li>
Testers: community members who will contribute time to test changes to the
GEMPAK code base before they are made widely available.
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Daryl Herzmann of Iowa State University has agreed to serve as the initial point of
contact for those interested in contributing to this project. If you would like to
participate or have suggestions for making a smooth transition to community management,
contact him at:
</p>
<p>
Daryl Herzmann<br>
Iowa State University<br>
<a href="mailto:akrherz@iastate.edu">akrherz@iastate.edu</a>
</p>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-5-1GEMPAK 7.5.1$entry.creator.screenName2019-02-14T09:08:54-07:002021-04-22T16:50:49-06:00<p>GOES16 and GOES17 ABI products are distributed in NetCDF4 formatted files, and GEMPAK as of release 7.5.1 can now read and display these products in their native formats (it is no longer needed to convert netCDF to McIDAS area format to display in GEMPAK). </p>
<p>Download at <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp" title="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp</a></p>
<p>Release Notes</p>
<ul>
<li>Supports GOES-16/17 ABI imagery in NetCDF 4 format</li>
<li>Fixed build of program <code>dctama</code></li>
</ul>
<p>GEMPAK Support for GOES ABI NetCDF
<hr />
GOES16 and GOES17 ABI products are distributed in NetCDF4 formatted files, and GEMPAK as of release 7.5.1 can now read and display these products in their native formats (it is no longer needed to convert netCDF to McIDAS area format to display in GEMPAK). </p>
<p>For Full Disk and CONUS sectors, GOES16 and GOES17 ABI products are sent across the Satellite Broadcast Network as tiles, each contributing to a "mosaic" of a full sector scan. The Unidata Program Center has provided an alternate data feed in which all tiles are "stitched" together (thanks to the program ldm-alchemy). </p>
<h2>ldmd.conf</h2>
<p>To request these stitched images, add the following request line to your ldmd.conf:</p>
<pre><code>REQUEST NIMAGE "GOES" idd.unidata.ucar.edu
</code></pre>
<h2>pqact.conf</h2>
<p>The following pattern action</p>
<pre><code>NIMAGE ^/data/ldm/pub/native/satellite/GOES/(.*)/([^/]*)/([^/]*)/([0-9]{8})/GOES(16|17)_([^/]*)_([0-9]{8})_([0-9]{4})(..)_([^/]*).nc4
FILE -close data/gempak/images/sat/\1/\2/\3/\3_\7_\8
</code></pre>
<p>will create files such as :</p>
<pre><code>$SAT/GOES16/CONUS/Channel02/Channel02_20181227_1812
$SAT/GOES16/CONUS/Channel08/Channel08_20181227_1812
$SAT/GOES16/CONUS/Channel13/Channel13_20181227_1942
</code></pre>
<p>for each of the 16 ABI channels (here the environmental variable <code>SAT = /data/ldm/gempak/images/sat/</code>) and each available sector (e.g. <code>CONUS</code> above).</p>
<h2>NMAP2 Display</h2>
<p>The above pqact.conf entry will write images to directories in <code>$SAT</code>, which are then selectable in <strong>NMAP2 > New Data Source > Image</strong></p>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_nmap2.png" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES16 Full Disk</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES16_FullDisk_Channel08_20181227_1930.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES16 CONUS</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES16_CONUS_Channel08_20181227_1942.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES16 PRREGI</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES16_PRREGI_Channel08_20181227_1930.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES16 Mesoscale-1</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES16_Mesoscale-1_Channel08_20181227_1946.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES16 Mesoscale-2</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES16_Mesoscale-2_Channel08_20181227_1945.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES17 Full Disk*</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES17_FullDisk_Channel08_20181227_1929.gif" alt="" /></p>
<ul>
<li>as seen above there is still a map projection error for GOES17 Full Disk images.</li>
</ul>
<h3>GOES17 CONUS</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES17_CONUS_Channel08_20181227_1945.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES17 AKREGI</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES17_AKREGI_Channel08_20181227_1939.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES17 HIREGI</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES17_HIREGI_Channel08_20181227_1939.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES17 Mesoscale-1</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES17_Mesoscale-1_Channel08_20181227_1954.gif" alt="" /></p>
<h3>GOES17 Mesoscale-2</h3>
<p><img src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blog_content/images/2019/20190214_GOES17_Mesoscale-2_Channel08_20181227_1955.gif" alt="" /></p>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-4-3GEMPAK 7.4.3 ReleasedUnidata News2018-09-17T15:55:35-06:002018-09-17T15:55:35-06:00<p>GEMPAK 7.4.3 has been released. This is a minor update with the following
changes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Full support for GOES ABI fixed grid projection McIDAS AREA format (UNIWISC)</li>
<li>New AWIPS lutfils for GOES 16 IR and WV channels (<a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/mjames/gempak/goes16/">View samples</a>)</li>
<li>Corrected a bug in 7.4.2 snow squall warnings which caused dcwarn to generate
false FFW warnings</li>
<li>Updated zlib, HDF5, netCDF</li>
</ul>
<p>GEMPAK 7.4.3 has been released. This is a minor update with the following
changes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Full support for GOES ABI fixed grid projection McIDAS AREA format (UNIWISC)</li>
<li>New AWIPS lutfils for GOES 16 IR and WV channels (<a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/mjames/gempak/goes16/">View samples</a>)</li>
<li>Corrected a bug in 7.4.2 snow squall warnings which caused dcwarn to generate
false FFW warnings</li>
<li>Updated zlib, HDF5, netCDF</li>
</ul>
<p>
Downloads - <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp</a>
</p>
<p>
Release Notes - <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/7.4.3">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/7.4.3</a>
</p>
<p>
CloudGEMPAK - <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/CloudGEMPAK">https://github.com/Unidata/CloudGEMPAK</a>
</p>
<p>
Report Issues - <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/issues">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/issues</a>
</p>
<p>
Technical Support - <a href="mailto:support-gempak@unidata.ucar.edu">support-gempak@unidata.ucar.edu</a>
</p>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-4-2-releaseGEMPAK 7.4.2$entry.creator.screenName2018-04-10T09:34:18-06:002018-09-17T15:33:36-06:00<div class="img_l" style="width: 200px;"> <img width="200" src="/blog_content/images/2018/20180412_gempak_CONUS.gif" alt="GEMPAK 7.4.2"/> <div class="caption"> CONUS imagery in GEMPAK 7.4.2</div> </div>
<p>GEMPAK 7.4.2 is available as source code and binary packages for CentOS 6, CentOS 7, Fedora Core, and Ubuntu/Debian Linux. </p>
<p>GEMPAK 7.4.2 is available as source code and binary packages for CentOS 6, CentOS 7, Fedora Core, and Ubuntu/Debian Linux. </p>
<p>Release notes:</p>
<p>
<a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a>
</p>
<p>This release contains the following updates:</p>
<ul>
<li>New GOES fixed grid projection McIDAS navigation for ABI imagery.</li>
<li>New GOES ABI lookup tables (colormaps).</li>
<li><strong>gdpvsf</strong> added back to release after fix for max number of grids to avoid memory reallocation error.</li>
<li>Added polygon-based Snow Squall Warnings Product (<strong>nwx</strong>, <strong>nmap2</strong>, <strong>gpmap</strong>)</li>
<li>Various other table and map updates from NCEP NAWIPS 7.4.2.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img width=300 src=https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/mjames/gempak/goes16/FullDisk_Channel03_1BYTE_C03_20180325_164545.gif><img width=300 src="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/mjames/gempak/goes16/CONUS_Channel02_1BYTE_C02_20180325_165726.gif"></center></p>
<p> <strong>Note that GOES-16 imagery is NOT LIVE yet on the UNIWISC feed (as of April 10, 2018)</strong>. There will be a separate announcement about the distribution of GOES-16 products in AREA file format. </p>
<h2>Source Code</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2.tar.gz" title="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2.tar.gz">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2.tar.gz</a></p>
<h2>Linux Binaries</h2>
<ul>
<li><p>64-bit RPM for CentOS/RedHat 6</p>
<p><a href="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.el6.x86_64.rpm" title="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.el6.x86_64.rpm">http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.el6.x86_64.rpm</a></p></li>
<li><p>64-bit RPM for CentOS/RedHat 7</p>
<p><a href="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.el7.centos.x86_64.rpm" title="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.el7.centos.x86_64.rpm">http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.el7.centos.x86_64.rpm</a></p></li>
<li><p>64-bit RPM for Fedora Core</p>
<p><a href="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.fc26.x86_64.rpm" title="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.fc26.x86_64.rpm">http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2-1.fc26.x86_64.rpm</a></p></li>
<li><p>64-bit Ubuntu/Debian binary</p>
<p><a href="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2.deb" title="http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2.deb">http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/latest/gempak-7.4.2.deb</a></p></li>
</ul>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-4-1-releasedGEMPAK 7.4.1Unidata News2017-09-15T15:26:53-06:002017-12-21T11:53:14-07:00<p>GEMPAK 7.4.1 is available as source code and binary packages for CentOS 6,
CentOS 7, Fedora Core (26), and Ubuntu Linux (16.04).
</p>
<p>Downloads:</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/</a>
</p>
<p>Release notes:</p>
<p>
<a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a>
</p>
<p>This release contains the following updates:</p>
<ul>
<li>Grib2 table updates for moisture, momentum, mass, radiation, hydrology, cloud/aerosol,
more.</li>
<li>Removed repetitive <code>dcmetr</code> log messages.</li>
<li>Pattern actions in <code>ldm/etc/templates/pqact.gempak_decoders_grid</code> for NamDNG
and the National Blend of Models.</li>
<li><code>Alias/mod_res</code> updates, increased max # grids in file for gfs, nam, URMA,
others.</li>
<li>Bug fix for AWIPS grid retrieval in <code>scripts/python/GridDataRetriever.py</code></li>
</ul>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-4-0-releasedGEMPAK 7.4.0Unidata News2017-08-28T10:27:14-06:002017-12-21T11:55:04-07:00<p>GEMPAK 7.4.0 is available as source code and binary packages for CentOS 6,
CentOS 7, Fedora Core (26), and Ubuntu Linux (16.04).
</p>
<p>This release contains a variety of updates. Read on for details.</p>
<p>GEMPAK 7.4.0 is available as source code and binary packages for CentOS 6,
CentOS 7, Fedora Core (26), and Ubuntu Linux (16.04).
</p>
<p>Downloads:</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/</a>
</p>
<p>Release notes:</p>
<p>
<a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a>
</p>
<p>This release contains the following updates:</p>
<ul>
<li>Increased <code>nex2img</code> maximum gini size</li>
<li>Maps and bounds file operational updates from nawips 7.4.0</li>
<li>Grib table and <code>pqact</code> updates for 2.5km gfsmos</li>
<li>Fixed g-airmet issues when more than 20 points are drawn below the centroid
of a smear or snapshot polygon</li>
<li>Bug fix in ensemble diagnostic function <code>ens_cval</code></li>
<li>Added new gempak grid diagnostic function: neighborhood functions, developed
by spc</li>
<li>Updated hysplit restore files for parameter name changes</li>
<li>Fixed <code>nmap2</code> and <code>gdplot2</code> bug where program was unable to display global wrapped
ced grids for subareas including poles</li>
<li>Fixed <code>prob2cat</code> bug that occurs while composing convective outlook, and bug
where lines are drawn outside international boundaries</li>
<li>Fixed <code>dccsig</code> when handling isolated or lines of thunderstorms</li>
<li>Linux binaries built with docker containers on travis ci</li>
</ul>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-3-2-releasedGEMPAK 7.3.2 Released$entry.creator.screenName2017-06-28T07:55:35-06:002021-04-22T16:55:52-06:00<div class="img_l" style="width: 200px;">
<img width="200" src="/blog_content/images/2017/20171221_gdradr_dhr.gif" alt="GEMPAK 7.3.2"/>
</div>
<p>GEMPAK version 7.3.2 is available as source code and 64-bit RHEL/CentOS binaries build with and without AWIPS Python.</p>
<p>This is a minor release, read on for details.</p>
<p><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/css/jquery/jquery.lightbox-0.5.css" media="screen" /></p>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/js/jquery/jquery.lightbox-0.5.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
$('a.lightbox').lightBox();
});
</script>
<!-- End Lightbox stuff -->
<div class="img_l" style="width: 200px;">
<a class="lightbox" title="GEMPAK 7.3.2" href="/blog_content/images/2017/20171221_gdradr_dhr.gif"> <img width="200" src="/blog_content/images/2017/20171221_gdradr_dhr.gif" alt="GEMPAK 7.3.2"/> </a>
<div class="caption">
(Click to enlarge.)
</div>
<p></div>
GEMPAK version 7.3.2 is available as source code and 64-bit RHEL/CentOS binaries build with and without AWIPS Python.</p>
<p>Downloads:</p>
<p><a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/</a></p>
<p>Release notes:</p>
<p><a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a></p>
<p>This is a minor release with the following updates:</p>
<ul>
<li>gdradr support for dual-pol products</li>
<li>dcgrib(1) support for NOAAport NAM212</li>
<li>g2vcrdwmo6.tbl, g2varswmo0.tbl symlink</li>
<li>gdplot fix for missing titles</li>
</ul>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/unidata-gempak-7-3-1Unidata GEMPAK 7.3.1 $entry.creator.screenName2016-11-29T11:47:47-07:002017-12-21T12:32:26-07:00<p>GEMPAK 7.3.1 is available as source code, 64-bit Linux binaries, and an OS X binary tarball. The most significant updates in this release are to GEMPAK's Python scripts which retrieve data from an AWIPS EDEX server. </p>
<p>7.3.1 binary and source code releases are available at</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a></li>
</ul>
<p>GEMPAK 7.3.1 is available as source code, 64-bit Linux binaries, and an OS X binary tarball. The most significant updates in this release are to GEMPAK's Python scripts which retrieve data from an AWIPS EDEX server. </p>
<p>7.3.1 binary and source code releases are available at</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/</a></li>
<li><a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Both a standard binary and a version built against Python 2.7 for use with the python-awips package (see: <a href="http://python-awips.readthedocs.io">http://python-awips.readthedocs.io</a>) are available. Please consult the updated install instructions at <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/gempak/doc/install.html">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/gempak/doc/install.html</a> for more information.</p>
<h2>How to retrieve AWIPS data with GEMPAK?</h2>
<p>If you have installed gempak-python and python-awips, or built GEMPAK from source against python 2.7:</p>
<ul>
<li>Set/change the EDEX server defined in <code>Gemenviron.profile</code> or <code>Gemenviron</code> (default is <code>edex-cloud.unidata.ucar.edu</code>)</li>
<li>Ensure that <code>libpython2.7.so*</code> is found (e.g. <code>ldd $OS_BIN/gdinfo</code>)</li>
<li>Entries in <code>datatype.tbl</code> are used to define AWIPS grid names</li>
</ul>
<pre>
grep ^A2 $GEMTBL/config/datatype.tbl
A2METAR AWIPSDB metar.xml
A2SYNOP AWIPSDB synop.xml
A2UAIR AWIPSDB uair.xml
A2GFS AWIPSDB gfs.xml
A2GFS20 AWIPSDB gfs20.xml
A2GFS80 AWIPSDB gfs80.xml
A2RAP AWIPSDB rap.xml
A2NAM AWIPSDB nam.xml
A2NamDNG AWIPSDB namdng.xml
A2NAVGEM AWIPSDB navgem.xml
A2DGEX AWIPSDB dgex.xml
A2HRRR AWIPSDB hrrr.xml
A2CMC AWIPSDB cmc.xml
A2ECMWF AWIPSDB ecmwf.xml
A2MRMS AWIPSDB mrms.xml
A2RTMA AWIPSDB rtma.xml
A2URMA AWIPSDB urma.xml
</pre>
<p>These xml files are found in <code>$GEMTBL/data-access/</code>, and each defines the AWIPS/EDEX grid name used (e.g. dbkey="GFS20" for gfs20.xml)</p>
<p>An example in GDINFO:</p>
<pre>
GDFILE = A2GFS20
LSTALL = YES
OUTPUT = t
GDATTIM = last
GLEVEL = 500
GVCORD = pres
GFUNC = all
GRID FILE: AWIPSDB/gfs20.xml/161129/1200F240
GRID NAVIGATION:
PROJECTION: LCC
ANGLES: 25.0 -95.0 25.0
GRID SIZE: 369 257
LL CORNER: 12.1900 -133.4590
UR CORNER: 57.2894 -49.3853
GRID ANALYSIS BLOCK:
ANALYSIS TYPE: BARNES
DELTAN: 1.000
DELTAX: -9999.000
DELTAY: -9999.000
GRID AREA: -90.00 -180.00 90.00 180.00
EXTEND AREA: -90.00 -180.00 90.00 180.00
DATA AREA: 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Number of grids in file: 258
Maximum number of grids in file: 258
NUM TIME1 TIME2 LEVL1 LEVL2 VCORD PARM
138 161129/1200F240 500 PRES TMPK
139 161129/1200F240 500 PRES UREL
140 161129/1200F240 500 PRES RELH
141 161129/1200F240 500 PRES HGHT
142 161129/1200F240 500 PRES OMEG
143 161129/1200F240 500 PRES VREL
144 161129/1200F240 500 PRES HGHT5
145 161129/1200F240 500 PRES AVOR
</pre>
https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/blogs/news/entry/gempak-7-3-0-releasedGEMPAK 7.3.0 Released$entry.creator.screenName2016-05-11T10:38:05-06:002017-12-29T11:22:51-07:00<p>GEMPAK 7.3.0 is now available from Unidata. </p>
<p>Source, tables, external libraries, ascii maps, and a Linux64 binary are available at <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp" title="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp</a></p>
<p>This release can also be directly download from github at <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/v7.3.0" title="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/v7.3.0">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/v7.3.0</a></p>
<p>GEMPAK 7.3.0 is now available from Unidata. </p>
<p>Source, tables, external libraries, ascii maps, and a Linux64 binary are available at <a href="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp" title="https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp">https://www.unidata.ucar.edu/downloads/gempak/index.jsp</a></p>
<p>This release can also be directly download from github at <a href="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/v7.3.0" title="https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/v7.3.0">https://github.com/Unidata/gempak/releases/tag/v7.3.0</a></p>
<ul>
<li><p>Added GFS20 (GFS215) to tables and LDM file pqact.gempak_decoders_grid</p></li>
<li><p>Added a fix for dcwarn, dcwatch, and other decoders which would write empty files when build with gfortran 4.6+</p></li>
<li><p>A new parameter G2CONV has been added to GDGRIB2 to allow bulk processing of the GEMPAK parameters. A table that contains multiple entries of input parameters to convert to a grib2 file can be configured for processing. A typical entry in the configuration table would look like:</p>
<pre><code> GDFILE=$MODEL/gfs/gfs_0p25_2015113000f000
GBFILE=gfs_20151193000f000.grib2
GFUNC=tmpk
GDATTIM=f00
GLEVEL=500
GVCORD=pres
PROJ=ced
GRDAREA=90;0;-90;-359.75
KXKY=1440;721
CPYFIL=
G2TBLS=
G2IS=0;2
G2IDS=7;0;2;;0;0;0
G2PDT=0|2;10;;;110;;;;;100;0;27500;255;0;0
GRDRT=|4
WHOHDR=
</code></pre>
<p>Where the input parameters are defined in GEMPAK document, $GEMPAK/help/hlx.</p></li>
<li><p>Updated volcano table to version 4.4.0. The version can be accessed from http://volcano.si.edu/projects/vaac-data/.</p></li>
<li><p>Fixed problems in prob2cat that created erroneous displays of the categorical graphics for convective output.</p></li>
<li><p>Modified DCXMOS so that it is no longer use the climatology data provided by GEMPAK baseline. The data is over 15 years old and has never been updated. The GFS MOS reports contain an updated climatology column of data that is sufficient for the WPC forecasters. Updated the GFS MOS station table based on locations in an MDL table.</p></li>
<li><p>Baselined three new scripts, usall, islands and water, under $GEMPAK/utilities/tca2xml, which are run by users from command line to produce the TCA configuration files for CAVE. The output of each script should be redirected to the corresponding xml file names: CoastBreakpoints.xml, IslandBreakpoints.xml, WaterBreakpoints.xml. </p>
<pre><code> usall tcabkptlz.tbl > CoastBreakpoints.xml
islands tcabkptlz.tbl > IslandBreakpoints.xml
water tcabkptlz.tbl > WaterBreakpoints.xml
</code></pre>
<p>The resulting config files will be copied to PGEN localization folder, gov.noaa.nws.ncep.ui.pgen/localization/ncep/pgen/</p></li>
<li><p>Updated warning decoder to handle the flash flood scenario that appears more than five sections in a flash flood warning file.</p></li>
<li><p>Fixed NAGRIB2 analysis grid, e.g., RTMA, GDATTIM to be set in a format of YYMMDD/HHHH. Before this fix, if grib(1) is converted to grib2 and then run nagrib2, GDATTIM would be incorrectly set as YYMMDD/HHHHF000.</p></li>
<li><p>Updated lightning decoder (ltgdecode) to handle the two new encrypted lightning data feeds from Vaisala and Earth Network Inc (ENI) distributed through the SFUS41 header on NOAAPORT, starting from 1630Z Nov 12, 2015 (see TIN 15-47 from http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/notification/tin15-vaisala_lightning.htm). Lightning data are written to the files in the same manner so displays are seamless.</p></li>
<li><p>Fixed negative grid resolution (dx) when running GDGRIB2 in converting GEMPAK grid to grib2. It happened in two scenarios: (1) rlon1 > 0 and rlon2 = 0.0, i.e., eastern hemisphere (2) rlon1 < 0. && rlon2 < 0. && rlon1 > rlon2. Before the fix, negative grid increment would also show up.</p></li>
<li><p>Updated county names, fire weather forecast zones, marine county maps, bounds tables.</p></li>
</ul>