Last month we received the first version of AWIPS II which included the new unified grib decoder (13.1.2). The install procedure for 13.1.2 was more complicated than usual - we needed the full 13.1.1 installation plus a 13.1.2 "update" - so around 8 GB of RPMs to manage.
If you're unfamiliar with what the unified grib decoder is, here's a quick rundown: before 13.1.2, the D2D perspective (for WFOs) and the National Centers Perspective (for NCEP centers) required separate data decoders and database tables for grib messages. D2D used a decoder called grib, while NCP used a decoder called ncgrib. If you didn't want to bog down your system, you could only run one at a time, meaning: depending on your server configuration, gridded model data would only be visible in one perspective, not both.
Version 6.11.4 of the Local Data Manager (LDM) has been released. This version fixes and improves the defense against a denial-of-service attack, which is new with version 6.11. Getting the defense right was trickier than initially thought.
The Unidata Program Center is pleased to announce its 2013 Software Training Workshop. The workshop features our display and analysis packages GEMPAK (with an introduction to AWIPS-II) and the IDV, data access and management tools, the Local Data Manager (LDM), the Network Common Data Form (netCDF), and the THREDDS Data Server (TDS).
The workshop will be held July 23 - August 8, 2013. Individual courses last from one to four days.
Version 4.3.0 of the netCDF Operators (NCO) has been released. NCO is an Open Source package that consists of a dozen standalone, command-line programs that take netCDF files as input, then operate (e.g., derive new data, average, print, hyperslab, manipulate metadata) and output the results to screen or files in text, binary, or netCDF formats.
Unidata is currently evaluating AWIPS II release 13.1.2, which includes a new unified grib decoder to supply both D2D and the National Centers Perspective with gridded data. With this decoder upgrade and the UPC's improved decoding of high-volume NEXRAD3 and CONDUIT feeds, the last major addition to AWIPS II before release is GEMPAK functionality. GEMPAK 7 will be released as an add-on to AWIPS II for the National Centers and the Unidata community.
The Unidata Program Center wishes a fond farewell to Russ Rew, who is retiring after 37 years at Unidata. Russ was the first employee of Unidata, and was notable for never missing a day of work in Unidata's 25 years of existence. During that time, he personally answered over 100 million netCDF questions, without ever even making a spelling or grammeratical mistake.
The Unidata Program Center is pleased to announce the completion today of its newest community service facility in Boulder, Colorado. The Unidata Data Hallway provides modern, efficient, 24/7 data services to the university community -- while also making a stylish interior design statement.
"It's great to have such a lavish facility for our 'big iron'," says Unidata Program Center systems administrator Mike Schmidt. "We were excited to be able to showcase our data-delivery infrastructure like this -- it really helps the public understand the level of technical sophistication involved in what we're doing here at Unidata."
