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RE: FSL aircraft data change


                                             3 Oct 2003

Aircraft data users,

If you haven't switched to the MADIS datafeed described below,
please do so soon!

Thanks,
Patty




>                                           22 Aug 2003
>
>
>FSL aircraft data users,
>
>To save resources, we are consolidating our two aircraft ldm datafeeds
>(FSL\.NetCDF\.ACARS\.QC and FSL\.CompressedNetCDF\.MADIS\.acars) into
>the MADIS datafeed.  For those of you who are accessing the
>FSL\.NetCDF\ACARS\.QC datafeed, please follow the instructions below to
>switch to the MADIS datafeed by Oct 1, 2003.  No changes are needed
>for those already using the MADIS feed.
>
>The MADIS files are in an AWIPS netCDF format, are directly
>displayable on AWIPS and AWIPS-like systems (e.g. FX-NET), and are
>also a superset of the .ACARS\.QC netCDF files.  Software written for
>the .ACARS\.QC files should therefore work fine with the MADIS files
>(with the one exception noted below).  For those who haven't yet
>written software to read the files, MADIS offers software to do so.
>Information and download capability for the software can be found at
>www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS/madis_api.html.  Please let me know if you
>decide to use the software.  We will then add you to our email list
>which announces version upgrades, etc.
>
>MADIS also provides access to other datasets, including METAR, SAO,
>maritime, profiler, radiosonde, radiometer, and national mesonet data.
>We also maintain an on-line archive of the MADIS observations on
>our ftp server.  For more information on the datasets, see the MADIS
>home page at http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS.  To sign up for
>additional datasets, or for an ftp account, go to
>http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS/data_application.html.  To see
>station locations and real-time data for surface observations
>(including the mesonet data), see http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mesonet.
>
>We also maintain email lists for our operators to use in announcing
>data outages to MADIS customers.  Your name is included in the
>"general" data category, and will also be included in the aircraft
>email list.  Emails will be sent out if data is missing for 1.5 hours
>or more on the MADIS ftp and ldm file servers.  If you do not wish to
>be on these email lists, please let me know.
>
>Thanks, and let me know if you have any questions,
>
>Patty Miller
>FSL
>
>***************************************************************************
>
>To request the MADIS aircraft files, add the following 
>information to your ldmd.conf file:
>
>request  PCWS  "^FSL\.CompressedNetCDF\.MADIS\.acars\..*"     eldm.fsl.noaa.gov
>
>For your pqact.conf, add the following (with tabs between fields):
>
>PCWS   ^FSL\.CompressedNetCDF\.MADIS\.acars\.(.*)      PIPE    -close 
><fullpath>/store_MADIS.sh $DTOP/point/acars/netcdf \1
>
>- You'll need the store_MADIS.sh script (which is included between the 
>  dashed lines below) to unzip the compressed files and store them in your 
>  directory.  You should replace <fullpath> with your actual path to the 
>  script in the pqact.conf entries.
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>#!/bin/sh    
>gzip -d > $1/$$.$2; F=`echo $2 | cut -c1-13`; mv $1/$$.$2 $1/$F
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>
>If you do choose to use the MADIS software, here is the directory you need
>to setup (using $DTOP as the top-level directory, e.g. /home/MADIS):
>
>MADIS Dataset                      Directory
>-------------                      ---------
>ACARS                              $DTOP/point/acars/netcdf
>
>Note that the full path through the $DTOP directory must be < 230 characters
>
>***************************************************************************
>
>Format Difference:
>
>The variable name (en_tailNumber) and dimension (12 characters) for
>the aircraft tail number is the same in both the .ACARS\.QC and MADIS
>aircraft files.  However, to leave room for expansion, the MADIS files
>went to an 8-digit number, e.g. if the tail number in the .ACARS.QC
>file was "FSL00349", the corresponding tail number in the MADIS files
>would be "FSL00000349."