WXP
User's Guide
data_scour <<
decode_sfc
>> decode_syn

Surface Data Conversion
METAR and SAO format

The surface observation data conversion program called sacvt parses all station identifiers in the hourly file that are in METAR and SAO formats (obsolete). It will handle automated AMOS and ASOS reports. The following information is decoded:

The decoding process takes each report and decodes as much of the information as possible. If the report is malformed or corrupted in transmission, it is likely the decoder won't completely decode the product.  The undecoded portion of the report goes into the comment section that is saved to the output data file. All of the reports are decoded but not all of them make it to the output file.  By default, only standard observations are saved (no specials) and only those reports that were observed from 15 minutes before the hour to 10 minutes after the hour.  If duplicate reports exist, they are all copied, by default, to the output file.  Some useful parameters to set are:

In addition, there is the ability to decode multiple hour data files if reports are spread out over several hours.  To decode more than one hour, use the num_hour resource to specify how many hours before or after the current file to read.  The decode_hour resource is helpful if the range of hours is both ahead and behind the desired hour.   For example, you need to decode 12Z and files used are between 10-14Z. The current hour would be 14Z, the number of hours is -4 and the decode hour is 12.

Once decoded, the output is put into either an ASCII or netCDF format.  NetCDF is preferable for data interchange to non-WXP applications.  The ASCII format is preferable for WXP applications even though WXP will read the netCDF format.


For further information about WXP, email devo@ks.unisys.com
Last updated by Dan Vietor on May 30, 1998

data_scour <<
decode_sfc
>> decode_syn