Package: eurec4a-snd
eurec4a_sndDuring the EUREC4A/ATOMIC campaign many radiosondes were launched from different platforms and partners. This collection of scripts has been used to convert, visualize and interpolate the data in a common way.To convert BUFR files, simply runsounding_converter -i your_sounding.bfrafter the installation. During the first execution you will be asked to give meta-information which will be included in the output files.These include e.g.contact_personandplatformname which are probably helpful after the exchange of these files with other scientists.InstallationThe package can be installed withconda(MinicondaorAnaconda):The best option is to create a new environment to not run into dependency problems with pre-installed package:condacreate--namefield_campaignActivate the new environment withcondaactivatefield_campaignorsourceactivatefield_campaignThe actual package can than be installed withcondainstall-cobservingclouds-cconda-forgeeurec4a_sndFirst executionDuring the first execution, themeta_information.iniconfiguration file has to be created. The user is prompted some questions on the command line before the file will be written to the users home directory.It is also possible to copy theconfig/meta_information_template.inito one's favorite folder and change the files content accordingly. If the file is not renamedmeta_information.iniand is in the home directory, the option-chas to be used during the call ofsounding_converterotherwise it will not recognize the configuration.(macOS or linux)sounding_converter-iyour_sounding.bfr-c/your/path/to/meta_information.ini(windows)sounding_converter.exe-iyour_sounding.bfr-c/your/path/to/meta_information.iniUpdatePlease check for updates at the beginning of the campaign by runningcondainstall-cobservingclouds-cconda-forgeeurec4a_sndChange meta-informationThe meta-information which is used in the netCDF files and in order to create a resonable filename, can always be changed by eitherremove the filemeta_information.iniin$HOMEand runsounding_converteragain, as if it would be your first executionedit the file~/meta_information.inidirectlyVisualizationPanoplyThe converted dat files are netCDF files which conform to the CF-Conventions as far as possible and make use of thediscrete sampling geometry. The sounding data can therefore easily be drawn as trajectories without extra efforts. One example is the softwarePanoplySimple PlottingThe package also includes a few plotting routines that can be called with e.g.(macOS or linux)sounding_visualize-iconverted/file/sounding.nc(windows)sounding_visualize.exe-iconverted/file/sounding.ncSkewT PlottingA skewT diagram can be created with(macOS or linux)sounding_skewT-iconverted/file/sounding.nc(windows)sounding_skewT.exe-iconverted/file/sounding.ncFurther examples on how to create a skewT diagram can be found ineurec4a_snd/examples/visualizing. Have a look atSkew-T examplesExampleExamples of the input.bfrfiles and the converted.ncfile can be found inexamples/data.InterpolationTo concatenate the soundings and for an easier analysis, the converted soundings (output ofsounding_converter) can be interpolated on a common altitude grid bysounding_interpolate-i/path/to/converted/soundings*.ncTrouble shootingImportError: DLL load failed: The specific module could not be foundWindows users might get the above error message when trying to visualize the soundings. The error is caused in pillow. Unfortunately there is not a very good solution yet, but the following might work for you:conda remove --force pillowpip install pillowCommands `sounding_convert` and `sounding_visualize` cannot be found!It seems something went wrong with the installation via `conda`. Although it is recommended to install this package via anaconda because it comes with the benefit that all dependencies should be resolved, you can also download this git repository and run within the `eurec4a_snd` folder:python L1_rs41.py -i your_sounding.bfror for quicklookspython make_quicklooks_rs41.py -n converted/file/sounding.ncSlow internet connection: Download failedIn case of a slow internet connection, the command `conda install some_package` might fail due to connection timeout. In this case it might be a good option to download the failing package manually.In this case theeurec4a_sndpackage for OSX is downloaded and installed manually:wget -c https://anaconda.org/observingClouds/eurec4a_snd/v2.0.0/download/osx-64/eurec4a_snd-v2.0.0-py37_0.tar.bz2The path needs to be adapted depending on the operating system and the version that should be downloaded. You may actually see the path you need to download in the error message ofconda install eurec4a_snd.The installation follows simply withconda install -c observingClouds eurec4a_snd-v2.0.0-py37_0.tar.bz2ECCODES_DEFINITION_PATH defined incorrectlyIn case there appears an error, that the variable ECCODES_DEFINITION_PATH is not defined or not correctly set, the easiest solution is to insert the following two lines at the beginning of the script L1_bufr.py.import osos.environ["ECCODES_DEFINITION_PATH"] = r"C:\Users\...\envs\field_campaign\Library\share\eccodes\definitions"The path needs to be adapted to your environment of course.