CERES EBAF-TOA Readme File 1.0 Introduction This readme file document provides information on the following Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) EBAF-TOA data set: CERES_EBAF-TOA_Edition2.8 This document includes the following sections: Section 2.0 - Data Set Description Section 3.0 - Format and Packaging Section 4.0 - Science Parameters Information Section 5.0 - Description of Sample Read Software Section 6.0 - Implementing Sample Read Software Section 7.0 - Sample Output Section 8.0 - Additional Data Information (This section is optional) If users have questions, please contact the Langley ASDC User and Data Services Office at: Atmospheric Science Data Center User and Data Services Office Mail Stop 157D NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, Virginia 23681-2199 U.S.A. E-mail: support-asdc@earthdata.nasa.gov Phone: (757)864-8656 FAX: (757)864-8807 URL: https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov 2.0 Data Set Description 2.1 Instrumentation Description For a complete description of the CERES experiment and instruments, please refer to the documentation provided at the URL http://ceres.larc.nasa.gov. 2.2 Data Quality For a discussion regarding the quality of the EBAF-TOA data set, please refer to the corresponding Quality Summary Document available from the URL https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/ceres/quality_summaries/CERES_EBAF_Ed2.8.pdf 2.3 Science Representatives *NOTE TO USER: If you have any questions concerning the sample code or the data, please contact the Atmospheric Sciences Data Center User Services Office. The contact information is provided above in Section 1.0. 1. Dr. Norman G. Loeb, CERES Interdisciplinary Principal Investigator NASA Langley Research Center Mail Stop 420 Hampton, VA 23681-2199 E-mail: Norman.G.Loeb@nasa.gov FAX: (757)864-7996 Phone: (757)864-5688 3.0 Format and Packaging This package includes a program, written in Fortran, which will read the EBAF-TOA netCDF file. There is example output code provided in the main (read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90) program. This read program is provided as a template to the user who will need to modify it to output or otherwise handle various EBAF-TOA parameters. Information on the structure of the EBAF-TOA file can be found by executing a dump of the netCDF file (see Section 3.3 below). 3.1 Sample Read Package Contents This package consists of the following files: 1) read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90 2) sample_output_ebaf_toa.txt Descriptions for each file is as follows: 1)'read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90' is the main program which provides information about all of the parameters in the CERES EBAF-TOA netCDF file. At the end of the program, the user must make modifications in order to either print out or process the parameters they would like to use. 2)'sample_output_ebaf_toa.txt' is an ASCII output file obtained from running the read_ceres_ebaf_toa read program with the 'CERES_EBAF-TOA_Edition2.8_200003-201310.nc' file as input. This is provided so that the user can compile, run, and verify output of the read_ceres_ebaf_toa program before making any modifications. 3.2 Zip Information To read the files, first unzip them with Info-Zip software. Information about downloading and using this freeware is available at the URL: http://www.info-zip.org/pub/infozip/Info-ZIP.html 3.3 Unix commands for netCDF Some Unix commands for handling netCDF at the command line are: ncdump -h - lists the header information for the file ncdump -v '' - lists the values for the variable name 3.4 netCDF library netCDF information, documentation, tutorials, libraries, etc. can be found on-line at the URL http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/netcdf/ 3.5 Data Format The EBAF-TOA data file is written in netCDF. 4.0 Science Parameters Information Execute the first ncdump command listed in Section 3.3 (Unix commands for netCDF) to get header information that includes the following for each parameter: Type (int, float, etc...) Name Dimensions long_name Units Ranges (minimum and maximum values) 5.0 Description of Sample Read Software The sample read software in this package is intended as a base that is to be modified. The sample software does read in all parameters in the file. A user may make modifications near the bottom of the code where the output is written. A note to the user: It is recommended that before modifying the EBAF-TOA read program, the user should first compile and run the EBAF-TOA read program and compare the results that are created by the read program with the list of values in the sample output file,'sample_output_ebaf_toa.txt'. If this test is successful, then the user should modify the the EBAF-TOA read program or create their own software to handle the parameters in which they are interested. 6.0 Implementing Sample Read Software 6.1 Compiling the Sample Read Software 1. Place the 'read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90' read code and the EBAF-TOA data set in the same directory. 2. Compile the code with the following command: If you have the nc-config command available as part of your netcdf installation, use: gfortran `nc-config --fflags` read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90 `nc-config --flibs` -o read_ebaf_toa OR if you would like to specify your netCDF include and library directories yourself, use: gfortran -I/your_include_dir read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90 -L/your_lib_dir -lyour_lib1 -lyour_lib2 -o read_ebaf_toa Example: gfortran -g -O2 -I/usr/local/include read_ceres_ebaf_toa.f90 -L/usr/local/lib -lnetcdf -lnetcdff -o read_ebaf_toa 6.2 How to Run the Sample Read Software 1. Execute read_ebaf_toa by typing at the command line: > read_ebaf_toa 7.0 Sample Output The program runs and currently is coded to print out 24 lines (one for each of the first 24 months) in the file with the global means for TOA SW up, LW up, and Net fluxes as a sample. Compare this output to the values in sample_output_ebaf_toa.txt, which is also included below. TOA SW TOA LW TOA Net All-sky 99.3321991 237.649094 6.96810007 97.7711029 237.732605 2.07769990 97.7675018 240.352203 -5.81839991 96.4900970 242.581299 -9.77550030 93.6421967 243.197296 -7.83650017 92.8776016 243.166702 -4.36350012 95.4279022 241.719894 -0.190099999 101.875397 238.292999 2.21399999 106.749702 236.395493 4.18149996 108.382004 236.221893 5.99370003 104.979103 236.384399 9.51850033 102.817596 236.474594 9.03660011 99.2643967 236.940399 7.82170010 98.4811020 237.912003 1.17149997 97.9417038 240.440201 -5.99440002 96.3277969 241.761307 -8.79069996 93.5503998 243.540802 -8.03709984 92.9702988 244.104706 -5.54080009 94.7646027 241.667892 0.418799996 101.574303 239.211594 1.46700001 106.000198 237.553894 3.64030004 109.162201 236.211807 5.15780020 106.659698 236.423401 7.88780022 102.602097 237.409897 8.39820004 Last Updated: March 24, 2014 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------