Installing the CREW software package

From CrewWiki

Revision as of 11:04, 25 February 2014

Within the CREW project a software package was developed for the inter-comparison and validation against CALIOP, CPR and AMSR-E data. The software package currently has a beta version status. We would like to invite every user to give us feedback to improve the software package. The functionality of the CREW software package includes:

• displaying cloud properties on the SEVIRI disk or other user specified areas
• average multi algorithms ensemble means and standard devations
• histograms
• latitudinal means
• plotting cloud property against viewing zenith angle
• scatter plots (SEVIRI algorithm A against SEVIRI algorithm B)
• ISCCP type plots (frequency distribution in dependence of cloud optical thickness and cloud top pressure)
• scatter plots (SEVIRI algorithm against CALIOP/CPR/AMSR-E)
• cross section plots along the ATRAIN tracks
• Taylor diagrams

Several steps have to be completed before you can use the CREW software package if you like to intercompare SEVIRI retrievals:

Installation procedure for SEVIRI dataset inter-comparison

Registration at ICARE

Please send us an email to register at the ICARE service.

Download the CREW software

Go to a folder, where you would like to install the CREW software (4.4MB).
Download an unpack the CREW software package crewsoftware.tar.gz
unpack the software archive (for Linux use tar -xzf crewsoftware.tar.gz, for windows use some kind of zip software)

Download the CREW SEVIRI database in common format

Go to a folder, where you have place to store a large SEVIRI dataset (8.7GB).
Download an unpack the CREW software package DATA_CREW3_common.tar.gz
unpack the software archive (for Linux use tar -xzf DATA_CREW3_common.tar.gz, for windows use some kind of zip software)

Adjust some files

A) Add a idl start_up file to your <homedir>/.bashrc
# set IDL startup file
export IDL_STARTUP=${HOME}/.idl/idl_startup.pro

B) Modify (or create) your idl_startup file ${HOME}/.idl/idl_startup.pro
!PATH=!PATH+":<path to crewsoftware>/cws3/trunk/tools/"
!PATH=!PATH+":<path to crewsoftware>/cws3/trunk/tools/subtools/"
!PATH=!PATH+":<path to crewsoftware>/cws3/trunk/tools/subtools/msg/"
where <path to crewsoftware> is the absolute path to the directory where you save the CREW software.

C) Add some more lines in your idl_startup file
DEFSYSV, '!PROJECTS', { $
cws_path: '<path to crewsoftware>/cws3/trunk/', $
cws_archive: '<path to SEVIRI database in common format>/'}

Create your first image

Start idl from your command line and type following commands:
o=obj_new('cws_read')
o->set_date,2008,6,13,12,00
o->set_product,'ctt'
o->set_group,'AWG'
array = o->get_data()
view2d,array,/cool,/colo,no_data_idx=where(array le 0)
obj_destroy, o


or try another interactive example or some more advanced example

Installation procedure for comparing SEVIRI with ATRAIN measurements

Now you completed everything for inter-comparison of SEVIRI cloud retrievals from the common database. The CREW software in combination with the AVACS software has the functionality to compare the SEVIRI cloud retrievals with data sets of the ATRAIN satellite constellation. Therefore, you have to install also the AVACS software.

Get the AVACS software

Contact Phil Watts (EUMETSAT) for access to the AVACS software.

Download the dataset for AVACS

Go to a folder, where you have place to store a large AVACS dataset for CREW, e.g. AVACS_data.
We splitted the data into three packages:

• levB.tar.bz2 (4.3 GB compressed / 8.3 GB extracted, Atrain data regridded to the SEVIRI grid)
• levC.tar.bz2 (2.0 MB compressed / 14MB extracted, the CREW SEVIRI datasets along the Atrain track)
• levS.tar.bz2 [optional] (76 GB compressed/ 139GB extracted, original CALIOP, CPR, and AMSR-E data files)

You can start downloading and unpacking levB and levC only. Untar the files with tar -jxf filename. (If you like to update the original satellite data and/or do another regridding, you can download levS and have a look at the folder structure.) After downloading all datasets the folder structure should look like this:
AVACS_data/levB/
AVACS_data/levC/
AVACS_data/levS/ [optional]


Installation of the AVACS software

In AVACS/version-x.y/DOCS there is a handbook for user. Follow the installation instruction in section 2 and 3.

Test new functionalities of the CREW/AVACS software

Try some CREW/AVACS examples

Updating of the level S / level B files [optional]

If there are new datasets available from CALIOP, CPR, AMSR-E or another validation dataset you may want to update the AVACS level S files and create new level B files. First you should have a look at the AVACS manual, how the files have to be stored within the AVACS levS folder. You can also download the levS.tar.bz2 files that contains the most recent version (status December 2013) of the validation data. Please have a look at the AVACS manual how to update level B files.

Updating of the level C files [optional]

In step 7 you downloaded ready-to-use level C files containing the data of the CREW SEVIRI algorithm along the ATRAIN track. If you update an SEVIRI dataset, you have to recreate the level C files.
o=obj_new('cws2')
atrain_overpass=11317
o->create_level_c, atrain_overpass
where atrain_overpass is the integer number of the Atrain orbit number, see CREW Data Set.