List of freely available data that McV can display
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2013 5:39 pm
Hi all,
There is a ton of great data out there available to the public if you know where to look. Here is a list of just about everything I know about and basic instructions for how to get the data files displayed in McV. Please add to the list if you know of more!
NEXRAD radar
Display the Level 2 files with the "Radar -> Level II -> Local" chooser (if you put the radar files in their own directory named with the 4-letter site ID (e.g., KMKX), the station will be automatically selected)
Archive goes back to 1991, both Level 2 and 3 data available
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/
MODIS brightness temperatures / reflectances
Display either with the "Satellite -> HYDRA" chooser or by creating a local ADDE entry ("Tools -> Manage ADDE Datasets") and using the "Satellite -> Imagery" chooser
Click the quicklook image corresponding to the granule you want, scroll to the bottom, and click the HDF file starting with "MOD021KM" (Terra) or "MYD021KM" (Aqua)
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime
also, there is a different search interface and direct FTP access here:
http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/data/
AIRS hyperspectral brightness temperatures
Display with the "Satellite -> HYDRA" chooser (and make sure to do a "MultiSpectral Display" instead of a plain "Image Display")
Enter a time span, click "Search GES-DISC". One of the datasets you get should be called something like "AIRS/Aqua Level 1B Infrared (IR) geolocated and calibrated radiances (AIRIBRAD)". Click "View Files" underneath this dataset. Now you can narrow down to the exact granule you want (click the little cactus icon for a quicklook) and download it.
http://mirador.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/mirador/homepageAlt.pl?keyword=AIRIBRAD
AMSR-E microwave brightness temperatures
Display by creating a local ADDE entry ("Tools -> Manage ADDE Datasets") and using the "Satellite -> Imagery" chooser
You'll need to create an account for this one (click "User Registration") but as far as I can tell it is free to anyone. Once logged in, click "Satellites or Sensors". Now check the box next to "Aqua/AMSR-E->Level1->Brightness Temperature(L1B)", and pick your time span. Scroll to the bottom and click "Search". Add the desired granules to your cart, then click "Cart & Order" at the top. (Note, the AMSR-E antenna on Aqua stopped spinning in October 2011)
https://gcom-w1.jaxa.jp
CloudSat 94GHz spaceborne cloud radar
Display with the "General -> Files/Directories" chooser with Data Type "HYDRA Data Source". You'll want to do a "ProfileAlongTrack Display" and change both stride settings to 1. (This may only work in the nightly!). You'll need to rotate the display (right click) to actually see the radar profile.
You'll need to create a user account for this one. Once logged in, click the "Order Data" link. For radar reflectivities, you'll want the "2B-GEOPROF" product.
http://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu
NCEP/NWS model grid FTP servers
Display with the "Gridded Data -> Local" chooser
You can get most basic model grids through the "Gridded Data -> Remote" chooser, but there are a couple products not available through motherlode. Also, if you look at lots of model data you might be interested in having the data locally. These links give a guide to the cryptic filenames on the NCEP/NWS FTP servers so you can find what you are looking for.
http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/products/
I especially like the high resolution (about 5km) WRF runs, great for giving McV a workout:
http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/products/hiresw/
There is a ton of great data out there available to the public if you know where to look. Here is a list of just about everything I know about and basic instructions for how to get the data files displayed in McV. Please add to the list if you know of more!
NEXRAD radar
Display the Level 2 files with the "Radar -> Level II -> Local" chooser (if you put the radar files in their own directory named with the 4-letter site ID (e.g., KMKX), the station will be automatically selected)
Archive goes back to 1991, both Level 2 and 3 data available
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/nexradinv/
MODIS brightness temperatures / reflectances
Display either with the "Satellite -> HYDRA" chooser or by creating a local ADDE entry ("Tools -> Manage ADDE Datasets") and using the "Satellite -> Imagery" chooser
Click the quicklook image corresponding to the granule you want, scroll to the bottom, and click the HDF file starting with "MOD021KM" (Terra) or "MYD021KM" (Aqua)
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/realtime
also, there is a different search interface and direct FTP access here:
http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/data/
AIRS hyperspectral brightness temperatures
Display with the "Satellite -> HYDRA" chooser (and make sure to do a "MultiSpectral Display" instead of a plain "Image Display")
Enter a time span, click "Search GES-DISC". One of the datasets you get should be called something like "AIRS/Aqua Level 1B Infrared (IR) geolocated and calibrated radiances (AIRIBRAD)". Click "View Files" underneath this dataset. Now you can narrow down to the exact granule you want (click the little cactus icon for a quicklook) and download it.
http://mirador.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/mirador/homepageAlt.pl?keyword=AIRIBRAD
AMSR-E microwave brightness temperatures
Display by creating a local ADDE entry ("Tools -> Manage ADDE Datasets") and using the "Satellite -> Imagery" chooser
You'll need to create an account for this one (click "User Registration") but as far as I can tell it is free to anyone. Once logged in, click "Satellites or Sensors". Now check the box next to "Aqua/AMSR-E->Level1->Brightness Temperature(L1B)", and pick your time span. Scroll to the bottom and click "Search". Add the desired granules to your cart, then click "Cart & Order" at the top. (Note, the AMSR-E antenna on Aqua stopped spinning in October 2011)
https://gcom-w1.jaxa.jp
CloudSat 94GHz spaceborne cloud radar
Display with the "General -> Files/Directories" chooser with Data Type "HYDRA Data Source". You'll want to do a "ProfileAlongTrack Display" and change both stride settings to 1. (This may only work in the nightly!). You'll need to rotate the display (right click) to actually see the radar profile.
You'll need to create a user account for this one. Once logged in, click the "Order Data" link. For radar reflectivities, you'll want the "2B-GEOPROF" product.
http://www.cloudsat.cira.colostate.edu
NCEP/NWS model grid FTP servers
Display with the "Gridded Data -> Local" chooser
You can get most basic model grids through the "Gridded Data -> Remote" chooser, but there are a couple products not available through motherlode. Also, if you look at lots of model data you might be interested in having the data locally. These links give a guide to the cryptic filenames on the NCEP/NWS FTP servers so you can find what you are looking for.
http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/products/
I especially like the high resolution (about 5km) WRF runs, great for giving McV a workout:
http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/products/hiresw/