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NASA-Ames Export Configuration Directory

This directory controls the data that data.aggregate.ames can produce. It is somewhat specialized to the EUSAAR/WDCA extensions of the format. The directories themselves are located in $DB/etc/ames/ and $DB/etc/$STATION/ames/. In the first default location the files all take the form of “$NAME.conf” while in the station specific one is “$NAME.$STATION.conf”. This directory may also contain ames.ingest.conf used to convert data back to CPD2 format.

For each file base name loaded the instance (if it exists) in the default location is loaded first, then the station specific one is loaded on top of it (again, if it exists). This allows anything in the station specific one to override global defaults but only those as needed.

The records that data.aggregate.ames can generate are defined by the files it can load. That is, if a file “psap_L0_1um.conf” exists in the global directory then the record type “psap_L0_1um” is considered to exist. Generation may still fail if in the process of loading that file no output variables are defined, however.

For all records types the file “global” is loaded before anything else. This allows station specific settings (such as the site code) to be applied to all records by creating a “global.$STATION.conf”.

Format

Lines beginning with '#' are treated as comments. The format consists of a CSV separated list of key and value sets. Keys are case insensitive. Keys outside the variable definition blocks (as well as the block start itself) may be preceded by a semicolon separated start and/or end times which may be empty or zero for unlimited or any convertible time format to limit the applicable times of that key. Note that this limiting is done only on the scope of the entire file. That is any keys that overlap any requested interval will be used. The effect of that is that they should align on boundaries suitable for exporting to the archive as required (so generally only year boundaries should be used).

The following keys translate directly to metadata fields in the format:

  • DataOriginator - “LastName FirstName” of the data originator as defined by the NASA-Ames format.
  • Organization - “Address, Phone, Email”, “NOAA/GML 1 325 Broadway Boulder CO 80305, USA phone:+1 303 497 6210, John.A.Ogren@noaa.gov”
  • DataSubmitter - “LastName FirstName” of the data submitter as defined by the NASA-Ames format.
  • Actions - “NAME1(insert) NAME2(insert) … ” for the actions field in NASA-Ames format. Generally this should be limited to “GAW-WDCA(insert) NOAA-ESRL(insert)” or “GAW-WDCA_NRT(insert)”.

The following keys translate to fields in the EUSAAR comment field extensions to NASA-Ames:

  • Regime
  • Station - Station code
  • Platform - Platform code
  • Component
  • Unit
  • Matrix
  • Laboratory - Laboratory code
  • Instrument - Instrument type
  • InstrumentName - Instrument name
  • ExternalLab - Ext. lab. code
  • ExternalMethod - Ext. meth. ref
  • AddQualifier - Add qualifier
  • Method

Be sure to check that any values in these fields conform to the possible values or format guidelines.

The following keys do not directly translate to fields in the headers but may impact them:

  • Load - Load another base name of files, as defined above. For example, the “psap_L0_1um” configuration may load “psap_L0” which in turn loads the “psap” configuration to allow for simple overriding.
  • Interval - The data interval in seconds, setting to non-zero enables uniform data spacing.
  • Generator - The program to call to generate input data. The strings “$STATION”, “$START” and “$END” are replaced with the respective values that data.aggregate.ames was called with.
  • Level - The data level being generated, either 0, 1 or 2.
  • Cut - If set and zero then only use coarse/10um data, otherwise if set and non-zero use only fine/1um data.
  • Flags - A list of flags processing to handle.

The following flags processing methods are available:

  • Neph - TSI 3563 Neph flags processing. Sets the correct flag when the neph is zeroing.
  • PSAP - RR PSAP flags processing. Sets a flag when the PSAP data had corrections applied.
  • Editing - Sets a flag when a mentor edit is in place.

Variable Definition

In addition to simple keys at some level of the configuration a list out output variables must be defined. These determine how CPD2 data is translated into the export format. Each variable consists of a block starting with “Variable” and ending with “VariableEnd”. All the keys within that block are specific to that variable. Any variable being defined overrides the definitions for any prior variables from another file. That is, if a configuration wants to make changes to the output variables, it must define all of them. Note the specific contents of types of data must be compliant with the archive standards.

The following keys are valid for a variable:

  • Description - The description of the variable in the header
  • Name - The name of the variable in the header
  • MVC - The MVC of the variable in the output data stream.
  • Format - The format of the variable in the output stream (see sprintf(2) ).
  • Constant - Gives this variable a constant value instead of an input variable.
  • Source - A semicolon separated list of input CPD2 variables to use. The first one with non-zero counts is used.
  • Interpolate - If present enables interpolation of the variable to the output time.
  • Percentile - The output is the value of the percentile at this fraction instead of the variable's value. So a percentile value of 0.15 gives the value of the 15th percentile of the variable for the interval being output.
  • CheckCompleteness - Enables the completeness check on this variable. The completeness check sets the appropriate flag(s) if the number of values within the time range is less than the thresholds.
  • Cal - Set the calibration polynomial for the variable, in the form of “Offset;FirstOrder;SecondOrder…”, that is a default non-altering calibration would be “0;1”.
  • Processing - Set the special processing done on this variable (see below).

Variable processing methods:

neph_rayleigh

Calculate Rayleigh scattering for a neph (zero). Can either be given the color as the key “Color,Code” in the variable definition or it will attempt to infer it from the variable.

neph_zero

Calculate the actual neph reported zero scattering from the default “wall” scattering. Can either be given the color as the key “Color,Code” in the variable definition or it will attempt to infer it from the variable.

cpc_stp

Correct CPC counts to STP flow rate. The following additional keys are used within the variable:

  • Neph - The neph to get the temperature and pressure measurements from.
  • T - Either a constant temperature or a variable containing the temperature.
  • P - Either a constant temperature or a variable containing the pressure.
  • PLoss - Either a constant temperature or a variable containing the pressure loss.

If the pressure loss is defined as a constant then it is assumed to be the pressure loss when on the coarse/10um cut. In this case when on the fine/1um cut size the last pressure on the coarse cut size is used with the constant loss added to it.

If the pressure loss is a variable then the value of that variable is added to the pressure value regardless of cut size.