RadxClutMon

RadxClutMon performs clutter analysis.

Overview

RadxClutMon uses clutter map files created using RadxPersistentClutter and Radx-supported radar data to look for changes in the clutter field.

Prerequesites

The following items are required:

• Polarimetric radar data (any Radx supported format, e.g., cfradial)
• Clutter map files from RadxPersistentClutter

Parameter files

RadxClutMon uses one parameter file that includes the location of input data, parameters specific to the clutter analysis, and the output directory.

Ensure file is up to date

To obtain the default parameter file, use the following command:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxClutMon -print_params > param_file_name

If you already have a parameter file and simply want to check for (and add) updated parameters while retaining current parameters, use the following command:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxClutMon -params orig_param_file_name -print_params > new_param_file_name

Important parameters

Reading clutter map data

• clutter_map_input_dir: path to clutter map files
• clutter_map_search_time: time of clutter map file
• clutter_power_field_name: field name for clutter power (dBm)
• clutter_time_fraction_field_name: field name for fraction of time clutter is identified at each gate

Reading the moments data

• mode: determines if the program waits for new files (REALTIME), moves through start and end times specified on the command line (ARCHIVE), or moves through list of files specified on the command line (FILELIST)
• moments_input_dir: directory containing radar data (if not specified on the command line and if mode = REALTIME)
• dbz_field_name: name of reflectivity field

Write results

• write_results_to_spdb: indicate whether to write results to an Spdb file
• spdb_output_url: path where Spdb files will be written

Running RadxClutMon

To check all command line options for RadxClutMon, including debugging options and file paths, type the following command into a terminal.

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxClutMon -h

Once your parameter file is complete, use a command similar to the following to run the application:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxClutMon -params param_file_name

The user can also specify the location of cfradial files in the following manner:

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxClutMon -f /path/to/cfradial/files/ -params param_file_name