RadxBeamBlock - Revision history

Jcdehart: /* Important parameters */

2025-09-22T17:33:30Z

Important parameters

Barbero: /* Prerequesites */

2022-08-08T16:07:40Z

Prerequesites

Barbero: /* Digital elevation model data */

2022-08-08T16:06:47Z

Digital elevation model data

Barbero: /* Radar location and characteristics */

2022-08-05T20:09:15Z

Radar location and characteristics

Barbero: /* Digital elevation model data */

2022-08-05T19:59:16Z

Digital elevation model data

Jcdehart at 23:53, 23 February 2021

2021-02-23T23:53:02Z

Jcdehart at 23:52, 23 February 2021

2021-02-23T23:52:43Z

Jcdehart at 21:04, 11 January 2021

2021-01-11T21:04:31Z

Jcdehart at 20:40, 11 January 2021

2021-01-11T20:40:59Z

Jcdehart at 20:43, 3 August 2020

2020-08-03T20:43:20Z

@@ Line 65: / Line 65: @@
 Radar parameters
-* radar_location: latitude, longitude, and elevation (ground elevation
+* radar_location: latitude, longitude, and elevation (ground elevation plus the radar height in km) of the radar antenna
 * radar_wavelength_cm: radar wavelength (cm)
 * horiz_beam_width_deg: horizontal beamwidth (degrees)
-* vert_beam_width_deg: horizontal beamwidth (degrees)
+* vert_beam_width_deg: vertical beamwidth (degrees)
 * gates: starting distance, gate spacing (km), and number of gates
 * azimuths: starting azimuth, azimuth spacing (degrees), and number of azimuths
@@ Line 78: / Line 77: @@
 * output_dir: files will be written to this directory
 * output_format: select the preferred file type (usually CFRADIAL)
 === '''Running RadxBeamBlock''' ===

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 * Radar antenna location
 * Radar characteristics
-* Parameter files for RadxBeamBlock.
+* Parameter files for RadxBeamBlock
 === '''Digital elevation model data''' ===

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 === '''Digital elevation model data''' ===
-Note: a NASA Earthdata account is needed to download SRTM data. Creating an account is free and quick to do, and can be done [https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/ here].
+Note: a NASA Earthdata account is needed to download topography data. Creating an account is free and quick to do, and can be done [https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/ here].
-The supported digital elevation models include Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and ESRI grid data (spheroid). SRTM data can be found online '''[https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/srtmgl3sv003/#tools here]'''. SRTM data for the entire globe is 22GB and can be a lot to download! If you only need a subsection for your region of interest, use a recursive script to download them. If you only need a few files, this is easy enough to do manually. Remember to unzip your files. Once completed, you should have a directory with .hgt files spanning your region of interest.
+The supported digital elevation models include Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) and ESRI grid data (spheroid). SRTM data can be found online '''[https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/srtmgl3sv003/#tools here]'''. SRTM data for the entire globe is 22GB and can be a lot to download! If you only need a subsection for your region of interest, use a recursive script to download them. If you only need a few files, this is easy enough to do manually. Remember to unzip your files. Once completed, you should have a directory with .hgt files spanning your region.
   Example:

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 === '''Radar location and characteristics''' ===
-The radar location requires the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the antenna (ground level + radar height). In addition, characteristics including the wavelength, beamwidth, gate spacing, azimuths, and elevation angles are required.
+The radar location requires the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the antenna (ground level + radar height). In addition, characteristics including the wavelength, beamwidth, gate spacing, azimuths, and elevation angles are required. This information can be found using RadxPrint on a raw radar file or converted radar CfRadial file.
+ RadxPrint -f /path/to/radar/file
 === '''Parameter files''' ===

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:59, 5 August 2022
Line 17:		Line 17:

	=== '''Digital elevation model data''' ===		=== '''Digital elevation model data''' ===
		+	Note: a NASA Earthdata account is needed to download SRTM data. Creating an account is free and quick to do, and can be done [https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/ here].

−	~~The supported digital elevation models include Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and ESRI grid data (spheroid). SRTM data can be found online '''[http://dds.cr.usgs.gov/srtm/version2_1/SRTM3 here]'''.~~

		+	The supported digital elevation models include Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and ESRI grid data (spheroid). SRTM data can be found online '''[https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/products/srtmgl3sv003/#tools here]'''. SRTM data for the entire globe is 22GB and can be a lot to download! If you only need a subsection for your region of interest, use a recursive script to download them. If you only need a few files, this is easy enough to do manually. Remember to unzip your files. Once completed, you should have a directory with .hgt files spanning your region of interest.
		+
		+	Example:
		+	1 #!/bin/bash
		+	2
		+	3 # download SRTM data for Taiwan region
		+	4
		+	5 for lat in `seq 19 25`
		+	6 do
		+	7 for lon in `seq 117 123`
		+	8 do
		+	9 # get files
		+	10 wget --user=$USERNAME --password=$PASSWORD https://e4ftl01.cr.usgs.gov/MEASURES/SRTMGL1.003/2000.02.11/N${lat}E${lon}.SRTMGL1.hgt.zip
		+	11 done
		+	12 done

	=== '''Radar location and characteristics''' ===		=== '''Radar location and characteristics''' ===

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 RadxBeamBlock estimates the amount of beam blockage due to terrain near a radar.
 === '''Prerequesites''' ===
@@ Line 10: / Line 15: @@
 * Parameter files for RadxBeamBlock.
 === '''Digital elevation model data''' ===

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 RadxBeamBlock estimates the amount of beam blockage due to terrain near a radar.
-=== Prerequesites ===
+=== '''Prerequesites''' ===
 The following items are required:
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 * Parameter files for RadxBeamBlock.
-=== Overview ===
+=== '''Overview''' ===
 Overall, RadxBeamBlock takes elevation data, the radar location, and radar characteristics to estimate how much blockage occurs due to terrain.
-=== Digital elevation model data ===
+=== '''Digital elevation model data''' ===
 The supported digital elevation models include Shuttle Radar Topography Mission and ESRI grid data (spheroid). SRTM data can be found online '''[http://dds.cr.usgs.gov/srtm/version2_1/SRTM3 here]'''.
-=== Radar location and characteristics ===
+=== '''Radar location and characteristics''' ===
 The radar location requires the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the antenna (ground level + radar height). In addition, characteristics including the wavelength, beamwidth, gate spacing, azimuths, and elevation angles are required.
-=== Parameter files ===
+=== '''Parameter files''' ===
 RadxBeamBlock uses one parameter file. Compared to other Radx applications, the RadxBeamBlock parameter file requires just a few edits in order to run. Most of the parameters that need to be changed relate to the radar characteristics.
-==== 1) Main parameter file ====
+==== '''1) Main parameter file''' ====
-===== Ensure file is up to date =====
+===== '''Ensure file is up to date''' =====
 To obtain the default parameter file, use the following command:
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 <code lang="bash">/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxBeamBlock -params orig_param_file_name -print_params &gt; new_param_file_name</code>
-===== Important parameters =====
+===== '''Important parameters''' =====
 Input params
@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 * output_format: select the preferred file type (usually CFRADIAL)
-=== Running RadxBeamBlock ===
+=== '''Running RadxBeamBlock''' ===
 To check all command line options for RadxBeamBlock, including debugging options and file paths, type the following command into a terminal.

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 To obtain the default parameter file, use the following command:
-<code lang="bash">lrose -- RadxBeamBlock -print_params &gt; param_file_name</code>
+<code lang="bash">/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxBeamBlock -print_params &gt; param_file_name</code>
 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:
-<code lang="bash">lrose -- RadxBeamBlock -params orig_param_file_name -print_params &gt; new_param_file_name</code>
+<code lang="bash">/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxBeamBlock -params orig_param_file_name -print_params &gt; new_param_file_name</code>
 === Important parameters ===
@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 = Running RadxBeamBlock =
-To check all command line options for RadxRate, including debugging options and file paths, type the following command into a terminal.
+To check all command line options for RadxBeamBlock, including debugging options and file paths, type the following command into a terminal.
-<code lang="bash">lrose -- RadxBeamBlock -h</code>
+<code lang="bash">/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxBeamBlock -h</code>
 Once your parameter file is complete, use a command similar to the following to run the application:
-<code lang="bash">lrose -- RadxBeamBlock -params param_file_name</code>
+<code lang="bash">/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxBeamBlock -params param_file_name</code>