RadxQc

RadxQc performs general quality control on Radx-supported files.

Overview

RadxQc performs quality control operations on Radx-supported files, can add the QC fields to the output, and can optionally censor the input data based on results of the QC.

Prerequesites

The following items are required:

• Radar data (any Radx supported format, e.g., cfradial)

Parameter file

RadxQc uses one parameter file that includes circuit and analysis parameters.

Ensure file is up to date

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

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

Important parameters

Data input

• input_dir: directory containing radar data (if not specified on the command line and if mode = REALTIME)
• 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)

Input field information

• VARIABLE_field_name: tells RadxRate the polarimetric variable names in the ingested cfradial files
• NCP_available: determines if NCP data is in the file for use in locating RLAN interference (uses spectrum width if unavailable)
• SNR_available: determines if SNR data is in the file or needs to be calculated from DBZ
• ZDR_available: determines if ZDR data is in the file
• LDR_available: determines if LDR data is in the file
• PHIDP_available: determines if PHIDP data is in the file
• RHOHV_available: determines if RHOHV data is in the file

Compute KDP

• KDP_fir_filter_len: Filter length applied to PHIDP

Precip-induced attenuation correction for DBZ and ZDR

• apply_precip_attenuation_correction: select whether to apply attenuation correction for DBZ and ZDR

Locating RLAN interference

• locate_rlan_interference: select whether to locate gates with RLAN interference (particularly applies to C-band)

Locating sea clutter

• locate_sea_clutter: select whether RadxQc should locate gates with sea clutter

Computing PID

• compute_PID: select whether to compute the PID classification
• pid_thresholds_file_path: file path for the PID thresholds file

Sounding input for PID temperature profile

• use_soundings_from_spdb: tells RadxQc whether to override the sounding in the pid thresholds file with SPDB data
• PID_sounding_spdb_url: path to SPDB sounding data

Specifying field names and output encoding

• output_fields: list all fields you wish to have saved to the output files

Censoring based on input field values

• censoring_input_fields: list fields, values, and combination method for censoring output data

Specifying fields for censoring

• write_censored_fields_to_output: select whether to write censored fields to output file
• censored_output_fields: list of fields to be censored

Output file format

• output_format: select the preferred file type (usually CFRADIAL)

Volume output

• write_output_volume: select whether to write the results to an output file
• output_dir: files will be written to this directory

Running RadxQc

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

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

Once your parameter file is complete, use a command similar to the following to run the application. Note: this command will not work for the FILELIST mode.

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

If using FILELIST mode, the user needs to specify the location of cfradial files using the -f flag:

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