Tracks2Ascii

Tracks2Ascii prints out storm and track data in ASCII format.

Overview

Tracks2Ascii prints out storm and track data from Titan storms data in ASCII format. The output goes to stdout.

Prerequesites

The following items are required:

• Storms data from Titan

Parameter file

Tracks2Ascii uses one parameter file that includes the input directory and track processing options.

Ensure file is up to date

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

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/Tracks2Ascii -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/Tracks2Ascii -params orig_param_file_name -print_params > new_param_file_name

Important parameters

Data input

• input_dir: path of the directory containing the storms data from Titan
• target_entity: specify the type of desired track, including the whole track (COMPLETE_TRACK), instantaneous properties at regular intervals (TRACK_ENTITY), and the beginning of the track (INITIAL_PROPS)
• use_complex_tracks: option to process tracks with mergers and splits
• use_simple_tracks: option to process only tracks without mergers and splits
• sample_interval: if TRACK_ENTITY selected, specify how often track entry properties are printed out

Running Tracks2Ascii

To check all command line options for Tracks2Ascii, including debugging options and file paths, type the following command into a terminal.

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/Tracks2Ascii -h

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

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/Tracks2Ascii -params param_file_name

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

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/Tracks2Ascii -f /path/to/titan/files/ -params param_file_name