RadxMesoCyclone

RadxMesoCyclone identifies mesocyclones in radar data.

Overview

RadxMesoCyclone identifies mesocyclones in radar data.

Prerequesites

The following items are required:

• MDV radar files

Parameter file

RadxMesoCyclone uses one parameter file that includes the input/output directories and optical flow algorithm parameters.

Ensure file is up to date

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

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

Important parameters

Parameters

• fixed_const: fixed constants that are interpreted by user functions
• user_data: non-gridded data names
• volume_before_filter: volume filters to apply before the sweep filters; all filters can be viewed with the -print_operators parameter
• filter: sweep filters to apply; all filters can be viewed with the -print_operators parameter
• volume_after_filter: volume filters to apply after the sweep filters

Running RadxMesoCyclone

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

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

To see all the filtering options for RadxMesoCyclone, type the following command into a terminal.

/path/to/lrose/install/bin/RadxMesoCyclone -print_operators

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

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

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

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