What's new?

06/22/2011: Version 1.41 supports WSR-88D Level II Build 12 format.

07/24/2008: Version 1.39 supports WSR-88D Level II Build 10 format.

02/15/2006: Version 1.34 supports WSR-88D Level II Build 8 format.

RSL can read both the old and new WSR-88D Level II data format.

Version 1.33 supports WSR-88D Level II Build 5 format.

RSL can read both the old and new WSR-88D Level II data format.

Version 1.25 release (what's new since v1.24).

Merged changes from version 1.24.1.  Also, HDF routines are back as not having them in the library caused more problems than it was worth.  But, the most significant change is that the entire package is configured by the configure script (provided).  Building the package is done in two steps.  This is a dramatic improvment over previous releases.

Version 1.24.1 release (what's new since v1.24).

Removed the HDF component.  Those routines are now part of gvs, where they belong.  However, basic support in RSL_anyformat_to_radar will exist for HDF -- it will still recognize an HDF file and call RSL_hdf_to_radar.  RSL_hdf_to_radar is located in gvs/gvslib.  To configure HDF into RSL, specify -DHAVE_TSDIS_TOOLKIT in the Makefile.

Added project[24] to the radar->h structure.

Version 1.23 release (what's new since v1.18).

RSL now accpets the EDGE format.  See RSL_edge_to_radar.  KDP definition changed.  It now normalizes the value based on the radar wavelength.  A bug in the RADTEC ingest routine was removed.  Other than that, mostly bug fixes that were very minor.  Added RSL_set_color_table and RSL_get_color_table.  These routines permit better user control of the color table.

Version 1.18 release (what's new since v1.15).

This version adds the RADTEC format ingest routine.  See RSL_radtec_to_radar.  RADTEC requires the use of the PKWARE Data Compression Library, available from PKWARE, Inc., http://www.pkware.com.  Also made several minor bug fixes and the image generation was enhanced to allow generation of images out to the range specified.  Previously,  image pixels were 1km, now they are range/radius.

Version 1.15 release (what's new since v1.14).

This version  adds  the RAPIC format ingest routine.  See RSL_rapic_to_radar.  A data truncation bug was fixed in the UF ingest.  This bug only affects the velocity data.  The Lassen ingest no longer depends on (radar->h.name),  for calibration of Gunn Point data.  It is now done based on time periods of the data.  Please see the CHANGES file for more information.

Version 1.14 release (what's new since v1.11).

This version continues the minor bug fixes to the HDF component.  Additionally, it includes calibration for the Gunn Point radar, in Lassen format.   The distinction of Gunn Point data from other lassen data is done by assumming the radar name (radar->h.name) is 'Gunn_Pt'.  Please see the CHANGES file for more information.

Version 1.11 release (what's new since v1.8).

Version 1.9 represented a bug fix to the HDF component.  Version 1.10 represented a minor
upgrade, mostly to the HDF component, but, other areas were modified and that's why it is called an upgrade rather than a bug fix.  Version 1.11 represents a minor bug fix release from v1.10.  It only affects the
HDF components.   Please see the CHANGES file for more detailed information regarding what changed.

In version 1.10, ZDR color tables were modifed and a first draft of the South Africa data format ingest routine was added.
 

Version 1.8 release (what's new since v1.7).

Added RSL_read_these_sweeps.  Specify specific sweep numbers for ingest.  This drastically speeds up ingest, if you're only interested in the first or first couple of sweeps.  For example, making base scans images.

Added RSL_load_zdr_color_table.

More HDF mods; more warning messages.

The TRMM Office has fixed several bugs in the TSDIS toolkit. For proper HDF creation, that conforming to TSDIS HDF specifications, you will need toolkit 4.5r1.1. Toolkit 4.5r1.1 is an unofficial release; the TRMM office will pass this out upon request.
 

Version 1.7 release (what's new since v1.6).

This version fixes the lat/lon signs.  Also, lat/lon are added to each ray for UF when extended headers are available in SIGMET files.  Also, the HDF component has changed.  This affects RSL_radar_to_hdf and RSL_hdf_to_radar.

Version 1.6 release (what's new since v1.5).

This version of RSL will work with TSDIS toolkit 4.5r1.  UF now has lat/lon stored for each ray, suitable for moving platforms.  Also, the wsr88d code does not default to KMLB.

Version 1.5 release (what's new since v1.4).

The HDF component has changed again. This version of RSL will work with toolkit 4.0 or toolkit 4.0.1. Version 4.0.1 is an un-official release of the TSDIS toolkit. This version removes the temporary files created during level 1 processing. There was only one file that changed, the file may be obtained from the TRMM Office, upon request.

One minor consistancy check was added to the wsr88d ingest; it checks that the number of bins in a ray is reasonable. This problem usually manifests itself from bad input files.

Version 1.4 release (what's new since v1.0).

The HDF component is in a state of flux. The TSDIS toolkit keeps changing -- the interface keeps changing. The TSDIS toolkit is, in the TRMM Office opinion, not stable. Their latest release is 4.0 and it has fixed many problems. One minor problem remains for level 1 processing: temporary config files are not removed when the toolkit is closed.

RSL is incorporated into a larger package called GVBOX. The latest version of GVBOX is 1.1. GVBOX is a complete ground validation system to generate TRMM GV products on pentium PCs running Linux. GVBOX is available on CDROM.

RSL is now LGPL-ed.

Added the routine RSL_select_fields to reduce memory requirements upon reading data. This works very nicely for LASSEN data where the number of fields is large, however, only 2 or 3 are needed.

Version 1.0 release (what's new since v0.45).

Version 1.0 marks the jump from the previous stable version, version 0.45. A few very minor bugs were encountered and repaired. But, the bulk of this transisition is improved documentation with the addition of a Users Guide. Additionally, the SIGMET ingest was repaired and can now read version 2 files, HDF I/O was added and the LASSEN ingest modified to read version 1.4 files. Version 1.4 LASSEN files were used during the MCTEX experiment. Other than that, no major modifications were made. Technically, version 1.0 is a minor upgrade to RSL 0.45. But, due to the witnessed stability of RSL, it was decided to call it version 1.0.
 

Can read compressed files automatically (new since v0.41)

Transparent, to all ingest routines the capability of filtering the input data file through the GNU gzip program for decompressing the file has been added. This feature does not appear to slow the I/O time and, in some cases, especially on 486 pc's, improves overall throughput time. Two generic, internal routines, have been added: compress_pipe and uncompress_pipe. Each routine takes a FILE * and redirects it through gzip. Each routine returns a new FILE *. Wsr88d files occupy 1/10 the disk space when compressed and the TRMM Office plans to compress wsr88d files to CDROM and 8mm tape for overall throughput savings for the production system. It will no longer be necessary to decompress the data before processing level 1.

Similiarly, UF output can be saved using the gzip filter. The new routine added is RSL_radar_to_uf_gzip which utilizes the gzip compression filter.

Can read stdin (new since v0.39)

A new routine is provided called RSL_uf_to_radar_fp which takes an open file descriptor and returns a radar pointer. That file pointer can be stdin. This special interface syntax, for the UF ingest, is an exception to the interfaces that the other ingest routines have. All other ingest routines, including RSL_uf_to_radar, have been modified to read stdin when the input filename is NULL. The complete list of routines is: RSL_wsr88d_to_radar, RSL_nsig_to_radar, RSL_lassen_to_radar, RSL_uf_to_radar, RSL_mcgill_to_radar and RSL_toga_to_radar. The only routine that will not accept stdin will be RSL_anyformat_to_radar. That routine will not be able to handle reading stdin because it needs to read the first few bytes of the file to determine which ingest routine to call. If you plan to make a filter program, you'll just have to know what file format you expect: UF, nsig, wsr88d, etc.