ceil2nc

This program converts Vaisala lidar ceilometer data to netCDF, a widely used format in meteorology and oceanography. The input files may either be specified on the command line:

ceil2nc [options] file2.dat [file2.dat ...]
or read from standard input:
cat file1.dat [file2.dat ...] | ceil2nc [options]
cat file1.dat.gz [file2.dat.gz ...] | gunzip | ceil2nc [options]

Output filenames have the form YYYYMMDD_ct75k.nc.

Options

-prefix s
Put the netCDF files in the directory s.
-date date
Output only data written on the specified data (of the form YYYYMMDD).
-averays n
Average groups of n rays together.
-avegates n
Average every n gates.
-noisefactor f
Set the noise-rejection threshold. The default value is now 4.
-noclean
By default an attempt will be made to get rid of the peculiar speckle noise that very often occurs throughout a whole ray. Specify this option if you like noise.
-user s
The name and email of the person who created the NetCDF file, typically of the form `Joe Bloggs <j.bloggs@radar.com>'.
-location s f1 f2 f3
Specify the location of the lidar: s is the name of the site (e.g. Chilbolton), f1 is the latitude (degrees N), f2 is the longitude (degrees E) and f3 is the altitude above mean sea level (m).
-site s
Use the latitude, longitude and altitude for site s. Currently understood sites are Chilbolton and Cabauw.
-verbose
Print progress information, such as points for each ray processed.
-comment s
A comment to be added to each file as a global attribute.