Useful Programs & Tools

EUMETSAT makes available the following set of interactive tools and software programs. The software programs are divided into two groups:

• Freeware software - software freely available for which a signed licence or the formal acceptance of licensing conditions are not required.
• Licensed software - software tool available free of charge but for which a signed licence or the formal acceptance of licensing conditions are required.

Before downloading and using any of the freeware software, please make sure you read, understand and adhere to the conditions  details

Before downloading and using any of the GPL software, please make sure you read, understand and adhere to the conditions

	Tool		Licence		Version		Download		More
	SEVIRI Image Processing & Visualisation Software (MSGView)						Documentation:		details
	Public Wavelet Transform Decompression Library Software (hereafter called "Wavelet Transform Software")		licensed*		2.05				details
	Antenna Pointing/Coordinate Determination Tool		online		-				details
	Coastline program		freeware		1.1		PC: UNIX: Files: All coastline files in ZIP:		details
	EFTS Agents Software		freeware		2.50		Java: Documentation:		details
	OpenMTP Image Reader		freeware		1.0		PC: UNIX: Documentation:		details
	MSG Native Image Reader		freeware		1.1		MSG Native Image Reader: Coastline file (BMP 13.1 MB): Documentation:		details
	SEVIRI Pre-processing Toolbox (SPT) - no longer supported
	Navigation Software for Meteosat-9 (MSG) Level 1.5 VIS/IR data		freeware		-		Fortran 90-Code: C-Code:		details
	Generic EPS-Tools: Eugene		GPL		4.3		C-Code: Documentation:		details NEW
	Generic EPS-Tools: pfs2xml		GPL		3.2		PC:
	Generic EPS-Tools: NOAA2EPSL1B		GPL		3.0		UNIX C-Code:
	Generic EPS-Tools: METOPizer		GPL		3.19.1		UNIX C-Code: MHS-Simulation-Data: Documentation:		details
	Generic EPS-Tools: EPS format IDL readers		GPL		1.1		Code: Files:		details
	Generic EPS-Tools: EPS Format Fortran 90 Readers		GPL		3.0		Code:
	Generic EPS-Tools: ASCAT Level 1b reader		freeware		3.0		Source Code C++:
	Generic EPS-Tools: Kai		GPL		1.8		Source Code: Documentation:		details
	Generic EPS-Tools: EPSView - no longer supported
	Jason-2 NetCDF OGDR Reader Package		freeware		1.2		C Reader: IDL Reader: Fortran Reader:

* Users wishing to utilise these software will need to sign a licence prior to receiving the software.

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Useful Programs and Tools in detail

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WaveLet Transform Software - Licensed

The WaveLet Transform Software is the decompression software used to decompress SEVIRI HRIT and Foreign Satellite data files. The software is compilable on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Solaris Operating Systems, and it works on 32 bits and 64 bits as well as mixed architectures. On Windows, it can be compiled using Eclipse or Cygwin. It is a licensed software and only available upon acceptance of the WaveLet Transform Software Licence, which will be presented to you as part of the electronic registration process.

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Antenna Pointing/Coordinate Determination Tool

The Satellite Dish Pointer / Alignment Calculator helps those who wish to point their antennas at the Meteosat satellites determine the azimuth and elevation coordinates given their latitude/longitude position. It also allows approximate determination of coordinates such as latitude/longitude. Enter the address, postcode, city or geocode for any location on earth, and select the satellite to point to.

The sample images below were created by a program developed by EUMETSAT to overlay coastlines onto VIS/IR/WVchannel JPEG or GIF files. Although EUMETSAT used the PV-WAVEsoftware to achieve this, coastline image files (in GIF format), as well as PV-WAVE source code, are made available as part of the packages below, in order that other software may be used/created to achieve similar results.

Coastline files (PDF, 137 KB)are now available for all satellites and sub-areas.

Figure 2 - Meteosat-7 image with coastlines overlay applied

Figure 3 - Meteosat-6 rapid scan image with coastlines overlay applied

The packages are available for download in PC (zip) and UNIX (tar.gz) packages. Instructions on how to use the program are given within the README file which is part of the download package.

Each package contains the following files:

* requires PV-WAVE to be installed prior to use.

The OpenMTP Image Reader is designed to give the user an inside look into the ascii and binary headers of OpenMTP Imagefiles and also enable him/her to extract the pixel data from the OpenMTP Image files. The reader was written with Java 2 v1.3.1 and can therefore be used on any platform that supports Java 2 V1.3 or higher. It has been tested on Windows NT, Linux and Solaris 2.8.

Figure 4 - OpenMTP Image Reader Software

The Java 2 runtime environment(JRE) v1.3 or higher must be installed on the system that wants to use the reader software BEFORE the OpenMTP Image Reader software is installed. It is recommended that you download the latest available Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) JRE available from http://java.sun.com.

The packages are available for download in PC (zip) and UNIX (tar.gz) packages. Instructions on how to use the program are given within the README file which is part of the download package.

The MSG Native image reader allows visualisation of MSG native images and works under Windows. Please make sure you read the 'readme' file before use.

The EFTS Agents is a collection of processes that do local or remote file transfer, copying, and manipulation. It can be used to:

• Transfer files to or from a remote server using various transfer protocols
• Pre-process files before physically copying or (hard or symbolically) linking them into one or more other directories
• Check remote connections regularly

The EFTS Agents can run as daemon processes with a configurable cycle time, or as 'single-shot' processes.

Typical uses of the software are the following:

• As central collector of files from several directories to one directory from where the files are further processed.
• As distributor of files from one directory to other directories from where the files are further processed.
• As service on a Windows NT/2000/XP PC copying files and pushing them to another server via a file transfer protocol.
• As automatic distributor and archiver for incoming files.
• As server connection checker.
• As file pull agent that gathers files regularly from remote servers.
• As file push agent that transfers files regularly to remote servers.
• As generator of request files for files that are processed by the EFTS Application. The purpose of the EFTS Application is to provide a secure and reliable file transfer mechanism in an ad-hoc manner, rather than a fixed path approach used by the EFTS Agents.

The EFTS Agents software is written in Java and can therefore be used onmultiple platforms without the need of having to recompile the software.

The Java 2 runtime environment (JRE) v1.4 or higher must be installed on thesystem before installing the EFTS Agents software. It is recommended that you download the latest available Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) JRE available from http://java.sun.com.

The SEVIRI Pre-processing Toolbox(SPT) software is a simple set of IDL routines to read the SEVIRI Level1.5 data in the non-graphics file formats distributed by the EUMETSAT Archived Data Retrieval Service. SPT has been primarily developed to support the processing of SEVIRI data by the scientific community.

The navigation software incorporates source code written in FORTRAN90 and Cfor the conversion of image coordinates (pixel column and row) into the corresponding geographical coordinates (Latitude and Longitude) of Meteosat-9(MSG) Level 1.5 VIS/IR data. The theoretical basis for the software is the CGMS LRIT/HRIT Global Specifications

Additional information about how to use the software is given as comments in the source code.

Eugene is a collection of tools for analysing and modifying EPS PFS format products. The analysis tools include multi_validate for performing tests over very large numbers of products, and eugene_text and eugene_stats for a detailed analysis of individual products. Also included is a Python module for reading and writing EPS products from Python scripts, with a selection of sample applications.

Note: As opposed to previous versions of Eugene, versions 4.3 and up can handle ASCAT L1b 10.0 and 11.0 formats, as well as the new ASCAT L2 Soil Moisture products.

The Metopizer is a collection of tools for manipulating Metop CCSDS, CADU and t-VCDU packets and for generating EPS L0 products. Also included are viewers to display text dumps of all packets, and for extracting images from ATOVS, AVHRR and IASI source packets. The latest version of the Metopizer includes a Python module for reading sensor data from EPS L0 ATOVS and AVHRR products into Python scripts.

The following list are the current tools included in the package:

• amsua_to_ccsds. Convert a NOAA L1b AMSU-A product into Metop ISPs
• amsub_to_mhs_ccsds. Convert a NOAA L1b AMSUB product into Metop ISPs with simulated telemetry
• avhrr_to_ccsds. Convert a NOAA L1b AVHRR product into Metop ISPs
• cadu_orbit_splitter. Split a long file of CADU packets into dump sized files
• cadu_displayer. Show a text dump of the header parts of CADU packets
• cadu_to_ccsds. Extract ISPs from a stream of CADU packets
• cadu_to_tvcdu. Transform CADU packets into t-VCDU packets
• ccsds_apid_filter. Process a stream of ISPs and remove a selection based on APID
• ccsds_count_filter. Remove a number of ISPs from the start or end of a stream
• ccsds_demultiplexer. Split a stream of ISPs and create one file per APID
• ccsds_displayer. Command line viewer for ISPs. Can display individual packets or show summary statistics
• ccsds_strip_filter. Filters out ISPs that lie outside a specified time range
• ccsds_seq_fix. Modify sequence counters of ISPs
• ccsds_time_fix. Modify UTC and OBT times of ISPs
• ccsds_to_l0. Generate an EPS L0 product using ISPs as input
• ccsds_corrupt_filter. Apply modifications to common and scientific parts of source packets
• hirs_to_ccsds. Convert a NOAA L1b HIRS product into Metop HIRS ISPs
• metopizer_viewer. Extract instrument samples or time values from EPS L0 Products and display them as a graph or image
• noaa_l1b_displayer. Text display of NOAA L1b products
• tvcdu_displayer. Text display of the header portion of t-VCDU packets
• tvcdu_summarizer. Display summary statistics of a large file of t-VCDU packets
• tvcdu_to_ccsds. Convert a stream of t-VCDU packets to ISPs

IDL, the Interactive Data Language software is ideal for data analysis, visualisation, and cross-platform application development. Many of the built-in features of IDL are designed specifically for remote sensing applications. IDL has been selected to read, process, and analyse the EPS products.

The EPS Product IDL Readers are able to process multiple versions of the product format, and due to its object-oriented design makes them ideal for application development. A basic knowledge of object-oriented programming and IDL is required to make full use of the software once the EPS products are read into memory. For users more familiar with the original procedural read routines a second read routine based on the IDL EPS product readers version 2.0 has been included with this release, the procedural read routine can only read products with fixed sized records (all except GOME L1, GRAS L1, ATOVS L2, and IASI L2).

These read routines are for EPS operational native products ONLY. Products in formats such as HDF, BUFR, GRIB etc. are not supported with this release. Products that have been cropped by band number by the Archive cannot be read (since this changes the format of the products), however products cropped by the Archive using the record start and stop time can be read.

Kai is a tool for processing EPS PFS format products. It has several functions:

• To split a full sized product into non-overlapping 3-minute chunks, simulating the PDUs produced in the EPS Ground Segment.
• To combine PDUs or other fragments of products together into a large product. The input pieces may include overlapping ranges, in which case only the last one specified will be kept.
• To manipulate products at the record level by selectively adding or removing records, for example removing ranges of MDRs or all records of a certain subclass.
• To repair certain format errors in existing products.
• As a basic viewer to display the complete MPHR, SPHR, IPR, GEADR, VEADR and VIADR-L0-OBT2UTC records, and the generic record headers for all other records.

Turkish State Meteorological Service (TSMS) has developed MSG SEVIRI Image Processing & Visualisation Software called MSGView. The software is running on MS Windows Platforms (XP / Vista) and using HDF5 data format. The target audience of the software are forecasters, researchers and especially trainees of satellite meteorology.

Figure 5 - MSG SEVIRI Image Processing & Visualisation Software