MADIS Applications Program Interface

Overview

The MADIS Application Program Interface (API) is a library of subroutines, callable from Fortran, which provides access to all of the observation and quality control (QC) information in the MADIS database available from ESRL/GSD (referred to as the "FSL database" in the API documentation), and/or other supported meteorological databases (i.e., the NWS AWIPS netCDF database). In general, the API is very easy use to with only three basic subroutine calls required to access any single dataset. Optional subroutine calls serve to further refine or limit the information provided by the basic routines.

For users who do not want to write Fortran programs, but would like easy access to the ESRL/GSD or AWIPS data, utility programs for each dataset are included in the API package. These programs can be used to read station information, observations, and QC information for a single time, and dump these to an output text file. The operation of each program is controlled by a text parameter file that allows the user to exercise all of the options included in the MADIS system. The programs can be run as needed to access any ESRL/GSD or AWIPS data stored on the user's system, or can be run as a time-scheduled task to get data keyed to the current time.

The utility programs (written in Fortran) are also meant to serve as tutorials that demonstrate how users can use the MADIS API calls to write their own Fortran programs. An additional tutorial program is included that demonstrates how all datasets might be read in together for use in an hourly data assimilation cycle.

Programs (user-written or the MADIS utility programs) that use the API can optionally be built with the OPeNDAP/DODS netCDF client library in place of the normal netCDF library. This would allow you to use the same software to access MADIS netCDF files stored on your local disk or served over the web from the MADIS OPeNDAP server.

Information

Software Download

The current version release is 3.6, November 21, 2007.

Archive Script Package

For users who want to download and then process a lot of data from the MADIS archive (e.g., weeks-to-years), scripts are available to help you set up the ftp get commands, and to run the MADIS API software to process the files after you have downloaded them. The scripts are only available for Linux/Unix, but Windows users who have perl and the Linux/Unix "sh" shell (which is included as part of the MADIS API), could use the scripts as well. Documentation on how to use the scripts is embedded.

To download the script package, click here.

Last updated 21 December 2007.
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