Welcome to the TkRadar home page!

The tkradar project provides several software packages that access radar data. Currently, it consists of three packages:

tclradar - prerequisite for the other packages.
tclsigmet - accesses Sigmet raw products.
tclkoun - accesses KOUN sweeps.
tclcedric - accesses CEDRIC output.

The packages are extensions to Tool Command Language (TCL). If you have a current Unix/GNU sytem, you probably already have it. Look for an application named tclsh, tclsh8.4, or similar (usually in /usr/local/bin or /usr/bin).

The software is distributed under the Open Software License. In brief, there are no restrictions on use of the work. Distributions of the work and derivatives must include the source code.

TclRadar

The tclradar package adds functions used by the other tkradar packages. It does not add any tcl commands or have any associated applications. You must install tclradar before installing any of the other packages.

System Requirements

Unix system
Tcl version 8.4 or later, from www.tcl.tk.
Tclgeomap version 2.10 or later, from tclgeomap?download. For information, go to tkgeomap.org

Download and installation

The current version is 2.6.18. Download tclradar-2.6.18.tar.gz. Extract the files with a command like:

gunzip -c tclradar-2.6.18.tar.gz | tar xf -

You should end up with a directory named tclradar-2.6.18. Go to tclradar-2.6.18/unix and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file to build and install the package.

What you get

The installation will create a library named libtclradar2.6.18.so (the suffix may vary from system to system) and some related headers and man pages. The library contains functions used by the other packages. These functions are described in the tclradar and radar man pages.

TclDORADE

The tcldorade package adds commands that allow tcl to access data from DORADE sweep files. DORADE sweep files are used by the soloii radar editing program.

System Requirements

Unix system
Tcl version 8.4 or later, from www.tcl.tk.
Tclgeomap version 2.10 or later, from tclgeomap?download. For information, go to tkgeomap.org
Tclradar version 2.6 or later, described above.

Download and installation

The current version is 2.4.4. Download tcldorade-2.4.4.tar.gz. Extract the files with a command like:

gunzip -c tcldorade-2.4.4.tar.gz | tar xf -

You should end up with a directory named tcldorade-2.4.4. Go to tcldorade-2.4.4/unix and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file to build and install the package.

What you get

libtcldorade2.4.4.so. This library provides the tcldorade package. When tclsh loads it, it adds a tcl command called ::radar::dorade::read that reads a DORADE sweep file and creates tcl command for the sweep to access the data. The sweep command has subcommands that provide header data, cell values, and export the volume to other files. See the tcldorade (n) man page for details.
dorade_diff_magn. This application attempts to remove the "jiggle" from sweeps in a volume by shifting ray azimuths in the sweeps until the area weighted root mean square reflectivity difference is minimized. See the dorade_diff_magn (1) man page for details.
dorade_plot_cost. This application plots the output from dorade_diff_magn. In addition to tclgeomap and tclradar, this application requires BLT to make the plots and Imagemagick to save them. See the dorade_plot_cost (1) man page for details.
dorade_shift_az. This application applies the azimuth shift that dorade_diff_magn to the sweeps in the volume. See the dorade_shift_az (1) man page for details.
dorade_dump. This application prints the contents of a DORADE sweep file to an ascii stream. See the dorade_dump (1) man page for details.

TclSigmet

The tclsigmet package adds commands that allow tcl to access Sigmet raw product volumes. Raw product volumes are files made by the Sigmet signal processor. The format is described in the programmer's manual at Sigmet's support page.

System Requirements

Unix system
Tcl version 8.4 or later, from www.tcl.tk.
Tclgeomap version 2.10 or later, from tclgeomap?download. For information, go to tkgeomap.org
Tclradar version 2.6 or later, described above.
(Optional) The Sigmet to DORADE converter needs the tcldorade library. If you plan to use the Sigmet to DORADE converter, you must install tcldorade before building tclsigmet.
(Optional) NetCDF from unidata.ucar.edu/package/netcdf. The Sigmet to WDSS-II converter needs the NetCDF library. If you plan to use the Sigmet to WDSS-II converter, you must add --enable-wdssii to the configure call.

Download and installation

The current version is 2.9.9. Download tclsigmet-2.9.9.tar.gz. Extract the files with a command like:

gunzip -c tclsigmet-2.9.9.tar.gz | tar xf -

You should end up with a directory named tclsigmet-2.9.9. Go to tclsigmet-2.9.9/unix and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file to build and install the package.

What you get

The installation will create the following libraries and applications:

libtclsigmet2.9.9.so. This library provides the tclsigmet package. When tclsh loads it, it adds a tcl command called ::radar::sigmet::read that reads a Sigmet raw product volume and creates tcl command for the volume to access the data. The volume command has subcommands that provide header data, bin values, and export the volume to other files See the tclsigmet (n) man page for details.
dump_sigmet. This application prints headers and data from a Sigmet raw product volume to standard output. See the dump_sigmet (1) man page for details.
sigmet_to_dorade. This application creates a set of DORADE sweep files from a Sigmet raw product volume. DORADE files are used by the soloii radar editing program. See the sigmet_to_dorade (1) man page for details.

TclCEDRIC

The tclcedric package adds commands that allow tcl to access CEDRIC output files.

System Requirements

Unix system
Tcl version 8.4 or later, from www.tcl.tk.
Tclgeomap version 2.10 or later, from tclgeomap?download. For information, go to tkgeomap.org
Tclradar version 2.6 or later, described above.

Download and installation

The current version is 2.1.2. Download tclcedric-2.1.2.tar.gz. Extract the files with a command like:

gunzip -c tclcedric-2.1.2.tar.gz | tar xf -

You should end up with a directory named tclcedric-2.1.2. Go to tclcedric-2.1.2/unix and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file to build and install the package.

What you get

libtclcedric2.1.2.so. This library provides the tclcedric package. When tclsh loads it, it adds a tcl command called ::radar::cedric::read that reads a CEDRIC output file and creates tcl command for the sweep to access the data. The sweep command has subcommands that provide header data, and cell values. See the tclcedric (n) man page for details.

TclKOUN

The tclkoun package adds commands that allow tcl to access data from KOUN, which is NOAA's research radar.

System Requirements

Unix system
Tcl version 8.4 or later, from www.tcl.tk.
Tclgeomap version 2.10 or later, from tclgeomap?download. For information, go to tkgeomap.org
Tclradar version 2.6 or later, described above.

Download and installation

The current version is 2.4.4. Download tclkoun-2.4.4.tar.gz. Extract the files with a command like:

gunzip -c tclkoun-2.4.4.tar.gz | tar xf -

You should end up with a directory named tclkoun-2.4.4. Go to tclkoun-2.4.4/unix and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file to build and install the package.

What you get

libtclkoun2.4.4.so. This library provides the tclkoun package. When tclsh loads it, it adds a tcl command called ::radar::koun::read that reads a KOUN sweep file and creates tcl command for the sweep to access the data. The sweep command has subcommands that provide header data, bin values, and export the volume to other files. See the tclkoun (n) man page for details.
dump_koun. This application prints headers and data from a KOUN file to standard output. See the dump_koun (1) man page for details.
koun_to_dorade. This application creates a DORADE sweep file from a KOUN file. DORADE files are used by the soloii radar editing program. See the koun_to_dorade (1) man page for details.