McIDAS-X Learning Guide
Version 2020

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MD Files - Searching MD Files

The SFCLIST and UALIST commands list out weather observations in an easy to read tabular format. The default for these commands is to list the observations from the current day and time from the real-time datasets. By specifying the TIME, DAY, and DATASET keywords, you will can access specific data in other datasets. If you need to specify which parameters to list, or want to change the format of the output extensively, you will have to use the PTLIST command.

In this exercise, you will use the SFCLIST and UALIST commands to list out weather data for Wilmington, North Carolina, as well as for the entire state of North Carolina. You will then use the PTLIST command to format the data more specifically.

  1. List 12 hours of surface hourly data for Wilmington, North Carolina for today. (DAY=#Y uses string replacement for the current day. Strings will be discussed in String Tables.) The default dataset is used, RTPTSRC/SFCHOURLY.
    Type:  SFCLIST KILM TIME=0 12 DAY=#Y
  2. List the surface hourly data for North Carolina at 18 UTC, including the windchill, heat index and precipitation information.
    Type:  SFCLIST NC TIME=18 DAY=#Y OPT=CHILL HEAT PRECIP
  3. List the upper-air data from 00 UTC at Newport, North Carolina.
    Type:  UALIST KMHX 00 #Y
  4. List the station identifier (ID), temperature (T) and dew point (TD) of the matching observations for North Carolina at 15 UTC today. Display the temperature and dew point in Fahrenheit. The PARAM keyword defines what data types in the matching records to list and the SELECT keyword defines which records to match. You must surround the SELECT variable with single quotes and separate individual select clauses with semicolons.
    Type:  PTLIST RTPTSRC/SFCHOURLY PARAM=ID T[F] TD[F] SELECT='ST NC;TIME 15' FORMAT=X I6 I6 NUM=ALL
  5. List all records between 9 UTC and 12 UTC for today in Wilmington, North Carolina.
    Type:  PTLIST RTPTSRC/SFCHOURLY SELECT='ID KILM;TIME 9 12' NUM=ALL
    The ALL parameter lists all reporting stations in the MD file that match the criteria. Without the ALL parameter only the first match is listed. Also, without the PARAM= keyword, the raw records are listed.


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