McIDAS-X User's Guide
Version 2023.1

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AXFORM

Converts a McIDAS Area file to ASCII or binary flat files.


Format

AXFORM area file [keywords]


Parameters

area

area number

file

output file; maximum of 100 characters; specify as a file name or a fully qualified path (directory and file name); do not include an extension with the file name; see the Remarks


Keywords

BANd=

band numbers for a multibanded area (default=first band)

 

ALL

all bands of area

FLIp=

YES

flip bytes; specify this keyword when the byte order on the destination system is the reverse of the source system, e.g., from a PC to a Unix workstation

 

NO

do not flip bytes (default)

FORmat=

I1

output elements are 1-byte integers

 

I2

output elements are 2-byte integers

 

I4

output elements are 4-byte integers

 

(default=see the Remarks)

FTYpe=

ASC

ASCII text files with 25I10 format

 

BIN

binary files, as specified in keyword FORMAT (default)

 

BOTH

both ASCII and binary file types

MISs=

missing data value for .LAT/.LON extension files (default=65535 Hex FFFF)

NAV=

YES  inc

produces .LAT/.LON data files with an element increment; these files contain LAT/LON stored as degrees*100 (2 bytes per element; the increment is the number of data elements associated with each LAT/LON element (default=NO 1)

UNIt=

physical quantity of the output files; see the Remarks (default=calibration units of area)

 

ALL

all calibration units defined by area


Remarks

AXFORM creates a set of files containing data from area. These files can be ported to other non-McIDAS systems. Data is represented as 2-dimensional arrays of binary or ASCII fields with the same dimensions as the original area lines/elements.

An ASCII output text file documents the format of the output data files, and contains a listing for each data file generated. Output files are assigned the extensions below. The definitions for .LAT, .LON, .ALT, and .ALN assume keyword NAV=YES.

Extension Meaning
.HDR header file containing ASCII text describing area and the contents of the output data files
.nnn data file containing binary data for a single calibration of a specific band; the range for nnn is 001 to 999
.Ann data file containing ASCII data for a single calibration of a specific band; the range for nn is 01 to 99
.LAT binary file containing a 2-dimensional array of latitudes corresponding to the elements in the output data files
.LON binary file containing a 2-dimensional array of longitudes corresponding to the elements in the output data files
.ALT ASCII file containing a 2-dimensional array of latitudes corresponding to the elements in the output data files
.ALN ASCII file containing a 2-dimensional array of longitudes corresponding to the elements in the output data files

The defaults for keyword FORMAT are shown below. They assume FTYPE=BIN or BOTH.

If UNIT= Then FORMAT=
BRIT I1 (1-byte integer)
TEMP I2 (2-byte integer)
RAD I4 (4-byte integer)
ALB I2 (2-byte integer)
RAW number of bytes/element from area directory
other I1 (1-byte integer)

Examples

AXFORM 12 GOES_VIS

This entry creates a binary file of brightness values from area 12 and places the information in GOES_VIS.001.

AXFORM 12 GOES_VIS FTYPE=BOTH

This entry creates binary and ASCII files of the brightness values from area 12. The data is placed in GOES_VIS.001 and GOES_VIS.A01.

AXFORM 43 MULTBAND BAND=2 3 5 UNIT=TEMP NAV=YES 45

This entry creates binary files for the TEMP values from bands 2, 3 and 5 of area 43. The information is placed in MULTBAND.001, MULTBAND.002 and MULTBAND.003, respectively. Latitude and longitude grid files are also created and placed in MULTBAND.LAT and MULTBAND.LON. The lat/lon resolution is 1 lat/lon point for every 45 image elements.


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