Source for GENS datasets

[Wesley Ebisuzaki]

Brian Gaze wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can anyone advise on the best location to download the GENS (GFS) GRIB
> datasets? I've found the following http location, however, it seems
> slow to update and sometimes does not list all of the days runs.
>
> http://nomad5.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/gens/archive/
>
> The alternative I've seen is the ftp source (see
> http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/products/gens/ ) but I'd prefer to
> stick to http download if there is a viable source.
>
> Does anyone know of other http locations where these files can be
> downloaded from?
>
> Thanks
>
> Brian
Brian,

    NCO has http access to their FTP server.  You can find the GENS data at

                  http://www.ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/data/nccf/com/gens/prod/

This server is run by NCEP Central Operations (NCO) and should be more
reliable than the nomad-ncep servers.
If you want .inv files for fast downloading (NCO calls them .idx files),
ask NCO.  As far as I know, they
have been very good in adding .idx files.

(( For those who aren't familiar with .inv files, they are wgrib
inventories of grib files.  With the proper
software, one can randomly download selected records from a http
server.  That can save huge amounts
of download time.  See
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/wesley/fast_downloading_grib.html))

          Wesley