lats4d

[Mike Bosilovich]

I have to admit an ignorance to some of the inner workings of Grads
development. But I am quite surprised to hear that lats4d is not presently
supported in Grads 2.

I have been using Grads for 10 years now (I can still recall the relief
after years of ncargf77 programming :-) Of course, I still write code when
appropriate, but grads and lats4d have been the main tools in my work.
Lats4d fills a critical void. By pointing it at any grads formatted file
(netcdf, hdf, binary or grib), I can reformat the data to what ever a
colleague may need. I can also, easily, no, effortlessly subset variables
space or time. Coupled with a call to regrid, this subsetting utility is
beyond compare. In a c shell, it can rip through huge data files with
simplicity. I hope this does not sound like exaggeration, lats4d is the
strongest data tool I have used.

In our office, we have just begun production of a new reanalysis data
product. While it will take some time to complete, we are beginning to
develop examples on how users can access and analyze the data. Comparison
with other reanalyses is obvious and will be in high demand. To accomplish
that, they will need to regrid our data sets to the existing coarser
reanalysis data sets. Or, they may need to change the format out of our
native HDF. The easiest way to explain to others how to do this is with
lats4d.

There will be 100Tb of reanalysis data available through a GDS. With Lats4d
and gradsdods (or gradsdap), this would be much more accessible. Users, with
some examples, will access the data through online capabilities, rather than
bulk downloading of the native HDF files (a throttle may be needed for
access if that is the preferred by users). In addition, a plan is being
prepared to develop a DVD, similar to the NCEP reanalyses CD and NARR DVD.
Personally, I would like to see a flavor of grads and lats4d included
therein (admittedly, I have not gotten to discuss this with the grads
developers yet).

It doesn't stop there. At AMS last week, NCEP and NCDC held a town hall
meeting to discuss their plans for the next reanalyses. They expect to have
nearly 1000Tb of data from three different reanalyses, and their production
has also started. I don't see storage as a barrier, but bandwidth is. Too
many users making too many big requests will limit accessibility. Lats4d
access to their GDS will become an important function.

Again, I have to admit I do not know the extent of the issues here. By
necessity, I will have to use versions of grads that include lats4d not only
in my work, but as I show other how to use our data. I felt the need to
speak up and I hope that these issues will be considered.

A sincere grads and lats4d user,

Mike Bosilovich
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