Release Notes for Unidata McIDAS-X/-XCD v2022

March 24, 2022

Unidata McIDAS-X v2022 is a combination of SSEC McIDAS-X v2022.1 and XCD v2022.1, including additional bugfixes developed by the UPC, and various applications and enhancements from the UPC and others. The v2022 release of Unidata McIDAS-X is, in essence, a Unidata modified/updated version of SSEC McIDAS-X/-XCD 2022.1.

SSEC McIDAS-X v2022.1 Release Notes

This page contains significant software modifications included in McIDAS-X version 2022.1. The list includes changes that we think are of greatest interest to sites, so is somewhat subjective.

1. Changed supported system configurations as follows:
   • On Red Hat Enterprise Linux systems, continued support on versions 8.5 Intel and 7.9 Intel.
   • On Apple macOS systems, changed support from v. 11.6 and 10.15 Intel to v. 12.3 with Apple processors and v. 12.2 with Intel.
   • On Windows systems, continued full support of McIDAS-X on Windows 10 with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).
2. Added new calibration and navigation modules for the new MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) ADDE servers. The MTG FCI servers will be released as a preliminary release separate from McIDAS-X. These will be the first operational servers written in Python and will be officially released when they are fully tested with data from the satellite.
3. Updated GOES-R Series ABI and GLM servers with additional bug fixes and enhancements. The changes include:
   • adding the NOAA STAR enhancements used in the GOES Image Viewer to -XRD.
   • updated for support of new variables in Level 2 Aerosol Detection Smoke and Dust fields, as well as in Level 2 & 3 NOAA Vlab GLM products.
4. Updated the VIIRS servers to read VIIRS EDR files and to improve scaling for some bands.
5. Updated the Himawari servers to correctly identify Himawari-9 images and to use a new format of HimawariCast data available from EUMETSAT.
6. The grib servers and GRD* commands were updated to list and display GRIB data with entire atmosphere levels (EATM) and additional sigma levels (SIGM).
7. The mcinet.sh script was updated to allow the McIDAS-X system service to be controlled by systemd or xinetd.
8. Updated the installation files to support macOS on the new Apple silicon processors, and to prepare for future support of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.
9. The NEXR servers and McIDAS-XCD modules were updated to handle the new NEXRAD super resolution WSR Level 3 Products made available in February 2022.
10. The PLAX and PC commands were updated to follow the TERM DMS setting for latitude/longitude output in decimal or degree:minute:second format.
11. Updated station database (file STNDB.CORE) with new and corrected METAR and TAF stations.
12. Updated USCOUNTY.MAP, USSTATE.MAP and USZONE.MAP files with the most recent National Weather Service GIS-AWIPS Shapefile database updates. The US*.MAP files are used by the WWDISP command and the MAP command’s COUNTY=, MARINE=, STATE= and ZONE= keywords.
13. Updated the McIDAS-XRD Package included in the McIDAS-X installation files to include:
    • one new command (DAYNITE, which combines a visible and infrared image at the terminator).
    • 7 new data files (STAR-ABI_*.ET, which are the standard enhancements used in the GOES Image Viewer, where the * represents the enhancement band).

SSEC McIDAS-XCD v2022.1 Notes (all apply to Unidata McIDAS v2022)

• Added the listing and display of GRIB data with: decimal pressure levels between 0 and 1 hPa levels in potential vorticity units (PVU) soil temperature levels in units of meters below ground (MBG)

• Increased the maximum number of text block characters to allow for the listing of large .xml file messages coming across NOAAPORT

• Updated McIDAS-XCD code and configuration files to accommodate the updated McIDAS-X station database file STNDB.CORE that was released in McIDAS-X 2022.1. Most updates are related to Antarctic stations as supplied by the Antarctic Meteorological Research Center (AMRC).

Please send all questions/comments to Unidata McIDAS Support <support-mcidas@unidata.ucar.edu>.