Software & Utilities
CoastWatch Software Library and Utilities v3.2.3
The CoastWatch Software Library and Utilities is a package of software tools for working with earth data sets distributed by the NOAA/NESDIS CoastWatch program. The tools allow data users to easily manipulate and visualize data from the newer CoastWatch HDF files (local and network-accessible), the older CoastWatch IMGMAP files (.cwf extension), and NOAA 1b AVHRR. The CoastWatch Utilities use native I/O libraries compiled in 32-bit mode. Currently there is no 64-bit support for Linux.
The CoastWatch Utilities have both graphical tools with a point-and-click interface and command-line tools for use in batch data processing scripts. The tools can perform various types of tasks:
- Information and Statistics
- File contents, statistics computations on variables (for example min, max, mean, standard deviation), direct access to raw file and variable attributes.
- Data Processing
- Data format conversions, compositing, generic variable math, data sampling.
- Graphics and Visualization
- Interactive visualization/analysis, batch image rendering, ancillary graphics creation such as data coverage maps, grids, coastlines, landmasks.
- Registration and Navigation
- Resampling of data from one projection to another, interactive generation of region masters, manual and automatic navigational correction, computation of solar and earth location angles.
- Network
- Data download and server status.
New Features
New features in the 3.2.3 release include:
- Support for NOAA KLMN 1b format AMSU and MHS data files.
- Improved support for GRIB 2 format files.
- Improved performance when working with large ACSPO and CoastWatch HDF swath data files.
Screenshots
The following are screenshots from the CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool (CDAT):
 Figure 1: Thermal AVHRR data showing Typhoon Nida east of the Philippines (Mac) |
 Figure 2: Sea surface temperature from AVHRR off Baja California, Mexico (Mac) |
 Figure 3: Coral Reef Watch sea surface temperature anomaly showing Atlantic and Pacific |
 Figure 4: Global coverage ocean surface windspeed from NASA's QuikSCAT satellite |
Presentations
2003
- The CoastWatch Utilities Version 3, presented at the CoastWatch Node Managers Meeting, October 2003, Glen Arbor, Michigan. Topics covered: Software requirements (website, research, product development), implementation details (survey of all utilities), future work to be done.
- The CoastWatch Data Analyis Tool, presented at the CoastWatch Node Managers Meeting, October 2003, Glen Arbor, Michigan. Topics covered: Target user groups, functionality (data import/export, display, annotation, statistics, preferences), demonstration (not included), future work to be done.
2005
- The CoastWatch Utilities Version 3.2: CoastWatch Data Made Easy, presented at the CoastWatch Node Managers Meeting, October 2005, Pacific Grove, California. Topics covered: Common tasks performed by the utilities, types of documentation available, details on software development (requirements and users), demonstration (not included).
2007
- The CoastWatch Utilities: Ten Years in the Making, presented at the CoastWatch Operations Managers Meeting, June 2007, Annapolis, Maryland. Topics covered: General information about the utilities, features and statistics for the current release (3.2.1), ideas for future releases.
- Ad-hoc Processing with the CoastWatch Utilities, presented at the CoastWatch Operations Managers Meeting, June 2007, Annapolis, Maryland. Topics covered: Extracting information from data files (metadata, statistics, sampling), data processing (reprojection, math), custom code (data interfaces, file interfaces).
- CoastWatch Data in Google Earth: A How-to Guide, presented at the CoastWatch Operations Managers Meeting, June 2007, Annapolis, Maryland. Topics covered: Google Earth features in comparison to CDAT, preparing data images and markup code, demonstration with AVHRR swath and GOES SST data.
2008
- The CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool: Status and Future, presented at the CoastWatch Node Managers Meeting, August 2008, Victoria, BC. Topics covered: history of CDAT and its ongoing development, new features in release 3.2.2, current user stats, future release ideas.
2009
- CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool: Software Design Review, presented to the CoastWatch Program Manager, central operations team, and node operations managers, January 2008. Topics covered: proposed software design including simplified user interface, data aggregation, 4D-aware interface, tile mode and animation support, and geographic feature support.
Download
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