TOWR-S RPM v21 & Earlier

AWIPS TOWR-S RPM Version 21 is Now Available


TOWR-S RPM Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q. What's new and where can I find more information?
A: AWIPS TOWR-S RPM version 21 has been released as of May 27 2021, and is available for sites to install.  Version 21 features full-resolution GOES Geocolor imagery RGBs and the Mesoscale Sector (1-min) Fire/Hotspot Detection products for GOES-16 and GOES-17.  The full disk Geostationary Lightning Mapper gridded products are retained. The S-NPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS Active Fires and CIMSS GOES Turbulence Probability products and data flow are also retained. Additional details are in this presentation link.

Q. Where are the installation instructions?
A: Here is a link to the instructions.

Q. Can you expand on the availability of GOES Geocolor?  I'm familiar with the CIRA Geocolor that has been available through the DAM. Is this this same thing?
A:  This update provides an "RGB-on-the-fly" Geocolor at each WFO to replace the current Geocolor that flows via the Data Add-ons Manager (DAM), relieving data flow pressure on the regional LDM.  The same CIRA Geocolor algorithm will be provided for GOES-16 and GOES-17 at Full Disk, Conus, Meso, Alaska and Puerto Rico sectors. The Full disk will be at 6km nadir resolution, and all other scenes are at 0.5 km resolution.  The CIRA Geocolor up to now via the DAM has been provided at 1-km resolution for the CONUS and PACUS sectors.  

Q.  How do we get the new Geocolor flowing on our system, and what about the performance..will it load quickly?
A:  The "RGB-on-the-fly" Geocolor involves a new site-level configuration to process existing GOES imagery bands locally as they arrive from the Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN) into three components (one each for red, green, and blue) which are then sent to the AWIPS (edex) processor.  While typical RGBs in AWIPS are computed as a menu item is selected, the individual Geocolor components are computed upstream, prior to ingest. The load-times for the Geocolor will therefore load faster than other complex RGBs, and be comparable to loading times for individual imagery bands.  The procedure is in final checkout at three sites, and instructions will be posted to the Site Preparation section of the TOWR-S RPM pages as soon as possible.


​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Q.  Should we wait until the Geocolor procedure is available before loading up TOWR-S RPM v21?
​​​​​​​A:  You can load up the new v21 at any time and it is independent of the Site Prep steps.  You may have empty menus until site preparation is completed (e.g. empty for Geocolor RGBs).  By installing v21 now, the additional new features will be available now (e.g. Meso Fire sector products, improved performance due to menu updates, etc).


​​​​​​​Q. What's new with the GOES Fire products?
​​​​​​​A:  A new meso-scale sector has been added for the GOES Fire/Hotspot products for GOES-16 and GOES-17 mesos.  These will update at a 1-minute cadence and include a fire mask field that provides confidence level and other information when sampling (e.g. high possibility fire, cloudy fire). The Meso fire products are currently sourced from the regional LDM until they are transitioned to other operational paths such as the SBN and/or data delivery.

 

Q. What happened to the Conus/Pacus GLM menu items?
​​​​​​​A:  Conus/Pacus GLM has been replaced by the Full Disk GLM as of TOWR-S RPM v20 (Nov '20). These can be found from the Full Disk East/West sub-menus under "GLM products."

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Q. How does the Full Disk Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) compare with the CONUS GLM we had been receiving?
​​​​​​​A: The Full Disk GLM, retained in Version 21, consists of flash extent density (FED) with the same "look and feel" of the previous FED.   Full Disk GLM also includes minimum flash area (MFA), and total optical energy (TOE) for all sites.  MFA has replaced the Average Flash Area (AFA) a number of sites had received for evaluation, along with the TOE and FED.   FD GLM arrives as tiles (1 tile per file) that are processed over the full disk domains for GOES-East and GOES-West.  Unlike the Conus/PACUS gridded GLM images, Full Disk GLM is processed as a set of 62 tiles which make up a scene (analogous to GOES imagery tiles).  For bandwidth considerations, most of the geographic areas of the Southern Hemisphere are filtered out in the data stream sent from Central Region. If there is no lightning recorded by the instrument over a region covered by a tile, then that tile will not be transmitted for the given time.  Like the Conus/Pacus GLM which came before it, Full Disk products are currently sent across the regional LDMs.  Full disk GLM, like Conus/Pacus products are also provided at 1-minute and 5-minutes, each with 1-minute updates. A Quick Guide on GLM Full Disk Gridded Products is at this link. Here are also GLM Minimum Flash Area, GLM Data Quality, and GLM Full Disk Quick Guide links.

​​​​​​​Q. I installed the latest TOWR-S RPM but am not seeing the new data advertised for this release (e.g. no Geocolor under the different Sectors).
​​​​​​​A:  Data is sourced from the Regional HQ local data managers (LDMs). Be sure to update LDM configurations.  See the site preparation page.​​  Geocolor site preparation will be added soon. The exception to LDM sourcing is a set of polar Microwave products: GCOM AMSR2 Ocean and Microwave Imagery, as well as a number of NOAA-20 MiRS ATMS derived products which have been added into the satellite sub-menus beginning in v20. Data flow for these polar products will be available via Data Delivery subscriptions.  Log in to the NWS CLC website here and search for "Data Delivery Focal Point" for more general information on setting up subscriptions. ​​​​​​​

​​​​​​​Q. I haven't updated the TOWR-S RPM in a long time. What if we skipped a release or two?
​​​​​​​A:  It's no problem--installing the latest RPM is the way to go. The TOWR-S RPM releases are stand-alone, cumulative, and independent of any previous version (including if you have an older version that may contain "goesr-wfo" or "GLM-ext" in the name).  It is important to remove any previously installed version before installing the latest.  See the install instructions.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Q. How many TOWR-S RPMs should be installed?
​​​​​​​A:  Just one. There is only one TOWR-S RPM file to install, and currently it is version 21.  It should replace any previous TOWR-S RPM after the old one is first removed.  Version 21 has been staged by the NCF to sites' AWI​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​PS, see dx1: /data/fxa/INSTALL/towr-rpm/awips2-towrs-satVer21-19.3.3-21.noarch.rpm.  The 19.3.3 in the name refers to the earliest version of the baseline to which it will install.  The 21 in the name refers to the version number.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Q. Our site's AWIPS baseline is still on 19.3.5 but will be going to 20.2.3 in the near future. Should we wait to install? Will we have to re-install the TOWR-S RPM v21 when the site upgrades?
​​​​​​​A:  You shouldn't have to re-install.  The RPM is compatible with baseline AWIPS 19.3.x and 20.2.x.  The site configurations should remain in the site-localized directories. However, upon upgrading to 20.2.3, there are some LDM configuration steps that are covered in the AWIPS Living Release Notes (see DCS 21477 under the OB 20.2.1 tab), as well as in the Site Preparation section of the TOWR-S pages. These cover two new patterns that have been added to the baseline, and should therefore be removed from the dx1:/usr/local/ldm/etc/ pqact.conf .xyz template file, followed by running the config LDM scripts.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Q. GOES-West Fog and Low Stratus (FLS) is mentioned in the site-prep, but where is the data?
​​​​​​​A:  GOES-West FLS for the PACUS sector was approved for addition to the Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN), also known as NOAA port.  Once the products are deemed operational by NESDIS, they will begin to flow, approximately in July 2021.  The LDM configuration (available now in Site Prep) will enable data flow and is compatible with the current TOWR-S RPM Version 21.  GOES-West FLS will populate the menu under Satellite->GOES-East and GOES-West By Sector->West Conus->Derived Products.

Q. What happened to the Conus/Pacus GOES Satellite Combos that were under the Satellite Menu?
​​​​​​​A:  In Version 20, a number of Conus/Pacus GOES imagery Combos were introduced. An AWIPS CAVE performance (memory leak) issue was uncovered for these menu items, associated with a legacy blended time matching feature.  A ticket is open to address this performance issue. Until resolved, simpler, single-sector imagery products are included under the main Satellite and Local Options menu sections.
​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​Q. Are there more details on SCATSAT?
​​​​​​​A:  SCATSAT sea surface wind vectors became available in Version 20 and flowed out via the Regional LDM.  There has been an issue upstream at the source and we've been told these will no longer be available.  The SCATSAT configurations are removed in Version 21, and site-prep instructions walk through the removal of the data flow patterns.

​​​​​​​Q. Where did the GOES Cryosphere (Ice) products from Version 20 go (Ice Concentration/Thickness and Ice Motion)?
​​​​​​​A:  GOES ice products were part of an evaluation last winter while they were in a "beta" (Ice Motion) and "provisional" (Ice Concentration/Thicness) maturity level.  The data flow from the regional LDM has been turned off due to the changing of seasons and as next-steps based upon the evaluation are considered. The configurations remain in Version 21, but the menu items are hidden.

​​​​​​​Q. Are there more details on the CIMSS Turbulence product?
​​​​​​​A:  The CIMSS Turbulence Probability product is retained in Version 21.  To view the product select Satellite->GOES-East and GOES-West By Sector-> East Conus (or West Conus)->Derived Products->Turbulence Probability (UWSSEC). The product has been developed by CIMSS for the Full Disk, with a turbulence probability map (in units of percent) at a 10-minute cadence. TOWR-S has processed the Full Disk product into tiled, Conus and Pacus sectors to preserve bandwidth, and these are available through the Regional LDMs​​​​​​​. Additional information can be found in a September 2020 session of the Satellite Book Club presented by Tony Wimmers of CIMSS. 

​​​​​​​Q. Are there more details on the VIIRS Active Fires product?
​​​​​​​A:  The S-NPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS Active Fires products are available in Version 20.  To view the product select Satellite-> S-NPP and NOAA-20->Derived Products->S-NPP/NOAA-20 VIIRS Active Fires (LDM). The product is operationally available and processed into a format that is compatible with AWIPS and transmitted through the regional LDMs. Here is a link to a presentation with more examples and details.

Q. There are Legacy GOES-15 menu items under Satellite.  Are these going to populate with data?
​​​​​​​A:  ​​​​​​​Although GOES-15 has been de-activated, NESDIS plans to activate the imagery temporarily when GOES-17 (GOES-West) Infrared bands become degraded by seasonal loop heat pipe effects.  Therefore, the menus and configurations remain in AWIPS. The GOES-15 imagery will populate in the AWIPS menus during these times, and activation time(s) will be announced in advance.

Q. What is the sourcing of all of the datasets (e.g. Satellite Broadcast Network, LDM..)?
​​​​​​​A:  ​​​​​​​Here is a run-down of the sources for TOWR-S RPM-associated data sets:  The following flow out from the Central Region Local Data Manager (LDM), to either forecast offices (if in Central Region), or to other Regional LDMs, where they are then configured for the sites from that region's LDM:  GOES-East and GOES-West Full Disk Geostationary Lightning Mapper, GOES-East and GOES-West Conus Turbulence probability, GOES-East and GOES-West Meso-sector Fire/Hotspot, VIIRS Active Fires, and GOES Cryosphere products (these are not currently flowing).  In addition, the RPM provides configurations for a number of Polar Microwave products (AMSR-2 Imagery/Ocean surface wind Speed, as well as a number of NOAA-20 derived products).  These products will be available from Data Delivery (Log in to the NWS CLC website here and search for "Data Delivery Focal Point" for more general information on setting up subscriptions.).  Finally, a number of GOES-West derived product items remain empty. With the exception of GOES -West Derived Motion Winds that arrive from the SBN, and the GOES-West mesoscale-1 and -2 Fire/Hotspot products (now available via LDM), the remaining products are available via Data Delivery.   

 

For the sake of continuity, each office is highly encouraged to install the new TOWR-S RPM. Eventually, these improvements will be in AWIPS baseline releases.

Questions?

If you have any issues installing the RPM, or for any other questions or feedback, please do not hesitate to contact Lee Byerle (lee.byerle@noaa.gov), or John Evans (john.d.evans@noaa.gov), or you can reach us through the NWS Chat by joining the “towr-s” group.