| Type |
Software Package
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|---|---|
| Webpage | |
| Description |
The CoastWatch Utilities let users work with earth science data created by NOAA CoastWatch / OceanWatch. Users can easily view and convert data in various formats: HDF 4, NOAA 1b, and NetCDF 4. The software has both interactive and batch processing tools. |
| Screenshot |
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Software Features
The CoastWatch Utilities let users work with earth science data created by NOAA CoastWatch / OceanWatch. Users can easily view and convert data in various formats: HDF 4, NOAA 1b, and NetCDF 4. The software has both interactive and batch processing tools. The functionality includes:
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, land masks.
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.
The CoastWatch Utilities are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
Table of Contents
New in Version 3.8.0
(Replaces version 3.7.1 (b1230))
Updates:
- A new file format of latitude/longitude location lists was added for use in cwrender and CDAT, where only ESRI shapefiles were previously supported.
- Initial beta support for ESRI point shapefiles was added to CDAT
- A new --marker option was added to cwrender to label user-specified locations with a point symbol and text label.
- The cwrender tool --size option now accepts a number of rows and columns for the output image size
- A new command line tool named cwtools was created to list all the tools and their functions
- The cwimport tool now has a --nogroup option to eliminate the group structure if found in imported data files. It has also been modified to better preserve earth location data in imported level 2 swath files
- A new command line tool named cwtccorrect was created to help with visualizing top-of-atmosphere true color data from VIIRS, MSI, OLCI, and user-defined sensors. The correction accounts for molecular (Rayleigh) scattering and gaseous absorption (water vapor, ozone).
- The cwstats tool --factor option now accepts values in %.
- The cwrender, cwexport, and CDAT tools have all been updated to default to writing GeoTIFF data using the deflate compression algorithm.
- CDAT has been updated to ignore any group name prefix when searching for range and palette preferences by variable name. This helps with visualizing data variables that can occur both in a hierarchical group structured file or a file with no groups.
Note that the Java Virtual Machine (VM) may have been updated. If you're using the Linux "no-VM" package, you'll need a VM (recommended version is OpenJDK 17 or higher) from https://jdk.java.net/.
See the User's Guide Appendix G for a list of major updates and bug fixes.
Screenshots
The following are screenshots from the CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool (CDAT):
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Downloads
Download the packages below. For help with installation, consult the Installation Notes section of the User's Guide. Please submit errors or bug reports to coastwatch.info@noaa.gov. A MD5 checksum for the packages listed below is provided: md5sums
| Operating system | Architecture | Package | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | 64-bit | Visual C++ Redistributable Package (prerequisite for Windows users) | |
| Linux | 64-bit |
| |
| Mac OS X | 64-bit | cwutils-3_8_0_457-macosx-x86_64.dmg | |
| ** The installation packages for the CoastWatch Utilities were made possible by the generous donation of a license for the install4j multi-platform installer builder by ej-technologies. ** | |||
Documentation
- CoastWatch Data Analysis Tool Demo
- CoastWatch Software Library and Utilities User’s Guide Version 3.8.0
- Encoding CoastWatch Satellite Data in NetCDF using the CF Metadata Conventions
- Comparison of Metadata Standards
Presentations
2021
The CoastWatch Utilities, presented at the CoastWatch/OceanWatch/PolarWatch Annual Meeting, September 2021, East Coast Node, Virtual Meeting. Topics covered: Overview, Improvements [NetCDF I/O, Registration, Documentation, Cloud Enhancements]. (CW_Utils_2021.pdf)
2019
The CoastWatch Utilities, presented at the CoastWatch/OceanWatch/PolarWatch Annual Meeting, May 2019, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Topics covered: speed improvements, software development process and functionality, terrain correction. (cw_utilities_2019.pdf)
2017
The CoastWatch Utilities, presented at the CoastWatch/OceanWatch/PolarWatch Annual Meeting, July/August 2017, Santa Cruz, California. Topics covered: historical data products/distribution/software, software development process and functionality, packages available, latest beta version. (cw_utilities_2017.pdf)
CDAT Demo Annual Meeting, topics covered include: software distribution page, opening data files, enhancement & palettes, overlays, surveys, masking, full screen mode, export to PNG and PDF.
2016
The CoastWatch Utilities, presented at the CoastWatch/OceanWatch Meeting, January 2016, Miami, Florida. Topics covered: current software functionality and packages, development history, code architecture, and in-progress features. ( cw_utilities_2016.pdf)
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.
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.
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.
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).
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 Analysis 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.
