The merge_ABFM.pro routine is written in IDL. It's purpose is to merge all of the following data files from the ABFM project:

- Citation Aircraft File
- Electric Field File
- Microphysics File
- MER ASCII Reflectivity File

Dependencies

merge_ABFM.pro requires the following files and routines to execute:

Data Files
- Microphysics Data File (this is the output from Bill Hall's software)
- Efield Data File (this is the 1 second efield data provided by MSFC)
- Citation Data File (this is the UND Citation flight data)
- Reflectivity File (this is the 1 second reflectivity output from the MER software)

Data Retrieving Routines
- get_micro.pro (this routine retrieves the microphysical data)
- get_comp_efield.pro (this routine retrieves the efield data)
- get_citation.pro (this routine retrieves the citation data)
- get_refl.pro (this routine retrieves the reflectivity data)

Setup File Explanation

merge_ABFM uses a setup file whose default name is 'setup_merge' or specified by the user upon program execution as a command-line argument. Here are some examples: merge_ABFM Execution

The setup file is formatted in the following manner:
description : value
The description cannot have any whitespace chracters in it. It is ok that there is whitespace between the description and the colon, but the actual description cannot contain any whitespace.
It is also important to note that all filenames assume the current directory. For this reason, specifying the full paths of any and all filenames is advised.

setup is a sample setup file.

setup_curr is a sample setup file with a number on each line of the setup file. The following is an explanation of those numbers and each lines' corresponding significance as it pertains to the merge_ABFM software.

Line 1:
This line points to the name of the file that contains the microphysics data.
Line 2:
This line points to the name of the file that contains the efield data.
Line 3:
This line points to the name of the file that contains the aircraft data.
Line 4:
This line points to the name of the file that contains the MER software ascii output data.
Line 5:
This line indicates whether the user provided a microphysics file to be merged. If the user is providing a microphysics file this value should be a 1 otherwise 0.
Note: merge_ABFM has not been tested in a manner other than when this value is 1. It has only been tested while merging all data files. It is expected that the software has the ability to merge only two or three data files but no promises are made.
Line 6:
This line allows the user to choose fields that should not be included in the merged file output. The fields' indices start at 0 and represent a whole column in the microphysics data file to be excluded from final output.
Line 7:
This line indicates whether the user provided an efield file to be merged. If the user is providing an efield file this value should be a 1 otherwise 0.
Note: merge_ABFM has not been tested in a manner other than when this value is 1. It has only been tested while merging all data files. It is expected that the software has the ability to merge only two or three data files but no promises are made.
Line 8:
This line allows the user to choose fields that should not be included in the merged file output. The fields' indices start at 0 and represent a whole column in the efield data file to be excluded from final output.
Line 9:
This line indicates whether the user provided an aircraft file to be merged. If the user is providing an aircraft file this value should be a 1 otherwise 0.
Note: merge_ABFM has not been tested in a manner other than when this value is 1. It has only been tested while merging all data files. It is expected that the software has the ability to merge only two or three data files but no promises are made.
Line 10:
This line allows the user to choose fields that should not be included in the merged file output. The fields' indices start at 0 and represent a whole column in the aircraft data file to be excluded from final output.
Line 11:
This line indicates whether the user provided a reflectivity/Mer output file to be merged. If the user is providing a reflectivity/Mer output file this value should be a 1 otherwise 0.
Note: merge_ABFM has not been tested in a manner other than when this value is 1. It has only been tested while merging all data files. It is expected that the software has the ability to merge only two or three data files but no promises are made.
Line 12:
This line allows the user to choose fields that should not be included in the merged file output. The fields' indices start at 0 and represent a whole column in the reflectivity/Mer output data file to be excluded from final output.
Line 13:
This line indicates whether the user wants to average all values or simply merge all times. If the user desires a time average this value should be a 1 otherwise 0.
Note: Currently a time average is the only choice that is implemented. Therefore this value should always be a 1 until the other option is implemented.
Line 14:
This line allows the user to choose the time interval (in seconds) to average over.
Line 15:
This line allows the user to specify the directory to place the ouput file in.
Note: There must be a trailing slash to specify that directory.

merge_ABFM Execution

All merge_ABFM Dependency files are expected to be in the same directory as the merge_ABFM software. After assuring that this is the case and editing the setup file, enter IDL.
At the IDL command prompt type the following:

IDL> .compile merge_ABFM.pro
IDL> merge_ABFM, 'setup_curr'

Where setup_curr can be replaced with the name of you setup file.
Alternatively you can simply type the following:

IDL> .compile merge_ABFM.pro
IDL> merge_ABFM

This assumes your setup file is called 'setup_merge'

merge_ABFM ASCII Output File

merged_010605_wsr74c.txt is an example of an ASCII output merged file. It was produced on 10/18/02 and is consistent with the current merged files begin made available on the ABFM project page for each day.

The merged file contains all of the parameters from the input files that were not eliminated. The file contains 10 second averages using the citation data as the key.

Some special notes are:
- The citation data contains no data flags of -99.0 for the wind direction, wind speed, and vertical wind parameters. When merge_ABFM encounters these values, they are not included in the 10 second average nor is that data point counted in determining the number of points in a 10 second average.
- The reflectivity data contains no data flags of -327 for reflectivity at the aircraft position. When merge_ABFM encounters these values, they are not included in the 10 second average nor is that data point counted in determinig the number of points in a 10 second average.
- The IDL FORMAT statement used by merge_ABFM to output all merged data is:
57(F14.3, :, " ")