The CONVERTER is to reformat the NCEP Stage IV observations 
into the ASCII format that WRFDA can ingest. 
The following instructions take you through a sequence of steps to get
the configuration of CONVERTER up and running.

1. Included in this CONVERTER are,
   -------------------------------
   - README,
   - makefile, 
   - write_rainobs.f90,
   - run.ksh,  
   - sample data: ST4.2008020518.06h  
                  (data ordered from:  
		   http://data.eol.ucar.edu/codiac/dss/id=21.093
		   you should extract a compressed file, such as,
		   gunzip ST4.2008020518.06h.Z)
                                      
2. Required libraries,
   -------------------
   - w3lib  
   - g2lib  
   
     If not already installed on your system, 
     please download from http://www.nco.ncep.noaa.gov/pmb/codes/GRIB2/.
        
3. Compile the code,
   -----------------
   - Edit the file called makefile in this directory so that library path and the compiler
     options match those available on your machine. A selection of compiler flags for  
     different platforms are listed if you are running using one of these compilers you
     should be able to just uncomment the relevant section.
     
   - To compile the code, type the command,
     
             make
     
     When CONVERTER has been successfully compiled, 
     the directory will contain executable write_rainobs.exe. 

4. Usage: 
   ------
4.1 Convert one grib file,
    ----------------------
    - ./write_rainobs.exe FILE_SUFFIX DATA_TIME DAT_DIR

      Example: ./write_rainobs.exe  2008020518.06h 2008-02-05_17:59:59 ./

      Output file: ob.rain.yyyymmddhh.xxh
                  (The 'yyyymmddhh' in the file name is the ending hour of the accumulation period,
	          'xx' (=01,06 or 24) is the accumulating length.)

4.2 Convert several files,
    ----------------------
   - Edit the file called run.ksh.
   - Run the .ksh like this "run.ksh".


5. Information about output file,  
   ------------------------------
   - ob.rain.yyyymmddhh.xxh is an ASCII file that contains a header section 
     and is followed by observations(listed below).
     The format of the file is similar to radar observations, 
     but ELEVATION, ID, and HEIGHT are assigned default values
     for they are not used in assimilation process now. 

     TOTAL = 987601,MISS. =-888888.,
     INFO  = PLATFORM, DATE, LEVELS, LATITUDE, LONGITUDE, ELEVATION, ID.
     EACH  = HEIGHT, RAINFALL DATA, QC, ERROR
     #------------------------------------------------------------------------------#
     FM-129 RAIN  2008-02-05_17:59:59      1      23.117      -119.022      99.9 12345
         99.900 -888888.000  88       2.000
     FM-129 RAIN  2008-02-05_17:59:59      1      23.125      -118.988      99.9 12345
         99.900 -888888.000  88       2.000
     FM-129 RAIN  2008-02-05_17:59:59      1      23.132      -118.955      99.9 12345
         99.900 -888888.000  88       2.000

6. Others
   ------
    
6.1 More information about NCEP Stage IV
    ------------------------------------
    - NCEP Stage IV archived data are available on the NCAR CODIAC web page at,
      http://data.eol.ucar.edu/codiac/dss/id=21.093
    - For more information about NCEP Stage IV, see the NCEP Stage IV Q&A Web page at,
      http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/ylin/pcpanl/QandA/
    - References,
      Lin, Y., and K. E. Mitchell, 2005: The NCEP stage II/IV hourly precipitation analyses: 
         Development and applications. Preprints, 19th Conf. 
         on Hydrology, San Diego, CA, Amer. Meteor. Soc., CD-ROM, 1.2.   
      Baldwin, M.E., and K.E. Mitchell, 1998: Progress on the NCEP hourly multi-sensor U.S. 
         precipitation analysis for operations and GCIP research. Preprints, 
	 2nd Symposium on Integrated Observing Systems, 78th AMS Annual Meeting, 10-11.

6.2 How about to reformat user's own precipitation data instead of NCEP Stage IV ?
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    - It is the responsibility of the user to write a Fortran main program and 
      call subroutine writerainobs(in write_rainobs.f90) to generate their own precipitation data. 

6.3  Any questions, suggestions, additions, bug reports, etc,
     let us know at wrfhelp@ucar.edu

