ADL 3.0 VIIRS Aerosol Controller

[hcronk]

Does anyone know if the ProEdrViirsAerosolController.exe control/run the VIIRS Aerosol EDR algorithm or do I need to re-compile to see the executable that does this? If the controller will run the individual algorithm, what is the point of using the controller over the single algorithm executable like in ADL 2.0? For future use with linking algorithms only or some more immediate purpose?

Thanks in advance!
Heather

[kbisanz]

ProEdrViirsAerosolController.exe will run the VIIRS aerosol algorithm. There is not a ProEdrViirsAerosol.exe executable like there was in ADL 2.0. The reason for the change is that ADL 3.0 is more in line with the operational system. The operational system has a ProEdrViirsAerosolController.exe executable.

Controllers ensure that certain groups of algorithms all run together. For example, ProSdrViirsController.exe runs VIIRS geolocation and calibration as well as granulates data from NWP data and tiled data.

Looking at $ADL_HOME/cfg/ProEdrViirsAerosolController_CFG.xml, you can see that it runs 2 algorithms (Algorithm_1 and Algorithm_2). The first algorithm is the VIIRS Gran Anc Controller, which runs numerous Gran Anc algorithms. The second algorithm is the actual VIIRS Aerosol EDR algorithm. As currently configured, none of the Gran Anc algorithms actually run in the aerosol controller (most run in the VIIRS SDR controller). So, the net effect is that ProEdrViirsAerosolController.exe runs only the VIIRS Aerosol EDR algorithm.

The benefit of having it in a controller is future flexibility.

[hcronk]

Thanks! Is there a separate execution config file for the controller like there was with the single algorithm executable in 2.0 or only the algorithm config file ( ${ADL_HOME}/cfg/ProEdrViirsAerosolController_CFG.xml ) ?
I.E. should I be able to run the controller like this:
${ADL_HOME}/bin/ProEdrViirsAerosolController.exe ${ADL_HOME}/cfg/ProEdrViirsAerosolController_CFG.xml
Or is there a different method or config file I should be using?

[kbisanz]

The cfg directory was getting crowded, so the execution configuration files have been moved to
$ADL_HOME/cfg/dynamic/noMetadata/
$ADL_HOME/cfg/dynamic/withMetadata/

Additionally, the execution configuration file names are now based on the executable name to make locating the file for a given executable easier. So, you'd want to use ProEdrViirsAerosolControllerLwFile.xml for ProEdrViirsAerosolController.exe.

The files in $ADL_HOME/cfg/dynamic/noMetadata/ execute the algorithm in "no metadata" mode. In that mode, you can use the data you've already staged for ADL 2.0. Most algorithms, including VIIRS Aerosol EDR support this mode. However, some complex algorithms, like VIIRS Solar Diffuser SDR, do not support it. If an execution configuration file is listed, this mode is supported.

The files in $ADL_HOME/cfg/dynamic/withMetadata/ execute the algorithm in "with metadata" mode. In that mode, you can use data files that have been extracted from HDF using the ADL HDF Unpacker.

The "no metadata" mode is really for backwards compatibility where data has already been staged for ADL 2.0. It's better to run in "with metadata" mode if possible. If you look at the location of the input data (as specified by <inputPath>), you'll see how data is staged differently between the two modes.

See sections 5.8.13 and 5.8.14 of the User Manual Part 2 in $ADL_HOME/doc for more information.