5: Querying the catalogue

If you want to work with the EISCAT raw (auto-correlated) data, the first thing you need to do is to establish that the data set exists in the RAL archive.

To find out in detail what EISCAT raw data exists in our data catalogue, use the TAPECAT command.

For a summary of the same information, use the command TAPECAT.summary.

Both of these commands have the same syntax:

TAPECAT {start date and time} {end date and time} {site code} {experiment name} {file format} {tape number} > {output file}
e.g.
TAPECAT 19960617080000 19960617100000 tro cp-1-k ldr DT3691 > june1796_tro.cat

The above command gives a list of all LDR format files recorded on tape number DT3691 during the CP-1-K experiment on the Tromsø UHF radar between 08 and 10 UT on June 17th 1996, with the output saved in a file called jun1796_tro.cat.

It is not necessary to specify all of the fields if this level of detail is not needed.

For example, if it is not necessary to specify the rightmost fields (tape number and file format), the command string can be truncated from the right:

TAPECAT.summary 19960617080000 19960617100000 tro > june1796_tro.summary

The above command gives a summary listing of all Tromsø data (irrespective of tape number, file format or experiment name) recorded at Tromsø between 0800 and 1000 UT on June 17th 1996.

TAPECAT 19960617080000 19960617100000 tro cp-1-k > june1796_tro.cat

The above command gives a catalogue listing of all Tromsø files recorded during the CP-1-K experiment of June 17th 1996.

If one needs to specify some fields but not others, then pairs of double quotes can be used in place of the missing fields, e.g.

TAPECAT.summary 199606170800 199606171000 "" "" ldr > june1796_ldr.summary

The above command gives a summary listing of all ldr-format data recorded on any of the EISCAT radars between 08 and 10 UT on June 17th 1996.

The time fields can also be contracted. If the start time field is contracted, the start time defaults to the earliest time compatible with the contraction, e.g.

1996061708 when used as a start time means 08:00:00 on 19/06/1996

199606 when used as a start time means 00:00:00 on 01/06/1996 etc.

If the end time field is contracted, the end time defaults to the latest time compatible with the contraction, e.g.

1996061708 when used as an end time means 08:59:59 on 19/06/1996

199606 when used as an end time means 23:59:59 on 30/06/1996

For example:

TAPECAT.summary 199606 199606 tro "" ldr > jun96_tro.summary

Gives a summary listing of all ldr format files recorded on the Tromsø UHF radar from all experiments in June 1996.

Allowed site names are:

Allowed data formats are:

The name of the output file can be freely chosen, but remember that it might be useful to choose a filename that allows you to identify the type and contents of the file (e.g. by using a .cat or .summary extension).

Both TAPECAT and TAPECAT.summary can also be run using command line arguments of the type

TAPECAT -d {start time} -d {end time} -s {site} -t {title} -k {kind of data} -i {tape id} -l {data length}

To get the syntax in full, type:

TAPECAT -h, or
TAPECAT.summary -h