The Supported Data Definitions Editor is the recommended tool for adding NetCDF or GRIB data product entries, to correct any parsing errors. This tools can be accessed from the Tools menu.
The Data Product List editor contains a list of all Supported Data Definitions. These definitions follow the naming conventions of Source-Product_DataType_Interval_ParameterType_Version. For example, NCEP-MRMS_precipitation_1Day_Total_RadarOnly is the "Radar Only" version of the MRMS dataset, which comes from NCEP, containing daily accumulated precipitation. Within this editor, products can be added, edited, copied and deleted with the buttons on the upper right. Also, the ordering of these entries can be changed with the buttons on the bottom right. The datasets can be reordered if preference needs to be given to a certain entry. For example, if a file contains multiple different variables, the entry for the desired variable may be moved earlier in the list, forcing HEC-MetVue to load that variable.
Adding, editing, or copying a data product will bring up the Supported Data Definitions Editor. This editor allows for specification of all information necessary for designating a data source. In the figure below, the “Source ” is “NCEP” and the Product is "MRMS". The variable name for this product is “RadarOnlyQPE24H @ Specific altitude above mean sea level”, which identifies the variable in the file that should be read. In this example, “RadarOnlyQPE24H @ Specific altitude above mean sea level” is the "long_name" attribute of the variable, allowing HEC-MetVue to link this definition to a the variable in the NetCDF/GRIB file. It is recommended to use the "long_name" attribute of the variable for specifying the Variable Name. In the event that the variable does not have a "long_name" attribute, the actual variable name is acceptable. Below the “Variable Name” selection, there are descriptive fields for the "Source" that the data came from, the "Product" name, and the "Version" of the product. Below "Source", "Product", and "Version", there are a series of specifications. “Data Type” is the specific type of the data (i.e. precipitation, temperature, etc.), "Interval" is the time interval between successive grids, the “Parameter Type” defines the temporal properties of the data (i.e. Total for the interval, Instantaneous, Maximum/minimum for the interval), and “Layer #” is used if there are multiple vertical layers in the dataset (i.e soil moisture at different depths). Additionally, there are the “Effective Start Date”, which is the date at which the product was first supported, and “Website”, which is the location at which the data was collected prior to adding to the supported products list. The “Overrides” section allows for setting fields that may be missing, or incorrectly specified in the file. In this section, the “Override Duration” selection allows for specifying the duration of the data, which is most useful when the file only contains start or end times for each time-step, and the accompanying “Duration Type” selection allows for identifying the times in the file as Beginning of Period (BOP) and End of Period (EOP). The “Override Units” selection allows for specifying the unit of the values in the variables. The “Override Time Zone” allows for selection of the dataset’s time zone, which is typically UTC in NetCDF and GRIB files. The “Cell Coordinate” selection allows the user to specify the location in the cell, at which the coordinate system references. In this case, “Center” is generally assumed, but some datasets will be in reference a corner of each cell (i.e. “LowerLeft”). The last entry field is a “Notes” section, which may be used to clarify any extra information about the dataset. Finally, the “OK”, “Apply” and “Cancel” buttons provide controls for saving the changes and closing.
