Research Data Archive (RDA) data sets can be accessed within the CISL computing environment or downloaded for use elsewhere from the RDA web site.

A subset of the archive is stored in the centralized GLADE resource and so is readily accessible by Yellowstone, Geyser, and Caldera users, and by individuals who have Data-access projects.

The complete archive is stored in the High Performance Storage System (HPSS), so data sets that are not on GLADE can be found there.

Data sets are numbered and stored in directories that are named in this format: dsnnn.n (ds431.0, for example). If you don't know the number of the data set you need, browse or search the web site to find the data set and number.

Once you have identified the data set number, you can get a list of the files it contains through the web site or in the /glade/p/rda/data/dsnnn.n subdirectory.

You can also use the rdals utility to find file and metadata information for each subdirectory.

Data set contents

To get a list of the contents of each subdirectory:

• Go to the RDA web site.
• Enter the nnn.n value in the Go to Dataset field in the upper-right corner of the page.
• Click the Data Access tab on the next screen. (See image at right)
• Click the GLADE File Listing link or the HPSS File Listing link.

This file in GLADE provides additional information:

• /glade/p/rda/data/README_rda-data_contents

Using the "rdals" utility

Running the rdals utility lists file and metadata information for each /glade/p/rda/data/dsnnn.n subdirectory. Some data sets may contain incomplete metadata or file list information due to ongoing development.

The rdals utility can be found in the /glade/u/apps/contrib directory. Enter rdals -h for a description of how to use it.

The utility displays four columns of information. When listing directories, the columns are Directory Name, Data Volume, File Count, and Brief Description. When listing files, they are File Name, Data Size, Data Format, and Brief Description if the listed item is a file.

A leading letter is displayed on each line to indicate what type of item is listed:

• D indicates a whole data set.
• G indicates a group or subgroup in a data set.
• F indicates a data file.

Here is a sample of the output from rdals /glade/p/rda/data:

Dds351.0    3.35T   179381  NCEP ADP Global Upper Air Observational Weather Data, October 1999 - continuing
Dds351.1  549.47G   256574  NCEP ADP ETA/NAM Upper Air Observation Subsets, October 2000 - continuing
Dds353.4  180.17G     2004  NCEP ADP Operational Global Upper Air Observations, December 1972 - February 2007
Dds358.0       0B        0  Ptarmigan Dropsondes (Arctic reconnaissance) for 1950-1961
Dds359.0    2.93M        7  NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) Observations, 1992 May-continuing
Dds365.0       0B        0  Sadler's Global Aircraft Observations, daily 1960-1973
Dds366.0  407.77G     2162  ERA-40 Global Upper Air Radiosonde Observation Feedback Record Reports
Dds367.0    5.22G     1129  ERA-40 Global Upper Air Satellite Wind Observation Feedback Record Reports

Usage options

Usage: rdals [-d] [-f] [-N] [-h] [-r] [-D DelimitSymbols] [-R RecursiveLevel] [Directory/File List]

• Option -d, list directory information only. Directory information is included as default. Add this option to exclude file information;
• Option -f, list file information only. File information is included as default. Add this option to exclude directory information;
• Option -N, list files unformatted;
• Option -h, display this help document;
• Option -r, list directories and files recursively;
• Option -R, list directories and files recursively up to the level provided with this Option;
• Option -D, specify delimiting symbols for dividing the columns. It defaults to "  " for formatted output and '|' for unformatted output. Make sure quote the symbols if any character in the symbols has Unix meaning, for example -D '<:>';
• Directory/file List is optional; without specification, all directories and files in the current directory. Unix command line wildcards are supported.

Nothing is displayed if neither directory nor file information matches information stored in the RDA database.

Examples

To check directories and files in data set dsnnn.n:

Change to the data set directory.

cd /glade/p/rda/data

Execute rdals, adding the recursive option -r to check directories and files further in the subdirectories (or cd to a subdirectory to check the files).

rdals -r dsnnn.n

Or:

Pass an absolute path to rdals.

rdals /glade/p/rda/data/dsnnn.n/

If your current directory is in another data set directory, such as /glade/p/rda/data/ds277.7, you can pass a relative path to the target directory.

rdals ../dsnnn.n/ or rdals  ../dsnnn.n/*