From SOJOURNER_CLIFF@Tandem.COM Fri Jun 11 14:38:01 1993
Date: 11 Jun 93 10:06:00 +1400
From: SOJOURNER_CLIFF@tandem.com
To: slough_list@treefort.Corp.Sun.COM
Subject: how to FTP weather satellite pix...
Content-Length: 1214
X-Lines: 48
Status: RO


The pix are available via anonymous FTP from vmd.cso.uiuc.edu.
The files are named like this:

C { I | V } { GMT month } { GMT day } { GMT hour } .GIF
where CI means infrared map and CV means visual map.
SA means surface analysis map.

Upper air maps are named like this:
U { n*100hPa interval } { GMT month } { GMT day } { GMT hour } .GIF
where n is { 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 8 }

For example:  CI061116.GIF  is the current infrared map.


Here's what you type:

> ftp vmd.cso.uiuc.edu
> anonymous
> (type your email address)

> cd wx
> bin
(if you don't type bin the files will come across as ASCII text,
definitely not what you want!)

get current infrared map:
> get cimmddhh.gif

get current visual map:
> get cvmmddhh.gif

get current surface analysis map:
> get sammddhh.gif

> quit


It's quick, only takes a few seconds to transfer the files.  I wrote a
little program that gets all the current maps.  Unfortunately, it
usually takes them until 45 or 46 minutes past the hour to post the
hour's pix, so don't try it 3 minutes past the hour.


Once you have the gif files you can use whatever viewer/converter/etc.
you want to look at them.  I have a very nice windows program, let me
know if you want a copy.
CL