DORAD bug in pyart.io.auto_read

[salbenson]

Hello,
I am trying to read DORAD files with pyart. I am reporting a bug that I found.
Regards,
Sally

In the source code for pyart.io.auto_read in def determine_filetype, DORAD files return the string "DORADE"

In the source code for part.io.auto_read in def read, rsl_formats=["DORAD"]
Since in rsl_formats, "DORAD" is missing the "E", pyart.io.auto_read won't call read_rsl and says it is and unknown file type.

File ~/miniforge3/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pyart/io/auto_read.py:137 in read
raise TypeError("Unknown or unsupported file format: " + filetype)

TypeError: Unknown or unsupported file format: DORADE

[zssherman]

@salbenson It does looks like a bug, I will get a PR to fix the auto reader, but in the meantime you should be able to access the reader with read_rsl directly with pyart.io.read_rsl.

[salbenson]

Thanks. I did try using pyart.io.read_rsl directly. This is the error I got from that.

radar=pyart.io.read_rsl(filename)
%runfile /Users/u0079358/Documents/python/convert_dorade_to_cfradial.py --wdir
Traceback (most recent call last):

File ~/miniforge3/lib/python3.12/site-packages/spyder_kernels/customize/utils.py:209 in exec_encapsulate_locals
exec_fun(compile(code_ast, filename, "exec"), globals)

File ~/Documents/python/convert_dorade_to_cfradial.py:58
radar=pyart.io.read_rsl(filename)

File ~/miniforge3/lib/python3.12/site-packages/pyart/io/rsl.py:93 in read_rsl
raise MissingOptionalDependency(

MissingOptionalDependency: Py-ART must be build with support for TRMM RSL to use the read_rsl function.

This is when I tried to get the TRMM RSL library, but found it is no longer available.

[zssherman]

@salbenson There is still a conda-forge version on trmm_rsl here:
https://anaconda.org/channels/conda-forge/packages/trmm_rsl/overview
Which then you might be able to set the path to:
RSL_PATH=/path/to/rsl/
However it has been a while since we have tested it due to support being dropped. I'm trying to think of other possible solutions

[salbenson]

I have found the way to convert DORADE files to cfradial is to use LROSE from NCAR.
(https://github.com/NCAR/lrose-core)
(https://github.com/NCAR/lrose-docs/wiki/Lrose_quickstart)
LROSE is most likely the replacement for the TRMM RSL library that is no longer available.

[zssherman]

Ah perfect! Good to hear! Were you able to read the converted cfradial files with Py-ART?