<p>We receive EUMETCAST data with different formats in our local station, I am having the most difficulty when trying to read or sometimes even know the format of a specific data product, in this case, we are getting data from a product called <strong>GOME-2 GDS Level 1B - Metop</strong> in a format called PFS, I don't even know what this format is and how to read it or transform it into a more suitable format for data analysis tasks (like CSV):</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/NdYCg.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/NdYCg.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>I tried to look for tools to read this type files and EUMETSAT file in general with no results, I've already read IASI related files in another format (<a href="http://www.elnath.org.uk" rel="nofollow noreferrer">BUFR</a>) but every new format is a new challenge. in the case of this type of files, I installed <a href="http://stcorp.nl/coda/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CODA</a> with no success since it reads only EPS EUMETSAT data and not EUMETCAST formats, I tried using one of EUMETSAT own internal tools called <a href="https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/DataDelivery/SupportSoftwareandTools/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">kai</a> with no success (it requires another lib which is no longer supported by EUMETSAT). When I simply open the file I am getting a series of special characters after the header, like in the following image :</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XCUb4.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/XCUb4.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Any hint or suggestion on how to read the data or EUMETCAST data in general?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T12:35:38.793Z
[The page for that project](https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/Products/Level1Data/index.html) has a full data format specification [in PDF form](http://www.eumetsat.int/website/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dDocName=PDF_TEN_97232-EPS-GOME-PFS&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&Rendition=Web). What do you not understand about that? Voting to close as too broad.
Jan Doggen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T12:44:35.623Z
@gansub i prefer Python, as i work witht its scientific Stack.
Akramz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T16:56:32.387Z
CODE files are no text/ASCII files. They are binary files (at least that is written on the [product format definitions](http://stcorp.nl/coda/codadef/)). If you want to use the Python, you need to install the C library and the Python headers of the CODA package. Examples on how to access CODE data are provided in a github repository (https://github.com/stcorp/coda-examples).
daniel.heydebreck
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T16:59:57.047Z
I am voting to close this question because it is too broad. If you have installed CODA and have problems in obtaining data via the provided functions, you could ask a  more specific question. However, the example provided in the linked GitHub repository (previous comment) seems to be a good start: https://github.com/stcorp/coda-examples/blob/master/python/gome2/gome2l1b.py
daniel.heydebreck
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T17:05:13.373Z
@daniel.neumann I did exactly that, however, the CODA library is working on EUMETSAT native data, not EUMETCAST data, I sent an email to their support after I added the format definition files and tried the CODA examples they provided and here is their [answer](https://imgur.com/uT3BLiw).
Akramz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T17:10:21.673Z
@daniel.neumann The same data is provided via two mediums, via EUMETSAT Data Center (Native data) supported by CODA, and EUMETCAST (PFS format) not supported by CODA. [Caption](https://imgur.com/NGGdqJb).
Akramz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T20:45:41.753Z
@Akramz Ah, ok. Sorry, I did not read your question properly. I retract my close-vote. It seems to be quite tricky to open/extract these "EPS Product Format Specification (PFS)" files ... . This 'Eugene tool' seems to be optional (not obligatory) for the compilation of 'kai'. Do you need this 'Eugene tool' to extract the data, which you have?
daniel.heydebreck
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-22T22:10:03.070Z
@daniel.neumann at first, I installed kai without Eugene, and I couldn't read the whole file (except the header), and instead of digging in the commands outputs and codes I opted to install Eugene and try again, after I did not find Eugene I contacted EUEMTSAT support to find out that they don't support Eugene anymore, exactly after that I found CODA. if the only possibility for reading the data is kai than I should go back and debug kai. but I thought that there maybe is an external tool to handle EUMETCAST data.
Akramz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-23T08:43:48.250Z
Strange. It scares me a bit that these data files are only available in an old format, for which no read-libraries are available/supported anymore, and that these data are not provided in an alternative format.
daniel.heydebreck
<remote-sensing><software><data-formats><satellites>
How to read EUMETCAST GOME-2 data?
Akramz
# How to read EUMETCAST GOME-2 data?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-22)

We receive EUMETCAST data with different formats in our local station, I am having the most difficulty when trying to read or sometimes even know the format of a specific data product, in this case, we are getting data from a product called **GOME-2 GDS Level 1B - Metop** in a format called PFS, I don't even know what this format is and how to read it or transform it into a more suitable format for data analysis tasks (like CSV):

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/NdYCg.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/NdYCg.png)

I tried to look for tools to read this type files and EUMETSAT file in general with no results, I've already read IASI related files in another format ([BUFR](http://www.elnath.org.uk)) but every new format is a new challenge. in the case of this type of files, I installed [CODA](http://stcorp.nl/coda/) with no success since it reads only EPS EUMETSAT data and not EUMETCAST formats, I tried using one of EUMETSAT own internal tools called [kai](https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/DataDelivery/SupportSoftwareandTools/index.html) with no success (it requires another lib which is no longer supported by EUMETSAT). When I simply open the file I am getting a series of special characters after the header, like in the following image :

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/XCUb4.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/XCUb4.png)

Any hint or suggestion on how to read the data or EUMETCAST data in general?

**Tags:** remote-sensing, software, data-formats, satellites

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [The page for that project](https://www.eumetsat.int/website/home/Data/Products/Level1Data/index.html) has a full data format specification [in PDF form](http://www.eumetsat.int/website/wcm/idc/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&dDocName=PDF_TEN_97232-EPS-GOME-PFS&RevisionSelectionMethod=LatestReleased&Rendition=Web). What do you not understand about that? Voting to close as too broad.  
> **username_0**: @gansub i prefer Python, as i work witht its scientific Stack.  
> **username_2**: CODE files are no text/ASCII files. They are binary files (at least that is written on the [product format definitions](http://stcorp.nl/coda/codadef/)). If you want to use the Python, you need to install the C library and the Python headers of the CODA package. Examples on how to access CODE data are provided in a github repository (https://github.com/stcorp/coda-examples).  
> **username_2**: I am voting to close this question because it is too broad. If you have installed CODA and have problems in obtaining data via the provided functions, you could ask a  more specific question. However, the example provided in the linked GitHub repository (previous comment) seems to be a good start: https://github.com/stcorp/coda-examples/blob/master/python/gome2/gome2l1b.py  
> **username_0**: @daniel.neumann I did exactly that, however, the CODA library is working on EUMETSAT native data, not EUMETCAST data, I sent an email to their support after I added the format definition files and tried the CODA examples they provided and here is their [answer](https://imgur.com/uT3BLiw).  
> **username_0**: @daniel.neumann The same data is provided via two mediums, via EUMETSAT Data Center (Native data) supported by CODA, and EUMETCAST (PFS format) not supported by CODA. [Caption](https://imgur.com/NGGdqJb).  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Ah, ok. Sorry, I did not read your question properly. I retract my close-vote. It seems to be quite tricky to open/extract these "EPS Product Format Specification (PFS)" files ... . This 'Eugene tool' seems to be optional (not obligatory) for the compilation of 'kai'. Do you need this 'Eugene tool' to extract the data, which you have?  
> **username_0**: @daniel.neumann at first, I installed kai without Eugene, and I couldn't read the whole file (except the header), and instead of digging in the commands outputs and codes I opted to install Eugene and try again, after I did not find Eugene I contacted EUEMTSAT support to find out that they don't support Eugene anymore, exactly after that I found CODA. if the only possibility for reading the data is kai than I should go back and debug kai. but I thought that there maybe is an external tool to handle EUMETCAST data.  
> **username_2**: Strange. It scares me a bit that these data files are only available in an old format, for which no read-libraries are available/supported anymore, and that these data are not provided in an alternative format.  

---

## 0 answers

