> Date:    Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:47:28 -0500
> From:    Reto Ruedy <rru...@giss.nasa.gov>
> To:      Nick Barnes <n...@ravenbrook.com>
> Subject: Re: ccc-gistemp 0.3.0

> Ideally, we would like to replace our whole code, but that will not
> happen within the next few months.

> The files I was worried about were the *.dbd files that are used in the
> station data part of our web site. The author of that section left many
> years ago; strangely enough, that section - originally installed for
> pure testing and debugging purposes, since it contains no scientifically
> significant information showing just pieces of a huge puzzle - became
> probably the most popular part of our site, given the response we get
> from the general public.

> The SBBX* data are needed to produce the maps, ZON*step1 is not needed,
> neither is BX*, the other ZON* is needed to create the tables and line
> plots. The rest is only needed for debugging or solving little
> mysteries. For historical reasons, we would also like to be able to
> produce the files without including ocean data.

> In the next few weeks, we will have little time for activities that are
> not absolutely necessary, since we are already inundated by requests
> from the government to write reports and reply to inquiries related to
> the upcoming climate debates.

> Thanks again,

> Reto

> On Wed, 2010-01-27 at 21:47 +0000, Nick Barnes wrote:
> > At 2010-01-27 18:21:27+0000, Reto Ruedy writes:

> > > Thank you very much for all the effort you and your people put into
> > > checking and rewriting our programs. I hope to switch to your version of
> > > that program, if it produces data files that are compatible with our web
> > > utilities. If we do so, we will let you know about any additional
> > > modifications or documentation that we include in your code.

> > This is excellent news.  When you say "that program", do you mean just
> > step2.py or the whole of ccc-gistemp?  In either case, you should find
> > that it is all highly compatible.  All of our result files, and all
> > the remaining intermediate files, are still in your file formats.

> > Here are the result files:

> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb   1000760 Jan 26 22:50 BX.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.1200
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb     14647 Jan 26 22:50 GLB.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.txt
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb     14647 Jan 26 22:50 NH.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.txt
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb     14647 Jan 26 22:50 SH.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.txt
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb     14271 Jan 26 22:50 ZonAnn.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.txt
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb       765 Jan 26 22:50 google-chart.url

> > (google-chart.url is one of ours).

> > Here are the intermediate files which we still generate:

> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb     15974 Jan 26 22:50 ANNZON.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.1200
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb         5 Jan 26 22:37 GHCN.last_year
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb  34001576 Jan 26 22:49 SBBX.HadR2
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb  50240120 Jan 26 22:49 SBBX1880.Ts.GHCN.CL.PA.1200
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb  19226996 Jan 26 22:40 Ts.GHCN.CL.PA
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb  29802663 Jan 27 16:48 Ts.txt
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb    176152 Jan 26 22:50 ZON.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.1200
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb    176152 Jan 26 22:50 ZON.Ts.ho2.GHCN.CL.PA.1200.step1
> > -rw-r--r--  1 nb  nb  44716441 Jan 26 22:37 v2.mean_comb

> > (but note that BX.Ts.GHCN.CL.PA.1200 is just a place-holder).

> > As previously noted we have removed some intermediate files, internal
> > to steps 0, 1, 2, and 3.  We have also made some small changes to log
> > file formats in step 2.  I removed one log file entirely, simply
> > because generating it required me to pass some additional arguments to
> > a function which I could otherwise simplify.  If it turns out that any
> > of these are in fact result files for you then we can certainly put
> > them back in.  Or we could generate similar or related files in any
> > format you choose.

> > So if you are wanting to use our step2.py alongside the rest of your
> > GISTEMP, then please do go ahead.  You might need a more up-to-date
> > version of Python than the one you currently use for STEP1.  Please
> > ask if this proves difficult: when originally looking at GISTEMP we
> > quite easily adapted STEP1 to run on a fairly current Python.

> > If you are thinking of running ccc-gistemp instead of the whole
> > GISTEMP, of course I am delighted to hear it.  The plan is for
> > ccc-gistemp to become so compellingly clear, versatile, and convenient
> > to use that you will adopt the whole thing.  For you, being able to
> > say "our algorithm is the same as that really clear code over there"
> > is good, but "We use this really clear code" is surely better.

> > However, I would suggest that you defer that for a month or two, until
> > our clarification process reaches a natural pause.  Do please download
> > our code, read it, run it, play with it, experiment with it, fix bugs
> > in it, use it to generate web pages.  But I would be wary of using it
> > to produce Actual Science Results, with the GISS seal of approval,
> > until it passes out of the current fairly intensive development phase.

> > Regards,

> > Nick Barnes
> > Clear Climate Code project

> --
> Reto Ruedy <rru...@giss.nasa.gov>