A proposal for modifying the format of SuperDARN filenames so that the user can immediately identify start time of the data contained within a file.

1. Introduction

The original specification for SuperDARN filenames was as follows:

In 1999 the two digit year specification was replaced by a full four digit year to deal with the millenium:

A typical set of filenames would look like:

Due to the rapid increase in the number of radars it is apparent that the single letter radar identifier can no longer be used. Consequently the filename format must be changed, and it is logical to take advantange of this opportunity by making the filename format easier to understand.

2. Proposed Filename Format

The new filename format proposed is as follows:

A typical set of filenames in the new format would look like:

2.1 Concatenated Files

Often the user will need to concatenate together multiple files when working on longer periods of data. Newer versions of the software allow the user to pick any arbitrary name for the concatenated files, but for convenience it is recommended that the following format is used:

2.2 Daily Files

For convenience, a special shortened version of a filename can be used for files containing an entire day of data. This short hand version is much easier to type:

A typical set of filenames in this format would look like:

2.3 Global and Hemispheric Files

In some cases a SuperDARN data file contains data from the entire array or from one hemisphere. In this case the station identifier suffix is omitted. For files containing either one hemisphere or another this should be indicated by including the additional suffix "N", "north", "S" or "south" as shown below. Either the full filename specification or the shortened daily file format can be used as appropriate:

A typical set of filenames in this format would look like: