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list_spectra

Purpose

list_spectra will print the names of spectra given on the command line in the proper order to go into a list file needed to use create_sunrun. Spectra must be listed such that, for dual-detector instruments, the pairs of spectra from both detectors at a given time appear together, e.g.:

xx20250408s0e00a.0001
xx20250408s0e00d.0001
xx20250408s0e00a.0002
xx20250408s0e00d.0002
xx20250408s0e00a.0003
xx20250408s0e00d.0003

Note how this is not the typical lexicographic order you would get from calling ls.

Examples

To list all spectra in the hypothetical directory /data/tccon/spectra beginning with xx, use:

$GGGPATH/bin/list_spectra /data/tccon/spectra/xx*

If listing a large number of spectra, you may run into an error that references a maximum number of command line arguments reached. This is not a problem with list_spectra, it is an issue with the shell or OS. This occurs because if you run the command above, the shell expands the * pattern from a single argument into however many arguments match that pattern. If, for example, you had three spectra (xx20250408s0e00a.0001, xx20250408s0e00a.0002, xx20250408s0e00a.0003) in the above directory, what really gets called is:

$GGGPATH/bin/list_spectra /data/tccon/spectra/xx20250408s0e00a.0001 /data/tccon/spectra/xx20250408s0e00a.0002 /data/tccon/spectra/xx20250408s0e00a.0003

that is, list_spectra actually gets three arguments on the command line. When you have a large number of spectra, this can translate into tens of thousands of arguments, which can exceed the maximum number of arguments that can be passed to a program. To avoid this issue, quote any command line arguments including glob patterns and use the --expand-globs flag:

$GGGPATH/bin/list_spectra --expand-globs '/data/tccon/spectra/xx*'

By enclosing the pattern in single (or double) quotes, we prevent the shell from expanding the pattern itself, and --expand-globs tells list_spectra it will need to expand them itself.

Use in TCCON standard processing

list_spectra is not part of TCCON standard processing. Many sites will have their own solutions for listing spectra in the correct order. GGG itself provides a list_maker program which has a similar purpose, but uses a data partition file.

Use in EM27/SUN standard processing

list_spectra itself is not used in EM27/SUN standard processing with EGI-RS.