What you need to run RTTOV
There are several skills which the NWP SAF assumes you have in order to run the RTTOV radiative transfer model. They are:
- Basic knowledge of radiative transfer theory as given here
- Ability to run unix/linux scripts
- Ability to program in Fortran-90 (although as of RTTOV v11.3 much RTTOV functionality can be called directly from Python or C++ via the new wrapper which means you may not need to write any Fortran code)
You also need access to the following computer hardware/software:
- PC or supercomputer running Linux/Unix or Apple Mac OS-X
- Fortran-90 compiler from approved list in the readme file, others may work but are not supported by the SAF.
- gzip must be installed
It is recommended (though not mandatory) to compile RTTOV against the HDF5 library (v1.8.8 or later). This enables the use of HDF5 format coefficient files (the preferred format for hyperspectral sounders), the land surface emissivity and BRDF atlases, the Python and C++ interface to RTTOV and the RTTOV GUI.
If you do not compile against the HDF5 library you can still use the land surface emissivity and BRDF atlases and the Python/C++ interface if you compile RTTOV against the netCDF library (v3.6 or later).
In order to compile the RTTOV GUI or to call RTTOV from Python scripts you must also have f2py installed.
The GUI has additional requirements which are given in the GUI users' guide.