Output of PB2NC missing some fields

[gsketefian]

Hi,

I'm using the PB2NC tool in METplus 5.1.0/MET v11.1.0 to convert some prepbufr files to netcdf. In the resulting files, I noticed that some of the fields are missing. In particular, the obs_desc and obs_units arrays have null strings for what I think are the derived fields. Here's an example:

$ ncdump -v obs_var prepbufr.ndas.2024060202.nc
netcdf prepbufr.ndas.2024060202 {
...
data:

 obs_var =
  "SPFH",
  "TMP",
  "HGT",
  "UGRD",
  "VGRD",
  "DPT",
  "WIND",
  "RH",
  "PRMSL",
  "CAPE",
  "MLCAPE",
  "PBL",
  "PMO",
  "PWAT",
  "TCDC",
  "VIS",
  "CEILING",
  "GUST",
  "PRWE" ;
}

$ ncdump -v obs_unit prepbufr.ndas.2024060202.nc
netcdf prepbufr.ndas.2024060202 {
...
data:

 obs_unit =
  "KG/KG",
  "KELVIN",
  "METER",
  "M/S",
  "M/S",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "PASCALS",
  "KG/M**2  (OR MM)",
  "PERCENT",
  "METER",
  "METER",
  "M/S",
  "CODE TABLE" ;
}

$ ncdump -v obs_desc prepbufr.ndas.2024060202.nc
netcdf prepbufr.ndas.2024060202 {
...
data:

 obs_desc =
  "SPECIFIC HUMIDITY OBSERVATION",
  "TEMPERATURE OBSERVATION",
  "HEIGHT OBSERVATION",
  "U-COMPONENT WIND OBSERVATION",
  "V-COMPONENT WIND OBSERVATION",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "",
  "MEAN SEA-LEVEL PRESSURE OBSERVATION",
  "TOTAL PRECIPITABLE WATER OBSERVATION",
  "CLOUD COVER (TOTAL)",
  "HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY",
  "CLOUD CEILING (DERIVATIVE OF HOCB - HGT OF CLOUD BASE)",
  "MAXIMUM WIND SPEED (GUSTS)",
  "PRESENT WEATHER" ;
}

I am wondering if there is a fix for this. Thanks very much for your help.

Gerard