How do I extract time information from the TRMM 3B42 file name?
In a TRMM 3B42 file name (e.g., 3B42.980115.0.6.HDF.Z) the “0” in the file name following the date (MMDD) indicates the midpoint of a 3-hour interval. In the example filename, the “0” indicates 00:00Z. So the data in this file were acquired commencing at 22:30Z (1/14/1998) and ending at 1:30Z (1/15/1998). The precipitation quantity is the average rain rate calculated over this 3-hour interval. Note that the “Z” in the filename indicates that the file is compressed with Unix compression and does not designate a time. Thus, the 3B42 filename template is 3B42.YYMMDD.
