# import the data server interface
from ReanalysisDataServer import DataServer

# create data server objects to access precip data from ERA40
# NOTE: there are 2 types of precip:
# - convective precip (precc)
# - large-scale precip (precl)
# you need to access these two separately and then add them up to
# compare with station data
dc = DataServer(Field='precc',Source='ERA40',LevType='surface')
dl = DataServer(Field='precl',Source='ERA40',LevType='surface')

# get a list of all the dates corresponding to the 1992 DJF season
# this is understood as the season Dec 1991 - Feb 1992
dates = dc.getDateList(Year=1992,Season='DJF')    
print dates

# compute the TOTAL precip for the first snapshot (1 Dec 1991)
precip = dc.snapshot(*dates[0]) + dl.snapshot(*dates[0])