Assuming the header information is always the same format (or at least same number of lines):
fid = fopen('data2.txt','rt');
tmp = textscan(fid,'%*s = %f',5,'headerlines',9);
metainfo = tmp{1}
hdrs = textscan(fid,repmat('%s',1,8),1,'delimiter',',');
units = textscan(fid,repmat('%s',1,8),1,'delimiter',',');
tmp = textscan(fid,repmat('%f',1,8),'delimiter',',','collectoutput',true);
data = tmp{1}
fclose(fid);
.
.
.
I'm hesitant to even suggest this, but... you could replace the third line with:
for k=1:size(tmp{1},1)
eval([tmp{1}{k},' = tmp{2}(k);']);
end
This will give you variables DATE, LATITUDE, etc with the values read from the file.
And may Cleve have mercy on my soul.
