README

   1 =============
   2 InfoEx AutoWx (IEAW)
   3 =============
   4
   5 This program fetches data from an NRCS SNOTEL site and pushes it into
   6 the InfoEx system using the new automated weather system implementation.
   7
   8 License under the MIT license (see file: LICENSE).
   9
  10 Disclaimer
  11 ==========
  12
  13 Your usage of the NRCS and InfoEx systems is bound by their respective
  14 terms and this software makes no attempt or claim to abide by any such
  15 terms.
  16
  17 Installation
  18 ============
  19
  20 It's recommended to use venv and pip with this program. Here's a typical
  21 sequence of commands for a new setup:
  22
  23 $ cd /path/to/src
  24 $ python3 -m venv env
  25 $ . env/bin/activate
  26 $ pip install -r requirements.txt
  27
  28 How to use it
  29 =============
  30
  31 This program is designed to be run from the command line (or via
  32 cron(8)) and administered via a simple, concise configuration file.
  33
  34 This design allows you to run a separate program instance for each NRCS
  35 weather station from which you'd like to automate the importation of
  36 data into your InfoEx subscriber account.
  37
  38 To run ad-hoc (be sure to activate the virtual environment, as detailed in the
  39 Installation section):
  40
  41   ./infoex-autowx.py --config <path/to/config-file.ini>
  42
  43 Here's an example of a crontab(5) with two SNOTEL sites, each of which
  44 will run once per hour (note that this will activate the virtual environment
  45 created earlier):
  46
  47 2 * * * * /usr/bin/env bash -c 'cd /home/user/infoex-autowx && source env/bin/activate && ./infoex-autowx.py --config laurance-lake.ini'
  48 4 * * * * /usr/bin/env bash -c 'cd /home/user/infoex-autowx && source env/bin/activate && ./infoex-autowx.py --config mud-ridge.ini'
  49
  50 Configuration File
  51 ==================
  52
  53 The configuration file is separated into two parts, the [wxsite]
  54 portion, and the [ftp] portion.
  55
  56 The [wxsite] values describe which NRCS SNOTEL site's data you're after.
  57 See the next section in this README for instructions on obtaining these
  58 values.
  59
  60 The [ftp] values describe your credentials for the InfoEx automated
  61 weather station FTP server.
  62
  63 [wxsite]
  64 station_triplet = <The NRCS identifier for a particular SNOTEL site>
  65 desired_data = <A comma-delimited list of NRCS elements you're interested in>
  66 location_uuid = <The UUID used by InfoEx to identify your automated Wx site>
  67 csv_filename = <Arbitrary name of the file that will be uploaded to InfoEx>
  68
  69 [ftp]
  70 host = <InfoEx FTP host address>
  71 uuid = <InfoEx-supplied UUID>
  72 api_key = <InfoEx-supplied API Key>
  73
  74 Finding Your WXSITE values
  75 ==========================
  76
  77 To complete the [wxsite] configuration section, you must fill in the
  78 attributes of the NRCS SNOTEL site from which you want to import data.
  79 Here are the steps to do that:
  80
  81 1. Find your station by clicking through this website:
  82
  83    https://www.wcc.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/sntllist.html
  84
  85    Or by using the interactive map:
  86
  87    https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/wcc/home/quicklinks/imap
  88
  89 2. Once you've found your station, look for the "Station ID" (a 3- or
  90    4-digit number).
  91
  92 3. Combine your Station ID, state abbreviation, and the network type
  93    "SNTL" to get your station triplet (station_triplet, in the
  94    configuration file). For example:
  95
  96    655:OR:SNTL
  97
  98    would represent the Mud Ridge station (Station ID 655) in the state
  99    of Oregon (OR). SNTL just represents that the station is in the
 100    SNOTEL network and is used internally by NRCS.
 101
 102 Once you have your station triplet, fill in the field in your
 103 configuration file. Now you must select which data you'd like to pull
 104 from NRCS to push into InfoEx.
 105
 106 For that, visit the NRCS web service:
 107
 108 https://wcc.sc.egov.usda.gov/awdbWebService/webservice/testwebservice.jsf?webserviceName=/awdbWebService
 109
 110 Click "getElements" on the left, and then click, "Test Operation." This
 111 will return a long list of elements to your web browser from which you
 112 can choose. Each returned element has its identifier and a description.
 113
 114 Once you've chosen your elements, combine all of their respective
 115 "elementCd" values into a comma-delimited string and put that into your
 116 configuration file as the "desired_data" value.
 117
 118 For example:
 119
 120 station_triplet = 655:OR:SNTL
 121 desired_data = TOBS,PREC
 122
 123 indicates that I'd like to import "AIR TEMPERATURE OBSERVED" and
 124 "PRECIPITATION ACCUMULATION" from the NRCS SNOTEL site at Mud Ridge, OR,
 125 into InfoEx.
 126
 127 Version History
 128 ===============
 129
 130 1.0.0 (Jun 2020)
 131   * First released version. Cleaned up the program and design.
 132         Implemented configuration file, added LICENSE, README, docs, etc.
 133
 134 0.8.0 (Apr 2020)
 135   * First finished (unreleased) version.
 136
 137 pre-0.8.0 (Apr 2020)
 138   * First (private) finished implementation with successful NRCS ->
 139     InfoEx importation.