Version bump

[infoex-autowx.git] / README.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 681feac7a7e0972b7c9fe82024c593bbec1332c7..c9fc57646876096a96c95a3c025cbcaa6a973195 100644 (file)
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -82,8 +82,11 @@ options.
 `token = # MesoWest API token -- only applies when type is mesowest #`  
 `station_id = # the NRCS/MesoWest identifier for a particular station #`  
 `desired_data = # a comma-delimited list of fields you're interested in #`  
 `token = # MesoWest API token -- only applies when type is mesowest #`  
 `station_id = # the NRCS/MesoWest identifier for a particular station #`  
 `desired_data = # a comma-delimited list of fields you're interested in #`  

-`units = # either english or metric -- only applies when type is mesowest #`  
+`units = # either english, metric, or american #`  
+`tz = # any entry from the Olson tz database e.g. America/Denver #`  

 `path = # the filesystem path to the Python program -- only applies when type is python #`  
 `path = # the filesystem path to the Python program -- only applies when type is python #`  

+`wind_mode = # normal or average -- only applies when type is mesowest #`  
+`hn24 = # true or false -- only applies when type is mesowest #`  

 
 `[infoex]`  
 `host = # InfoEx FTP host address #`  
 
 `[infoex]`  
 `host = # InfoEx FTP host address #`  


@@ -192,6 +195,40 @@ indicates that I'd like to import "Temperature" and "Precipitation
 accumulated" from the MesoWest station at Santiam Pass, OR, into InfoEx,
 and that I want that data in imperial units.
 
 accumulated" from the MesoWest station at Santiam Pass, OR, into InfoEx,
 and that I want that data in imperial units.
 

+Three- versus 24-hour ranges
+----------------------------
+
+By default, this program will fetch three hours of data from the
+provider. This way, if the most recent record has any missing data, it
+can examine the two hours prior, using whatever data it can find.
+
+There are two features which will cause the program to expand the time
+range of fetched data from three to 24 hours. Please be aware of this
+expansion as it may cause a rise in data/API usage.
+
+**NOTE: Only MesoWest stations have the benefit of wind averaging and
+        HN24 calculation at this time, because generally NRCS SNOTEL
+               stations do not provide wind data. HN24 support for NRCS SNOTEL
+               is planned.
+
+### Wind mode
+If you go to submit a Wx observation in InfoEx at e.g. 05:05, and have
+so configured InfoEx, it will take the wind speed, wind gust speed, and
+wind direction, from that hour and auto-fill it for the observation.
+
+Some operations may find it more important to know the averages for
+those values over the prior 24 hour period. Setting `wind_mode` to
+`average` will enable that.
+
+### HN24
+As most stations do not provide HN24 on their own, this program provides
+a configuration option for calculating this. Simply add `hn24 = true` to
+the configuration file.
+
+*NOTE: This is its own configuration option, rather than a new value for
+          desired_data, because it's not technically provided by MesoWest
+          or NRCS SNOTEL.*
+

 Custom weather station support
 ------------------------------
 
 Custom weather station support
 ------------------------------
 


@@ -206,6 +243,46 @@ or a remote web page which requires some custom parsing.
 Please see the program located at examples/custom-wx.example.py for a
 complete description of what's required.
 
 Please see the program located at examples/custom-wx.example.py for a
 complete description of what's required.
 

+A note on time zones
+--------------------
+
+This program is aware of time zones via the pytz library. The way in
+which NRCS and MesoWest deal with time zones differs as follows:
+
+NRCS expects the request to come in the appropriate time zone, and the
+data retrieved will be in the same time zone (no transformation
+required before sending to InfoEx).
+
+MesoWest expects the request to come in UTC, and the data retrieved will
+be in the same time zone (transformation from UTC to the desired time
+zone is required before sending to InfoEx).
+
+As long as you specify the correct timezone in your configuration file,
+all will be handled correctly. The list of time zones comes from the
+Olson tz database. See that for more information.
+
+If you specify an invalid time zone, the program will exit and inform
+you of such.
+
+Lastly, InfoEx itself is timezone aware. If you notice that the data
+which makes it into your operation is inaccurate, start your
+investigation with time zone-related issues and move on only once you've
+ruled this out as a cause of the inaccuracy.
+
+Unit conversions
+----------------
+
+Desired units may be specified in the configuration file.
+
+For MesoWest, the desired unit will be passed along in the API request
+and the conversion will take place through the MesoWest/Synoptic API.
+
+For NRCS, this program will do the conversion manually, as NRCS does not
+permit specifying the desired unit.
+
+There is an "American" units mode in which precip data is converted to
+metric, and wind data is converted to imperial units.
+

 A note on supported measurements
 --------------------------------
 
 A note on supported measurements
 --------------------------------
 


@@ -254,15 +331,94 @@ windSpeedNum
 windDirectionNum  
 windGustSpeedNum  
 
 windDirectionNum  
 windGustSpeedNum  
 

-Future plans
-------------
-
-- Improve the documentation
-- Implement unit conversion for NRCS stations
-

 Version history
 ---------------
 
 Version history
 ---------------
 

+- 3.4.2 (Dec 2022)
+
+  Fix mm/cm bug with Mesowest stations in American units mode.
+
+- 3.4.1 (Dec 2022)
+
+  Reverse "American" units mode such that precip values are in metric,
+  and wind values are in imperial/English.
+
+- 3.4.0 (Mar 2022)
+
+  Implement HN24 for NRCS SNOTEL stations, and implement "American"
+  units mode.
+
+- 3.3.1 (Jan 2022)
+
+  Fix bug in which HN24 values under certain circumstances could be
+  inaccurate.
+
+- 3.3.0 (Nov 2021)
+
+  Implement wind averaging and auto-calculation of HN24. These are
+  opt-in via two new configuration options.
+
+- 3.2.4 (Mar 2021)
+
+  Fix a small bug that allowed MesoWest HS values to flow through in
+  millimeters when metric was the specified unit. MesoWest metric HS
+  values are now correctly in centimeters.
+
+- 3.2.3 (Feb 2021)
+
+  Fix a small bug that allowed a TypeError to be raised with some
+  regularity.
+
+- 3.2.2 (Feb 2021)
+
+  Various small fixes.
+
+  - Round precipitation accumulation values to 2 decimal places.
+  - Catch requests' ConnectionException.
+  - Improve logging output when using stdout.
+
+- 3.2.1 (Feb 2021)
+
+  Fix config validation bug with units and custom Python program.
+
+- 3.2.0 (Feb 2021)
+
+  Implement NRCS unit conversion.
+
+- 3.1.1 (Feb 2021)
+
+  Fix relative humidity rounding.
+
+- 3.1.0 (Jan 2021)
+
+  Implement time zone support.
+
+- 3.0.2 (Jan 2021)
+
+  Use UTC time when asking MesoWest for data.
+
+- 3.0.1 (Jan 2021)
+
+  General fixes.
+
+  - MesoWest wind data (speed and gust speed) units are now transformed
+    from their origin unit (meters per second) to the unit expected by
+    InfoEx (miles per hour).
+
+  - Relative humidity is now rounded to one decimal place, preventing
+    InfoEx from reddening the auto-filled value.
+
+- 3.0.0 (Nov 2020)
+
+  Implement Custom Wx data providers.
+
+  This release enables the user to write their own Python programs and
+  specify them to infoex-autowx as a data provider.
+
+  This in turn enables the user to pull data from e.g. a local database
+  or an HTML page and push it into their InfoEx auto station data,
+  limited only by the imagination.
+

 - 2.2.0 (Nov 2020)
 
   Add support for Tmin/Tmax values (directly from MesoWest/NRCS).
 - 2.2.0 (Nov 2020)
 
   Add support for Tmin/Tmax values (directly from MesoWest/NRCS).