Merge branch 'nrcs-unit-conversion' into develop

[infoex-autowx.git] / README.md

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8d9da91bed3d7ad0b2c4ad1c6ebab513a5ad204b..170e2ed69927ee7f5bf0295247068793c9ee28f9 100644 (file)
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ options.
 `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 #`  
+`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 #`  
 
 `[infoex]`  
@@ -206,6 +207,43 @@ 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.
 
+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.
+
 A note on supported measurements
 --------------------------------
 
@@ -262,6 +300,29 @@ Future plans
 Version history
 ---------------
 
+- 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.