InfoEx AutoWx (IEAW)
=============
-This program fetches data from an NRCS SNOTEL site and pushes it into
-the InfoEx system using the new automated weather system implementation.
+This program fetches data from an NRCS SNOTEL or MesoWest station and
+pushes it into the InfoEx system using the new automated weather system
+implementation.
-License under the MIT license (see file: LICENSE).
+Licensed under the ISC license (see file: LICENSE).
Disclaimer
----------
-Your usage of the NRCS and InfoEx systems is bound by their respective
-terms and this software makes no attempt or claim to abide by any such
-terms.
+Your usage of the NRCS, MesoWest, and/or InfoEx systems is bound by
+their respective terms and this software makes no attempt or claim to
+abide by any such terms.
Installation
------------
cron(8)) and administered via a simple, concise configuration file.
This design allows you to run a separate program instance for each NRCS
-weather station from which you'd like to automate the importation of
-data into your InfoEx subscriber account.
+or MesoWest weather station from which you'd like to automate the
+importation of data into your InfoEx subscriber account.
+
+To get started, copy the included example config file
+(`config.ini.example` in the root source directoy) and modify the values
+for your own use.
To run ad-hoc (be sure to activate the virtual environment, as detailed in the
Installation section):
-`./infoex-autowx.py --config [path/to/config-file.ini] [--dry-run]`
+`./infoex-autowx.py --config path/to/config-file.ini [--dry-run] [--log-level debug|info|warning]`
+
+**NOTE: Specifying --dry-run will not clean up the generated CSV file.**
+This is so that you can more easily debug any issues that arise in the
+setup process.
-**NOTE: Specifying --dry-run will also not clean up the generated CSV
-file.** This is so that you can debug any issues more easily.
+You can also specify `--log-level` as debug, info, warning. The
+log messages produced by the program will try to be logged to journald,
+but if that's not available, they will be printed to stdout. This output
+can be helpful early on in the setup process.
+
+Automation
+----------
Here's an example of a crontab(5) with two SNOTEL sites, each of which
will run once per hour (note that this will activate the virtual environment
Configuration File
------------------
-The configuration file is separated into two parts, the [wxsite]
-portion, and the [ftp] portion.
+The configuration file is separated into two parts, the [station]
+portion, and the [infoex] portion.
-The [wxsite] values describe which NRCS SNOTEL site's data you're after.
+The [station] values describe which weather station's data you're after.
See the next section in this README for instructions on obtaining these
values.
-The [ftp] values describe your credentials for the InfoEx automated
-weather station FTP server.
+The [infoex] values describe your credentials for the InfoEx automated
+weather station FTP server and other InfoEx-related configuration
+options.
-`[nrcs]`
-`station_triplet = [The NRCS identifier for a particular SNOTEL site]`
-`desired_data = [A comma-delimited list of NRCS elements you're interested in]`
+`[station]`
+`type = # either mesowest or nrcs #`
+`token = # MesoWest API token -- ignored when type is nrcs #`
+`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 -- ignored when type is nrcs #`
`[infoex]`
-`host = [InfoEx FTP host address]`
-`uuid = [InfoEx-supplied UUID]`
-`api_key = [InfoEx-supplied API Key]`
-`csv_filename = [Arbitrary name of the file that will be uploaded to InfoEx]`
-`location_uuid = [The UUID used by InfoEx to identify your automated Wx site]`
+`host = # InfoEx FTP host address #`
+`uuid = # InfoEx-supplied UUID #`
+`api_key = # InfoEx-supplied API Key #`
+`csv_filename = # arbitrary name of the file that will be uploaded to InfoEx #`
+`location_uuid = # the UUID used by InfoEx to identify your automated Wx site #`
+
+Finding your NRCS `station` values
+----------------------------------
-Finding Your WXSITE values
---------------------------
+To complete the [station] configuration section for an NRCS station, you
+must fill in the attributes of the NRCS SNOTEL site from which you want
+to import data.
-To complete the [wxsite] configuration section, you must fill in the
-attributes of the NRCS SNOTEL site from which you want to import data.
Here are the steps to do that:
1. Find your station by clicking through this website:
4-digit number).
3. Combine your Station ID, state abbreviation, and the network type
- "SNTL" to get your station triplet (`station_triplet`, in the
+ "SNTL" to get your NRCS station triplet (`station_id`, in the
configuration file). For example:
655:OR:SNTL
of Oregon (OR). SNTL just represents that the station is in the
SNOTEL network and is used internally by NRCS.
-Once you have your station triplet, fill in the field in your
-configuration file. Now you must select which data you'd like to pull
-from NRCS to push into InfoEx.
+Once you have your station ID, fill in the field in your configuration
+file. Now you must select which data you'd like to pull from NRCS to
+push into InfoEx.
For that, visit the NRCS web service:
"elementCd" values into a comma-delimited string and put that into your
configuration file as the `desired_data` value.
-For example:
+A complete [station] section example:
-`station_triplet = 655:OR:SNTL`
+`[station]`
+`type = nrcs`
+`station_id = 655:OR:SNTL`
`desired_data = TOBS,PREC`
indicates that I'd like to import "AIR TEMPERATURE OBSERVED" and
"PRECIPITATION ACCUMULATION" from the NRCS SNOTEL site at Mud Ridge, OR,
into InfoEx.
-Version History
+Finding your MesoWest `station` values
+--------------------------------------
+
+MesoWest has great documentation which can be found here:
+
+https://developers.synopticdata.com/mesonet/v2/getting-started/
+
+To complete the [station] configuration section for a MesoWest station,
+you must fill in the attributes of the MesoWest station ID from which
+you want to import data. Here are the steps to do that:
+
+1. Firstly, get set up with MesoWest's API by going to the above
+ 'Getting Started' link. Once you're set up, you can copy a token from
+ the MesoWest web portal into your configuration file's `token` value.
+
+2. Next, you will want to find the Station ID for the MesoWest weather
+ station of interest and copy it to the `station_id` value.
+
+3. Finally, you must choose what data types you want to push into
+ InfoEx and compile them into a comma-separated list. MesoWest refers
+ to these as 'field names' or 'station variables' and a list is
+ available here:
+
+https://developers.synopticdata.com/about/station-variables/
+
+The MesoWest API supports on-the-fly unit conversion. If desired, that
+can be specified to infoex-autowx via the configuration option `units`.
+This can be either 'english' or 'metric', with 'english' meaning
+imperial units as used in the United States.
+
+A complete [station] section example:
+
+`[station]`
+`type = mesowest`
+`token = # token id copied from MesoWest web account #`
+`station_id = OD110`
+`desired_data = air_temp,snow_depth`
+`units = english`
+
+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.
+
+A note on supported measurements
+--------------------------------
+
+While this program supports several measurements, and will faithfully
+request all of the ones you specify (provided they're supported), the
+weather station may not record them. In this case, the data will simply
+be ignored (i.e. it will NOT log "0" when there's no measurement
+available).
+
+
+InfoEx provides a mechanism for inspecting your automated weather
+station data, so use that after setting this program up and compare it
+with the data you see in your web browser.
+
+Here's the list of measurements currently supported:
+
+**NRCS:**
+PREC
+TOBS
+SNWD
+PRES
+RHUM
+WSPD
+WDIR
+
+**MesoWest:**
+precip\_accum
+air\_temp
+snow\_depth
+pressure
+relative\_humidity
+wind\_speed
+wind\_direction
+wind\_gust
+
+Future plans
+------------
+
+- Improve the documentation
+- Implement unit conversion for NRCS stations
+
+Version history
---------------
+- 2.0.2 (Jul 2020)
+
+ Fix issues shown by pylint(1).
+
+- 2.0.1 (Jul 2020)
+
+ Major restructuring, but nothing which should impact the end user.
+
+ - Took the monolithic main () routine and broke it out into logical
+ components.
+ - Improved the names of variables.
+
- 2.0.0 (Jul 2020)
Implement MesoWest integration.
hence the major version bump. Such changes are not taken lightly but
given the desire to support multiple data sources, were necessary.
+ Other minor changes include:
+
+ - New switches: --log-level and --version.
+ - Better documentation.
+ - Expanded supported measurement types (from three to eight, in number).
+
- 1.0.0 (Jun 2020)
First released version. Cleaned up the program and design.
wylark / infoex-autowx.git / blobdiff