InfoEx AutoWx (IEAW)
=============
-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.
+This program fetches data from an NRCS SNOTEL or MesoWest station, or
+your own custom data source, and pushes it into the InfoEx system using
+the new automated weather system implementation.
Licensed under the ISC license (see file: LICENSE).
`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 #`
+`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 #`
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
------------------------------
to specify the path to an external Python program. The external Python
program should emit its data in the form expected by infoex-autowx.
+This is a powerful feature which enables the user to upload data from
+any source imaginable into InfoEx. Common examples are a local database
+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.
+
+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
--------------------------------
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.
wind\_direction
wind\_gust
-Future plans
-------------
-
-- Improve the documentation
-- Implement unit conversion for NRCS stations
+**Custom Wx program**
+*infoex-autowx expects a custom Wx data provider to provide at least one
+of the following:*
+precipitationGauge
+tempPres
+tempMaxHour
+tempMinHour
+hS
+baro
+rH
+windSpeedNum
+windDirectionNum
+windGustSpeedNum
Version history
---------------
+- 3.4.5 (Mar 2025)
+
+ Add a timeout to the FTP operation
+
+- 3.4.4 (Sep 2024)
+
+ "Import" all unit variables from custom program
+
+- 3.4.3 (Sep 2024)
+
+ A few fixes for custom providers
+
+- 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).
wylark / infoex-autowx.git / blobdiff