Advice on Software that will import data from a txt file

[frank_blac]

Hi there,
 I'm new to the forum and have a question regarding software that will allow me to pull data from a text file rather than actual weather station hardware.
We have several different PLC's and data loggers around our resort that all report back to an i/o server. The i/o server is running "Citect SCADA". The collected weather info (as well as other telemetry) is sent in a text file to our website every 5 minutes via FTP. a script on our site parses the file and adds the most recent info to our website.
This has worked well for us for years, however we would like to be part of the Citizen Weather Observation Program (CWOP).
How can I get my data into a format acceptable for CWOP?
It seems that the data has to come from software associated with particular hardware?
can anyone point me inthe right direction?

thanks for your time and iI appologize if I've posted incorretly.

cheers,
Ian

[Weather Display]

Hi
if you can configure the format of the data
then you could configure it to the format that weather display can use as a data source
just as a suggestion

[frank_blac]

thanks,
I may be able to edit the upload text file.
Is "weather display" software I can try? will it accept realtime importing?
forgive me but can you point me to an area where I can see the format required?

The text file data currenlty looks like this;

TopOfTheWorldTemp=-5.600
Valleytemp=-2.358
SnowDepth=72.360
MidMountainTemp=-3.927
BurfWindSpeed=22.941
SunBurstWindSpeed=1.763
SunDanceWindSpeed=24.272
Mid_Mtn_Humidity=94.691
Mo_Temp=-4.406
MoEx_wind_speed=14.794
snow_accumulation_1hr=0.000
snow_accumulation_12hr=1.050
snow_accumulation_24hr=1.050
snow_accumulation_48hr=8.042
snow_accumulation_7Day=8.520


Ian

[Weather Display]

if you can get the format into the universal file format then WD can read it in , in real time

[frank_blac]

Thanks again Weather Display,
Sorry to be such a noob, but can you direct me to the universal file format?

Thanks,
Ian

[DaculaWeather]

CWOP is expecting barometric pressure also and I see you're not capturing that.

My suggestion is to purchase something like a Davis Vue and use that for data collection AND CWOP uploads. You'll end up with a wealth of information that can then be used on your website in addition to the data you're already capturing. Looks like a ski slope?

[frank_blac]

We have data collection already in place, we want to use the same sources to keep our website messaging consistent.
We have been collecting data since 72' at specific plots, valley, Top, Mid.
You are correct, we are a ski hill in BC, Canada. sunpeaksresort.com
I appreciate your help on with this, I didn't realize the barometric was also required.
I think I'm going to go with your original suggestion of scripting something that will grab our data and convert it to universal file format (long, lat, what else?), and then FTP to CWOP if they accept it this way?
where can I look at some sample data that CWOP will accept to use a guideline?

thanks again for your help.

Ian

[Weather Display]

Hi
the univseral file format info is included in the install files of the WD software
also you should be able to find out info on the WD forum (use advanced search)

[dkinsc]

Ian, try this.  Go directly to www.wxqa.com and look at a variety of info there.  You should be able to find the data format and instructions to upload without using special software.  Take a look at my cwop page to see typical data and a link to the wxqc email list.  Note that there is a cwop area at wxforum.net.  You might try asking questions there.  In general, though, data uploaded to cwop is text, and could be parsed out of what you have.  What you need is the specific format and how/where to upload.  You should be able to get that from the folks who operate cwop.  Joining is free, and will put you in touch with them.

[Bushman]

Frank, WHY on earth would you care to upload to CWOP??  No-one who skis Sun Peaks (say hi to Senator Nancy for me will ya?)  would ever care about CWOP.  Trying to mod your PLC/Scada stuff is a WOT/WOM.  If you must do this just buy  a simple Wx station like a Davis view and post that.

[dkinsc]

Seems to me that Ian knows what he is doing and what he wants to do with his weather data.  Surely we can do better than tell him to buy hardware he does not want or software he does not need.  Ian, if someone more expert than me does not come along, pm me and we will work it out.

[Bushman]

CWOP is pretty much a non starter in the Kamloops area.  Trust me.  I ski Tod Mountain all the time and there is no one who gives a whit about CWOP.  All anyone really cares about is  accurate snowfall reporting.  Wasting time and money on something that does not benefit the paying public is, IMNSHO a WOM.  YMMV

I'm glad you want to help him out, but parsing a text file into CWOP is dead simple (provided they FTP the text file to the Net) but I can see no benefit whatsoever.  If you  do, please enlighten me.

[W3DRM]

Maybe he just wants to do that. Why should we question whether it is viable or not?

[frank_blac]

Thanks dkinsc,
 I have been checking out the site, but I have not found another method of upload other than using one of the softwares listed? I'll keep looking.

Bushman, I will tell Nancy you said hi!
I also want to ensure you that no $ has been spent on this project. We are always trying to find ways of providing the most accurate data for our guests. Currently in our area, forcasting comes from plots in the valleys around us (Barrier), not from up here.
I have high degree of faith in our gear, this is my point, "why spend Money when we already collect the data". Therfore we will not be purchasing a separate station.
As far as snow depth, we have 2 separate sensors that measure realtime depth. These are calibrated weekly against manual readings taken at our Storm boards and Stevenson screens, 3 times daily by our Patrol Department.
So, although no one may care about CWOP, there are forcasting services that can use CWOP data. If the forcasting is accurate we will add it to our website. So, I guess we are actually saving our guests $ by giving them better data to make an informed decision on wether or not to visit us.
As for my time... well, I'm a geek and quickly becoming more interested in this field. Not that I have time for more hobbies!

[Bushman]

OK - there are a couple ways I can thing of to do this.  Personally I would "roll my own" as opposed to buying  some SW to do it.  The file format for CWOP is pretty simple: http://weather.gladstonefamily.net/aprswxnet.html   If you do this on a PC it might be easier than rolling PHP scripts on your server.  Which is also doable.  Here's an example of that: http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=12922.0

[frank_blac]

Hi Folks, it took a little work but we are live!

http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/wxpage.cgi?call=DW9787&last=48

a report from our SCADA system is parsed by some php code and data is uploaded.

thanks for the help!
Ian

[Bushman]

Glad to see you have it going.  It would be nice to know exactly where (mid?  top? bottom of mountain) location the readings are taken.  And i have to say, the ads on  that page sure are annoying!  Also, it states no radar within 150 miles - Vernon's Environment Canada radar is only about 100 kms away.