Author Topic: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data  (Read 3161 times)

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Offline daveiano

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Hello everyone!

I am a software developer with a lot of hobbies, one of them is the weather. So I got my own personal weather station and placed it on a good spot in my backyard. After a few months with the station gathering data, I was not quite happy about the way I could view and analyze the data. My station supports CSV export or the direct transfer to a 3rd party, e.g. wetherunderground.

What I was looking for, was a simple software to show me my station's data in a modern and nicely visualized way.

So I developed my own :)

I just wanted to share this with you in case you are also looking for something similar. Please feel free to test it out, it's free and available for Mac, Linux, and Win.

You can read all about it here (I am currently doing the page, the texts are not final): https://daveiano.github.io/weather-data-center/

Would love to hear some feedback from you guys!

PS: If you like the app and would like to support me, please consider giving the project a star on https://github.com/Daveiano/weather-data-center
« Last Edit: February 19, 2022, 06:55:50 PM by daveiano »

Offline waiukuweather

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #1 on: February 19, 2022, 11:01:26 PM »
this looks good
do you have like a standard/default csv format that if the data is available in that format then its easy plug and play?

Offline daveiano

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2022, 05:09:23 AM »
Thank you!

Your CSV needs to have named headers, you can set the header names in the settings of the app, see here: https://daveiano.github.io/weather-data-center/manual.html#import

The app only shows the diagrams for data that is available (if your data does not contain the dew point, the diagram is not shown).

Offline waiukuweather

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2022, 02:50:10 PM »
i did understand that
but that doesn't answer my question

Offline wxperson

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2022, 05:23:56 PM »
I tried that csv that the ambient web page (for my station) created.   It seems to read it in but then I see no data. 

It would be nice if the software would be able to read the standard csv files for different stations.

FWIW... I attached the file I tried to use.. converted to .txt.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2022, 05:27:54 PM by wxperson »

Offline daveiano

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2022, 07:06:24 PM »
i did understand that
but that doesn't answer my question

Ah, I got you!

The default is the following:

header_time: 'time',
header_temperature: 'temperature',
header_felt_temperature: 'felt_temperature',
header_dew_point: 'dew_point',
header_rain: 'rain',
header_humidity: 'humidity',
header_pressure: 'pressure',
header_wind: 'wind',
header_wind_direction: 'wind_direction',
header_gust: 'gust',
header_solar: 'solar',
header_uvi: 'uvi'

Another point to notice is the time column: the data needs to be in a specific format which you have to tell the application. E.g. there is no automatic detection if your date is in the format 2021/2/21 - 00:55:00 or 21.2.22 / 0:55. You need to tell this to the app.

I am currently thinking about how to make this easier to configure.

@wxperson I had a quick look over your data, looks like the exports from my station except for the date format, I guess these are country / language-specific.

I tried that csv that the ambient web page (for my station) created.   It seems to read it in but then I see no data. 

It would be nice if the software would be able to read the standard csv files for different stations.

FWIW... I attached the file I tried to use.. converted to .txt.

Thank you for the input!
Yeah, the header names are not aligned with the default settings, also the date setting is different. I think it's a good idea to define some "Default settings for common stations", which you can simply choose. May I ask which station you are using?

I had a quick google search but did not find any manufacturer specifications about the exported data for example AW stations, just this which is not all information I need: https://ambientweather.com/faqs/question/view/id/1759/

 Gues I will be dependent on data input from station owners. I will try to get this in the application in the coming week, will post back!

Offline wxperson

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #6 on: February 20, 2022, 11:28:01 PM »
"Yeah, the header names are not aligned with the default settings, also the date setting is different. I think it's a good idea to define some "Default settings for common stations", which you can simply choose. May I ask which station you are using? "

My station is a WS-5000 Ambient.

Also have Davis VP2 and Tempest stations.

Offline daveiano

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2022, 11:22:05 AM »
Thank you very much for that!

Also have Davis VP2 and Tempest stations.

Could you also share some exports from these two stations? Would be very useful to see how the exports are structured from other manufacturers.

Offline wxperson

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2022, 01:56:34 PM »
Thank you very much for that!

Also have Davis VP2 and Tempest stations.

Could you also share some exports from these two stations? Would be very useful to see how the exports are structured from other manufacturers.

I am not sure how to get csv data for the Tempest and Davis VP2 ( unless using weatherlink software).
« Last Edit: February 21, 2022, 02:00:56 PM by wxperson »

Offline daveiano

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #9 on: February 22, 2022, 07:30:00 PM »
If you don't mind sharing, these exports would also be useful for further development.

I did some research in the meantime: The structure of the exported data (header names) seems to vary by:
  • Configured language of your device
  • Configured units
  • Model and manufacturer: e.g. AW WS-5000 "Wind Gust (mph)" or "Ultra-Violet Radiation Index" vs AW WS-2000 "Gust (km/h)" and "UVI"

Perhaps it's possible to automate this, though. I mean it's definitely possible but this is a huge (maintenance) effort (if things get changed). Will think about this.

@wxperson Did you already try to adjust the import settings accordingly? There is a guide to do that available here: https://daveiano.github.io/weather-data-center/manual.html#import
Your date format should be YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss and the date column would be "Simple Date".

Edit: Also added an issue on github: https://github.com/Daveiano/weather-data-center/issues/12
« Last Edit: February 22, 2022, 07:42:43 PM by daveiano »

Offline wxperson

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Re: Weather Data Center - a software to view and analyze your pws data
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2022, 08:49:24 PM »
@wxperson Did you already try to adjust the import settings accordingly? There is a guide to do that available here: https://daveiano.github.io/weather-data-center/manual.html#import
Your date format should be YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss and the date column would be "Simple Date".

Hi.. Have not had the time.   Doc visits, etc... :-(