======================================================================== The metar library ======================================================================== Python-metar is a python package for interpreting METAR and SPECI coded weather reports. METAR and SPECI are coded aviation weather reports. The official coding schemes are specified in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Manual on Codes, vol I.1, Part A (WMO-306 I.i.A). US conventions for METAR/SPECI reports vary in a number of ways from the international standard, and are described in chapter 12 of the Federal Meteorological Handbook No.1. (FMH-1 1995), issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). General information about the use and history of the METAR standard can be found at https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/wdc/metar/ This module extracts the data recorded in the main-body groups of reports that follow the WMO spec or the US conventions, except for the runway state and trend groups, which are parsed but ignored. The most useful remark groups defined in the US spec are parsed, as well, such as the cumulative precipitation, min/max temperature, peak wind and sea-level pressure groups. No other regional conventions are formally supported, but a large number of variant formats found in international reports are accepted. Current METAR reports --------------------- Current and historical METAR data can be obtained from various places. The current METAR report for a given airport is available at the URL http://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/observations/metar/stations/<station>.TXT where <station> is the four-letter ICAO airport station code. The accompanying script get_report.py will download and decode the current report for any specified station. The METAR reports for all stations (worldwide) for any "cycle" (i.e., hour) in the last 24 hours are available in a single file at the URL http://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/data/observations/metar/cycles/<cycle>Z.TXT where <cycle> is a 2-digit cycle number (e.g., "00", "05" or "23"). METAR specifications -------------------- The Federal Meteorological Handbook No.1. (FMH-1 1995), which describes the U.S. standards, is available online at http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh-1/fmh1.htm I'm not sure from where you can download the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Manual on Codes, vol I.1, Part A (WMO-306 I.i.A) Tom Pollard pollard@alum.mit.edu May 2, 2009 (updated October 3, 2016) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Installation ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Install this package in the usual way, python setup.py install There's a small, inadequate test suite that can be run by saying python test/all_tests.py There are a couple of sample scripts, described briefly below. There's no real documentation to speak of, yet, but feel free to contact me with any questions you might have about how to use this package. Current sources --------------- You can always obtain the most recent version of this package using git, via git clone https://github.com/tomp/python-metar.git This is a public copy of the code repository I use for development. Thanks to Toby White for making me aware of GitHub. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------ README ............... this file parse_metar.py ....... a simple commandline driver for the METAR parser get_report.py ......... a script to download and decode the current reports for one or more stations. sample.py ............ a simple script showing how the decoded data can be accessed. (see metar/*.py sources and the test/test_*.py scripts for more examples.) sample.metar ......... a sample METAR report (longer than most). Try feeding this to the parse_metar.py script... metar/ Metar.py ......... the implementation of the Metar class. This class parses and represents a single METAR report. Datatypes.py ..... a support module that defines classes representing different types of meteorological data, including temperature, pressure, speed, distance, direction and position. test/ all_tests.py ..... a master test driver, which invokes all of the unit tests test_*.py ........ individual test modules setup.py ............. installation script ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Example ------------------------------------------------------------------------ See the sample.py script for an annonated demonstration of the use of this code. Just as an appetizer, here's an interactive example... >>> from metar import Metar >>> obs = Metar.Metar('METAR KEWR 111851Z VRB03G19KT 2SM R04R/3000VP6000FT TSRA BR FEW015 BKN040CB BKN065 OVC200 22/22 A2987 RMK AO2 PK WND 29028/1817 WSHFT 1812 TSB05RAB22 SLP114 FRQ LTGICCCCG TS OHD AND NW -N-E MOV NE P0013 T02270215') >>> print obs.string() station: KEWR type: routine report, cycle 19 (automatic report) time: Tue Jan 11 18:51:00 2005 temperature: 22.7 C dew point: 21.5 C wind: variable at 3 knots, gusting to 19 knots peak wind: WNW at 28 knots visibility: 2 miles visual range: runway 04R: 3000 meters to greater than 6000 meters feet pressure: 1011.5 mb weather: thunderstorm with rain; mist sky: a few clouds at 1500 feet broken cumulonimbus at 4000 feet broken clouds at 6500 feet overcast at 20000 feet sea-level pressure: 1011.4 mb 1-hour precipitation: 0.13in remarks: - Automated station (type 2) - peak wind 28kt from 290 degrees at 18:17 - wind shift at 18:12 - frequent lightning (intracloud,cloud-to-cloud,cloud-to-ground) - thunderstorm overhead and NW - TSB05RAB22 -N-E MOV NE METAR: METAR KEWR 111851Z VRB03G19KT 2SM R04R/3000VP6000FT TSRA BR FEW015 BKN040CB BKN065 OVC200 22/22 A2987 RMK AO2 PK WND 29028/1817 WSHFT 1812 TSB05RAB22 SLP114 FRQ LTGICCCCG TS OHD AND NW -N-E MOV NE P0013 T02270215 >>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Tests ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The library is tested against Python 2.6, Python 2.7, Python 3.2, Python 3.3, Python 3.4, and Python 3.5. A tox (https://testrun.org/tox/latest/) configuration file is included to easily run tests against each of these environments. To run tests against all environments, install tox and run: >>> tox To run against a specific environment, use the `-e` flag: >>> tox -e py35 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ LICENSE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The metar library is Copyright (c) 2004-2017, Tom Pollard All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------