Cambridge University Spaceflight landing predictor - a web-based tool for predicting the flight path and landing location of latex meteorological sounding balloons.
The `predict/preds/` and `gfs/` directories need to have rwx access by the PHP interpreter and the `predict.py` python script. You will need to install the python dependencies listed in requirements.txt. In the case of PyDAP, the exact version is important; the easiest way is:
The two shell scripts in the `cron/` directory should both be run daily. `clear-pydap-cache-cronjob.sh` clears the cache used by pydap so that old data does not build up. `purge-predictions-cronjob.sh` deletes scenarios and predictions not accessed or modified within the last 7 days. Re-running a prediction for a scenario will therefore reset its time to live to 7 more days.
The directory names are UUIDs comprised of an SHA1 hash of the launch parameters, and re-running predictions will overwrite data in the existing directory, rather than create a new one.
We use GFS data provided by the NOAA, accessed via NDAP and their [NOMADS](http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov) distribution system. The [1.0x1.0 degree data](http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/txt_descriptions/GFS_high_resolution_doc.shtml) (26 vertical pressure levels) is used for standard predictions, and the [0.5x0.5 degree data](http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/txt_descriptions/GFS_half_degree_doc.shtml) (47 vertical pressure levels) is used for the high definition (HD) predictions.
This work is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or any later version. This work is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but without any warranty; without even the implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
