United States Naval Academy :: Leaders to Serve the Nation

Point Data Documentation

4.3 Developing point data readers for RAMADDA

This page describes how to develop a new point data file reader using the RAMADDA point data framework. This framework is based around a record file reading framework. To provide support for a new point data format all that is required is to define a new Java File class that can create the Record class that knows how to read a record from the file.

Getting Started

First, check out the core RAMADDA package

svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/ramadda/code/ ramadda-code

The point data file reading code is in:

src/org/ramadda/data/point

The point data plugin is in:

src/org/ramadda/geodata/point

PBO H20

The PBO H2O Data Portal provides a model load CSV file.

vert_gldas.csv

# PBO H2O Data Portal - http://xenon.colorado.edu/portal 

  created 09-Feb-2014
  cast    39.191022   249.322687  2245.0  / station Lat. Lon. Elev.(m)
  Product Release Version   1.1
  Loading Model
  The monthly GLDAS loads were computed by Tonie van Dam's group
  at the University of Luxembourg
  Month, Day, and DOY are provided to make it easier to plot the loads
  Year, Month, Day, Dayofyear, North Load(mm), East Load(mm), Vert Load(mm)

2000,    1,   15,   15,    0.4,    0.2,   -2.5 
2000,    2,   15,   46,    0.6,    0.2,   -3.4 
2000,    3,   15,   75,    0.7,    0.1,   -4.7 
2000,    4,   15,  106,    0.8,    0.3,   -4.5 
2000,    5,   15,  136,    0.7,    0.2,   -3.3 
2000,    6,   15,  167,    0.3,    0.2,   -2.0 
2000,    7,   15,  197,   -0.0,    0.1,   -0.8 
2000,    8,   15,  228,   -0.2,    0.0,    0.3 
2000,    9,   15,  259,   -0.2,   -0.1,    0.4 
2000,   10,   15,  289,   -0.2,   -0.0,   -0.3 
2000,   11,   15,  320,   -0.2,    0.1,   -2.3 
2000,   12,   15,  350,    0.0,    0.2,   -2.8 
2001,    1,   15,   15,    0.2,    0.3,   -3.4 
2001,    2,   15,   46,    0.3,    0.3,   -4.0 
2001,    3,   15,   74,    0.3,    0.2,   -4.4 
2001,    4,   15,  105,    0.4,    0.2,   -3.8 
2001,    5,   15,  135,    0.3,    0.1,   -2.4 
2001,    6,   15,  166,    0.2,    0.1,   -1.0 
2001,    7,   15,  196,   -0.1,   -0.1,    0.2 
2001,    8,   15,  227,   -0.2,   -0.2,    0.8 
2001,    9,   15,  258,   -0.3,   -0.2,    1.1 
2001,   10,   15,  288,   -0.3,   -0.1,    1.2 
2001,   11,   15,  319,   -0.1,   -0.1,    0.8 
2001,   12,   15,  349,    0.1,   -0.1,   -0.3 
2002,    1,   15,   15,    0.2,   -0.1,   -0.6 
2002,    2,   15,   46,    0.3,   -0.0,   -0.7 
2002,    3,   15,   74,    0.4,   -0.0,   -0.6 
2002,    4,   15,  105,    0.4,    0.0,   -0.2 
2002,    5,   15,  135,    0.3,   -0.0,    0.5 
2002,    6,   15,  166,    0.1,   -0.1,    1.5 
2002,    7,   15,  196,   -0.2,   -0.2,    2.3 
2002,    8,   15,  227,   -0.3,   -0.2,    2.7 
2002,    9,   15,  258,   -0.3,   -0.2,    2.0 
2002,   10,   15,  288,   -0.3,    0.1,    1.3 
2002,   11,   15,  319,   -0.2,    0.2,    0.7 
2002,   12,   15,  349,   -0.1,    0.2,    0.2 
2003,    1,   15,   15,    0.1,    0.2,   -0.3 
2003,    2,   15,   46,    0.3,    0.1,   -0.7 
2003,    3,   15,   74,    0.3,    0.2,   -1.2 
2003,    4,   15,  105,    0.3,    0.1,   -0.9 
2003,    5,   15,  135,    0.3,    0.1,   -0.4 
2003,    6,   15,  166,    0.0,    0.1,    0.8 
2003,    7,   15,  196,   -0.3,    0.0,    1.8 
2003,    8,   15,  227,   -0.5,   -0.1,    2.5 
2003,    9,   15,  258,   -0.5,   -0.0,    2.4 
2003,   10,   15,  288,   -0.4,    0.0,    2.4 
2003,   11,   15,  319,   -0.3,    0.1,    1.9 
2003,   12,   15,  349,   -0.1,    0.1,    1.2 
2004,    1,   15,   15,    0.1,    0.1,    0.5 
2004,    2,   15,   46,    0.2,    0.1,    0.1 
2004,    3,   15,   75,    0.2,    0.1,   -0.4 
2004,    4,   15,  106,    0.1,    0.2,   -0.1 
2004,    5,   15,  136,    0.1,    0.2,    0.6 
2004,    6,   15,  167,   -0.0,    0.2,    1.2 
2004,    7,   15,  197,   -0.3,    0.2,    1.8 
2004,    8,   15,  228,   -0.4,    0.1,    2.4 
2004,    9,   15,  259,   -0.4,    0.1,    2.2 
2004,   10,   15,  289,   -0.3,    0.1,    1.3 
2004,   11,   15,  320,   -0.2,    0.2,   -0.5 
2004,   12,   15,  350,   -0.0,    0.3,   -1.4 
2005,    1,   15,   15,    0.0,    0.2,   -2.9 
2005,    2,   15,   46,    0.0,    0.2,   -3.8 
2005,    3,   15,   74,    0.1,    0.1,   -3.7 
2005,    4,   15,  105,    0.2,    0.0,   -3.3 
2005,    5,   15,  135,    0.3,   -0.1,   -2.7 
2005,    6,   15,  166,    0.2,   -0.1,   -1.8 
2005,    7,   15,  196,   -0.1,   -0.2,   -0.1 
2005,    8,   15,  227,   -0.4,   -0.3,    0.6 
2005,    9,   15,  258,   -0.4,   -0.3,    0.9 
2005,   10,   15,  288,   -0.3,   -0.2,    0.4 
2005,   11,   15,  319,   -0.2,   -0.2,    0.0 
2005,   12,   15,  349,    0.0,   -0.1,   -0.3 
2006,    1,   15,   15,    0.3,   -0.3,   -1.1 
2006,    2,   15,   46,    0.4,   -0.2,   -1.4 
2006,    3,   15,   74,    0.5,   -0.2,   -1.7 
2006,    4,   15,  105,    0.6,   -0.3,   -1.9 
2006,    5,   15,  135,    0.4,   -0.3,   -0.8 
2006,    6,   15,  166,    0.1,   -0.4,    0.5 
2006,    7,   15,  196,   -0.3,   -0.4,    1.6 
2006,    8,   15,  227,   -0.5,   -0.4,    2.0 
2006,    9,   15,  258,   -0.6,   -0.3,    1.9 
2006,   10,   15,  288,   -0.5,   -0.1,    1.1 
2006,   11,   15,  319,   -0.3,   -0.1,    0.7 
2006,   12,   15,  349,   -0.1,   -0.0,    0.2 
2007,    1,   15,   15,   -0.0,    0.1,   -0.7 
2007,    2,   15,   46,    0.0,    0.0,   -1.0 
2007,    3,   15,   74,    0.2,   -0.0,   -0.9 
2007,    4,   15,  105,    0.2,    0.1,   -0.8 
2007,    5,   15,  135,    0.1,    0.1,   -0.0 
2007,    6,   15,  166,   -0.1,    0.0,    1.1 
2007,    7,   15,  196,   -0.4,   -0.1,    2.2 
2007,    8,   15,  227,   -0.6,   -0.2,    2.6 
2007,    9,   15,  258,   -0.6,   -0.2,    2.7 
2007,   10,   15,  288,   -0.4,   -0.2,    2.2 
2007,   11,   15,  319,   -0.2,   -0.1,    2.0 
2007,   12,   15,  349,   -0.0,   -0.0,    0.7 
2008,    1,   15,   15,    0.1,   -0.0,   -0.4 
2008,    2,   15,   46,    0.3,   -0.0,   -1.1 
2008,    3,   15,   75,    0.4,    0.0,   -1.3 
2008,    4,   15,  106,    0.4,    0.1,   -0.6 
2008,    5,   15,  136,    0.2,    0.0,    0.3 
2008,    6,   15,  167,    0.1,   -0.0,    1.0 
2008,    7,   15,  197,   -0.3,   -0.1,    2.2 
2008,    8,   15,  228,   -0.5,   -0.1,    2.7 
2008,    9,   15,  259,   -0.5,   -0.0,    2.4 
2008,   10,   15,  289,   -0.4,   -0.0,    2.1 
2008,   11,   15,  320,   -0.1,   -0.0,    1.6 
2008,   12,   15,  350,   -0.0,    0.0,    1.0 
2009,    1,   15,   15,    0.2,    0.0,   -0.1 
2009,    2,   15,   46,    0.3,    0.0,   -0.7 
2009,    3,   15,   74,    0.5,   -0.0,   -0.7 
2009,    4,   15,  105,    0.5,    0.1,   -0.5 
2009,    5,   15,  135,    0.4,    0.1,    0.1 
2009,    6,   15,  166,    0.2,    0.0,    0.8 
2009,    7,   15,  196,   -0.1,   -0.1,    1.7 
2009,    8,   15,  227,   -0.3,   -0.1,    2.5 
2009,    9,   15,  258,   -0.4,   -0.1,    2.7 
2009,   10,   15,  288,   -0.3,    0.0,    2.1 
2009,   11,   15,  319,   -0.1,    0.1,    1.6 
2009,   12,   15,  349,    0.0,    0.2,    1.0 
2010,    1,   15,   15,    0.2,    0.1,   -0.1 
2010,    2,   15,   46,    0.1,    0.1,   -1.4 
2010,    3,   15,   74,    0.2,    0.0,   -1.6 
2010,    4,   15,  105,    0.3,   -0.0,   -1.1 
2010,    5,   15,  135,    0.3,   -0.0,   -0.5 
2010,    6,   15,  166,    0.2,   -0.1,    0.3 
2010,    7,   15,  196,   -0.2,   -0.1,    1.4 
2010,    8,   15,  227,   -0.4,   -0.2,    2.2 
2010,    9,   15,  258,   -0.3,   -0.2,    2.4 
2010,   10,   15,  288,   -0.3,   -0.2,    2.1 
2010,   11,   15,  319,   -0.1,   -0.3,    1.5 
2010,   12,   15,  349,    0.2,   -0.4,    0.2 
2011,    1,   15,   15,    0.4,   -0.4,   -1.4 
2011,    2,   15,   46,    0.6,   -0.4,   -1.7 
2011,    3,   15,   74,    0.7,   -0.4,   -2.3 
2011,    4,   15,  105,    0.8,   -0.5,   -2.2 
2011,    5,   15,  135,    0.8,   -0.4,   -1.9 
2011,    6,   15,  166,    0.7,   -0.4,   -1.2 
2011,    7,   15,  196,    0.2,   -0.4,    0.3 
2011,    8,   15,  227,   -0.1,   -0.5,    1.4 
2011,    9,   15,  258,   -0.2,   -0.5,    1.9 
2011,   10,   15,  288,   -0.2,   -0.4,    1.6 
2011,   11,   15,  319,   -0.0,   -0.3,    1.3 
2011,   12,   15,  349,    0.0,   -0.2,    0.9 
2012,    1,   15,   15,    0.2,   -0.2,    0.5 
2012,    2,   15,   46,    0.3,   -0.2,   -0.0 
2012,    3,   15,   75,    0.3,   -0.3,   -0.1 
2012,    4,   15,  106,    0.3,   -0.3,    0.2 
2012,    5,   15,  136,    0.2,   -0.3,    1.1 
2012,    6,   15,  167,    0.0,   -0.4,    2.2 
2012,    7,   15,  197,   -0.3,   -0.6,    3.1 
2012,    8,   15,  228,   -0.5,   -0.6,    3.5 
2012,    9,   15,  259,   -0.5,   -0.6,    3.6 
2012,   10,   15,  289,   -0.5,   -0.5,    3.4 
2012,   11,   15,  320,   -0.2,   -0.4,    3.0 
2012,   12,   15,  350,   -0.0,   -0.5,    2.3 
2013,    1,   15,   15,    0.0,   -0.3,    1.6 
2013,    2,   15,   46,    0.1,   -0.3,    1.3 
2013,    3,   15,   74,    0.2,   -0.2,    1.2 
2013,    4,   15,  105,    0.2,   -0.1,    1.3

This can be ingested without just the following properties file. The data file has latitude, longitude and elevation in the header. To use these we define a "pattern" attribute for these fields.

vert_gldas.csv.properties


 
 The header is the standard variable number of "#" commented lines
 

header.standard=true


 
 The fields - note Latitude,Longitude and Elevation have default values
 extracted from the header with the below pattern definitions
 

fields=Latitude,Longitude,Elevation,Year, Month, Day, Dayofyear, North_Load[1], East_Load[2], Vert_Load[3]


 
 The pattern attribute is a regular expression  used to extract the value from the header
 

field.Latitude.pattern=#\s*cast\s*([4]+\.[5]+)\s+
field.Longitude.pattern=#\s*cast\s*[6]+\.[7]+\s+([8]+\.[9]+)\s+
field.Elevation.pattern=#\s*cast\s*[10]+\.[11]+\s+[12]+\.[13]+\s+([14]+\.[15]+)\s+

AMRC Text Files

We're going to look at meteorological data from the Antarctic Meteorology Research Center (AMRC). Some example data can be found on the RAMADDA comunity site.

The code is at:

src/org/ramadda/data/point/amrc/AmrcFinalQCPointFile.java

There is an example file:

src/org/ramadda/data/point/amrc/exampleamrcqc.txt

The plugin is defined in:

src/org/ramadda/geodata/point/amrc/amrctypes.xml

To run this from the command line (assuming you've installed the pointtools):

    pointchecker.sh  -class org.ramadda.data.point.amrc.AmrcFinalQCPointFile exampleamrcqc.txt

Or if you have your environment set up:

    java org.ramadda.data.point.amrc.AmrcFinalQCPointFile exampleamrcqc.txt

The AmrcFinalQCPointFile class reads the final QC'ed text file format:

Year: 2001  Month: 09  ID: BPT  ARGOS:  8923  Name: Bonaparte Point     
Lat: 64.78S  Lon:  64.07W  Elev:    8m
2001 244  9  1 0000   -2.5  444.0    0.2  110.0  444.0  444.0
2001 244  9  1 0010   -2.5  444.0    0.2  114.0  444.0  444.0
2001 244  9  1 0020   -2.5  444.0    0.2  110.0  444.0  444.0
2001 244  9  1 0030   -2.5  444.0    0.0    0.0  444.0  444.0
2001 244  9  1 0040   -2.5  444.0    0.0    0.0  444.0  444.0

This is:

year,julian_day,month,day,hhmm,temperature,pressure,wind_speed,wind_direction,relative_humidity,delta_t

We need to write some code because the point data API expects geo and time referencing so the AmrcFinalQCPointFile code extracts the metadata from the header and tacks on site,lat,lon,elevation to each row (well, sortof). The API sees:

site_id,latitude,longitude,elevation,year, julian day, month, day, hhmm, ...

In the AmrcFinalQCPointFile.prepareToVisit method the 2 line header is read, the georeferencing metadata is then used to define the fields as, using value="..." field attribute to insert the metadata values. This allows us to take the metadata in the header (e.g., location) and have it applied to the data records. The base point code (for now) doesn't handle the particular way of expressing time so the AmrcFinalQCPointFile code handles it in its processAfterReading method. This parses the date/time from the column values and sets the time on the Record.

fields=
site_id[ type="string"   value="BPT"  ],
latitude[ value="-64.78"  ],
longitude[ value="-64.07"  ],
elevation[ value="    8"  ],
year[ ],
julian_Day[ ],
month[ ],
day[ ],
time[ type="string"  ],
temperature[ unit="Celsius"   chartable="true"  ],
pressure[ unit="hPa"   chartable="true"  ],
wind_speed[ unit="m/s"   chartable="true"  ],
wind_direction[ unit="degrees"  ],
relative_humidity[ unit="%"   chartable="true"  ],

Mcords IRMCR2 Text Format

Mcords is one of the airborne LiDAR data sets from NASA's Operation IceBridge. Example IceBridge data can be found on the RAMADDA community site The Mcords data is available here: ftp://n4ftl01u.ecs.nasa.gov/SAN2/ICEBRIDGE_FTP/BRMCR2_MCORDSiceThickness_v01 and looks like:

LAT,LON,TIME,THICK,ELEVATION,FRAME,SURFACE,BOTTOM,QUALITY
76.807589,-48.918178,48974.2143,-9999.00,4158.4286,2007091001001, -5.87,-9999.00,0
76.807579,-48.917978,48974.2504,-9999.00,4158.5008,2007091001001, -4.63,-9999.00,0
76.807569,-48.917778,48974.2865,-9999.00,4158.5731,2007091001001, -3.40,-9999.00,0

To provide support for this data format we need to create 2 classes- McordsIrmcr2File and McordsIrmcr2Record. The basic structure is that the "File" classes are what get insantiated and can do some initialization (e.g., read the header) and create a Record class that is used to read and store the values for one line or record of data.

One could hand write both the File and the Reader class but RAMADDA provides a data dictionary based code generation facility. In the Icebridge package there is a definerecords.tcl script that contains the data dictionary that generates Java code for the various readers. To run this do:

  tclsh definerecords.tcl

This script generates a self-contained McordsIrmcr2File class. This class contains a generated McordsIrmcr2Record class that does the actual reading. This code is generated by the generateRecordClass procedure defined in ../..record/generate.tcl. The following arguments are used

org.ramadda.data.point.icebridge.McordsIrmcr2Record	Generate this Java class
-lineoriented 1	This is a text line oriented file, not a binary file
-delimiter {,}	Comma delimited
-skiplines 1	skip the first line in the text file. It is a header
-makefile 1	Normally, generateRecordClass generates just a Record class. This says to actually make a McordIrmcr2File class that contains the Record class. This makes the reader self contained
-filesuper org.ramadda.data.point.text.TextFile	This is the super class of the file class
-super org.unavco.data.lidar.LidarRecord	This is the super class of the record
-fields
{latitude double -declare 0}	Define a field called latitude of type double. The -declare says to not declare the latitude attribute in the Record class. This uses the latitude attribute of the base PointRecord class. Look at AtmIceSSNRecord in definerecords.tcl to see how to overwrite the getLatitude methods
{longitude double -declare 0}
{time double}
{thickness double -missing "-9999.0" -chartable true }	Specify a missing value and set the chartable flag. The chartable is used by RAMADDA to determine what fields are chartable.
{altitude double -chartable true -declare 0}	This uses the altitude attribute of the base class.
{frame int}
{surface double -chartable true -missing "-9999.0"}
{bottom double -chartable true -missing "-9999.0"}
{quality int -chartable true }

The generated McordIrmcr2File class has a main that can be used to test, e.g.:

java org.ramadda.data.point.icebridge.McordIrmcr2File <data file>

To use the file reader within RAMADDA one has to add a new RAMADDA entry type in a plugin. The main RAMADDA point plugin is located here:

src/org/ramadda/geodata/point/icebridgetypes.xml

In icebridgetypes.xml is the entry definition for the Mcords file type. This specifies a record.file.class property that is used to instantiate the file reader.

  <type 
     name="type_point_icebridge_mccords_irmcr2"  
     description="McCords Irmcr2 Data" 
     handler="org.ramadda.data.services.PointTypeHandler" 
     super="type_point_icebridge" >
     <property name="icon" value="/point/nasa.png"/>
     <property name="record.file.class" value="org.ramadda.data.point.icebridge.McordsIrmcr2File"/>
  </type>

ATM QFit Data

The ATM QFit data is a binary format. There are 3 different record structures - 10 word, 12 word and 14 word. We use the code generation facility to generate readers for each of these formats.

generateRecordClass org.unavco.data.lidar.icebridge.QFit10WordRecord  
    -super org.unavco.data.lidar.icebridge.QfitRecord  -fields  { 
    { relativeTime int -declare 0}
    { laserLatitude int -declare 0}
    { laserLongitude int -declare 0}
    { elevation int -declare 0  -unit mm}
    { startSignalStrength int }
    { reflectedSignalStrength int }
    { azimuth int -unit millidegree}
    { pitch int -unit millidegree}
    { roll int -unit millidegree}
    { gpsTime int }
}

The records all have some common fields - relativeTime, latitude, longitude and elevation. These fields have various scaling factors. We declare those fields in the base (hand written) QfitRecord class and that class in turn implements the getLatitude, getLongitude, etc., methods, scaling the integer values accordingly. The QfitFile is not generated. It handles the logic of determining what record format the file is in, its endianness and pulls out the base date from the file name.

Text Point Data

Point Data Access API