CreateCloudMap 0.1.0

Create a cloud map for xplanet using satellite images from the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station

Python script to create a cloud map for xplanet using satellite images from the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee University, UK

xplanet can use a cloud map to make the earth look more pretty.

There is a free service which create one such cloud map per day. Due to a temporary unavailability of that service this script create_map was developed to automatically download the necessary geostationary images from the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station, Dundee University, UK. To use this service you need an account there (which is free). Also a new cloud map can be created every three hours.

Set your login information in the configuration file (default name for UNIX-like systems: $HOME/.CreateCloudMap/CreateCloudMap.ini, for Windows: %HOME%\.CreateCloudMap\CreateCloudMap.ini):

[Download]
username = user
password = secret
tempdir = images

[xplanet]
destinationdir = xplanet/images

tempdir specifies the directory where the downloaded images (and if enabled by the command line switch --debug or -d) intermediate debug images are stored. For debug outputs to work, you need to (manually) install matplotlib and Basemap. destinationdir specifies the directory where the output clouds_2048.jpg is saved.

To see all command line options of the script use --help:

$ create_map --help
usage: create_map [-h] [-d] [-c FILE] [-f]

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -d, --debug           store intermediate results
  -c FILE, --conf_file FILE
                        Specify config file
  -f, --force           Force to recreate cloud map