CreateCloudMap 0.2.0

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
 # Use one of the followingj for resolution: medium, high
resolution = medium

[xplanet]
destinationdir = xplanet/images
destinationfile = clouds_2048.jpg
width = 2048
height = 1024

If the configuration file already exists, a new version is copied to CreateCloudMap.ini.new to not overwrite the login data. The old config file should work after an update, because default values are used for newly introduced options.

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 destinationfile is saved.

resolution can be set to medium or high to determine the resolution of the downloaded satellite images (low does not work at the moment.)

width and height set the dimensions of the cloud map in destinationfile.

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