NAME

Weather::NHC::TropicalCyclone::ForecastAdvisory - provides handy extraction and conversion functionality for use with the NHC forecast advisory text

SYNOPSIS

Below is a full example of fetching a JSON file from NHC and iterating over each storm using Weather::NHC::TropicalCyclone. The NHC forecast is fetched, then it is this text that is converted in to the ATCF data format using this module's save_as_atcf method.

  use strict;
  use warnings;
  use Weather::NHC::TropicalCyclone ();
  use Weather::NHC::TropicalCyclone::Forecast ();
  
  my $nhc = Weather::NHC::TropicalCyclone->new;
  $nhc->fetch;
  my $storms_ref = $nhc->active_storms;
  foreach my $storm (@$storms_ref) {
      my ($text, $advNum, $local_file) = $storm->fetch_publicAdvisory($storm->id.q{.fst});
      my $imgs_ref = $storm->fetch_forecastGraphics_urls;
      if ( not $stormsAdvCache->{ $storm->id }->{$advNum} ) {

          my $new_advisory_file = sprintf( "%s.%s.fst.html", $advNum, $storm->id );
          rename $local_file, $new_advisory_file;

          my $new_advisory_atcf_file = sprintf( "%s.%s.fst", $advNum, $storm->id );
          my $fst_util = Weather::NHC::TropicalCyclone::Forecast->new( input_file => $new_advisory_file, output_file => $new_advisory_atcf_file);
          $fst_util->save_as_atcf;
     }
  }

DESCRIPTION

Parses text advisories from the National Hurricane Center and converts them to ATCF forecast format for use within ADCIRC. It currently provides basic functionality for converting the text advisories to a data file that is generally useful. It doesn't provide a true object interface for advisories, but if this is an approach that is useful it would be done in this module.

For more information on this format and others provided by the Automated Tropical Cyclone Forecast System (ATCF), please visit https://www.nrlmry.navy.mil/atcf_web/docs/database/new/database.html.

METHODS

new

Constructor, accepts two named parameters: input_file or input_text and output_file. These define the initial file containing the NHC forecast text and the file to which the ATCF format should be written.

Note: input_file and input_file are mutually exclusive. An exception will be thrown from the new constructor if both are provided.

as_atcf

Internal field accessor, only useful after extract_atcf has been called on the instance.

extract_and_save_atcf

Combines extract_atcf and save_atcf into a single, convenient method since this will usually be what is wanted.

extract_atcf

As long as input_file has been defined and it is in the expected NCH forecast advisory format, relevant data values will be extracted and return with each record contained in an array refernce. Each element in this array reference corresponds to a distict ATCF record.

input_file

Accessor for the input file containing the NHC forecast advisory text if used in the constructor..

input_text

Accessor for the input text of the NHC forecast advisory if used in the constructor.

output_file

Accessor for the output file that is written with the contents of as_atcf when save_atcf or extract_and_save_atcf is called.

save_atcf

Saves contents returned by as_atcf to the file specific by output.

_parseIotachs

Internal method that assists extract_atcf in its parsing.

AUTHOR

The core parsing code in this module was created by Jason Fleming for use in the ADCIRC Surge Guidance System (ASGS). It is contained in the file, nhc_advisory_bot.pl, which is available in their github repository. This module is presented simply as a wrapper around this functionality.

https://github.com/jasonfleming/asgs/blob/master/nhc_advisory_bot.pl

LICENSE & COPYRIGHT

Copyright(C) 2009-2015: Jason Fleming

This file is part of the ADCIRC Surge Guidance System (ASGS).

The ASGS 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 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

ASGS 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. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with the ASGS. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.