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Populate the temperature automatically (Read 348 times)

Sid1621


    I'm sure it's harder than it sounds or everyone would be doing it but it would be nice if the temperature was automatically populated for workouts that have GPS data. I don't see any sites doing this, but the information is historical and most likely available from some online archive somewhere. Since the GPS data gives the location and time of day it seems like populating the info would be a nice thing to just plug in. Yeah I know I said "just" and "easy". Again, I'm sure it's harder than it sounds, but I figured maybe no one has mentioned it so why not throw the idea out there.

     

    Cheers.

    Mr MattM


      This is one that technically is 'easy'... but the sites that collect and retain this data... charge for access... at least when you want it ad-hoc.

      be curious; not judgmental

      eric :)


        I revisited this request at the beginning of the month. Most weather websites offer only current weather or forecasts only.  Weather Wunderground offers historical data but the free (developer) license allows only 500 look ups a day, which is nowhere near enough even if I store the results of the look ups.  The next tier allows 5,000 look ups, which should be enough assuming I store the results, but it costs $500 a month.  I would consider it if it's $500 a year.

         

        I kept digging and found a data source that does not charge me an obscene amount of money for historical data.  I managed to unpack one of the sample files and read the data.  I still need to determine if all the weather stations in its network provide sufficient coverage for pretty much the entire world.  If the coverage is acceptable, then the only problem remaining is the data comes out once a day.  That means if you log a workout for today, chances are that it won't have weather data until a day or two from now.

         

        I don't know how users feel about delayed weather.  I suppose I can continue to provide the weather form on the workout editor, but then I'll have duplicate data.  So, that's weather in a nutshell.

          I vote for getting rid of weather altogether. Weather is important to know before a run, but it's useless in the training log.

          Runners run

          eric :)


            I vote for getting rid of weather altogether. Weather is important to know before a run, but it's useless in the training log.

             

            That's not necessarily true.  If your run is uncharacteristically slow, it could be you're running in a snow storm or 100% humidity.  You can indicate this info in the notes, but having the actual weather condition can provide a better picture.

             

            Don't worry Mikey, the next log update should make you happy if you don't want weather.

            L Train


              I'd like a streak widget for non-running, please.  Weather will not be an important component.

               

              zonykel


                Temperature info would be interesting, but it's typically not something I track. Interestingly, garmin has a device called "Tempe" to measure temperature. Unfortunately, it's not compatible with your typical GPS watches (except for the fenix, and some other hiking-type devices). It's too bad garmin hasn't expanded its use.

                   Don't worry Mikey, the next log update should make you happy if you don't want weather.

                   

                  I trust you.

                  Runners run

                  xor


                    I am excited that the new update will control the weather.  I hope Dragon helped with that feature, because, well, daaaaamn!

                     

                    dennrunner


                      FWIW, I DO record the temperature, wind, and dew point (when applicable) for nearly every run and ride. However, I select various weather stations for the data depending on where I run or ride (via Underground). I put the detail in the notes.

                       

                      I don't really have a need to have the data populated automatically. Some weather station data (at least from Underground which you are NOT proposing to use) are obviously inaccurate at various times (temperature sun-affected, wind sheltered from certain directions). I'd rather input the data manually than have inaccurate data automatically populated.

                       

                      (And I take it from your (Eric) comment to Mikey that I'll be happy whatever you decide to do.)

                      kettledrum


                        I have no idea if this info would be helpful at all or not, but I thought I would add my $0.02.

                         

                        I use a NOAA/NWS webpage that listed the hourly observation data for the previous three days for the station near to me.  I believe this type of data is available for all of the reporting stations.  The trick would be to be able to cross reference a Lat/Long to the nearest reporting station.  This is the page I use for Indianapolis   http://w1.weather.gov/data/obhistory/KIND.html  It seems as though you can put in different call signs and get observation data for that station.

                         

                        This website has a master list of the call signs.  http://www.weathergraphics.com/identifiers

                         

                        I downloaded the .txt file and brought it into excel (the .xls file wasn't complete for me) and then looking at the data there it looks like column J (called "icao_xref") shows the call signs.  I punched in a few and discovered that a lot of them don't actually have data.  From testing a small sample of data it looks like only the stations that have spmething populated in column N (called "iata_xref") have data that can be found on that webpage.  This isn't 100% correct though as I know of a station in my state that does have available data and does not have the N column populated in this spreadsheet.   Columns AD and AE have the Lat and Long for the station.  Somehow you'd have to connect the GPS data from someone's workout and have it go to the nearest reporting station and then grab the observation from the time that correlated with the timestamp on the GPS data.

                         

                        Of course this data only goes back three days so it wouldn't work for anyone who doesn't upload their data to the site regularly.  This method also wouldn't work outside of the US.