[aprssig] Chemical sensors

[Spider]

From: "Kevin Brown - KC0CZI" <kc0czi at earthlink.net>
To: "'TAPR APRS Mailing List'" <aprssig at lists.tapr.org>
Sent: Friday, October 08, 2004 6:01 PM
Subject: RE: [aprssig] Chemical sensors



>The positional information of the sensors is very important.


That's where a meta file comes in real handy!

The meta file could contain ALL the specs of the sensor, traceable 
calibration data, installation data,
lat, lon, elevation, physical location description, url links to pictures or 
the site or real time video, etc.
Way beyond what APRS could handle.


>Knowing where the sensors are, ensuring the datastream follows or can be
>output into the existing format used by the modelers, and providing 
>seamless
>connectivity to the models are three big things that ought to be done if
>this is to really be a useful application for anyone beyond experimenters.
>If we want to provide APRS as a useful application to our served agencies -
>the tests are much more specific.

I agree and that is why I always push for meta files.  It will never happen 
using APRS.
A perfect example....

FireNet has a bazillion USGS gaging stations showing at any time,  They show 
gage height and stream flow.
This data...if you are trying to measure...is worthless without the gage 
datum.  A gage could read .4 feet.....well, what's that mean?  .4 ft from 
what measurement point?  What's the volume of a steam flow of 5 cfs?  You 
can't tell without the datum....so most users can only look for a change 
(which is still good data)...unless they know how to access the station 
datum.
If your client received the sensor data from a station via APRS or other 
Unproto format without location information contained, your client would 
take that data and match it to the meta file, you'd have a display that 
would knock the socks off of any current APRS displays.
This would be a large departure from the basic concept of tracking moving 
objects which APRS is darn good at doing.

>Whatever happens here ought to be extremely conscious of it's worth to
>served agencies.

I am not so sure the majority of ham radio types think that way.....but it 
would be nice to think they do.  Likely there could never be that level of 
traceability on any wide scale that could be trusted.

Jim, WA6OFT