Lightning Detector Agent

The lightning detector agent communicates with the Lightning Detector System at the site and parses the data to obtain approximate lightning strike distances and standardized alarm levels.

usage: agent.py [-h] [--mode {idle,init,acq}]
                [--sample-interval SAMPLE_INTERVAL]

Agent Options

--mode

Possible choices: idle, init, acq

Starting action for the agent.

--sample-interval

Time between samples in seconds.

Default: 0.2

Configuration File Examples

Below are configuration examples for the ocs config file and for running the Agent in a docker container.

OCS Site Config

An example site-config-file block:

{'agent-class': 'LDMonitorAgent',
 'instance-id': 'ld-monitor',
 'arguments': ['--mode', 'acq']},

Docker Compose

An example docker-compose configuration:

ocs-ld-monitor:
    image: simonsobs/socs:latest
    hostname: ocs-docker
    ports:
      - "1110:1110/udp"
    environment:
      - INSTANCE_ID=ld-monitor
      - SITE_HUB=ws://127.0.0.1:8001/ws
      - SITE_HTTP=http://127.0.0.1:8001/call
      - LOGLEVEL=info
    volumes:
      - ${OCS_CONFIG_DIR}:/config

Description

The Lightning Detector System is connnected through serial communication with a dedicated PC at the site, in which a propietary application calculates approximate lightning strike distances and adjusts alarm levels accordingly. Data is parsed and the most important parameters are updated. The dedicated PC is continously running a script that streams the data via UDP to the client.

Transmitted Data

The lightning detector transmits its data in “sentences”. There are 5 types of expected sentences:

electric field
lightning strike
high-field
status
alarm timers

Electric field sentences report the electric field value measured by the Electric Field Mill in kV/m. Strike sentences include lightning strike distance and units (meters or miles) and is only transmitted if a strike is detected. High field sentences report an alarm status with respect to set thresholds of electric field. Status sentences include data such as alarms (red, orange, yellow), remaining timers, all clear status, fault codes, among others. Alarm timers sentences are disregarded, as its information is redundant. Each of the sentences’ data are parsed and published to the feed.

Agent API

class socs.agents.ld_monitor.agent.LDMonitorAgent(agent, sample_interval=15.0)[source]

Monitor the Lightning Detector data via UDP.

Parameters:

agent (OCSAgent) – OCSAgent object which forms this Agent
sample_interval (float) – Time between samples in seconds.

agent

OCSAgent object which forms this Agent

Type:: OCSAgent

take_data

Tracks whether or not the agent is actively issuing SNMP GET commands to the ibootbar. Setting to false stops sending commands.

Type:: bool

log

txaio logger object, created by the OCSAgent

Type:: txaio.tx.Logger

init_ld_monitor(auto_acquire=False)[source]

Task - Perform first time setup of the LD.

Parameters:: auto_acquire (bool, optional) – Starts data acquisition after initialization if True. Defaults to False.

acq()[source]

Process - Starts the data acquisition process

Notes

The most recent data collected is stored in session data in the structure:

>>> response.session['data']
{'fields':{
    'd_type': 3, 'field_value': 0.28, 'rot_fault': 0,
    'time_last': -1.0, 'tsince_last': -1.0, 'dist': -1, 'unit_d': 0,
    'high_field': -1, 'hifield_value': -1000.0, 'alarm_r': 0,
    'alarm_o': 0, 'alarm_y': 0, 'delay_g': 1, 'clear': 1, 'r_timer': 0,
    'o_timer': 0, 'y_timer': 0, 'g_timer': 0, 'allclear_timer': 0,
    'faultcode': 0
    },
    ...
    'connection': {
        'conn_timestamp': 1711285858.1063662,
        'connected': True}, 'data_timestamp': 1711285864.6254003
        }
}

Supporting APIs

class socs.agents.ld_monitor.agent.LDMonitor(port=1110)[source]

Receives and decodes data of the lightning detector via UDP

Parameters:

host (str) – Address of the computer reading the data.
port (int) – Port of host where data will be received, default 1110.

port

Port number in the local host to be bound to receive the data

Type:: int

log

txaio logger object, created by the OCSAgent

Type:: txaio.tx.Logger

sockopen

Indicates when the socket is open

Type:: bool

inittime

Logs the time at which initialization was carried out

Type:: float

data_dict

Dictionary data stored from the lightning detector

Type:: dictionary

newdata_dict

Dictionary where new data is received

Type:: dictionary

read_data()[source]: Receives data from the lightning detector via UDP, and returns a dictionary containing formatted data

read_cycle()[source]: In each cycle data is read and then parsed following the format required to publish data to the ocs feed