James Hinton's Aurora Explorer is a web platform that uses Kubernetes Helm, AWS, and EOxServer to deliver real-time and historical data on the Aurora Borealis via OGC standards for visualisation.
Explore the code repositories to see how Aurora Explorer was built. Click on the badges to view each repository:
| Technology | Description | Repository |
|---|---|---|
| EOxServer | Deployed as part of View Server through Helm |  |
| Kubernetes | Orchestration and management of the Aurora processing |  |
| Terraform | Includes EKS, ECR, S3, Cloudwatch, Step Functions |  |
| ArgoCD | Declarative, GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes |  |
| AWS Lambda | Serverless compute service that runs code in response to events |  |
- Retrieves the Data
AWS Lambda functions are triggered by the AWS Step functions every 30 minutes to fetch:
- The latest Aurora Borealis forecast data in JSON format from NOAA's API.
- The current Hemispheric Power Index (HPI) data in ASCII format.
https://github.com/james-hinton/aurora-explorer-lambda-functions/tree/main/retrieve_data
- Stores the Data
Once fetched, it will store the data into s3://aurora-explorer-data/aurora-data-raw and s3://aurora-explorer-data/aurora-hemi-raw respectively.
After completion, the step function then triggers a lambda function that starts a Kubernetes job:
https://github.com/james-hinton/aurora-explorer-lambda-functions/tree/main/k8_job_trigger
- Processes the Spatial Data
This processes the aurora observation data within the Kubernetes environment using spatial data processing tools and converts it into GeoTIFF format.
https://github.com/james-hinton/aurora-explorer-k8s/tree/main/aurora_intensity_processor
- Serves The Data with EOxServer:
EOxServer is deployed in the Kubernetes cluster, configured via Helm to:
- Initially attempted to discover GeoTIFF/COGs in the S3 bucket directly; now, files are mounted locally to ensure reliability.
- Serves the files using the Web Coverage Service (WCS) standard for spatial data.
https://github.com/james-hinton/aurora-explorer-eoxserver/tree/main/helm
Aurora Borealis at 2024/03/09 12:48:13
Explore the WCS capabilities and TIFF files through the following examples. Click on the badges to view each file:
| File Type | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GetCapabilities | Provides information about the data types the server can deliver. |  |
| DescribeCoverage | Provides detailed information about spatial data coverage. |  |
| Aurora Intensity TIFF | TIFF file showing Aurora intensity over time. |  |
ArgoCD
Kubernetes
Timelapse
Each frame is a snapshot capturing auroral activity, taken every 30 minutes over 24 hours, showcasing the eastern hemisphere.
S3 Bucket
- Paper: "Web-oriented visualization of auroral oval geophysical parameters" https://sv-journal.org/2020-3/10/
- Data: "AURORA - 30 MINUTE FORECAST"
- Link: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast
- Auroral data in a grided format: https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/json/ovation_aurora_latest.json
- The Hemispheric Power Index, an estimate of the total auroral energy input at each pole: https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/text/aurora-nowcast-hemi-power.txt