First step toward physics-based HF / sporadic-E scoring. Polls GIRO's
DIDBase tabular endpoint every 10 minutes for two US ionosondes
(Millstone Hill MHJ45, Alpena AL945), parses the plain-text response
into observation rows, and upserts into a new ionosonde_observations
table keyed on (station_code, valid_time).
This gets foEs (E-layer sporadic critical frequency) into the database
as a direct measurement — the key input for predicting 144 MHz Es
openings via ITU-R P.534-6. foF2 + MUFD are the F2-layer inputs for
HF MUF predictions.
Not yet wired into scoring. Boulder/Wallops/Austin/Idaho/Point Arguello
are in the GIRO catalog but were silent when probed — add them back
if/when they come online.
Next steps: SWPC JSON (Kp, F10.7, sunspot), GOES X-ray flux, D-RAP text,
and the P.534-6 Es scoring factor that uses foEs at midpoint for the
144/440 band configs.
Graham McIntire
361b9dec5a