prop/lib/microwaveprop/backtest/features.ex
Graham McIntire e7f0f03bf0 Fix wgrib2 -lola binary parsing and add native_surface_refractivity
wgrib2 -lola ... bin writes Fortran unformatted records (4-byte
length header + data + 4-byte length trailer per message).
parse_lola_binary was treating the binary as tightly packed,
causing every message after the first to read from the wrong
offset — values came out as garbage across all grid points.

Fix: account for the 8-byte record overhead per message when
computing the data offset for each message's grid values.

This bug affects both the existing propagation grid extraction
(which may have been producing subtly wrong scores) and the new
native-level extraction (which was producing obviously wrong
values). The fix is a one-line stride change.

Also adds Backtest.Features.native_surface_refractivity for the
Phase 1 sanity check, plus a tighter wgrib2 match pattern that
selects only hybrid-level messages from the native file.
2026-04-10 08:13:33 -05:00

144 lines
4.6 KiB
Elixir

defmodule Microwaveprop.Backtest.Features do
@moduledoc """
Named feature functions for use with `Microwaveprop.Backtest`.
Every feature has the shape `(lat, lon, valid_time) -> float | nil`
and is named after the physical quantity it represents. These are
the "known baselines" the plan refers to: wrappers around the
existing scorer's inputs so we can measure the lift of new features
against them on an apples-to-apples basis.
## Contract
- Return a `float` when the underlying data is available.
- Return `nil` when there's no HRRR profile within the usual match
window (`Weather.find_nearest_hrrr/3` returning nil).
- Never raise — bad inputs should produce `nil`, not crashes. The
backtest harness runs these across tens of thousands of calls and
a raise on one point kills the whole report.
"""
import Ecto.Query
alias Microwaveprop.Repo
alias Microwaveprop.Weather
alias Microwaveprop.Weather.HrrrNativeProfile
@doc """
Minimum refractivity gradient from the nearest HRRR profile.
This is the scalar the current scorer uses. More negative is better
(stronger ducting potential). We return the raw gradient; the
backtest harness handles binning and summarizing.
"""
@spec naive_gradient(float, float, DateTime.t()) :: float | nil
def naive_gradient(lat, lon, valid_time) do
with %{min_refractivity_gradient: grad} when is_float(grad) <-
Weather.find_nearest_hrrr(lat, lon, valid_time) do
grad
else
_ -> nil
end
end
@doc """
Dewpoint depression (T - Td) at the surface, in °C.
Lower depression means higher relative humidity. For 10 GHz the
existing scorer treats this as beneficial; for 24+ GHz it's harmful.
"""
@spec td_depression(float, float, DateTime.t()) :: float | nil
def td_depression(lat, lon, valid_time) do
with %{surface_temp_c: t, surface_dewpoint_c: td} when is_float(t) and is_float(td) <-
Weather.find_nearest_hrrr(lat, lon, valid_time) do
t - td
else
_ -> nil
end
end
@doc """
Time-of-day feature: hours since midnight UTC, as a float in [0, 24).
A flat-by-time baseline against which diurnal lift is measured. The
existing scorer collapses this to a band-dependent shape; the
backtest treats it as raw UTC hour so we can see the shape directly
in the distribution.
"""
@spec time_of_day(float, float, DateTime.t()) :: float
def time_of_day(_lat, _lon, valid_time) do
valid_time.hour + valid_time.minute / 60.0
end
@doc """
Surface pressure in hPa from the nearest HRRR profile.
Used as the baseline the plan predicts `ParallelToFront` (Phase 5)
will replace.
"""
@spec pressure(float, float, DateTime.t()) :: float | nil
def pressure(lat, lon, valid_time) do
with %{surface_pressure_mb: p} when is_float(p) <-
Weather.find_nearest_hrrr(lat, lon, valid_time) do
p
else
_ -> nil
end
end
@doc """
Surface refractivity from the lowest level of the nearest native
hybrid-sigma profile.
Phase 1 sanity check: this should produce numbers comparable to the
`naive_gradient` baseline but computed from native-level data. If
the sign/magnitude look wrong, the native ingestion pipeline has a
bug.
Uses the ITU-R P.453-14 formula: N = 77.6*P/T + 3.73e5*e/T²
where e (water vapor pressure) is derived from specific humidity.
"""
@spec native_surface_refractivity(float, float, DateTime.t()) :: float | nil
def native_surface_refractivity(lat, lon, valid_time) do
with %HrrrNativeProfile{} = profile <- find_nearest_native(lat, lon, valid_time),
t when is_float(t) <- profile.surface_temp_k,
p when is_float(p) <- profile.surface_pressure_pa,
q when is_float(q) <- profile.surface_spfh do
# Water vapor pressure from specific humidity: e = q*P / (0.622 + 0.378*q)
e = q * p / (0.622 + 0.378 * q)
# N-units
77.6 * p / (t * 100) + 3.73e5 * e / (t * t * 100)
else
_ -> nil
end
end
defp find_nearest_native(lat, lon, valid_time) do
dlat = 0.07
dlon = 0.07
time_start = DateTime.add(valid_time, -3600, :second)
time_end = DateTime.add(valid_time, 3600, :second)
HrrrNativeProfile
|> where(
[p],
p.lat >= ^(lat - dlat) and p.lat <= ^(lat + dlat) and
p.lon >= ^(lon - dlon) and p.lon <= ^(lon + dlon) and
p.valid_time >= ^time_start and p.valid_time <= ^time_end
)
|> order_by([p],
asc:
fragment(
"ABS(? - ?) + ABS(? - ?) + ABS(EXTRACT(EPOCH FROM ? - ?))",
p.lat,
^lat,
p.lon,
^lon,
p.valid_time,
^valid_time
)
)
|> limit(1)
|> Repo.one()
end
end