Data collection box

Data Collection Box

The data collection box is manufactured using Raspberry Pi 4, Stratux 1090 MHz and 978 MHz
antenna, and Stratux case. The box’s purpose is to log ADS-B data and automatically upload it to
Google Drive and One Drive SharePoint. The box is installed in Ames Municipal Airport, and it
uploads the ADS-B data every 4 hours to Google Drive and One Drive SharePoint.

 

Figure 1: Raspberry Pi 4 (left), 1090 MHz antenna and radio dongle (center), 978 MHz antenna and radio dongle (Right)

 

Figure 2: The Data Collection Box at the Airport

Software Setup

 

The ADS-B data is decoded using PiAware. PiAware is an open-source software that uses Dump 1090-fa and Dump 978-fa to decode ADS-B data and plot the data into a map. The ADS-B data is stored in a JSON file which is updated every second. Link for PiAware installation: https://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/install

The ADS-B data is logged using a python script that reads the JSON file every second and stores the data into a CSV file. Then, the CSV file is uploaded to Google Drive and OneDrive SharePoint using a python script. The ADS-B data logger runs every second, and the uploader script runs every 4-hour using simple bash scripts. The bash script was used because the uploader script will not crash, and no need to manually restart the script in case of internet connection issues.

Figure 3: Scripts that are used in the data collection box

Additional Software used

• Makefile – Makefile is used to automate and simplify running the scripts
• Crontab- Crontab is used to run the scripts automatically when the Raspberry Pi 4 is booted
• SSH- SSH is used to connect to the data collection box remotely

Weather Data

The airport weather data are collected from the ASOS network METARs data archive.
Temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and pressure are the weather data that are used. The
timestamp from the ADS-B data is concatenated with the website link, which provides the
weather data at that time. Then, the weather data is saved into a CSV file using the python
request library, and the weather data is attached to the ADS-B data.

 

Link for ASOS network: https://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/request/asos/1min.phtml