The COVE API is an easy-to-use, HTTP-based interface that gives you access to the powerful engine that generates COVE data sets. Using the API you can:
All functionality is accessible using simple HTTP requests.
http://www.ceos-cove.org/api/getKML.php. This URL provides access to swath KML, coincidence KML and coincidence reports. The basic request parameters for getKML are as follows:Note that, in URLs the plus charater '+' is used in lieu of the space character ' '. Thus the instrument "AMSR-E - 1445 km" is represented as "AMSR-E+-+1445+km" in the above URL. Other special characters can be included using percent encoding. The value of endDate may be up to 1 week after startDate.
For more involved requests, additional parameters can be provided:
If more than one mission is specified, then coincidence between the given missions is computed. Up to four satellites may be used in coincidence calculations. Coincidence calculations are peformed pair-wise, so if four missions are selected, COVE will display all regions that were acquired by any two of the four satellites.
The lapseTime parameter specifies the maximum time between satellite acquisitions that should be considered "coincidental." For example, if Aqua has an acquisition of Miami, Fl at 11:03 UTC and GeoEye has an acquisition of Miami at 15:23 UTC, then COVE will only report a coincidence for these two acquisitions if lapseTime is set to less than 04:20:00. lapseTime has no effect if only one mission is specified.
For requests with a single mission specified, mode defaults to day. Setting mode=night will cause COVE to return the night time swath of the instrument, rather than the daytime. For instruments that are day-time only, a blank swath will be returned.
For requests with more than one mission specified, mode defaults to coincidence. In coincidence mode, a COVE will return a KML file that displays all of the projected coincidences. If mode is set to csv, then COVE will instead return an aquisition report in .csv format. This format can be viewed in most spreadsheet applications.
Acquisition reports, like those generated by the Rapid Acquisition Tool, can also be generated from the COVE API. The base URL for acquisition reports is http://www.ceos-cove.org/api/getAcq.php. The parameters used by the acquisition report are:
Reports are generated in CSV format. The value of endDate may be up to 10 weeks after startDate. Acqusitions over regions (as opposed to points) is not supported.
A sample use of the COVE API is provided in the following Excel file (requires Excel 2003 or later):
The spreadsheet illustrates how to generate acquisition and coincidence reports using the COVE API. Macros must be enabled to use the spreadsheet.
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