📡 xrit-rx - LRIT/HRIT Downlink Processor

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⚠️ This software is now outdated. Receiving imagery from GK-2A via LRIT and HRIT is now possible with SatDump.

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xrit-rx is a packet demultiplexer and file processor for receiving images from geostationary weather satellite GEO-KOMPSAT-2A (GK-2A). It is designed for use with goesrecv (originally by Pieter Noordhuis), or xritdecoder by Lucas Teske.

xrit-rx receives Virtual Channel Data Units (VCDUs) over the network from either goesrecv or xritdecoder and demultiplexes them into separate virtual channels, each containing a different type of image data. The demultiplexed packets are assembled into complete files which are output as images such as the ones below.

Getting Started

A guide for setting up the hardware and software components of a GK-2A LRIT receiver is available on my site. It also covers the types of images that can be received, image post-processing techniques and data decryption.

The RTL-SDR Blog has also written a guide for setting up the hardware and software required to receive imagery from GOES-16/17 and GK-2A. Once you are able to receive the GK-2A LRIT downlink with goesrecv, you can begin installing and configuring xrit-rx.

Installing xrit-rx

Download the latest version of xrit-rx (xrit-rx.zip) from the Releases page, then unzip the contents to a new folder.

numpy, pillow, colorama and pycryptodome are required to run xrit-rx. Use the following command to download and install these packages:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Images downlinked from GK-2A are encrypted by the Korean Meteorological Administration (KMA). Decryption keys can be downloaded from KMA's website and used with xrit-rx. More information is available in the setup guide.

Configuring xrit-rx

All user-configurable options are found in the xrit-rx.ini file. The default configuration will work for most situations.

If xrit-rx is not running on the same device as goesrecv / xritdecoder, the ip option will need to be updated with the IP address of the device running goesrecv / xritdecoder.

List of options

rx section

Setting	Description	Options	Default
spacecraft	Name of spacecraft being received	GK-2A	GK-2A
mode	Type of downlink being received	lrit or hrit	lrit
input	Input source	goesrecv or osp	goesrecv
keys	Path to decryption key file	Absolute or relative file path	EncryptionKeyMessage.bin

output section

Setting	Description	Options	Default
path	Root output path for received files	Absolute or relative file path	"received"
images	Enable/Disable saving Image files to disk	true or false	true
xrit	Enable/Disable saving xRIT files to disk	true or false	false
channel_blacklist	List of virtual channels to ignore Can be multiple channels (e.g. 4,5)	0: Full Disk 4: Alpha-numeric Text 5: Additional Data	none

goesrecv section

Setting	Description	Options	Default
ip	IP Address of a device running goesrecv	Any IPv4 address	127.0.0.1
vchan	Output port of goesrecv	Any TCP port number	5004

osp section

Setting	Description	Options	Default
ip	IP Address of a device running Open Satellite Project xritdecoder	Any IPv4 address	127.0.0.1
vchan	Output port of Open Satellite Project xritdecoder	Any TCP port number	5001

udp section

Setting	Description	Options	Default
ip	IP Address to bind UDP socket to	Any IPv4 address	127.0.0.1
vchan	Port number to bind UDP socket to	Any UDP port number	5002

dashboard section

Setting	Description	Options	Default
enabled	Enable/Disable dashboard server	true or false	true
port	Port number for server to listen on	Any TCP port number	1692
interval	Update interval in seconds	integer	1

Dashboard

xrit-rx includes a web-based dashboard for easy monitoring and viewing of received data. The current GK-2A LRIT schedule is also displayed on the dashboard (retrieved from KMA NMSC).

By default the dashboard is enabled and accessible on port 1692 via HTTP (no HTTPS). These settings can be changed in the [dashboard] section of xrit-rx.ini.

HTTP API

xrit-rx has a basic API accessible via HTTP primarily to support its web-based monitoring dashboard. This may be useful for integrating xrit-rx with other applications.

The API only supports GET requests and will return either a 200 OK or 404 Not Found status. The root endpoint is located at /api which returns information about the current xrit-rx configuration (example below).

{
  "version": 1.1,
  "spacecraft": "GK-2A",
  "downlink": "LRIT",
  "vcid_blacklist": [
    4,
    5
  ],
  "output_path": "received/LRIT/",
  "images": true,
  "xrit": false,
  "interval": 1
}

The API also supports a special dynamic endpoint for retrieving image files over a network. This endpoint uses the start of the relative decoder output path found in the configuration object at the API root endpoint (/api).

For example, if output_path is "received/LRIT" the endpoint will be /api/received/LRIT. From there the URL follows the folder structure created by xrit-rx for saving received images (e.g. /api/received/LRIT/20190722/FD/IMG_FD_047_IR105_20190722_075006.jpg). The API does not currently support directory listing.

List of Endpoints

URL	Description	Example	MIME
/api	General configuration information	see above	application/json
/api/current/vcid	Currently active virtual channel number	{ "vcid": 63 }	application/json
/api/latest/image	Path to most recently received product	{ "image": "received/LRIT/[...].jpg" }	application/json
/api/latest/xrit	Path to most recently received xRIT file	{ "xrit": "received/LRIT/[...].lrit" }	application/json

Acknowledgments

• Lucas Teske - Developer of Open Satellite Project and writer of "GOES Satellite Hunt"
• Pieter Noordhuis - Developer of goestools
• John Bell - Software testing and IQ recordings
• "kisaa" - GK-2A HRIT debugging and packet recordings
• @Rasiel_J - IQ recordings

libjpeg

xrit-rx uses libjpeg for converting JPEG2000 (J2K/JP2) images to Portable Pixmap Format (PPM) images. A compiled 32-bit binary for Windows is included in xrit-rx releases along with the libjpeg LICENSE (GPLv3) and README.

The source code for libjpeg can be found at https://github.com/thorfdbg/libjpeg.