feat: Add Grid Snapper utility for coordinate alignment

[dhruv-surti]

Grid Snapper Utility

Description

This PR adds the Grid Snapper utility to the data-engineering module. Grid Snapper is a core tool that converts raw GPS coordinates from different data sources (NASA FIRMS, Open-Meteo, ELVIS) into unified location_ids, enabling perfect data alignment across all observation tables.

What Problem Does This Solve

Different data sources use different coordinate systems:

• NASA FIRMS: -37.8147, 145.0892
• Open-Meteo: -37.8149, 145.0891
• ELVIS: -37.81472, 145.08923

Without alignment, these coordinates cannot be joined in the database. Grid Snapper solves this by snapping all coordinates to a 0.1° grid and assigning a single location_id to each grid cell.

Changes Made

• Added grid_snapper/grid_snapper.py - Core utility with 4-step alignment process
• Added grid_snapper/README.md - Quick start guide
• Added grid_snapper/__init__.py - Python package initialization
• Added grid_snapper/docs/GRID_SNAPPER_TUTORIAL.md - Complete tutorial with examples
• Added grid_snapper/screenshots/ - Step-by-step demo screenshots

How It Works

1. Validate - Check if coordinate is inside Victoria bounds
2. Snap - Round to nearest 0.1° grid (~11 km resolution)
3. Lookup - Check if snapped coordinate exists in Location_Registry
4. Get or Create - Return existing location_id or create new one

Usage

All extraction pipelines (fire, weather, vegetation, topography) should use Grid Snapper:

from grid_snapper import GridSnapper

snapper = GridSnapper()
location_id = snapper.get_location_id(-37.8147, 145.0892)

Testing

All tests passing:

• Valid Victorian coordinate → location_id created
• Same grid cell → same location_id returned
• Outside Victoria → None (rejected)
• Null coordinate → None (handled gracefully)

Impact

• Enables fire + weather data to be joined on location_id + time_id
• Provides foundation for AI model training
• Standardizes coordinate alignment across all pipelines
• Reduces data lineage issues

Checklist

• Code follows architecture alignment rules
• Data validation implemented
• Security: No hardcoded API keys
• No raw CSV/JSON/ZIP files committed
• Documentation included
• All tests passing
• .gitignore protects sensitive data

Related

Part of FireFusion bushfire forecasting system - Deakin University Capstone

[wilsnd]

Good for initial grid snapping, however improvements can be made in the future by reading the nearest value lat/long instead of just rounding it up. Good work

[wilsnd]

Good work

[HaNGUYEN-96]

Good work! This Gid Snapper tool is very helpful!