Royal Yacht Squadron Weather and Communications Day

1. Royal Yacht SquadronWeather and Communications Day Getting non GMDSS Weather InformationTim Thornton

2. Broadcast Services WeatherFax RTTY SYNOP Internet Services Web browsing GRIB files Weather Services Future trends Getting Weather on Board Smartcom Software Ltd

3. Weatherfax • Weather maps transmitted over MF/HF SSB radio at scheduled times • Offenbach and Northwood in Europe • Needs PC software or dedicated receiver • Takes 10-15 minutes to receive a fax • Needs some practice selecting the best frequency, tuning the radio and receiving the fax Smartcom Software Ltd

4. Weatherfax Smartcom Software Ltd

5. RTTY • Text weather forecasts transmitted over MF/HF SSB radio at scheduled times • Offenbach in Europe • Needs PC software to decode • Needs some practice selecting the best frequency, tuning the radio and receiving the fax Smartcom Software Ltd

6. SYNOP • Encoded current weather reports sent as RTTY • Offenbach in Europe • Useful to give very detailed current reports from ships etc • Needs PC software to decode and plot Smartcom Software Ltd

7. SYNOP Smartcom Software Ltd

8. Weather Satellite • Direct reception of satellites images as they pass overhead • Visible and infra-red images • No forecasts • Worldwide coverage, no cost Smartcom Software Ltd

9. Weather Satellite Smartcom Software Ltd

10. Current weather reports e.g. weather stations, weather cams Remote sensing Forecast maps Weather Portals – One stop shops Forecast data e.g. GRIB Weather routing Commercial services Sources of Internet Data Smartcom Software Ltd

11. Web Browsing • Many sites available • Current weather reports and forecasts • Downloads can be slow e.g. slow web servers or large graphics files • Save sites in your favourites instead of searching when using mobile communications • Can be cheaper to use a paid for commercial service as files are much smaller Smartcom Software Ltd

12. Weather Reports • Weather station reports • Weather buoys • Reporting Ships • Weather cams Check the time of the weather reports. Beware of local effects, and the location of the station relative to you Smartcom Software Ltd

13. US NWS – Worldwide Reports http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/GB_cc.html See weather reports for land based weather stations worldwide Smartcom Software Ltd

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15. US NDBC – Ships, weather buoys etc http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/radial_search.phtml Search for all weather reports within a given distance and time period See all reports with latest data See the history of data at weather buoys Smartcom Software Ltd

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17. Local Stations • Many local stations appearing, e.g. BrambleMet, Cowes, St Catherines Pt Smartcom Software Ltd

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19. Weather Cams http://www.weatherimages.org/weathercams/world.html Live images showing the weather at various locations Often with current weather data as well Smartcom Software Ltd

20. Remote Sensing Weather satellite images and derived products Visible and infra-red images for cloud type and height, sea surface temperature, ocean currents available real time Derived products: wind, wave, current etc very useful (particularly over sea areas) Coverage and speed of delivery needs improving for some products www.sat.dundee.ac.uk Smartcom Software Ltd

21. Pseudo Colour Image • Resolution 1km • Images up to every 15 minutes • White – high cloud; yellow – low cloud • Can show sea breeze front Smartcom Software Ltd

22. Sea Surface Temperature • Needs no clouds! • Land/sea temperatures help predict sea and land breezes • Sea and low air temp help predict end of inversion • Gulf Stream & other currents Smartcom Software Ltd

23. Wind Speed and Direction • Satellite pass twice daily • Data 1-2 hours old when processed • Wind direction can be 90 deg out at times • Can show local behaviours not shown by forecasts Smartcom Software Ltd

24. Numerical Forecasts • All forecasts based on numerical models • Manual forecaster input only useful for first 1-2 days • Synoptic models for global weather forecasts (e.g. GFS, WW3, ECMWF) • Mesoscale models for higher resolution local forecasts (e.g. ETA, Theyr, HIRLAM, MM5). These can better model fronts, sea breezes, mountain winds etc Smartcom Software Ltd

25. Weather Maps • Many sites have weather maps for viewing • Typically generated automatically from numerical models • Sites may use the same data source but just presented differently • Images can be large, so slow to download • Viewing relatively inflexible Smartcom Software Ltd

26. Weather Map Sites Westwind – www.westwind.ch - searchable database of all European data FNMOC – aipswebu1.fnmoc.navy.mil – NOGAPS worldwide model Theyr – high resolution forecasts – www.theyr.net or www.theyr.tv Smartcom Software Ltd

27. Westwind Example Smartcom Software Ltd

28. Weather Portals Sites where a mass of weather data from various sources is brought together Weather Underground www.wunderground.com Weather Online www.weatheronline.co.uk Westwind – www.westwind.ch BBC – www.bbc.co.uk/weather UK Met Office – www.metoffice.com Smartcom Software Ltd

29. GRIB Files • Standard file format displayed by many chart plotters • Download numerical data – faster than images • Free data: 1 or 0.5 degree, 3 or 6 hour resolution of wind, pressure etc • Use tools like Saildocs or download from sites like Raymarine • Higher resolution data at a charge e.g. Meteo France NaviMail, ProGrib • Each file is standalone, so cannot combine downloads Smartcom Software Ltd

30. Free GRIB File Sources Raytech – www.raymarine.com (3 day fcsts) Navcenter.com – www.navcenter.com/newdwnld.ccml Maxsea – Chopper tool for e-mail service (up to 15 day fcsts) Global Marine Net – www.globalmarinenet.net/grib.htm (5 day fcsts) Saildocs – www.saildocs.com - e-mail service Grib US - www.grib.us – web download Smartcom Software Ltd

31. GRIB Files Smartcom Software Ltd

32. Nowcasting • Stand-alone weather program • Coverage Europe (inc. Med) and Caribbean • Detailed short term wind and wave forecasts • Fast downloads from the internet • Easy to use • Cost £25/month Smartcom Software Ltd

33. Nowcasting Smartcom Software Ltd

34. Bon Voyage • Stand-alone weather program • Worldwide coverage • Comprehensive 4 or 9 day forecasts • Data sent by e-mail daily • Basic passage planning tools • Cost approx. £5/day for 30 days of 4 day forecasts, £7/day for 9 day forecasts Smartcom Software Ltd

35. Bon Voyage Smartcom Software Ltd

36. Moving Weather • New service launched at London Boat Show • Uses low-res GFS data, but interpolates to make it seem better • Simple and easy to use • Good for overview or long passages, but not detailed enough for coastal sailing • Cost £25 for the software, and up to £125/year for the forecasts Smartcom Software Ltd

37. Digital Atmosphere • Software for downloading, decoding and viewing current weather reports • Also displays GRIB files • A huge variety of data is available, but some of it is too technical for the average sailor • Simple and easy to use • Not as much data for Europe as for USA, due to different government policies • Cost from US$89 for the software, downloads free data Smartcom Software Ltd

38. Digital Atmosphere Smartcom Software Ltd

39. SmartMet • Combines forecasts, satellite imagery, current weather reports • Developed as part of the European Space Agency MIDAS project • Small, fast downloads – smaller than GRIB • Integrated database, no problems of separate files • GRIB import and export • Launched in January this year • Mobile phone and web versions to follow • Subscription £49/year Smartcom Software Ltd

40. MIDAS Data • GFS and Theyr weather forecasts • WW3 nwave forecasts and MFS Med surface current forecasts • Quickscat wind reports • SYNOP ship and weather buoy reports • Satellite imagery from Meteosat 8, NOAA and MODIS satellites • Detailed forecasts for Europe, standard forecasts for the world Smartcom Software Ltd

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45. Weather Routing Calculating the quickest route to sail Inputs: • Your boat’s polars • Tidal streams / ocean currents • Forecast winds (GRIB file) Outputs: • Optimal route • Isochrones Programs: Maxsea, seaPro, Raytech, Deckman Smartcom Software Ltd

46. Maxsea Routing Smartcom Software Ltd

47. Future Developments • Continued move away from tools like weatherfax and Navtex to internet based systems • Increase in integrated weather services • Better integration of all information on board- e-navigation • Enhanced communications management from the vessel to the internet Smartcom Software Ltd

48. ALIS • A research project sponsored by Galileo looking at marine location based services • Sophisticated tools for managing data downloads and minimising download sizes • Automatic push of user selected data, e.g. chart corrections for my charts in my sailing area, or send me a weather forecast if the wind will exceed 25 knots • Interest from MCA, UKHO due to parallels with e-navigation in commercial shipping • Initial research project drawing to a close, now assessing commercial development Smartcom Software Ltd

49. ALIS data • Trials run in central English Channel, Denmark and French Riviera • Data sets: • MIDAS/Smartmet weather, shipping forecasts • Navigation warnings • Chart corrections • Almanacs, sailing instructions and supplier databases • See www.alismarine.com to use the prototype system Smartcom Software Ltd

50. Conclusions • Huge amounts of data out there • Research the data that meets your needs before going afloat • Trade-off of cost of data against level of detail, reliability and comms costs • Always compare the forecast with what you observe! Smartcom Software Ltd