1 / 50

Met Data via the Internet

Met Data via the Internet. Tim Thornton. There is plenty of weather data available through the official marine channels: VHF, Navtex, Shipping Forecast, Weatherfax, so why use the internet?. Why use the Internet?.

phuc
Download Presentation

Met Data via the Internet

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Met Data via the Internet Tim Thornton

  2. There is plenty of weather data available through the official marine channels: VHF, Navtex, Shipping Forecast, Weatherfax, so why use the internet? Why use the Internet? Smartcom Software Ltd

  3. There is plenty of weather data available through the official marine channels: VHF, Navtex, Shipping Forecast, Weatherfax, so why use the internet? Convenience – no need to wait for the next broadcast Why use the Internet? Smartcom Software Ltd

  4. There is plenty of weather data available through the official marine channels: VHF, Navtex, Shipping Forecast, Weatherfax, so why use the internet? Convenience – no need to wait for the next broadcast Content – much better on the internet in terms of area, parameters, detail etc Why use the Internet? Smartcom Software Ltd

  5. There is plenty of weather data available through the official marine channels: VHF, Navtex, Shipping Forecast, Weatherfax, so why use the internet? Convenience – no need to wait for the next broadcast Content – much better on the internet in terms of area, parameters, detail etc Comprehension – presentation is often easier to understand Why use the Internet? Smartcom Software Ltd

  6. There is plenty of weather data available through the official marine channels: VHF, Navtex, Shipping Forecast, Weatherfax, so why use the internet? Convenience – no need to wait for the next broadcast Content – much better on the internet in terms of area, parameters, detail etc Comprehension – presentation is often easier to understand Why use the Internet? Smartcom Software Ltd

  7. How to Connect A number of different ways to connect to the internet: Smartcom Software Ltd

  8. How to Connect A number of different ways to connect to the internet: • Broadband at home • Wi-Fi in the marina Smartcom Software Ltd

  9. How to Connect A number of different ways to connect to the internet: • Broadband at home • Wi-Fi in the marina • Mobile phone in coastal waters • Satellite phone e.g. Iridium or Fleet offshore Smartcom Software Ltd

  10. Mobile Coverage • Vodafone Coverage • Need a good antenna to get this range • Note lower range of 3G services Worldwide Coverage (All Networks) On all 4 GSM frequencies Smartcom Software Ltd

  11. Facilities Smartcom Software Ltd

  12. Costs (UK£ inc. VAT) Smartcom Software Ltd

  13. How to Get Data A choice of two different ways to access the data: • Web browsing on a PC or mobile phone • Easy to use • Masses of data • Slow to download • Data not saved for offline access Smartcom Software Ltd

  14. How to Get Data A choice of two different ways to access the data: • Download data to software on your PC • Needs special software • Data more limited • Faster, cheaper download (especially if direct to server) • Data available offline • GRIB files often available Smartcom Software Ltd

  15. 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

  16. Weather Reports Useful for: • Seeing the current conditions before you get down to the boat • Seeing any local effects, e.g. sea breezes, too small or too short to be forecast • Comparing forecasts and actuals Smartcom Software Ltd

  17. 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

  18. Met Office Official Weather Stations Smartcom Software Ltd

  19. Weather Underground Personal and Official Weather Stations Smartcom Software Ltd

  20. Weather Underground Weather report – and data tabulated every 5 mins for personal, 1 or 3 hours for official stations Smartcom Software Ltd

  21. US NDBC – Ships, weather buoys etc 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

  22. Smartcom Software Ltd

  23. SmartMet Weather Reports Smartcom Software Ltd

  24. SmartMet Weather Reports Smartcom Software Ltd

  25. 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 Smartcom Software Ltd

  26. Pseudo Colour Image • Resolution ~1 - 3km/pixel • Images up to every 15 minutes • White – high cloud; yellow – low cloud • Can show sea breeze front on higher res images Smartcom Software Ltd

  27. SmartMet Satellite Images Satellite image overlaid with forecast isobars and wind arrows Smartcom Software Ltd

  28. Sea Surface Temperature • Needs no clouds! • Land/sea temperatures can help predict sea and land breezes • Gulf Stream & other currents • Fish finding e.g. on fronts of temperature changes Smartcom Software Ltd

  29. Wind Speed and Direction- QuickScat and Ascat • Satellites each pass twice daily • Data 1-2 hours old when processed (or longer depending on source) • 25km resolution over open water only • Wind direction can be 90 deg out occasionally • Can show local behaviours not shown by forecasts Smartcom Software Ltd

  30. Wind Speed and Direction- QuickScat and Ascat Smartcom Software Ltd

  31. 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

  32. Digital Atmosphere Smartcom Software Ltd

  33. 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

  34. Forecast Limitations • The smallest feature in the forecast is about 4x the grid size, so a 0.5° forecast doesn’t know about most of the Channel • High Res forecasts from Theyr, ProGRIB, Moving Weather, WindGuru, Kona all use GFS model as the starting point, with no extra met data input, so are often no better than the GFS model (though sometimes they are) • Beware of sites and software that just interpolate to get a higher resolution, e.g. Moving Weather, or web sites giving forecasts for “your location”, e.g. BBC Smartcom Software Ltd

  35. 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

  36. Weather Map Sites Westwind – www.westwind.ch - searchable database of all European data Theyr – high resolution forecasts – www.theyr.net or www.theyr.tv Smartcom Software Ltd

  37. Westwind Example Smartcom Software Ltd

  38. Met Office Smartcom Software Ltd

  39. 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, all repackaged from standard US sources • 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

  40. Free GRIB File Sources Raytech – www.raymarine.com (3 day fcsts) Navcenter.com – www.navcenter.com/newdwnld.ccml Global Marine Net – www.globalmarinenet.net/grib.htm (5 day fcsts) Saildocs – www.saildocs.com - e-mail service Smartcom Software Ltd

  41. GRIB Files Smartcom Software Ltd

  42. Moving Weather • Uses standard 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 £125/year for the forecasts Smartcom Software Ltd

  43. UGrib • Uses standard GFS data for wind, rain and pressure • Simple and easy to use • Uses discrete GRIB files • Free of charge (at the moment!) Smartcom Software Ltd

  44. SmartMet • Combines forecasts, satellite imagery, current weather reports – widest range of data of any software in its class • Small, fast downloads – smaller than GRIB • Integrated database, no problems of separate files • GRIB import and export • Subscription £49/year Smartcom Software Ltd

  45. Smartcom Software Ltd

  46. Smartcom Software Ltd

  47. Chart Plotters with GRIB • seaPro – GRIB viewer and routing • Maxsea – GRIB downloads, viewer and optional routing • Raytech – GRIB downloads, viewer and routing • Nobeltec – GRIB downloads and viewer Smartcom Software Ltd

  48. 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

  49. Maxsea Routing 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

More Related