Quo Vadit Visual Weather?

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Quo Vadit Visual Weather?
By Jozef Matula
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What is IBL Visual Weather?

• Meteorological Workstation SW providing
• Met. data processing and visualisation
• Interactive forecasting tools
• Forecast production and workflow management
• Batch production
• Extensibility with Python API
• Web services (WMS, WCS, WFS, JMBL)
• Everything in one box or Client-Server
• Highly configurable
• 1.2M lines of C, 120k lines of Python, 40k
  lines of XML, 120k lines of Fortran, 220k lines
  of configuration

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past YEAR of VW development

• Developers have worked really hard during

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3, 2, 1, start!

• 3 maintained development branches
• 3.1.x stable
• 3.2.y stabilising
• 3.3.z development
• Most significant development areas
• Forecast production and workflow
• Grid dataset concept
• Field Diagnostics and Modification (UK MetMorph)
• Batch production improvements
• Tropical cyclone stuff
• Web Services

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FORECAST production

• The purpose of life is

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Forecast Production - Features

• We refactored our editor of features (mainly for
  SIGWX requirements)
• Every feature is timestamped and geolocated
• Stored and shared in the Feature Database
• Usability enhancements
• Single click drawing
• Curve optimalisation(to reduce noise from
  tablet)
• Cooperation withunderlying layers
• Work on WFS-T access in progress

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Example of a Feature Product
With courtesy of 21 OWS USAFE, Sembach
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Forecast Production Text forecasts

• XML Message Editor Templates (declarative
  language)
• User input validation
• Preview before issue
• Internal production and delivery chain
• Different outputs from one form
• Single click for whole production and delivery
• Revision management
• Corrections, amendments and cancelations
• Access to history of issued forms
• Initialisation of form contents from
• VW Mathematical Kernel (Observation, NWP data)
• Plugins in Python

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Forecast Production - Message Editor 2
PDF
AFTN/GTS
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Message Editor Template Language

• XML description language, consisting of
• Model hierarchical data structure definition
• Layout mapping of model to GUI

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Message Editor Building Blocks

• Instance of data model can be transformed in
  multiple ways and delivered to multiple places

Output Filters
Delivery
Text Bulletin
Send to AFTN
Form
ODT w. all reports
Print 2x copies
Aerodrome Warning
PDF for Station 1
FTP to Web
PDF for Station 2
Copy to Archive
PDF for Station 3
Production Pipeline
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Message Editor Embedded Custom UIs
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Forecast Production Workflow Management

• Personal Task Manager provides a role based ToDo
  list interconnected with production applications

Access to history of work
Colour of task can be used to indicate type or
priority of the task
Hyperlink
State of work
Workflow actions
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The dataset concept

• Well I am the recent forecast who is more?

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Dataset What for?

• If you modify fields, you might want to see the
  previous revisions (On Screen Analysis, Field
  Modification)
• EPS models require completely new dimension(s) in
  grid space navigation (perturbations,
  statistics fields, probability fields)

Forecast
Level
Run base time
Dataset
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Datasets EPS Example
Dataset is also a global map variable
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CONSISTENT FIELD Modification (MetMORPH)

• Tell me that this is not a magic

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Field Modification

• We redesigned original simple field modification
  module into generalised field modification
  framework
• 2 available implementations
• Old style single-field modification
• UK Met Office MetMorph (successor of OSFM)
• Output is stored in GRIB and available to
  visualisation or batch production
• Comparing to UKMO Horace 4 MetMorph
• Facelifted and integrated
• Removed some original limitations
• Access to history of changes

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MetMorph Main Features

• Global and mesoscale model merging
• Dynamical field change
• Editing of wind
• Editing of precipitation (enhancing, reduction,
  wind advection)
• Merging and advecting precipitation from radar
• Orographic modulation
• Field spatial and time smoothing and
  interpolation
• Variation of changes in time
• Shape and change-vector morphing
• Variation of change-strenght in time

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Met Morph Dynamical MSLP change
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MetMorph Time Linking
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BATCH PRODUCTION IMPROVEMENTS

• Web server cannot imagine his life without

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Batch production improvements

• Parallel execution of batch jobs
• Ability to have user and role based batch
  jobs and limit triggers.
• Improved triggers for
• Detection of particular NWP parameter forecast
• Area/station list based monitoring of
  observations
• Detecting completion of a Feature Product
• New jobs
• Field Diagnostics precalculation of grid fields
  algorithms
• Field Cutting
• BatchOSA, Batch Message Editor production

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Tropical cyclone forecasting tools

• Also an umbrella is one of

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Tropical Cyclone Forecasting Tools

• Just an experimental internal development both
  implemented in Python as a kind of tutorial
  sandbox example
• TC Storm tracking visualisation (parsing the free
  text messages from GTS)
• Dvorak helper construction

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Tropical Cyclone Forecasting Tools - Examples
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Web Services

• One day if I want to cook an egg Ill make for it
  use of

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Present Web Services in Visual Weather

• Multi threaded with control of maximum load
• Implemented as yet another VW service
• WMS
• Exposes ANY product from visualisation
• Configurable dimensions and layer styles
• WCS
• Exposes any grid field (or derived field) from VW
  database, including EPS fields.
• WFS
• Access to TAF/METAR reports
• We see a lot of potential here (everything can be
  seen as a feature!)
• JMBL JMOBS and JMGRID

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OGC WS implementation dilemmas

• The challenge for building web applications is to
  find the proper border between server and client,
  and to choose the proper protocol
• Also there are some technical problems

Compression vs. transparency
Rotated WAFC projections
Depending dimensions
MIME types
Non-geospatial projections
2D time
Date line
Dimension naming
Dynamic capabilities
CRSs vs. GRIB/GeoTIFF
Lack of good clients
Elevation units
Absence of GML schemas
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Visual Weather WMS specialities

• PROJ4 and IBL CRS namespace
• CRSPROJ4projlatlong datumNAD83
• CRSIBLTEPHIGRAM
• Cross-sections
• Do you know CRS1?
• How to pass the place information
• Horizontal route
• DIM_PLACELZIB EPSG43264819 EHAM
• Time crosssection
• DIM_PLACEEPSG43264819
• JPEG2000 (good compression with alpha
  transparency) but lack of support in
  browsers/Flex the same with GeoTIFF

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Visual Weather WS dimensions

• For WMS naming and dimensions are configurable
• No dimensions at all (latest data use case)
• Single TIME dimension (both for observed or
  forecasted data from the recent model run)
• DIM_RUNTIME dimension doesnt look to be a
  good way (non-orthogonal dimension space)
• DIM_RUNDIM_FORECAST
• Optional ELEVATION dimension with configurable
  ways how to format the values (850 vs. 850hPa).

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Visual Weather WS dimensions (2)

• For WCS we have only static dimensions
• DIM_RUN, DIM_FORECAST, TIME, ( EPS DIM_MEMBER)
  time dimensions overlap
• For WFS noone cares about dimensions anymore
  its like single table SQL
• WCS and especially WFS are vulnerable to DoS
  attacks!

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RIA powered by pure VW WMS
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1600 other improvements, Changes and Fixes ?

• Well and something more

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Thank youfor your attention!Questions?
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Thanks to KNMI and particularly Kees and Helen
for the hospitality!