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National Weather Service Goes Digital With Internet Mapping
Ken Waters
National Weather Service, Honolulu HI
Jack Settelmaier
National Weather Service, Fort Worth TX
ESRI International User Conference -- August 12, 2004
Weather Data and GIS
Lots of observed data 6-minute radar data around the country 15-minute satellite imagery Thousands of hourly reporting stations
(e.g., Airports, automated stations) 12-hourly upper air reports around the
country sensing the vertical atmosphere
Other data sources (airlines, “mesonets”)
Weather Data and GIS
Forecast DataVarious hourly and daily forecast products
of temperature, weather (e.g., rain, snow), chance of precipitation
New National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) producing up to hourly surface sensible weather elements on a fine national grid (2.5 – 5 km) of temperature, precipitation, wind, etc.
Weather Data and GIS
Lots of data!Although all of this data have a geospatial aspect…i.E., A latitude, longitude, and height…..Not disseminated in a geospatial form by the agencyRather, most disseminated in text or other formats common to the industry (e.g. GRIB, netCDF, BUFR, etc.) but not to the GIS community
Weather Data and GIS
Why are weather data different? 1) vertical factor
Many of our processing systems must be able to store, access, and view meteorological data in 3-dimensions --- not particularly supported by existing GIS
2) time factor Meteorologists are very concerned with changes in
time…scale of seconds…minutes…hours…days…and more in the case of climate
Also, weather changes some times very quickly, such as a fast-moving tornado --- so currency of data is very important
Current State of GIS Use in National Weather Service
All NWS offices have copy of ArcView 3.1, primarily for editing background shapefiles such as zone boundariesRiver Forecast Centers using ESRI tools to produce hydrologic datasets and analysesA few IMS prototypes running (e.g., EMHURR)Still…..we’re substantially behind the GIS curve
Short-fuse Warnings
NWS produces tornado, severe thunderstorm, and special marine warningsA major product of the NWS, used to
protect life and propertyWarnings typically with 10-15 minutes
warning time, so fast response is criticalPrimary dissemination is through the EAS
and NOAA Weather Radio systems
Short-fuse Warnings
Historically, these have been county-basedCoordinated with county emergency
managers and set to trigger NOAA Weather Radios based on county being warned
Short-fuse Warnings
CHALLENGE: Counties frequently either very large or of irregular shape
Short-fuse Warnings
So, weather could be actually impacting only small portion of the county
Short-fuse Warnings
Since 1998, most NWS offices have been inserting polygon lat-lon pairs to define area of severe weather in these warnings
Short-fuse Warnings
Hundreds of warnings issued in a 24-hour period
Short-fuse Warnings
Value of the polygon concept not fully utilized though due to dissemination constraints (e.g. NOAA Weather Radio)
NWS has sanctioned a team to change fully adopt the polygon approach for issuing warnings
Short-fuse WarningsUsing GIS methods, NWS will be able to apply more advanced dissemination methods (e.g., converting polygons into targeted smaller areas)
Spatial analysis will allow verification of warnings --- did the tornado occur inside of the polygon?
First efforts include real-time conversion of warnings into shapefiles:
(http://www.prh.noaa.gov/regsci/GIS)
National Digital Forecast Database
New NWS product of gridded points across the country at 5 km spacing of values of temperature, wind, weather, etc.
National Digital Forecast Database
Currently data are available in “GRIB2” format, mostly only used by meteorology community
Efforts at hand to convert to more common formats, including UNIDATA’s netCDF format and into GIS shapefile and grid formats
NWS Internet Mapping Systems
NWS has begun to explore ways to take advantage of new technologies such as XML and Internet Mapping Systems to better disseminate warnings, forecasts, and observations to the publicOne example is the EMHURR site, which included NDFD forecast wind grids
NWS Internet Mapping Systems
Future plans to use Internet Mapping Systems to improve response times and service to our emergency manager partners
Plans to install IMS servers at each of our regional webfarms to disseminate our data
Questions?
Ken Waters
Regional ScientistNWS Pacific Region
HeadquartersHonolulu, HI 96813
Jack Settelmaier
Technique Development Meteorologist
NWS Southern Region Headquarters
Fort Worth, TX 76102
