© Crown copyright Met Office GRIB Visualization of data GRIB Web Pages Lauren Reid, Met Office, WAFSOPSG Paris 14-15 th September 2009

© Crown copyright Met Office

GRIB Visualization of data GRIB Web PagesLauren Reid, Met Office, WAFSOPSG Paris 14-15 th September 2009


Contents

This presentation covers the following areas

• Introduction

• History

• High at a Glance

• High Level

• Medium Level

• Single Field Visualization


Introduction


History

WAFSOPSG Conclusion 4/14: That, concerning the introduction of gridded forecasts of turbulence, icing and cumulonimbus (CB) clouds, the WAFC Provider States be invited to:

a) Design the gridded forecasts with a high “at a glance” value; Note. ─ The gridded forecasts do not have to replicate the existing SIGWX forecasts; however, they must provide the same ease of use.

And,

b) WAFSOPSG Conclusion 4/20 — That, the WAFS Provider States, in coordination with the WAFSOPSG Members from IATA and IFALPA, be invited to proceed with the development of a web-based interface (one from each WAFC) for the provision of a minimum set of WAFS charts.


The new service will

a) Provide objective gridded forecasts of icing, turbulence and cumulonimbus clouds, derived from GRIB 2 formatted data, for intended use in flight documentation.

b) Once operational, conform to guidance in Doc 9855, Guidelines on the Use of the Public Internet for Aeronautical Applications and the Guidelines on the authorized access to WAFS forecasts (Appendix 1 to the Doc 8896, Manual of Aeronautical Meteorological Practice; and

c) Be targeted primarily at the least developed countries, which may not be in a position to convert the GRIB and/or BUFR coded forecasts into chart form.


• This has been interpreted by the WAFCs as a requirement to generate:

• Charts that will replace the current manually generated SIGWX charts that contain similar information and retain the high 'at a glance' value of the current SIGWX charts

• A set of charts displaying single fields of Icing, Turbulence and CB, primarily aimed at LDC (Least Developed Countries) states.



High at a Glance

• Display several fields which could be used in much the same way as a SigWx chart

• Standard ICAO projections

• T+6 through to T+36 a 3h intervals

• There are no Volcanic Ash or TC warnings on the following examples

• Could be included, however there may be issues with the date stamps and data accuracy


High Level HG-SWH FL250-630

• All CB horizontal extent with a cloud top at or above FL250

• CAT, representing summation of fields between FL300 and FL390 (300, 250, and 200hPa)

• Wind fleches showing wind speed 80kt or over at FL340

• There is also the option to show areas of very low temperatures, height of the CB tops and the maximum wind speed and its height





Medium Level HG-SWM FL100-250

• All CB horizontal extent with a cloud top at or above FL100 (700hPa)

• Icing at FL100 (700hPa)

• Wind fleches showing wind speed 60kt and greater at FL240 (400hPa)

• All ICAO standard areas plus EUR



Single Field Visualisation

• It is envisaged that some countries will not have the computing facilities available to view the GRIB data

• Charts of ICAO regions will be produced for T+6 every 3h to T+36 for CAT, CB, Icing and any of the other GRIB fields that may be of interest

• These will be gifs (or pngs or jpeg etc) available on the Internet

• http://aviationweather.gov/testbed/globalgrids/

http://aviationweather.gov/testbed/globalgrids/


CAT6 Levels

400 to 150hPa


Icing 6 levels

700 to 300hPa


CB extentCB topCB base


Discussion

• What else is required?

• Detailed user requirement need

• Colours

• Contours (thresholds and style)

• Min and max thresholds

• Content (parameters on different types of chart)

• Will we even generate these charts?


Questions and answers

Documents

© Crown copyright Met Office GRIB Visualization of data GRIB Web Pages Lauren Reid, Met Office, WAFSOPSG Paris 14-15 th September 2009