Identifying and Tracking Severe Weather Precursor Signatures from High-resolution Satellite Data in Real-Time

FY 2008 Proposal to the NOAA HPCC Program

Principal Investigator: Robert Rabin

Collaborators:

Valliappa Lakshmanan (CIMMS, University of Oklahoma)Tom Whittaker (CIMSS, University of Wisconsin-Madison)Arnie Gruber (NOAA/CREST, City College of New York)

Kurt Hondl (NOAA/NSSL)

Steven Weiss (NOAA/SPC)John Moses (NASA/Goddard, Geenbelt MD)

Wayne Feltz (CIMSS, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Proposal Theme: Technologies for Modeling, Analysis or Visualization

Funding Summary:    FY 2008 $ 37,000 (In-Kind $10,000)

Benefits

Enable timely use of GOES high resolution imagery data for algorithm development

identification and tracking rapidly changing storm top features

keys on overshooting tops (intense updrafts) from hi-res visible imagery

incorporates info from GOES multi-spectral data (leverage from NASA)

links satellite and radar products for thunderstorm tracking

Multi-Line-Office, Multi-University Proposal,

Leverages tasks from existing NOAA, NASA projects

Builds on previous HPCC projects

Makes use of high bandwidth data transfer

Cost Effective means to further develop tools for research and operations

Transfer output to operational NOAA units (AWIPS, N-AWIPS)

Methodology

Receive, fuse and remap visible 1km satellite data from both GOES satellites over the CONUS.

Detect overshooting tops from the visible images.

Track overshooting tops over time and attach radar and satellite based parameters with these overshooting tops so that forecasters can study the time evolution.

Display algorithm output (real-time) in Java applet.

DeliverablesOvershooting cloud top algorithm output for combined use with radar data.Viewable in: 1) a Java applet on the web, 2) AWIPS, and 3) N-AWIPS.

Milestones

Receive award notification (tentative) – 15 March 2008

Order and receive hardware – 15 April 2008

Have overshooting tops algorithm running in real-time – 15 May 2008

Real-time loops (WSR-88D, GOES):

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~rabin/vis_1km

GOES 1km visible probability of “overshooting tops”: 11 June 08 2332 UTC

GOES Cloud top couplets: 11 June 08 2332 UTC

WSR-88D Composite reflectivity: 11 June 08 2328 UTC

GOES Cloud top temperature: 11 June 08 2332 UTC

ThunderTracker Version 3

Java server Updated for MySQL access Modified for CIRT requirements

MySQL database for storm track info Larger image files – same format Flash client replaces Java applet

More consistent layout No more memory issues – larger images, more

tracks, etc. Better built-in charting capabilities

The components

MySQLDatabase

Track ValuesFlat-fileSatellite& RadarImages

ThunderServer3

ThunderTrackerBrowserClient

BrowserClient Browser

ClientBrowserClient

BrowserClient

LDM

Data Source

Data Source

Encode

Data Source

System for Storm Analysis Using Multiple Data SetsFY 2007 Proposal to the NOAA HPCC Program

Principal Investigator: Robert M. Rabin

Collaborators:

Valliappa Lakshmanan (CIMSS, University of Oklahoma)

Jaime Daniels (NOAA/NESDIS)

Arnie Gruber (NOAA/CREST, City College of New York)

Steven Weiss(NOAA/SPC)

Tom Whittaker (CIMSS, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Proposal Theme: Technologies for Modeling, Analysis, or Visualization

Funding Summary: FY 2007 $ 38,000 (in-kind matching: $15,000)

OBJECTIVESExtend the web-based "Tool for storm analysis using multiple data sets" to include additional observational data and to provide short-term forecasts of storm location and relevant atmospheric conditions.

Additional data will include derived products from the national network of WSR-88D Doppler radars not routinely available elsewhere:

storm relative inflow and low-level air convergencehail diagnosis and rotation tracks

Tracking of satellite, radar reflectivity fields and estimated precipitation will be linked together utilizing an existing approach which accounts for:

movement of multiple scalesmovement of cloud and radar reflectivity and 'forecast' positions 1-2 hours into the future (Lakshamanan,2003)Provide output from this tool to operational units in NOAA. This includes testing at the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), transfer of imagery to AWIPS and N-AWIPS, and input to a nowcasting system for greater New York City (in collaboration with NOAA cooperative institute CREST).

Version 3 of ThunderTracker

Version 1 was a simple display with animations and overlays

Version 2 was a full-blown prototype that added many tracking features with some graph plotting

Version 3 moves beyond those with

A new, extensible database

More complex graphing and overlays on client side

Perhaps using Flash instead of Java on client side?

A Web-based tool for monitoring MCSStorm Analysis Using Multiple Data Sets.

Robert Rabin, Tom Whittaker 2004

Advances in Visual Computing,

G. Bebis, R. Boyle, D. Koracin, B. Parvin, Ed(s)., Springer, 571-578.

New Server-side Database

MySQL based instead of previous “flat text file” Needed more flexibility to handle additional

parameters and image types Tables fed from different sources but accessed

through Java server-side technology

Database Structure Two tables:

Storm-connected data

Each tracked storm has many items (columns)

Indexed by time; sorted on retrieval by storm-key number

Images

Table stores references to the image files, not the images

Types: Satellite (visible, IR), Radar, Lightning

Indexed by time

MySQL chosen

Easy, simple needs with no critical storage or

retrieval considerations

Use Flash instead of Java on Client Problems with Java (client) plug-in:

Installation requires “admin privileges”

Plug-in memory limit is only 64MB by default

Hard to change default – different on each platform

Incompatibilities with older Java versions

If we move to Java 1.5 and Swing components, then old users

of IE running Microsoft's Java will not work

Flash advantages:

No memory limit, easy install, alread on more than 95% of

computers world-wide, easy and clean updates, excellent image

and graphing libraries

Use ActionScript for a “single-frame Flash movie” allows for

animations, overlays, etc

ThunderTracker Database

Table - Images

TableStorm-Tracked Parameters

* GOES – visible* GOES – IR * Radar – VIP levels* Lightning – counts * Date-time information

* Storm ID, Location, Date-time * CAPE* Bunkers Storm motion* Observed Storm motion* Convective Inhibition* LCL Height* Shear* Helicity* Min IR temperature and couplets* Size & Orientation* Radar reflectivity and VIL* Rotation (Doppler azimuthal shear)* Hail probability, expected size* Echo Top height* Upper-level divergence

"K-means" technique for tracking satellite cloud top and radar reflectivity features.

Real-time loops (WSR-88D and GOES):

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/~rabin/tracks

Example of GOES IR Cloud tops, observed 1045 UTC

Example of GOES IR Cloud tops, observed 1132 UTC

Example of GOES IR Cloud tops, projected 1-hr, 1245 UTC

Example of GOES IR Cloud tops, projected 2-hr, 1345 UTC

Wind vectors and horizontal divergence at 300 mb (green contours) from GOES water vapor imagery.

Sample Client Session: Storm Overview

Radar mid-level rotation (gold) vs. Enviromental deep layer vertical shear (green)

Environmental CAPE (gold) vs. Deep vertical shear (green)

WSR-88D “VIL” (gold) vs. GOES Cloud top temperature (green)

Radar mid-level rotation (green) vs. Environmental Helicity (gold)

Radar “VIL” (green) vs. Enviromental CAPE (gold)

Radar “VIL” (green) vs. environmenal Deep Layer Shear (gold)

GOES Cloud top temperature (green) vs. Environmental Deep layer shear (gold)

Radar low-level rotation (green) vs. Enviromental Helicity (gold)

Problem Areas:

•Time spent of CERT certification.•Availability of website to outside world.

Additional work needed:

•Include Choice of Storm “Scales” in databasefor use by clients.

•Include time trends of additional storm top features.

•Include “forecast” imagery: link to new HPCC projecton forecast visible imagery and other modeling efforts.

•Possible Reanalysis: link to Travis Smith proposed comprehensive radar, satellite algorithm reanalysis.

•Inclusion into AWIPS-2 for future NWS utilization.