Google Earth and WDSSII

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  • Those with Google Earth, check out:

    http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/geotiff/

    Click on the SP domain on the map near the bottom, and check out such products as Hail Swath and Rotation Tracks. These are multi-radar/sensor applications under development at NSSL, hopefully soon to be part of the NWS suite of products.


  • Dude this is awesome!! How long have you guys been working on this?


  • Originally posted by Bill Tabor
    How quickly will damage swirl path and hail swaths be updated? I wonder if it will be quick enough to chase a torn one day and explore the damage path the next? If so that would be seriously cool. I can see how that can really simplify damage surveys and emergency rescue, etc.
    We haven't made the final decision on that yet - it will be a function of server resources and space. Possibly, 2-hour accumulation periods. For example:

    20060308_2000 - 20060308_2200 Rotation Tracks
    20060308_2200 - 20060309_0000 Rotation Tracks

    etc


  • Originally posted by Greg Stumpf
    Those with Google Earth, check out:

    http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/geotiff/

    Click on the SP domain on the map near the bottom, and check out such products as Hail Swath and Rotation Tracks. These are multi-radar/sensor applications under development at NSSL, hopefully soon to be part of the NWS suite of products.

    Neither my Firefox nor IE recognize the .kmz file when I click on SP.

    Edit: Oh, guess I have to install Google Earth first.


  • As promised, a limited archive of products are now available, for the CONUS and the subdomains. These include 120m Hail Swath and Rotation Tracks products. We will certainly be using these for post-event verification.

    Look for the links labelled. "A few archived products will be available for up to a week: CONUS, NW, NE, NC, SW, SE, SC, SP, GC"

    In fact, here is the direct Southern Plains link.

    http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/geotiff_archive/SP/


  • Originally posted by Melissa Moon
    Dude this is awesome!! How long have you guys been working on this?
    The initial GE application was written within a day or two of Google's announcement of the free app last summer. The WDSSII multi-radar/sensor products have been under development at NSSL for about 4-5 years now, and the CONUS versions were implemented to support SPC operations within the last year. NSSL finally got the hardware to produce all the imagery you see in the last few months. Soon, we also hope to add archive (0-48 hours) hail and rotation tracks to aid NWS verification efforts (overlay tracks on roads and placemarks prior to ground surveys or probing telephone calls).

    NSSL wishes to stress that these images and data are still experimental - so use at your own risk! More info is on the web page.


  • Originally posted by Bill Tabor
    How quickly will damage swirl path and hail swaths be updated? I wonder if it will be quick enough to chase a torn one day and explore the damage path the next?
    I should also mention that these images are updated every 5 minutes, with the moving time window (last 5 minutes get sliced off he end), and are live.


  • 1) Does it have storm relative velocity or similar products? I don't see that listed other than as swirl type products.[/b]
    All the WDSSII products being demonstrated are from the CONUS multi-radar/sensor grids. Since these are multi-radar, you won't find radial velocity products (ground- or storm-relative) since those would be single-radar products in the radar coordinate system.

    I believe there are single-site radar products available to view in GE - just don't know the links off-hand.

    2) I can't find timestamps for the images. How do we know how old the radar is?[/b]
    For any product, maximize its selection in the Places menu, and you will see the product time.

    3) Additionally - I wonder how old the basemap from Google is? It appears to be 2 or 3 years old based on features I see in my yard and around my neighborhood.[/b]
    This is variable at any place on the earth. These are a collection of satellite images from different satellites, places, and times. Not sure how to access that info from Google.


    greg


  • Hmm, interesting. Apparently I'm the only one having problems with this, yet normal Google Earth works great.
    [/b]It's working fine attm (Sat 3/25 730am CST)


  • This software is great. :)


  • Well this is one impressive application for Google Earth and wonderful for the armchair chaser who can't make it out for whatever reason. It adds a bit of perspective (literally) to ordinarily flat maps when you can tilt the view. It may not necessarily be practical, but it makes for impressive viewing when a cluster of storms is headed your way and you've got the map tilted!

    (now if someone could make data 3-D, that'd be just outright fun to watch!)


  • I tried it yesterday during the tornado outbreak, and many of the products did not work from NWS - such vortex swirl paths. Hail seemed to work, and so did Vil. Only the 3d radar was working. It also seemed a little slow to update. I got an error when I tried to display some products whereas others just wouldn't do anything. I could see how hail damage and tornado damage, along with max accumulated rainfall would be a good thing to monitor from this tool. It is a little slow in response though and I have a fast computer and connection.


  • Thanks for the heads up about this Greg. No doubt this is kick a$$ software. I've even been having fun cruising around the map and seeing my house and old houses on the map - very detailed.

    Couple of questions:

    1) Does it have storm relative velocity or similar products? I don't see that listed other than as swirl type products.

    2) I can't find timestamps for the images. How do we know how old the radar is?

    3) Additionally - I wonder how old the basemap from Google is? It appears to be 2 or 3 years old based on features I see in my yard and around my neighborhood.


  • Hmm, doesn't work for me. Regular Google Earth works fine. It shows all the maps as usual; but when I load this all I get is a blank white map no matter what I select. :cry:


  • I tried it yesterday during the tornado outbreak, and many of the products did not work from NWS - such vortex swirl paths. Hail seemed to work, and so did Vil. Only the 3d radar was working. It also seemed a little slow to update. I got an error when I tried to display some products whereas others just wouldn't do anything. I could see how hail damage and tornado damage, along with max accumulated rainfall would be a good thing to monitor from this tool. It is a little slow in response though and I have a fast computer and connection.
    [/b]
    I had the same problem. The WDSSII stuff is highly computer intensive (both CPU and memory). From my experience with it, performance can be slow with lots of convection. Whether the products come out or not depends on how well the machines are doing that day (and with my experience at NSSL with WDSSII and our machines, computers are particular about when they want to do certain things). Remember that the products are EXPERIMENTAL and not necessarily going to be available all the time (though, so far it's done pretty good).


  • MODERATOR: I split this topic off from the 3/7 NOW thread since it didn't specifically pertain to the 3/7 case, but moreso because it's equally applicable to all days and is in the interest of many.


  • Originally posted by Greg Stumpf
    Those with Google Earth, check out:

    http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/geotiff/

    Click on the SP domain on the map near the bottom, and check out such products as Hail Swath and Rotation Tracks. These are multi-radar/sensor applications under development at NSSL, hopefully soon to be part of the NWS suite of products.

    Incredible! And to have it in such a powerful program like Google Earth...amazing. Load time was actually not that bad, and I like the fact that on a second load, all the information comes in pretty quickly (at least for me).

    Thanks for the heads up, I'll have to use this as part of my basing suite tomorrow :)


  • How quickly will damage swirl path and hail swaths be updated? I wonder if it will be quick enough to chase a torn one day and explore the damage path the next? If so that would be seriously cool. I can see how that can really simplify damage surveys and emergency rescue, etc.


  • Hmm, interesting. Apparently I'm the only one having problems with this, yet normal Google Earth works great.


  • Thanks, this is pretty cool, ill have to play around with it for awhile







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