09-11, 11:00–11:30 (America/Chicago), Grand F
Presenting Web-based National Weather Service Forecast Guidance Data Displays Using Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial Technology (an update from our 2013 FOSS4G-NA presentation)
National Weather Service (NWS) field offices working in collaboration with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) feed data into the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD), a seamless mosaic of digital forecasts. Data from NDFD is available to the public in raw format as well as web-based displays. However, those displays (circa 2002) were built using static images which provide little user-interaction, i.e. no pan/zoom or data probe capabilities. In addition, the images are created for different sectors of the United States as well as the world, each containing hundreds of static images. Requests for customer-specific sectors generated the need for hundreds more static images, often duplicating pieces of existing static images.
In order to overcome those limitations, a development team back in 2013 at the NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) created updated versions of the web-based NDFD data displays by combining several Open Source software packages such as OpenLayers, MapServer, Postgres/PostGIS, Leaflet, and GDAL. The updated displays dramatically reduced the number of images needed per world region (resulting in a preprocessing time savings) and increased user interactive capabilities with the data as well via a map window on a web page.
Over the years with additions and updates to FOSS4G software as well as moving the development and production systems over to the AWS cloud, the team expanded the web displays to include other datasets such as Air Quality Forecast Guidance, part of the National Digital Guidance Database (NDGD, which provides access to computer generated forecasts to NWS forecasters), and also the National Blend of Models (NBM), which is a nationally consistent and skillful suite of calibrated forecast guidance based on a blend of both NWS and non-NWS numerical weather prediction model data and post-processed model guidance.
The updated displays for NDFD and Air Quality Forecast Guidance were recently released into operations for the general public at https://digital.weather.gov and https://airquality.weather.gov, respectively (NBM display is currently reserved only for internal NOAA/NWS use). This talk will present those displays with descriptions of data flow and how the MDL team incorporated FOSS4G.
