DTN Weather Services provides GIS-based weather data on the Geography Network for use in Internet-enabled GIS solutions. Users can currently access near real-time weather radar, accumulated precipitation, surface data observations, climatic statistics, and hurricane/tropical storm tracks. Forecast data and historical event information will be added in the future. This paper will review current and planned GIS weather data offerings. Processes that add value to the original data will be discussed. We will also present examples of how this data can be incorporated into GIS-based decision support for public safety and business operations.
Value-added, near-real-time weather data is now available by way of the Geography Network for use in GIS solutions. The flexibility of the Geography Network will allow people the choice of browsing real-time weather maps and/or accessing weather attributes and GIS weather data files from the Web to the desktop. These options allows organizations to immediately integrate live weather information into their GIS support systems for applications in public safety, emergency management, transportation, insurance, agriculture, construction, government, energy and utilities sectors among others .
Current commercial weather data on the Geography Network is provided by DTN Weather Services, LLC. DTN compiles meteorological data from a variety of sources worldwide, including a network of weather radars. Objective quality control procedures and meteorological analyses add further value to the data. Through DTN's advanced tecnology Metwork™ Fileserver, continuously updated, near-real-time, GIS-formatted weather data is published to the Geography Network using Esri's ArcIMS software.
Geography Network users can currently browse real-time weather maps or add feature-streamed map services with information on:
The company plans to expand its Geography Network weather offerings in the near term to include data such as real-time storm cell tracks with storm attributes, National Weather Service storm-watch and warning data updates, forecast data, historical data and functionality for exporting Esri Shapefiles.
The key benefit of integrating weather data from the Geography Network into a GIS lies in the ability to spatially analyze weather in conjunction with user-specified map layers such as property locations, population, transportation routes, watersheds, and any other information with a spatial location. GIS weather can be analyzed before, during or after it happens, providing a wide range of functionality for many industries:
The addition of real-time and forecasted weather data to GIS data layers with information such as population, transportation routes, and locations of hospitals and storm shelters, allows emergency managers to pinpoint the people most likely to be affected by severe weather and to create a plan for assistance. GIS analysis of weather data support applications such as the following:
Using GIS weather, transportation fleet managers can route trucks to areas with the best pavement conditions, railroad dispatchers can stop trains before they encounter high winds to avoid derailment, pilots can plan their flights based on the clearest predicted weather patterns, and travelers can access weather kiosks to find the safest route to their destination. Alerts to dangerous situations can be sent automatically to dispatchers or individual travelers using GIS analysis of current radar and storm cell locations overlaid on the affected transportation route. GPS (Global Positioning System) technology plays a key role in identifying vehicles within the transportation route and where they are located in relation to severe weather.
Severe weather is consistently one of the largest causes of property damage, second only to fire. GIS weather from DTN benefits risk managers by providing:
Demand for gas and electric resources is dependent on weather conditions. Forecasted weather can help utilities gauge future demand by location in both the short and long term, making production more efficient and profitable. Weather also affects utility plant equipment, so information on approaching storms can help predict areas where service will be interrupted, what type of repair may be necessary depending on the cause of the damage (lightning vs. ice vs. high winds), and where situations dangerous to the public are likely to exist.
GIS analysis of weather and how it affects agriculture can be conducted at the individual farm level, across multiple corporate holdings, or even by country or continent. Analysis results can provide more specific and accurate information for crop planning, yield prediction, frost protection, soil moisture estimates, hail damage estimates, and sales and delivery planning. Agricultural commodities trading can also be more effective when factoring in weather aspects to predictive models of production and availability of agricultural products.
Weather directly affects military sites and operations worldwide. Many military and defense organizations use GIS to manage their facilities internally as well as for planning, training and actual deployment operations. Weather becomes an important factor in these and other applications:
Internet-based access to value-added, GIS weather data products through the Geography Network will make possible a new level of utilizing weather information to analyze and solve problems in both private and public sectors. This will further drive the creation of new and exciting internet-based GIS applications that utilize map services and tools from a variety of sources.
DTN Weather Services, LLC, is the world's leading supplier of weather solutions, providing GIS-ready data, forecast services, accurate real-time weather, and display systems to more than 20,000 customers. DTN Weather Services is a division of Data Transmission Network, a portfolio company of VS&A Communications Partners III, LP, the private equity affiliate of Veronis Suhler.
Created on ... June 22, 2001