• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

Satellite Images May Soon Warn Pilots of Storms

Joined
Jul 3, 2004
Messages
164
Location
Hotel room somewhere by an airport
14-Feb-2006

Newswise — A new way of analyzing data from weather satellites may soon help pilots avoid flying through rain or turbulence from convective thunderstorms, according to a UAH scientist.

Working with colleagues at UAH, the University of Wisconsin and NASA's Langley Research Center, Dr. John Mecikalski, an assistant professor of atmospheric science, has developed a system that is about 65 percent accurate in giving a one-hour warning before heavy rain starts to fall within a thunderstorm.

"Our goal is to take existing, real-time satellite instruments and predict aviation hazards due to thunderstorms and severe weather," said Mecikalski. "NOAA is evaluating our tool, the FAA is testing it and the Huntsville National Weather Service office used it this past summer."

Results of this research were published in the January edition of the journal "Monthly Weather Review" and will be presented at the annual winter meeting of the American Meteorological Society in Atlanta.

Complete Article

I’m not sure who will ultimately be offering this. It could be WSI, Honeywell Bendix-King or Baron.
 
I am working on this project at the University of Wisconsin in Madison with respect to integrating the satellite storm diagnosis into AWIPS so it may be used by the National Weather Service field offices. The images produced include a cloud top cooling rate and convective initiation score product that allows forecasters to identify on an 8-level scale where storms are most likely to develop, therefore forecasting turbulence potential.

At the current time, these images are produced over the Huntsville area only for the HUN WFO as well as the Great Lakes states for the UW, but there is a plan to expand them into a moving sector that follows the SPC slight risk area during the summer.

I cannot say definitively, but they should be freely available for public use from the UW within the coming months. I have no knowledge of a commercial relationship at the time, but I am only on the edges of the project.

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them or direct you to someone that can.
 
Originally posted by Jordan Gerth
At the current time, these images are produced over the Huntsville area only for the HUN WFO as well as the Great Lakes states for the UW, but there is a plan to expand them into a moving sector that follows the SPC slight risk area during the summer.
Is there any reason why the applications aren't run for the entire CONUS, so that all WFOs can use?
 
Namely because this is a developing research field and the number of calculations required to run on a CONUS domain would be quite a load to be of any timely use. We cannot spend 30 minutes producing an image that is valid within the next ten to twenty minutes. Maximum lead time is desired. Besides, the SLGT risk area will capture most events for use by a local WFO.

Let me remark, there is no requirement that a WFO use these products. That is, it is not part of the standard OB install at this time.
 
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