Computers and Weather forecasting Menu Explanation Weather station

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Computers and Weather forecasting

Computers and Weather forecasting

Menu Explanation Weather station Radiosonde Overview picture Satellites Data collection Radar Weather ships Sensors

Menu Explanation Weather station Radiosonde Overview picture Satellites Data collection Radar Weather ships Sensors Data logging The Grid System Weather forecasting Supercomputers Parallel Processing Software Pressing Weather forecasting on any slide will bring you back to this menu

During the last two decades the Met Office has used state-of-the-art supercomputers for numerical

During the last two decades the Met Office has used state-of-the-art supercomputers for numerical weather prediction and more recently, also for predictions of global climate. This is a picture of a supercomputer Weather forecasting

Weather forecasters are helped by several things. These include: 1. The computer’s advice 2.

Weather forecasters are helped by several things. These include: 1. The computer’s advice 2. Information from radar 3. Information from satellite pictures The computer makes millions of calculations. The sums are called differential equations Before the computer can do the calculations, data has to be collected first. Weather forecasting

Collecting data on the weather is very important. Without the data, the computer could

Collecting data on the weather is very important. Without the data, the computer could not do the calculations that enable it to make weather predictions. The next slide shows where the data comes from. It also shows where the forecasts are sent. Always remember that the forecasters are highly trained people and they use their judgement and expertise to make their forecast based on the information the computer gives them and the information from the radar and the satellite pictures. Weather forecasting

Satellites Radio-sonde Weather stations Radar Weather ship and weather buoys Weather forecasting Supercomputer

Satellites Radio-sonde Weather stations Radar Weather ship and weather buoys Weather forecasting Supercomputer

Satellites Radio-sonde Weather stations Radar Weather ship and weather buoys Supercomputer Aviation Shipping Global

Satellites Radio-sonde Weather stations Radar Weather ship and weather buoys Supercomputer Aviation Shipping Global forecast services Weather forecasting Forecaster National and International Forecast Services up to 7 days ahead.

Satellites Radio-sonde Weather stations Radar Weather ship and weather buoys Supercomputer Aviation Shipping Global

Satellites Radio-sonde Weather stations Radar Weather ship and weather buoys Supercomputer Aviation Shipping Global forecast services Weather forecasting Forecaster National and International Forecast Services up to 7 days ahead.

Data is collected continuously for the computer from the following: 1. Weather stations 2.

Data is collected continuously for the computer from the following: 1. Weather stations 2. Automated weather stations 3. Satellites 4. Radar 5. Radiosondes 6. Weather ships 7. Mini-radiosondes 8. Radar 9. Aeroplanes 10. Drifting buoys Weather forecasting

The data measurements are made by sensors A sensor is a transducer which responds

The data measurements are made by sensors A sensor is a transducer which responds to some physical property such as pressure, temperature, rate of flow. A transducer is an electronic component which converts energy from one form to another. We want the transducers to send signals to the computer in the Met. Office. Weather forecasting

The measurements needed include: 1. Temperature. . Air, surface and subsurface temp. 2. Atmospheric

The measurements needed include: 1. Temperature. . Air, surface and subsurface temp. 2. Atmospheric Pressure 3. Wind speed 4. Wind direction 5. Humidity 6. Rainfall 7. Sunshine Weather forecasting

These are some of the sensors used to collect data. Weather forecasting

These are some of the sensors used to collect data. Weather forecasting

Data logging is the capture and storage of data for future use. All the

Data logging is the capture and storage of data for future use. All the measurements from the sensors are stored because: - • The computer processes the data in batches • People need to refer back to weather data for many reasons So data logging is used in weather forecasting. Weather forecasting

The next slides explain more about data collection. To jump to the details of

The next slides explain more about data collection. To jump to the details of the computers, click on the computer. Weather forecasting

Radiation from the sun Formation of rain and snow Formation of clouds Radiation from

Radiation from the sun Formation of rain and snow Formation of clouds Radiation from the atmosphere Mountain effects Evaporation and heat exchange Radiation from the earth Sea Weather forecasting Friction The atmosphere is split up into a 3 -D grid. Each land based grid is about 60 km.

The vertical grid you just saw only had 5 levels. The Met Office uses

The vertical grid you just saw only had 5 levels. The Met Office uses far more, some computer models work on 40 vertical levels. For the global forecasts the horizontal grid is 60 km For UK forecasts the horizontal grid is 15 km. Weather forecasting

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as rainfall, cloud cover, etc in as many grid spaces as possible Sea Weather forecasting

Sea Weather stations are used here. Weather forecasting

Sea Weather stations are used here. Weather forecasting

A weather station sends signals back to the Met Office computer. The instruments measure

A weather station sends signals back to the Met Office computer. The instruments measure pressure, temperature and humidity. Some weather stations are automated. These send their measurements back to the computerdirectly. Picture thanks to Sparholt school who have a great web site www. hants. gov. uk/sparsholtschoolscentre Weather forecasting

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as rainfall, cloud cover, etc Radiosondes are used up here. 20 km Sea her forecasting

A radiosonde sends signals back to the Met Office computer. They are attached to

A radiosonde sends signals back to the Met Office computer. They are attached to a balloon carrying instruments. The instruments measure pressure, temperature and humidity. By measuring the track of the radiosonde, the wind direction and speed can be calculated. Photo courtesy of the British Atmospheric Data Centre Weather forecasting

UTC = Universal Time Co-ordinated All over the world, radiosondes are released at midday

UTC = Universal Time Co-ordinated All over the world, radiosondes are released at midday and midnight UTC. Weather forecasting

UTC = Universal Time Co-ordinated Hawaii 2 am Atlantic Daylight 9 am UTC is

UTC = Universal Time Co-ordinated Hawaii 2 am Atlantic Daylight 9 am UTC is also known as GMT Greenwich Mean Time Baghdad 3 pm West Australian Standard 7 pm Here are some of the times when the radiosondes are released to correspond with the ones in Britain at midday. Weather forecasting

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as rainfall, cloud cover, etc Minisondes are used 5 km here. Sea Everest is 8. 85 Kms high. So we have shown you a very high mountain! Weather forecasting

A minisonde system takes measurements at 5 Km above sea level. Both radiosondes and

A minisonde system takes measurements at 5 Km above sea level. Both radiosondes and minisondes use radio waves to transmit the data readings to the computers Weather forecasting

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as rainfall, cloud cover, etc Aeroplanes send data too. Sea Weather forecasting 10 km

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as

We need to measure pressure, temperature, wind speed and wind directions as well as rainfall, cloud cover, etc 36, 000 km Satellites send data too. Sea Weather forecasting The Geostationary satellites are 36, 000 Km above earth.

There are two types of satellites. • Geostationary. These stay in the same spot.

There are two types of satellites. • Geostationary. These stay in the same spot. They orbit the earth at exactly the same speed as the earth rotates. They are very high above earth 36, 000 km. 5 geostationary satellites are enough to give global coverage. • Polar orbiting. These orbit the earth about 14 times a day. They orbit at 1000 km above the earth. Weather forecasting

A Geostationary satellite stays in the same place with respect to earth all the

A Geostationary satellite stays in the same place with respect to earth all the time A Polar orbiting satellite moves above the earth’s surface Weather forecasting

Picture courtesy of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and photo

Picture courtesy of the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites and photo courtesy of Dundee University. The satellite’s signals are received by antennae. ©Eumetsat 2003 Meteosat: a geostationary satellite. It sends microwave signals back to earth. The URL ( Uniform Resource Locator ) www. sat. dundee. ac. uk/tour. html will tell you more about satellites if you are interested Weather forecasting

This is a Polar Orbiting Satellite The satellite can take readings across the entire

This is a Polar Orbiting Satellite The satellite can take readings across the entire earth during the course of one day. Weather forecasting

Radar stands for radio detection and ranging. Radio waves are transmitted, when they hit

Radar stands for radio detection and ranging. Radio waves are transmitted, when they hit a rain cloud they bounce back to earth and measurements can be taken. Sea Radar systems are used here. Weather forecasting

Radar measurements let the forecaster and the computer know if the radar has seen

Radar measurements let the forecaster and the computer know if the radar has seen rain clouds. This is a radar station. The computer and the forecaster receive data from the radar systems. Weather forecasting There is a network of radar systems covering Britain.

There also buoys taking weather measurements in the sea Sea Weather forecasting There are

There also buoys taking weather measurements in the sea Sea Weather forecasting There are weather ships out to sea

This is a Weather ship. Thanks to www. gdfcartophily. co. uk Buoys are used

This is a Weather ship. Thanks to www. gdfcartophily. co. uk Buoys are used at sea more than weather ships these days. They send their data automatically back to the computer. Weather forecasting

The Meteorological Office uses supercomputers. These are the largest computers in the world. The

The Meteorological Office uses supercomputers. These are the largest computers in the world. The Met Office has re-located (moved) to Exeter from Bracknell is near London. Exeter is in the South West of England. There will be a new supercomputer in the Met Office’s new location at Exeter. • Exeter Weather forecasting • Bracknel l

A supercomputer is a very large computer, which works very, very fast. It is

A supercomputer is a very large computer, which works very, very fast. It is about 1000 times more powerful than a PC. It also has an enormous store (memory). We store Gigabytes (one thousand million bytes 109) of data on the Hard drives in our school. Supercomputers have stores for Terabytes of data. A Terabyte is one million, million bytes, 1012 bytes. Weather forecasting

A supercomputer is a very large computer, which works very, very fast. It is

A supercomputer is a very large computer, which works very, very fast. It is about 1000 times more powerful than a PC It usually has many processors working in parallel to achieve the fast processing time. The Met Office supercomputers are Massively Parallel Processor machines. Weather forecasting

Massively Parallel Processor machines use Parallel processing is the simultaneous use of several processors

Massively Parallel Processor machines use Parallel processing is the simultaneous use of several processors to perform a single job. A job may be split into a number of tasks each of which may be processed by any available processor. Weather forecasting

When a computer uses several processors in parallel it is known as parallel processing.

When a computer uses several processors in parallel it is known as parallel processing. Parallel processing splits jobs up and gives different processors tasks. These all have to be brought together. Parallel processing is difficult to program Weather forecasting

How does parallel processing work? . A 1*7 B 2*7 C D 3*7 4*7

How does parallel processing work? . A 1*7 B 2*7 C D 3*7 4*7 Let’s give four processors A, B, C, D a sum each 7 Weather forecasting 14 21 28

If processor A did all four sums it would take longer. Parallel processing is

If processor A did all four sums it would take longer. Parallel processing is very complicated to program but it does make it faster to do loads and loads of sums. Weather forecasting

Massively Parallel Processor machines. MPP systems rely on very high bandwidth communications to move

Massively Parallel Processor machines. MPP systems rely on very high bandwidth communications to move data between memory and between different processors so that they are all kept busy during program execution. MPP systems use a distributed hierarchy of memory. This just means that they have to have a system of accessing the memory available. Weather forecasting

Software consists of programs, routines and procedures which can be run on a computer

Software consists of programs, routines and procedures which can be run on a computer system. There are two types of software, • application • system Weather forecasting

Application software is designed to carry out a task (such as keeping accounts, or

Application software is designed to carry out a task (such as keeping accounts, or editing text) which would need to be done even if computers didn’t exist. System software is designed to control the operation of a computer. An operating system is an example of systems software. An operating system is the software that controls the overall running of the computer. Operating systems handle the Input/Output operations, interrupts, user requests. Weather forecasting

Application software in Weather Forecasting. The Met Office calls their application software they use

Application software in Weather Forecasting. The Met Office calls their application software they use for weather forecasting the Unified Model. It is modelling software. The Unified model is run both for climate and operational weather forecasting. It uses a lot of computer time, even on the very latest supercomputers. Weather forecasting

Systems software in Weather Forecasting The computers at the Met Office use an operating

Systems software in Weather Forecasting The computers at the Met Office use an operating system called Unicos/mk is an interactive system that can run batch work. It is based on UNIX, a very reliable network operating system. Weather forecasting

The weather forecasts are run in batch mode. Batch mode is when all the

The weather forecasts are run in batch mode. Batch mode is when all the jobs or data to be processed are put together for processing and then run together. The batches are done by a piece of software produced by the same company CRAY that makes the computers. It is known as the NQS, the Network Queueing System. Weather forecasting

I would like to thank the Met Office for all their help and for

I would like to thank the Met Office for all their help and for permission to use their photographs throughout this presentation. Copyright Helen ap Derwen Yewlett Weather forecasting