Title: Scope of MeteoGIS in the International Context
1Scope of Meteo/GIS in the International Context
- Olga Wilhelmi
- NCAR
- ADAGUC Workshop
- KNMI
- October 3-4 2006
2Outline
- Current state in integration of GIS and
Atmospheric Sciences - Progress
- Challenges
- Usability of atmospheric data in GIS
- Usability and uses of GIS for meteorological and
climatological applications - Future directions
3The Purpose
- Challenges of earth system science research
community include - integration of complex physical processes into
weather forecast and climate system models - understanding interactions between climate,
environment, and society - integrating social and environmental information
with weather and climate - It is important to make atmospheric science
usable and data accessible to a wide community of
users, including researchers, educators,
practitioners and policy-makers
4The Challenge
5The Challenge (cont.)
- Methods and concepts
- Limited knowledge of GIS concepts and data models
among atmospheric scientists - GIS community is making faster progress in
adopting atmospheric concepts than atmospheric
community adopting GIS concepts - Technology
- Dimensions
- Interoperability between applications
- Data
- Formats
- Semantics
- People
- Learning curve
- Adoption of standards and data management
practices
6International Activities
- COST 719 (2001-2006)
- NCAR GIS Initiative (2001- present)
- Professional societies (EGU, AMS)
- University Consortium for Geographic Information
Science - Open Geospatial Consortium
- ESRI Atmospheric User Group
- Others
7Uses of GIS
- Visualization of information
- Spatial analysis (exploration of spatial
patterns, relationships, networks spatial
statistics) - Data distribution (web portals web services)
- Data integration (interoperability coupled
systems, interdisciplinary research) - First, need to resolve issues related to data
usability and interoperability
8Usability of Atmospheric Data
- Atmospheric Data Modeling working group
categorized atmospheric data for usability in GIS
as - GIS Ready (fully described, point and click)
- GIS Friendly (some effort to transform into
GIS-Ready not so friendly if heavy processing
needed) - GIS Alien (cannot be fully described)
9GIS ReadyExisting GIS Data Structures
Shipley et al.
10GIS FriendlyImages require additional info
500 hPa chart on ArcGlobe
World File
QTUA11.tif
QTUA11.tfw
14861.3 -36.775 -5.697 -14922.7 -12838043.0 109277
34.5
QTUA11.aux
Projection
Shipley et al.
11GIS Friendly Data Processing Required
Lidar cross section over Cincinnati, OH
Shipley et al.
12GIS Alien (at least for now)Meteogram
P (x,y,z,t), attributes p,q,u,v,
Time Series weather forecast (Meteogram) for
Washington DC, starting 21 June 2006
Shipley et al.
13Potential GIS Data Structures
Shipley et al.
14NetCDF in ArcGIS (now GIS-Ready)
- In ArcGIS 9.2 NetCDF data is accessed as
- Raster
- Feature
- Table
- Direct read
- Exports GIS data to netCDF
15NetCDF Tools
- Toolbox Multidimension Tools
- Make NetCDF Raster Layer
- Make NetCDF Feature Layer
- Make NetCDF Table View
- Raster to NetCDF
- Feature to NetCDF
- Table to NetCDF
- Select by Dimension
16Using NetCDF Data
- Display
- Same display tools for raster and feature layers
will work on netCDF raster and netCDF feature
layers. - Graphing
- Driven by the table just like any other chart.
- Animation
- Multidimensional data can be animated through a
dimension (e.g. time, pressure, elevation) - Analysis Tools
- A netCDF layer or table will work just like any
other raster layer, feature layer, or table.
(e.g. create buffers around netCDF points,
re-project rasters, query tables, etc.) - Python
17Emerging Standards
- CF Version 2
- The next generation of the Climate and Forecast
convention of netCDF - GALEON
- OGC testbed project to evaluate netCDF
suitability as a WCS well known binary. - Common Data Model (CDM)
- A new API to access netCDF, HDF, GRIB, and
OpenDAP through a single API. - NcML
- NetCDF Markup Language, like GML for netCDF earth
science data
18Data Visualization
- Symbology
- Identifying common symbols and creating defaults
for weather and climate variables - Integrating ESRI layer file and OGC style files
- Developing 3-D symbols for weather phenomena
- Use naming standards from CF convention
19Spatial Analysis
- Interpolation methods
- More progress in interpolating climate data than
weather data - Challenges
- Temporal analysis (e.g., time series statistics,
temporal interpolation, analysis and modeling of
transitions, raster time series) - Working across scales (upscaling, downscaling)
- Many suitable existing geoprocessing tools for
- Model verification
- Impact and risk assessment (interdisciplinary)
- Spatial patterns and suitability analysis
20Example Impacts of Climate Change
21Data Integration
GIS Client
AIS Client
- Coordinate Systems
- Many atmospheric models are based on a sphere
much GIS data is based on an ellipsoid - Temporal coordinate systems
- Interoperability
- Data
- Applications
22Data Distribution
23Example GIS Climate Change Data Portal
- Distributing outputs from NCARs Global Climate
Model (CCSM) in a GIS format (shapefile, text
file) - Ongoing work downscaling
http//www.gisClimateChange.org
24Users of GIS Climate Change Data Portal
Resource management
Biomass potential
Salmon conservation
Climate Change Education
Water Resources
Agriculture
Energy
Human Health
- Since February 2005 127K hits, 15K files
downloaded, more than 1200 registered users from
95 countries - Many non-traditional users
- Challenge education about appropriate use of
data
25Future Direction
- Distributed collaboratories for geosciences
- Increased computing capacity and capability
- Increased focus on multidisciplinary research
- Web services
- Self-contained, modular applications that can be
described, published, and accessed over the
Internet - promote interoperability by minimizing the
requirements for understanding between client and
service and between services - Extensible, interoperable web services for data
discovery, access and transformation - Data services (e.g., WMS, WFC, WCS, ArcGIS
server) - Geoprocessing services (web GIS, ArcGIS server)
- Catalog services (e.g., THREDDS, CS-W)
26Summary
- We are seeing progress in integration of GIS with
atmospheric sciences, however many challenges
remain - Ongoing work with international data standards,
web services, and integration of atmospheric and
geospatial data make steps towards better
understanding of the Earth System and solving
societally relevant problems - ADAGUC is on the right track for addressing
challenging questions of data distribution and
interoperability
27Thank You!
- For more information
- http//www.gis.ucar.edu
- E-mail olgaw_at_ucar.edu