Coastalwatch and WeatherActive help surfers catch the perfect wave
Garden of Discovery at Sea World San Diego
KFMB’s MicroClimate Van
KIRO TV, delivering live County by County weather
NFSI use Praxis WeatherActive to see the stars
Carver Academy Elementary students use weather data to harvest crops
KVII TV in Amarillo presents "School Net"
Palace Resorts provides live weather to hotel guests
Parsons Power monitors turbine performance
Watauga High School M.I.S.T Program
Coastalwatch and WeatherActive Help Surfers Catch the Perfect Wave
Weather is as integral to surfing as rain is to the growth of a plant. The right weather conditions can create ideal surfing. Knowing inclement weather is approaching alerts both surfers and swimmers that it may be best to stay on the beach.
Coastalwatch, an Australian web company, provides live video from beach locations around the world. They see the importance of weather- especially in the sport of surfing. A desire to merge live weather data with video led them to Praxis Software. Along with positioning cameras on the beaches of Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Hawaii, Coastalwatch is now installing weather instruments to link live video with real-time weather.
The Coastalwatch web site, www.coastalwatch.com, features live weather from places like the Artificial Reef and Mermaid Beach. Christopher Lane says, "Coastalwatch brings you a live vision of the world’s top beaches and harbors through state of the art camera and weather systems." The Coastalwatch founder says they also provide information on surfing tournaments and events, free membership to their newsletter, daily surf reports via e-mail and the opportunity to chat with surfing buddies.
By using WeatherActive, Coastalwatch enhances their existing section "Staying Alive". This web page includes information on lifeguard and lifesaving services, water and sun exposure safety tips, emergency contact information and "Coastal Environmental News".
The ability to display live weather conditions from various beach and surfing sites adds a new dimension to the Coastalwatch web site. Surfers and sunbathers alike now know the perfect place to catch the best waves and rays.
An estimated 1.5 million people visit Sea World in San Diego, California every year. Sea World’s attractions include shows featuring aquatic animals from around the world, exhibits and adventure rides like Shipwreck Rapids. Many of the shows and exhibits combine entertainment with education—from the world-famous Shamu show to the interactive Garden of Discovery. The garden contains self-sustaining crops and a variety of plants. Sea World describes the Garden of Discovery as a place where, "Gardeners, horticulturists, wildlife enthusiasts and future meteorologists of all ages can discover how to recreate some of Sea World’s landscaping magic in their own back yards." To help maintain a more productive garden and to convey real-time weather to visitors, Sea World added a WeatherActive system.
Jeff Hall, landscape manager at Sea World says, "The success of our garden is dependent upon the weather, therefore the weather station links everything together." Guests view the weather information on a Kiosk that Praxis developed located in a gazebo at the main entrance of the Garden of Discovery. The WeatherActive software was customized to display live conditions atop various pictures of Sea World with the garden in the background. When weather parameters are shown on the screen, a brief definition follows to help explain the parameter being measured.
The Garden of Discovery is just one of many areas at Sea World with an educational focus. The park stresses the preservation of wildlife, stewardship of the environment and protection of endangered species like the Manatee. Sea World is hosting the second annual "Sky Awareness Week" April 16 –21st to coincide with the nationwide event. It will contain a variety of programs and speakers from the fields of astronomy and meteorology.
Representatives from San Diego State University, the Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater and the National Weather Service will hold demonstrations around the theme, "Where Astronomy and Meteorology Meet". Winning projects from the San Diego Science Fair and WWII weather equipment provided by the National Weather Service will be on display. Visitors can compare the advancements between the technologies of the past and the innovative products like the Praxis WeatherActive Kiosk that have become our present and future.
KFMB Meteorologist, Matt Baylow often travels in the NEWS 8 MicroClimate Van—a specially equipped Pontiac loaded with weather gear—to do live shots and help educate students throughout San Diego. To improve reporting, the station recently added WeatherActive with a mobile display unit. Now the MicroClimate Van has the ability to display live weather conditions from any remote location KFMB Meteorologists broadcast.
The Praxis WeatherActive mobile unit consists of a portable weather station, a 72" display sign mounted atop the van and the WeatherActive Software. WeatherActive has the ability to display various live weather conditions including temperature, humidity, wind speed/wind direction, wind chill, rainfall and barometric pressure. Messages and weather warnings can also be entered to notify an audience of severe weather at remote locations. This feature becomes important when KFMB Meteorologists are broadcasting from outdoor events since it gives them the ability to alert the public of approaching severe weather.
Meteorologist Matt Baylow travels to area schools every Wednesday. Children listen to Matt explain microclimates, participate in lessons and are featured on the KFMB weather report. Producer Steve Schutte spotted the benefits of their "new and improved" MicroClimate Van upon installation. "It makes our weather presentations more dynamic," Steve explains. Now Matt has a more interactive teaching tool that allows students to see the weather changing right before their eyes.
One of the locations Matt recently visited was Alpine, CA. Matt reported from Alpine Elementary on Tuesday, January 2, and displayed wind gusts of 39 mph. He commented that these live readings along with low year-to-date rainfall totals indicated a possible fire hazard from the Santa Anas. The very next day a brush fire, caused by a discarded cigarette butt, ignited in the same area and swept rapidly due to the strong winds. The fire burned more than 10,000 acres during its six-day reign.
From firestorms to floods, with the addition of the WeatherActive Mobile Display Unit, KFMB shows viewers the immediate impact of the weather in their local neighborhoods. The station’s newly equipped MicroClimate Van demonstrates once again how Praxis’ WeatherActive system can enhance a station’s broadcast by improving an existing idea.
KIRO Delivering Live County by County Weather
KIRO-TV in Seattle, Washington strives to be one of the best broadcast stations in the Northwest. Receiving the Northwest Regional Emmy Award for Outstanding Daily Newscast and three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in electronic journalism is only one of the ways they stay ahead of their competition. Always exploring ways to improve their news coverage, KIRO recently implemented a change to enhance their weather broadcast. The goal was to create an automated, real-time weather network throughout their DMA.
KIRO chose Praxis Software and the WeatherActive product to provide a solution. Using WeatherActive, 21 weather stations link up to form, County by County Weather, an innovative weather network that displays real-time information from each county on air and on the web. The station is positioning weather sites from along the coast inland across the state. Business owner, John File from Seattle, is looking forward to the new program, "Washington is a diverse state with mountains in some sections and water almost surrounding other areas. Therefore the weather conditions in my neighborhood can be very different compared with my sister who lives near Mount Rainier. It will be great to see the weather from both our areas, as well as other counties throughout the state."
One of the first weather sites installed was SAFECO field, home of the Seattle Mariners. Using the Praxis WeatherActive Software, KIRO presented live weather from SAFECO during the playoffs. Praxis Software even developed a custom client, based on the station’s needs, to display the information from this site.
Once all of their installations are complete, KIRO plans to implement additional web features to access the remote data. With WeatherActive, KIRO can now provide live weather coverage from the areas that are most important to their viewers.
NFSI Uses Praxis WeatherActive to See the Stars
NFSI III (Near and Far Sciences for Illinois) and Yerkes Observatory have created a program called SKYWatch to help primary and secondary educators teach science through astronomy and meteorology. Students in the state of Illinois, broaden their knowledge base as they become an integral part of observing the atmosphere and the optimal conditions for star gazing during the semester-long module.
SKYWatch was funded by the Illinois State Board of Education and is overseen by Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. To aid in the operation of the program, Yerkes has distributed telescopes and weather instruments to various schools across the state of Illinois. "With the help of Praxis Software, we bought weather stations and the WeatherActive Software for each region. Within the region, SKYWatch teachers then decided where the weather stations would go," said Vivian Hoette, Education Specialist for Yerkes Observatory. The first fifteen weather stations are currently being installed at select schools.
The project goal is for schools who have weather instruments to share the information they collect with other schools in Illinois. Accessing the live weather information over the Internet provides all of the schools in the SKYWatch program a link to data they can incorporate into lesson plans and classroom activities.
Ms. Hoette is excited about the opportunity to view all of their weather sites simultaneously; "The Praxis’ JAVA Mapper Software will allow us to display the network on our web page." JAVA Mapper is unique because it allows truly real-time weather data to be broadcast via the Web.
The excitement for this program is shared by various teachers who have received weather instruments, "The client software works so well for our school. Since we are on a network it allows each teacher to use the weather information the way they want", says Jackie Barge of Walter Payton College Preparatory School. Jan Gustafson of C.R. Hanna Elementary presented WeatherActive to their school board upon receiving the weather station for Orion, IL, "I am so trilled about this project and was happy to be one of the schools selected."
NFSI and Yerkes Observatory see the value of the SKYWatch program and in September they created a college course geared around astronomy and meteorology. The teachers can now opt to receive college credit from Aurora University in Illinois for their work. The class is designed to team Educators with Naturalists, Astronomers and Meteorologists to promote data sharing using automated observing equipment like the WeatherActive system and the Meade LX200 telescope.
Currently, weather stations, telescopes and cameras are going up at sites throughout the state including Adler Planetarium in Chicago. Join Illinois teachers and students and "Share the Skies" by observing your night sky. Check your local forecast and visit: http://www.explorespace.com/NFSI/skylights for forecasts, discussions and other community activities.
In Voyage of the Mini, a laser disk-based science program, fifth graders at Carver Academy Elementary journey with a group of researchers going on a trip at sea. During one of the episodes they experience a tropical storm. Teachers plan to use Carver’s new School Net weather station featuring Praxis Software’s Prescience 2000 Internet Software to show live weather conditions in the Texas Panhandle and around the country. Gordon Russell, the technology coordinator at Carver, explains that "since this is during hurricane season it will add interest to what the kids are doing."
Viewing live weather conditions is not the only thing Carver’s doing with School Net. Fourth graders at this magnet school participate in a nationwide service learning project that hopes to make learning experiences model real life. The Carver fourth graders plant and harvest a bountiful garden each year. With Prescience 2000, students can more accurately manage optimum planting and harvesting cycles by monitoring on-site weather conditions like temperature, dew point, humidity and rainfall. They can look at highs, lows, averages and long-term values of these and many other key weather parameters. Graphs and data files display current as well as historical weather data. And the best part is, the more the students produce the more the community benefits. Their harvest goes to the Children’s Cottage shelter and needy neighbors so the students not only learn about science, weather and technology, they learn how to apply their knowledge to benefit the communities where they live.
Carver’s fifth graders have another assignment for their weather station. Through their own mini-television station they broadcast news and announcements to morning classes. Now that broadcast will include local weather conditions on their campus and around the Amarillo area.
Gordon Russell and other teachers also hope to integrate the School Net weather package with Carver’s new magnet theme. They have recently received a 2.2 million-dollar grant to build and maintain a science curriculum based on their aqua-cultures of Aquaponics and Hydroponics, which uses a water-based food chain to grow food products along with traditional greenhouses. Gordon says he sees a lot of applications for Prescience 2000 and School Net in this new environment.
KVII Television, Amarillo Texas
KVII Television in Amarillo, Texas debuted their "School Net" weather network featuring the Prescience 2000 software early this summer. Prescience 2000 provides real-time weather data access and logging capabilities via the Internet, standard telephone connections or cell phone technology. With School Net, KVII and Praxis Software are working to install 45 remote weather systems in Texas Panhandle schools
Using a low-cost, high quality weather instrument and the Prescience 2000 (P2K) Internet software each school can acquire "real-time" weather data not only at their site, but also from other schools throughout the area. Participating schools receive a complete weather station with temperature and humidity sensor, barometer, anemometer and rain gauge. Computers link the weather stations and allow for sharing of data on a Local Area Network or the Internet. The Texas Panhandle, Eastern New Mexico and Southwestern Oklahoma schools can view live weather data, post weather conditions to their web sites and connect via the Internet to other schools and businesses around the country.
KVII has an instant link to remote weather data. Storm Search 7 Weather’s chief meteorologist, Steve Kersh, accesses and compiles this data to warn his audience of approaching storms. KVII broadcasts select School Net sites on the 5, 7 and 10 p.m. newscast. So whether it’s sunny or storming, rainy or calm, Steve can pinpoint the local conditions.
And with School Net, you can see the weather even if you miss the news. Storm Search 7 has live weather information available on their web site using the WeatherActive Mapper from Praxis Software. So now when severe weather approaches, residents in the KVII viewing area can really watch it move in.
Since Palace Resorts started using Prescience 2000 Monitor to view current weather conditions their guests don’t even have to step outside to gauge the morning weather. They can simply turn on their television and watch live, local weather change before their eyes. Is it a good day for relaxing at the pool or are the winds enough to push colorful sailboards scudding across the Nichupte Lagoon? Will it be a pleasant night for eating dinner on the terrace? Should you carry a sweater for that late evening stroll?
Cancun Palace, one of four Palace Resorts in Cancun, Mexico broadcasts the latest weather conditions on an in-house television station to its nearly 700 rooms. It’s been so popular that now they’re bringing it on their other three resorts the Moon Palace, the Sun Palace and the Beach Palace. Guests at each of the properties will be able to monitor real-time weather conditions along the 16-mile sandy white beach of Cancun Island. They plan to do the same at their newest properties, the 800 room Reef Palace and the 500 room LTI, scheduled to open in December along the Mayan Rivera about 60 miles south of Cancun.
With Prescience 2000, Palace Resorts can also view weather history, highs and lows and even forecast trends using built-in graphs, Dynamic Data Exchange and spreadsheet support. And Prescience 2000 makes current weather data and history available in html format. So with the Prescience 2000 companion program, FTP Scheduler, this data can be uploaded to a web site for easy access via the Internet. Real-time weather has never been so accessible- or predictable- along the coast of Cancun.
Parsons Power is a unit of Parsons Corporation, an engineering firm that builds and designs power plants worldwide. At the UCLA campus, Parsons operates a chiller and a co-generation power plant. Co-generation is a process whereby electrical and thermal energy are generated simultaneously, resulting in a very efficient use of fuel. The Parsons facility at UCLA can generate up to 43 MW of electricity, 160,000 pounds per hour of steam, and 22,000 tons of chilled water for use by the campus. In a plant such as the chiller plant, fuel is burned in a combustion turbine while heat is recovered in a heat recovery steam generator that boasts 650 psi of steam at 750 degrees Fahrenheit. The steam then powers a steam turbine generator and two refrigeration compressors to heat, light and cool the 419 acre campus.
So how is this enormous facility using weather data from Prescience 2000 products? Engineers and scientists at Parsons use Prescience 2000 Internet to help monitor turbine performance. It seems these marvels of modern machinery are very finicky when it comes to the air they take in. By having accurate real-time weather data such as barometric pressure, temperature and humidity available, engineers can modify ambient conditions to maximize turbine performance.
The P2K software is also a great learning tool. Engineering students study and analyze weather conditions to come up with new ways to improve plant operations. Students not only get to see real-time weather data within the plant, they wire computer programs based on historical weather data to better operate the generators. Using P2K’s spreadsheet and Dynamic Data Exchange support they can even project trends. And to aid the Air Quality Management Plan of Southern California, Parsons can access and log wind direction readings so they will know exactly which way exhaust fumes from the plant might be directed in case of an accident.
Watauga High School
The students at Watauga High School have been operating their weather station since August. The Mathematics Integrated with Science and Technology or M.I.S.T program offers a Meteorology class in which students are responsible for data collection and completion of major weather-related projects. While immersed in the technology of weather gathering they also apply their experience to other academic subjects and fields.
The goal of the WHS meteorology program is to develop a greater understanding of the importance and accuracy of technology in predicting weather, for the community and for the students. Since their community has no remote weather network, they plan to use the data provided to archive weather information and project local forecasts.
To achieve this goal, the students first work to understand the basic uses and functions of the various instruments. They feel that many people exaggerate the complexity of weather instrumentation and therefore leave weather data gathering and analysis to professional meteorologists. We feel that to comprehend thoroughly how weather data is produced and the significance of the information it produces, we must first revisit the basic functions and the meaning behind each instrument," says one of the Watauga students. "Using Praxis Software simplifies the process and makes it understandable for everyone."
This talented group of students is not only working hard to log, analyze and understand the weather data they’re collecting, they’re sharing what they’ve learned. The Meteorology class is helping to install another Prescience 2000 Weather system at neighboring Blowing Rock School. And they’re mapping out a remote site at a third elementary school. They would love to have a network of weather sites and are looking for funding through grants and corporate donations. They’ve already had a local cable station donate a satellite receiver that will allow them to grab atmospheric images to post to their World Wide Web site: http://www.watauga.k12.nc.us/whs/weather/p2kdata.htm along with current and historical weather data. And they’ve also published a brochure to send to select schools in their community asking them to participate in the remote weather program.
If you have questions about their program or would like to offer assistance, please contact one of their advisors Mike Sherrill or Lee Stroupe or send e-mail to the students at appskies@hotmail.com.
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