Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system in a specific environment – Earth science
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-10
2001-02-13
McElheny, Jr., Donald E. (Department: 2862)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system in a specific environment
Earth science
Reexamination Certificate
active
06188960
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to weather systems which can predict the direction of a storm's movement. More particularly, the present invention will receive and record weather data from any of a variety of weather data sources. The present invention will then allow a user to request a storm tracking prediction, and graphically display said prediction with a high degree of accuracy.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the weather service industry, users of weather data, such as television and radio stations that desire to provide their viewers and listeners, respectively, with state-of-the-art weather forecasting, typically employ systems which receive raw radar data, convert the raw radar data into some form of graphical display allowing a meteorologist or other weather expert to review the weather data.
An emerging technology is the ability to predict the movement of storms. Most current weather forecasting systems allow a user, such as a meteorologist, to manually input historical information on storm locations. Typically, a user would manually input a storm's location over time and the weather system could then generate a prediction of the storm's direction.
Current systems provide a method of storing historical weather data. However, storm tracking and predictions in current systems are achieved by, first, manually gathering storm location information, and, second, manually inputting the storm locations to the weather system, which then performs basically a point-to-point projection.
As can be appreciated, the current systems are labor-intensive and do not provide the user with a simple and intuitive method for predicting the direction of storms. There is a need for a weather system which can provide the user with a method of accurately predicting a storm's path in a few simple steps with as little need for human intervention as possible.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention makes use of modern computer technology to solve the problems of the current weather systems. It provides a system and method by which the user, typically a meteorologist, can make highly accurate predictions of storm movement in essentially three simple operations.
The present invention provides an improved weather system. This weather system has the capability to receive weather data from any of a multitude of weather sources, such as local weather radar or national weather services. The weather system has the capability to store, in a time-tagged fashion, said weather data. The stored weather data contains information on current weather phenomena such as storms, hail, lightning, etc. The information includes location and time information with respect to the weather phenomena. By storing the weather data in a time-tagged fashion, the weather system constructs an easily accessible weather database containing the locations of storms and other weather phenomena as a function of time.
The weather system provides a Graphical User Interface which allows the user to call up a graphical representation of current weather data being supplied to the weather system. The weather system also provides the user with the ability to call up a graphical representation of any of the time-tagged historical weather data stored in the weather database. The weather system's graphical displays can also be retransmitted to the user's viewers for the purpose of weather forecasting.
In this manner, the present invention provides the user with a weather system that, in normal operation, continually displays the current weather data. Upon request by the user, the weather system can also retrieve historical weather data from the weather database and display said weather data in a graphical fashion. This feature provides an “autotracking” mode of operation wherein the weather system immediately displays to the user in a graphical fashion historical weather data from at least several minutes prior to the time when the autotracking feature was initiated.
From this display of historical weather data, the user can select a storm, through the use of a manual input device, such as a computer mouse or keyboard. The weather system responds to the user's selection by updating the display with a graphical representation of the then-current weather data.
At that point, the user may select the same storm from the then-current weather data display (the storm will be translated some distance from the historical display). Then, by invoking some prediction algorithm, such as a linear extrapolation or other similar function, the weather system is able to calculate and display a projection of the selected storm's path from its current location.
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Brady, Schroeder and Poell
Baron Robert O.
Benson Tony L.
Thompson Tom S.
Baron Services, Inc.
Berdan David L.
Caprio Frank M.
Lanier Ford Shaver & Payne P.C.
McElheny Jr. Donald E.
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