Data processing: measuring – calibrating – or testing – Measurement system in a specific environment – Earth science
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-29
2001-10-02
Choules, Jack (Department: 2177)
Data processing: measuring, calibrating, or testing
Measurement system in a specific environment
Earth science
C702S002000, C707S793000, C707S793000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06298307
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to forecasting systems, and in particular to a best-in-time forecasting system for on demand forecasting the time-varying characteristics of a phenomena as they relate to a user-identified future event that is to take place at an identified locus. The present best-in-time forecasting system customizes the forecast provided to the user as a function of the users information preferences, the type of activity specified by the user, and the length of time between the receipt of the request and the time of the event.
Problem
It is a problem in the field of forecasting to assimilate the plethora of information that relates to the time-varying characteristics of monitored phenomena and provide users, on demand, with an accurate forecast of specific characteristics of the phenomena that can be expected to be present at a defined locus and future time identified by the user. A further problem is that existing forecasting systems cannot customize the forecast provided to the user as a function of the user's information preferences, the type of event specified by the user, and the length of time between the receipt of the request and the time of the event.
A typical forecasting application is the provision of weather forecasts to members of the general public. The users who request weather forecast information have varying interests, different levels of understanding of the received forecasts, and different modes of communicating with the forecasting system. Similarly, the activity of interest to the user has unique characteristics that effect the type of weather information that must be provided to the user. Finally, the user should be provided with the most accurate information that is presently available for forecasting the desired weather characteristics, which data may be available from a multitude of sources, each having different degrees of accuracy as a function of the length of time between the receipt of the request and the time of the event. Existing weather forecasting systems are unable to provide forecasts that are customized to reflect these above-noted factors. The existing weather forecasting systems simply provide an output that is immutable in format and type of content, regardless of the needs of the user. Each weather forecasting system is designed to provide a certain level of information, and is typically designed for a predefined audience, who have certain weather information needs.
Thus, there presently does not exist a forecasting system, especially a weather forecasting system, that can customize its output forecast to the specific needs of a user and an identified event, which forecast is optimized based upon the length of time between the receipt of the request and the time of the event.
Solution
The present best-in-time forecasting system overcomes the problems of the prior art and provides a forecasting system that can customize its output forecast to the specific needs of a user and an identified event, which forecast is optimized as a function of the length of time between the receipt of the request and the time of the event. The best-in-time forecasting system comprises a data ingest & assimilation system that obtains the time-varying phenomena characteristic data from a plurality of external data sources and processes this information into a form and content appropriate for the needs of the best-in-time forecasting system. The processed data is stored in an information server for use by a presentation content system which functions to receive, process and respond to the user-provided information requests. A plurality of databases are included in the best-in-time forecasting system, one of which provides a subset of the time-varying characteristic data that the phenomena forecaster requires to process the forecast request. This database contains the previously processed results relating to the user-desired time-varying phenomena characteristic information. A user preferences database is an optional component of this database and functions to record the past activity of the user to enable the best-in-time forecasting system to provide user-customized responses. An activity database provides information relating to a definition of the various activities which are supported by the best-in-time forecasting system. The activity data notes the time-varying characteristics that are relevant to this activity so that the presentation content system can customize the data stored in the time-varying phenomena characteristic information database as a function of the event.
The present best-in-time forecasting system is illustrated as a weather forecasting system that provides a user with weather information that is customized to the specific needs of a user and an identified event, which forecast is also optimized as a function of the length of time between the receipt of the request and the time of the event. In operation, a user provides the best-in-time forecasting system with data indicative of the time, date, place for the forecast as well as the type of activity that the user wishes to participate in on the identified time and date. Regardless of the information provided by the user, the best-in-time forecasting system generates a response, with the thoroughness and accuracy of the response being a function of the specificity of the user-provided information and the length of time between the present time and the event occurrence. The user's request stimulates the best-in-time forecasting system to identify the set of resources that are available to the best-in-time forecasting system that can be used to provide the user-requested information. In the present weather forecasting system example, the information can be purely climate data or a blending of real-time and weather forecast data sources. The forecast can also be tailored to the specific activity identified by the user. The user-provided data can include threshold data which causes the best-in-time forecasting system to generate a notification of the user if certain parameters are met or exceeded. The best-in-time forecasting system can then notify the user via a communication medium through which the user is connected to the best-in-time forecasting system to provide a forecast having a content and format that are customized for the user-specific request. The request may originate via user's calendar and scheduling software, project management software, an events scheduler or by completing a best-in-time forecasting system provided screen.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4450477 (1984-05-01), Lovett
patent: 4521857 (1985-06-01), Reynolds, III
patent: 5132992 (1992-07-01), Yurt et al.
patent: 5253275 (1993-10-01), Yurt et al.
patent: 5265024 (1993-11-01), Crabill et al.
patent: 5390237 (1995-02-01), Hoffman, Jr. et al.
patent: 5410343 (1995-04-01), Coddington et al.
patent: 5475587 (1995-12-01), Anick et al.
patent: 5517193 (1996-05-01), Allison et al.
patent: 5654886 (1997-08-01), Zereski, Jr. et al.
patent: 5717589 (1998-02-01), Thompson et al.
patent: 5740549 (1998-04-01), Reilly et al.
patent: 5793813 (1998-08-01), Cleave
patent: 5796932 (1998-08-01), Fox et al.
patent: 5796945 (1998-08-01), Tarabella
patent: 5909671 (1999-06-01), Byford et al.
patent: 5940776 (1999-08-01), Baron et al.
patent: 6018699 (2000-01-01), Baron, Sr. et al.
Barron Robert Keith
Moore Wayne Crosby
Murphy John M.
Channavajjala Srirama
Choules Jack
University Corporation For Atmospheric Research
LandOfFree
User specific real-time weather information source for... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with User specific real-time weather information source for..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and User specific real-time weather information source for... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2615974