The National Digital Forecast Database is a database put together by the National Weather Service (NWS) to provide forecasts of sensible weather elements (e.g., cloud cover, maximum temperature) on a seamless grid. The NDFD data sets are currently given out to the public as GRIB2 files.
Published in Chapter:
Internet Map Services and Weather Data
Maurie Caitlin Kelly (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Bernd J. Haupt (Pennsylvania State University, USA), and Ryan E. Baxter (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 7
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-242-8.ch033
Abstract
Internet map services (IMSs) are redefining the ways in which people interact with geospatial information system (GIS) data. The driving forces behind this trend are the pervasiveness of GIS software and the emerging popularity of mobile devices and navigation systems utilizing GPS (Global Positioning System), as well as the ever-increasing availability of geospatial data on the Internet. These forces are also influencing the increasing need for temporal or real-time data. One trend that has become particularly promising in addressing this need is the development of IMS. IMS is changing the face of data access and creating an environment in which users can view, download, and query geospatial and real-time data into their own desktop software programs via the Internet. In this section, the authors will provide a brief description of the evolution and system architecture of an IMS, identify some common challenges related to implementing an IMS, and provide an example of how IMSs have been developed using real-time weather data from the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Finally, the authors will briefly touch on some emerging trends in IMS, as well as discuss the future direction of IMS and their role in providing access to real-time data.