☼
BLIPMAPS
DrJack
is the creator of the
BLIP
(Boundary Layer Information Prediction)
BLIPMAP/BLIPSPOT
and TIP
(Thermal Index Prediction) programs for
predicting thermal soaring conditions,
the WINDIP
(Wind Information Prediction) and
LWIP
(Linear Wave Interpretation Page) pages
for predicting mt. wave conditions, and
the
DrJack
Forum on Thermal Soaring Forecasting and
Meterology.
☼Surface
analysis for Hinton for the next 10
days.
Plus :
☼Kevin
Ford's Soaring Weather ReportsThis site
provides the Thermal Index Report.
The thermal index reports consist of a
tabular list of the sounding data, plus
the thermal index calculations depicted
in tabular form and graphically. If run
between 1200Z and 2359Z, the report will
be based on the 12Z sounding data.
Otherwise it will be based on the 0Z
data, using the forecast high
temperature for that day (if the line
with SurfaceStation: is used), or the
actual high temperature listed in the
line with ForecastHigh: if this is used.
Use this with the
small application,
SOARCAST,
and you get a nice graphical diagram.
First
download the software from the
Soarcast Web site by clicking
SOARCAST
and install it on your "C"
drive.
Get the latest Atmospheric Data
from the University of Wyoming
site by clicking
UWYO
and save it to a file,
Then start Soarcast on your PC
and open the UWYO file which you
saved earlier. More info is
available on Harvard Soarcast at
the web site
Harvard.
Alternatively use the output
from Kevin Ford's weather report
as described in the example.
☼FSL
produces a wide variety of data products
useful in meteorological research and
operations. Get multiple soundings
from this site and much more.
THE
Weather Service
University
University of Michigan at
Ann Arbor Weather, the Internet's
premier source of weather information.
Providing access to thousands of
forecasts, images, and the Net's largest
collection of weather links, UM Weather
is the most comprehensive and up-to-date
source of weather data on the Web.
EXCELLENT WEATHER
ARTICLES
XC LIFT SOURCES
- Ken Kochanski's
presentation at the 2004
PGC XC Seminar that
looks at lift sources
typically used for XC
flight. It also explores
current views on topics
and techniques useful to
maximize XC speeds.
THERMAL SOARING
FORECASTING
- Richard Kellerman's
presentation at the 2004
PGC XC Seminar presents
an excellent review and
explanation of
forecasting models,
techniques, tips and
tricks. Essential
reading for the XC
Soaring Pilot.
A Met Guide For
Beginners
- Wonderful Tom
Bradburry Article from
Sailplane and Gliding.
(Via Bowland Forest
Gliding Club.)
How one pilot uses these sites
First of all, all these sites have free
information. I do subscribe to Dr. Jacks
BLIPMAPS (ETA & RUC) to get more detail I find
very beneficial ($40).
During the week I try to get a sense of the
weather rhythm. What are the major influences
and what are the relative strengths of these
influences? What is the speed of movement? Try
to remember previous years with the same
patterns. You may be surprised that eventually
you will recognize patterns and their influence
on soaring.
On the night before flying I check both the
intellicast information for HINTON and BLIPMAP
RUC and ETAs. From this information and the
weather system rhythms I then try to set a cross
country goal. Will it be good enough to start
early? What is the length, 50 miles, 100, 200
or 500?
The morning of my day to fly I now check all the
same areas of the night before plus run a Skew-T
plot from FSL. Sometimes I run it for both OUN
and AMA (Amarillo). If I'm still at home after
8:00 am I check Kevin Ford's site using the
balloon sounding information from the NWS in
Norman, OK.
So after the day of flying, now assess the
forecast accuracies and file for future use.
While the report is on the screen, drag your
cursor over all the text. This will "mark"
the text for copying (standard windows
stuff).
Hold the Ctrl + C (copies the text)
Open Wordpad
Hold the Ctrl + V (inserts the copied
text)
Save this in a file name for example
20040601 in some directory. (I use the year
month day so I know what day this thermal
index data represents)
Run SOARCAST
Be sure you have set the program to read the
Kevin Ford text file. Do this under the menu
TOOLS, then OPTIONS, then under ROAB FILE
PARSER choose KEVIN FORD TEXT FILE.
Then finally click APPLY
Now from the menu FILE, click OPEN, Find the
20040601 file and click open.
SOARCAST,
and you get a nice graphical diagram.
