Real-Time Web Forecasting

Snowflake Software has finished a pilot project the UK Met Office. The pilot project was a response to the needs of the UK's highway authorities to respond to continuously changing weather conditions on the roads. Its results will be presented at Geo Web in Vancouver.

The pilot concept was underpinned by OGC compliant Web Feature Servers and Web Map Servers. Snowflake Software's Web Feature Server - GO Publisher - serves detailed forecast data which is being updated every six hours. The forecast data predicts a range of road conditions including hazards at high spatial and temporal resolution. Because the client application is able to query the forecast data through the WFS interface, it is able to fetch information as and when it is needed. Users can view data as graphs as well as maps: with map views of the forecast being created by combining the WFS data with topographic and weather maps served via a Web Map Server.

The service was also enhanced via the delivery through a web based interface developed using Flex. The application provides an interactive resource via the user's browser, eliminating the need to install and maintain an application on the user's desktop.