NAM BLIPMAP California-Nevada Viewer BLIPMAP™ = Boundary Layer Information Prediction MAP Created by Dr. John W. (Jack) Glendening, Meteorologist
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BLIPMAP HELP page
BLIPMAPs predict thermal soaring conditions resulting from surface
heating of the Boundary Layer, by post-processing numerical weather
model predictions to provide parameters suited to the needs of soaring
pilots. Users of this viewer are assumed to be familiar with
BLIPMAP and its parameters, as described on the CA-NV 21Z BLIPMAP webpage and on the parameter
information webpage.
BASIC thermal forecast parameters
gives a short list of the parameters most important for thermal soaring.
DrJack sez:
(Latest 5 news items)
April 1, 2010: Free BLIPMAPs:
As of today, all BLIPMAPs will be freely available to any
registered user. I currently plan to fund and administer
BLIPMAPs through at least September of 2011. But I will
do little, if any, further development. For quite some time I
have been intending to send a situation report to subscribed users,
but I find that difficult to write so it has been indefinitely delayed
(like much else in my life these days). I will be changing text
on the website which refers to "subscription" use, but that will take
awhile. Oct 21: BLIPMAP future:
Options which continue BLIPMAPs without requiring my personal time may
emerge - for example, releasing my source code for others to run is a
definite possibility. I will take a six months respite, then see
what possibilities have emerged. While the planned scenario
would allow me to terminate BLIPMAPs in October 2010, I would want to
continue them (in "free" mode) until such time as alternate runs are
available. But the bottom line is that I must cease my active
involvement with BLIPMAPs: for the past three years, any sitting
beyond 2 hours per day has been painful and whereas I was willing to
accept some pain for this "labor of love" (hoping the condition was
ephemeral, with some diagnosis/solution eventually being found!), I am
no longer willing to program in pain and cannot spend the
computer-sitting time necessary to maintain the site.
Oct 17: Subscription changes:
As of the end of last month, "expiring" subscriptions are no longer
being terminated. Also, any new subscriptions are at only half
the previous rate and are valid only for 6 months. After March,
BLIPMAPs will be "free", with the proviso that no further development
will occur. Thus I will have made no further fiduciary
commitments to users beyond October 2010 and could terminate BLIPMAP
forecasts at that time (see my previous" news" item for an
explanation). Oct 17: Schleicher woes and site termination:
BLIPMAP users have likely noticed that there has been little updating
or improving of the website or forecasts for over a year. Some
of you are also aware that 16 months ago I had an (unexplained)
in-flight fire in the engine bay of my Schleicher ASH-26e. The
two events are related. Schleicher has now had my engine for
over one year, without any repair - Schliecher says they cannot
get parts from the engine manufacturer. I am mentioning this
here as a "public service announcement" for those considering
purchasing an ASH-26e, or any plane with that engine, but also because
this affects BLIPMAPs. I have not flown since that time and find
I have lost my love of soaring - for me, "soaring" now only means
problems and hassles, so I have turned to more enjoyable recreational
activities. This website has been a "labor of love" but that
love has died and I have no motivation for contributing any further
time to the soaring community - for me this website is just another
soaring-related "problem". I will address this issue in future
posts, but the bottom line is probable termination of this website a
year from now. View ALL recent news items here REGISTRATION:
All BLIPMAPs are freely available to registered users.
Registration (free) is needed for direct (no-nag-screen)
forecast access.
New users can
Register here.
Currently registered users can
Logon (get new cookie) here
or
view registration (cookie) status here.
More info is available at the
Registration Information webpage.
EMAIL POLICY: There are
many advantages to having one person's knowledge be shared and
available to others, so I expect most BLIPMAP issues to be handled through
the
DrJack Forum
and ask those who have a question or problem or experience which could
be of interest to others to post it there. This allows others to
comment on the matter if they have any personal experience and also
allows any response I make to be read by others. If you send me
an email, I will respond personally only if it's nature is not
appropriate for such posting - in other cases I will simply
reply with a request to post to the forum. FEEDBACK REQUEST:
I only look at the webpages and maps that I use personally or that I
suspect might contain an error. If you notice a consistent
problem with either, please post a message on the
DrJack Forum. T-SHIRTS:
Upon request, I've made available to others the T-shirts I created for myself.
Heros:
Thanks to John Whitney (F9) for slaying the file-eating
dragon inhabiting the original viewer and adding the "ListSAVE/LOAD"
feature.
I also want to personally thank those whose support is listed on the
Contributors webpage.
NAM BLIPMAP California-Nevada Viewer
T-SHIRTS:
Heros:
Thanks to John Whitney (F9) for slaying the file-eating
dragon inhabiting the original viewer and adding the "ListSAVE/LOAD"
feature.
I also want to personally thank those whose support is listed on the
Contributors webpage.