NAM BLIPMAP NorthWest Viewer BLIPMAP™ = Boundary Layer Information Prediction MAP Created by Dr. John W. (Jack) Glendening, Meteorologist
For experienced BLIPMAP users - requires javascript
Registration (free) and a valid registration cookie are necessary for this viewer to work.
Registered users can view all BLIPMAPs.
To register use the
New Registration Page
or see
Registration Information.
Registered users can Logon (get a new cookie) here
or
check their registration cookie status here.
For additional on-line information:
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 NW 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)
October 11, 2011: Continuing BLIPMAPs:
I currently plan to fund and administer BLIPMAPs indefinitely, with
all BLIPMAPs remaining freely available to any registered user,
but will do little, if any, further development. To reduce costs
to a sustainable level, I am planning to replace my dedicated server
with a shared server and do the processing on my personal
computer. Like much else, that switchover has been pending for
some time - when it eventually does occur I will alert users via these
news items. . Hopefully it will go so smoothly that users will not
notice any difference. 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). 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.