RUC BLIPMAP NorthEast 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-only" users can view "Thermal Updraft Velocity", "Buoyancy/Shear Ratio", and all "Previous Day" BLIPMAPs.
Subscribers can view all BLIPMAPs.
To register use the
New Registration Page
or see
Registration Information.
Registered users can subscribe at
Subscription Page ;
for further info, see
Subscription Information.
Registered/Subscribed 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 NE 18Z 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)
June 20: Seeking Javascript programmer:
I'm seeking a programmer with javascript expertese to help implement
BLIPMAPs in an overlay display. This is NOT a "volunteer for
free" task - I expect to pay the going rate for these services and am
first soliciting here since I would prefer to recycle funds into the
soaring community. Knowldege of geoimaging would be a plus but
not necessary. Your work would be used both for my USA NAM/RUC
BLIPMAPs and RASP BLIPMAPs. If interested, please send your
details to me directly at
June 19: USA grid being created:
FYI I am working on creating a "USA" grid to provide seamless coverage
over the USA, with a BLIPMAP being displayed as an overlay over a
geographic/topographic map. More information is given in a forum
posting.
June 9: Maps of actual and model terrain:
Per user request, I have added plots of both actual and model
topography to the viewers and to the "index" webpages. The
actual topography map might be useful for identifying a location, as
is the geographic map, but I caution users against trying to make
their locating too precise as (1) inherent spatial fluctuations in
both the atmosphere and the model will prevent any exact 1:1 match
between reality and the forecast, and (2) model forecasts are based
upon model topography (for which I have also added a map using the
same coloring as for the actual topography, to facilitate
comparison). What one should be doing is looking at the forecast
pattern in an area of interest to gain insight into expected
conditions in that area.
June 1: Access problems on Sunday:
There were many user access problems yesterday, which were traced to a
user database corruption problem. I've now replaced that
database and access is back to normal.
View ALL recent news items here REGISTRATION and SUBSCRIPTION:
Freely available forecasts are: "Thermal Updraft Velocity" BLIPMAPs, "Buoyancy/Shear
Ratio" BLIPMAPs, all "Previous Day" BLIPMAPs, and all BLIPSPOTs.
Other forecasts require a yearly subscription fee of
$13 for either NAM or RUC forecasts and $20 for
both.
Registration (free) is needed for direct (no-nag-screen)
forecast access and to obtain a subscription.
New users can
Register here.
Currently registered/subscribed users can
Logon (get new cookie) here
or
view registration (cookie) status here.
More info is available at the
Registration Information and
Subscription Information webpages.
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.