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Wind Map of US Will Blow You Away
Hugh Pickens writes writes "Talk about visualizations. Ever wondered what the wind would look like if you could see it in action from above? A new project posted online by a pair of Google computer scientists, called simply Wind Map, has to be seen to be believed. "It can be quite hypnotizing to watch the gusty trails blast across the American continent, skitter over the Sierras, get roughed up by the Rockies, and whoosh over the great plains on its way to Canada," writes Chris Taylor. Wind Map is the brainchild of Fernanda Viégas and Martin Wattenberg, the co-leaders of Google's 'Big Picture' visualization research group in Cambridge, Mass. Wind patterns are constantly changing, of course, which is why the Wind Map designers have also given us a moving-image gallery of previous blustery days."
Big suction holes west of Dallas and Philadelphia.
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I'd love to see a Wind overlay on Google Maps all over the world. Would be great for sailing. That's why we need open data.
This is incredible technology. Wouldn't you love to have some checkboxes to turn on/off: state borders, topography, jet stream, hi/lo pressure systems, time display...
Personally, I am looking forward to checking out this map during hurricane season. This map is the number one thing I am going back to when a hurricane strikes land here in the US.
The world moves for love. It kneels before it in awe.
What are they eating in San Jose to produce all that wind?! Seriously. Something is seriously wrong. Seek medical attention.
GAAH! MY PRINTER IS ON FIRE!!! PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!
Yeah, stupid. It just averages out to a predictable level over the whole grid, effects minimal pollution and, well, just works. Greetings from Europe - with apologies to all decent people in the US, we kinda find it amusing to see you sliding back into your personal version of the dark ages.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.
As a retired weather guy with over 25 years working with and training weathermen, this is one of the best tools I've seen. Applause!
Understanding fluid flow and visualizing it is not easy, but it crucial to meteorology because that dynamic drives and reveals the mechanisms that create the weather systems we track, such as fronts, storms, and so on. Given the tools seen are usually something like this (from ADDS) or this (from CoolWx), the WindMap does a much more intuitive job of showing the strength and patterns in merging flow.
So, well done! The only improvement I can think of for better use operationally would be an hourly looper of, say, the past six hours with a 3-4 second pause for each hour. This would let you track specific features as the day goes on.
Pacifist paratroopers yell, "Ghandi!" when they jump.
Oh... I thought the East-coast was a visualization of tax-dollars.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
If you think that's interesting, check out their other project http://hint.fm/projects/touch/ (description) and http://www.fleshmap.com/touch/index.html (direct link) on their site as well. Please note both links are NSFW.
Slashdotters are like lab mice that always seek out cocaine, but instead of cocaine, they're focused on little fluffy clouds.
I was thinking I'd love to see it as a layer in Google Earth, being able to see the wind flowing over and around the topography would be very interesting. I see a few null areas with little wind showing so I plan to check them out in GE to see if some local hills or mountains that I don't remember are creating them.
This seems to visualize surface winds. Radar (precipitation aloft) is moved by winds higher in the atmosphere. There's often a disconnect in the direction of surface and elevated winds. Check out a Skew-T Sounding and you can see the larger vertical wind profile.
Ah, another "superior" European. Meanwhile, in the real world, the US ranks #1 in wind power generation, #1 in biomass generation, and #2 in solar generation in the world.
Per what?
Forget sailing. It looks like it could be a great tool for figuring out movement of allergens such as pollen through the air, for studying allergy outbreaks.
AccountKiller
At 30 feet off the ground, your anemometer is measuring a very localized wind direction, which, depending upon terrain, vegetation, etc., can be very different from your neighbor's wind direction 100 yards away. I have stood in my yard during wind storms and watched the trees on either side of my house blowing in different directions, due to wind being funneled in ravines near my house.
They didn't say in the wind map page (of if they did, I didn't see it), but I suspect they are taking an average wind speed and direction from a number of points. YMMV.
MCSE? No, sir...I don't do Windows. Yes, I am an idealist. What's your point?
Yeah, cutting solar subsidies, because it is becoming self-sustaining by now and cutting nuclear because it was never sustainable without unloading a shitload of externalities on everyone. We did not like that, and, unlike some other western nations, we have a functioning democracy.
Ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.