U.S. patent application number 10/059620 was filed with the patent office on 2002-07-11 for system and method for detecting and displaying wind shear.
This patent application is currently assigned to Baron Services, Inc.. Invention is credited to Baron, Robert O., Meyer, Paul J., Phillips, Ronald J., Thompson, Tom S., Wilson, Gregory S..
Application Number | 20020091488 10/059620 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 22642175 |
Filed Date | 2002-07-11 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020091488 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Baron, Robert O. ; et
al. |
July 11, 2002 |
System and method for detecting and displaying wind shear
Abstract
A computer based method of detecting and displaying rotational
wind shear. Radial wind velocities within first and second adjacent
gate sweeps produced by a radar system are detected in a
predetermined geographic area, and are compared at points of equal
radial distance from the radar system. The radial location of gate
to gate wind shear at positions between the radar system and the
boundary of the radar systems range are identified and compared to
a predetermined threshold wind velocity value to determine the
location of high priority gate to gate wind shear. The high
priority gate to gate wind shear is then graphically displayed
relative to its geographic location on a graphical representation
of the predetermined geographic area. A computer based system for
detecting and displaying rotational wind shear is also
disclosed.
Inventors: |
Baron, Robert O.;
(Huntsville, AL) ; Wilson, Gregory S.;
(Huntsville, AL) ; Phillips, Ronald J.; (Madison,
AL) ; Thompson, Tom S.; (Athens, AL) ; Meyer,
Paul J.; (Huntsville, AL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LANIER FORD SHAVER & PAYNE
P O BOX 2087
HUNTSVILLE
AL
35804
US
|
Assignee: |
Baron Services, Inc.
Huntsville
AL
|
Family ID: |
22642175 |
Appl. No.: |
10/059620 |
Filed: |
January 29, 2002 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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10059620 |
Jan 29, 2002 |
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09923068 |
Aug 6, 2001 |
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6356843 |
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09923068 |
Aug 6, 2001 |
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09739730 |
Dec 18, 2000 |
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6272433 |
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09739730 |
Dec 18, 2000 |
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09175911 |
Oct 20, 1998 |
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6163756 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
702/3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02A 90/10 20180101;
G01S 13/951 20130101; G01S 13/58 20130101; Y02A 90/18 20180101 |
Class at
Publication: |
702/3 |
International
Class: |
G06F 169/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of identifying the location of significant weather,
said method comprising the steps of: receiving meteorological
information corresponding to a geographic area, said meteorological
information including radial wind velocity information; and
processing adjacent radial wind velocity information to determine
one or more locations where adjacent radial wind velocities
differ.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of displaying
the one or more locations where adjacent radial wind velocities
differ on a display device.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the radial wind velocity
information includes wind velocities circumferentially adjacent one
another traveling in substantially opposite radial directions, and
wherein said processing step includes the step of calculating the
velocity difference between the adjacent wind velocities.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the radial wind velocity
information includes wind velocities circumferentially adjacent one
another and traveling in substantially the same radial direction at
different velocities, and wherein said processing step includes the
step of calculating the difference in velocity between the adjacent
wind velocities.
5. Computer software configured to perform the method as claimed in
claim 1.
6. Computer hardware configured to perform the method as claimed in
claim 1.
7. Computer hardware in combination with computer software
configured to perform the method as claimed in claim 1.
8. A system for determining the location of significant weather,
said system comprising: logic configured to receive radial wind
velocity information corresponding to a geographic area, said logic
further configured to compare adjacent radial wind velocity
information to derive a velocity difference between the adjacent
radial wind velocity information.
9. The system of claim 8 wherein said logic is further configured
to compare the derived velocity difference to a threshold value to
identify high velocity wind shear.
10. The system of claim 9 further comprising a database including
geographic data corresponding to and representative of the
geographic area affected by the received radial wind velocity
information.
11. The system of claim 10 wherein said logic is further configured
to communicate with said database to associate the high velocity
wind shear with the geographic data.
12. The system of claim 11 further comprising a display device for
graphically depicting the geographic location of the high velocity
wind shear.
13. A method of indicating the location of significant weather,
said method comprising the steps of: receiving radial wind velocity
information; processing said received radial wind velocity
information to identify one or more locations where adjacent radial
wind velocity information differs; and associating an indicator
with the one or more locations where adjacent radial wind velocity
information differs.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said indicator comprises a shear
marker, and wherein said associating step comprises the step of
displaying the shear marker together with geographic data
corresponding to the geographic area affected by the differing
radial wind velocity information.
15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of
associating a graphical representation of a storm cell with the
geographic area.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the shear marker comprises an
animated swirling circle, and wherein said associating step further
comprises the step of superimposing the animated swirling circle
over the storm cell.
17. A system for indicating the location of significant weather,
said system comprising: logic configured to receive radial wind
velocity information, said logic further configured to process the
received radial wind velocity information to associate a
significant weather indicator with a location where adjacent radial
wind velocity information differs.
18. The system of claim 17 wherein said significant weather
indicator comprises a shear marker.
19. The method of claim 18 wherein the shear marker comprises an
animated swirling circle.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation U.S. Continuation
application Ser. No. 09/923,068, filed Aug. 6, 2001, which is a
continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/739,730, filed Dec.
18, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,272,433; which is a continuation of
U.S. application Ser. No. 09/175,911, filed Oct. 10, 1998, now U.S.
Pat. No. 6,163,756.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to weather broadcasting and
display systems, and more particularly to a method for detecting
and displaying areas of dangerous wind shear that may result in
tornadic activity.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
[0003] For many years people have relied on weather broadcasts to
help plan their lives. According to Robert Henson in his book,
Television Weathercasting: A History, weather "consistently ranks
as the top draw in both local and national news (when featured in
the latter)." According to a poll conducted by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration in 1980, weather was "the major
reason that people watch the news programs."
[0004] The field of meteorology has seen significant technological
advances in the past few years. New and innovative devices such as
Doppler radar, thunderstorm detectors, and wind and temperature
profiles have all helped meteorologists better understand and
predict weather. However, despite the advances in ways to measure
meteorological activity, the television broadcast of this
information has seen few advances. The typical current weathercast
display represents the weather symbolically rather than
realistically and usually only shows the general air temperature
and the location of precipitation. In some instances, a
superimposed satellite display of fluffy cloud patterns is shown
moving along over the flat map from an exaggerated height
observation point. The "blue screen" display behind the announcer
still usually shows the familiar two-dimensional patchwork rainfall
amounts in red, yellow, green and blue. The satellite imagery
displayed on the evening broadcast may be anywhere from a half-hour
to four hours old.
[0005] Also significant is the information that is absent from the
conventional weathercast display, such as: (1) the type of
precipitation, (2) the strength and location of wind shear, (3) the
presence of tornadic signatures showing rapid circular motion, (4)
the location of updraft vault, (5) the location of wall clouds, (6)
the location of heavy lightning activity, and (7) the wind
direction on the ground.
[0006] The National Weather Service has a network of advanced
S-Band radar stations in place at 138 sites in the United States,
and is capable of delivering 77 different products to government
meteorologists. These products include; winds aloft, lightning
activity and wind shear conditions, such as microburst activity.
However, of these 77 products, only 11 are commercially available
through contract with several private weather service companies
which act as intermediaries between the National Weather Service
and the public. These companies charge for the use of these eleven
products and, in order to receive the latest radar (NEXRAD)
information from a particular site, a private individual or company
pays a monthly fee to receive the radar signal.
[0007] There are several patents, which disclose various system
utilizing wind shear information to detect microburst and wake
turbulence.
[0008] Albo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,782 discloses a fuzzy logic
processing system to detect atmospheric microburst events. The
purpose of the Albo patent is to identify microburst activity,
which is usually undetectable to the human eye, as opposed to
tornadic or storm gust fronts which are perceptible without aid of
instrumentation.
[0009] Gordon, U.S. Pat. No. 5,262,773 discloses a method and
apparatus for detecting specialized meteorological conditions such
as microbursts and wake turbulence generated by aircraft. The
system is used by flight controllers to observe the severity of
wind conditions in close proximity to aircraft runway, to assist
with takeoffs and landings.
[0010] The present invention is distinguished over the prior art in
general, and these patents in particular, by providing a
weather-casting system for detecting wind shear and determining the
possibility of dangerous twisting winds, so that potentially
hazardous weather conditions can be identified and broadcast to
television viewers in real time. The present invention will
identify microburst activity, but is more particularly directed
toward the formation of circular wind activity that may indicate a
tornado, and the present invention relates to broadcasting this
information to television viewers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide a computerized method of detecting and displaying dangerous
wind shear wherein wind velocities are detected by a weather radar,
and the velocities are processed to determine the location of wind
shear exceeding a predetermined threshold value. The wind shear
locations are then graphically displayed and may be broadcast in
connection with a television weather cast.
[0012] It is a further object of this invention to provide a means
for prioritizing which wind shear locations are graphically
displayed by examining ancillary conditions such as the location of
additional wind shear, the proximity of the wind shear to a storm
cell, and the atmospheric conditions above and below the wind shear
location.
[0013] It is another object of this invention to provide a weather
display system capable of displaying the location of dangerous wind
shear. The system comprises a weather radar useful for measuring
wind velocities and data processing means for analyzing the wind
velocities and determining the existence and location of wind shear
exceeding a predetermined value. The data processing means may also
prioritize the wind shear locations based upon user-defined
conditions, and graphically display only the high priority wind
shear.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 depicts a radar station having a central processing
unit configured for use with the present invention;
[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the basic stages of
the present invention for collecting and displaying weather
data.
[0016] FIG. 3 is a graphical representation of wind shear as
measured by a radar of the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 4 is representative of a method for graphically
displaying wind velocities measured from a typical weather
radar;
[0018] FIG. 5 is an illustration of the output from the present
invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0019] The present invention utilizes a Doppler radar station to
detect radar echoes and produce signals that are representative of
atmospheric and meteorological phenomena. Referring to FIG. 1, a
wind velocity detection apparatus 20 is shown, having a radar
system 22 and a processing unit 24. Radar system 22 is any
conventional radar emitting and detection system that is capable of
measuring wind velocities and including antenna 26 which is
continuously rotated by drive mechanism 30. The preferred radar
systems are X-band or C-band Doppler radar currently used by many
television stations across the U.S. The basic operation of the
radar system 22 is well known to those of skill in the art.
[0020] Processing unit 24 is operably connected with the radar
system 22 by communication leads 32. Processing unit 24 may be
configured to vary the beam width and gate sweep of radar system 22
because processing unit 24 governs the operation of radar system
22. The gate sweep Processing unit 24 is connected to display 34
for the graphical presentation of radar-derived information, and to
database 25 for accessing geographic data stored in database 25 and
preferably corresponding to the predetermined geographic area or
coverage area 50 (FIG. 3) of radar system 22.
[0021] In operation, radar system 22 emits radio signals 36 and, in
turn, receives corresponding reflected signals 38 that represent
atmospheric conditions such as storm activity and wind velocities.
The reflected signals 38 are received at antenna 26, converted to
electrical pulses or signals that represent the reflected signals
38, and transferred to processing unit 24 along communication leads
32. Processing unit 24 produces a radial image of the reflected
signals 38 representing the atmospheric conditions. The method for
processing the weather data is well known to those of skill in the
art.
[0022] FIG. 3 is a graphical representation of the type of radial
information produced from radar system 22 in combination with
processor 24. The circle 50 represents the coverage area of the
radar system 22. The two slices of the circle, 52 and 52' represent
two gate sweeps of the radar. The gate sweeps are further divided
into grid block elements 54 by the processor 24. For each grid
block element 54, the processor assigns a wind velocity value based
upon the information received from the radar system 22. The radar
is only capable of measuring the speed of wind coming towards the
radar and moving away from the radar, it does not measure wind
movement perpendicular to the path of the radar beam. For example,
when the wind velocity of two side-by-side grid blocks are opposite
(one towards the radar and one away from the radar) this is known
as wind shear. In FIG. 3 wind shear is illustrated by the
measurement of opposite wind velocities in grid block elements 54'
and 54".
[0023] FIG. 4 depicts a conventional radial velocity image 40
derived from the radar system 22 data. The radar screen depicts the
grid block elements 42 created by the processor 24. Each grid block
element 42 is assigned a color based upon the velocity data
calculated for that block. The circled area 46 indicates an area of
both positive and negative wind velocities relative to the radar,
and the grid block elements identified as 44 indicate a high
gate-to-gate wind shear.
[0024] Referring now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of the method
embodied in the present invention is shown. The first step 110 is
using a radar system to obtain radial wind velocities for a
pre-selected geographic region. This step of the method is set
forth in the preceding paragraphs, and is well known to those of
skill in the art.
[0025] The second step 120 is identifying the location of
gate-to-gate wind shear of a predetermined threshold value. In this
step the processor 24 is programmed to identify those areas of wind
shear that have a total velocity difference above a predetermined
value. For example, if a threshold value of 40 knots, the preferred
embodiment, is selected, the system will identify any area in which
the difference between the wind velocity of one grid block and the
adjacent grid block equals or exceeds 40 knots. The presence of
such wind shear provides an early indication of possible tornadic
activity. This step can be further refined by producing a
measurement of derivative wind velocity values. A second wind
velocity screen similar to that illustrated in FIG. 4 may be
prepared by measuring the gate to gate derivative wind velocities.
This will help illustrate areas that have multiple sites of wind
shear, which are of more concern, and perhaps eliminate the
isolated incidents of wind shear. The user may also be allowed to
set up the derivative screen to display the derivative wind
velocities of several grid blocks in a row, to further refine this
step of the process.
[0026] The next step 130 is prioritizing the wind shear locations
based upon additional conditions. If the system merely marked all
incidence of wind shear, the final display screen would typically
show hundreds of wind shear marks for a given geographic location.
Experience has shown that not all wind shear events are significant
to the weather viewing public. The primary purpose of the wind
shear determination is to locate potential areas of tornadic, storm
wall, or microburst activity. To prioritize the areas of high wind
shear, several other conditions are considered. First, the presence
of multiple wind shear locations is significant, particularly
adjacent wind shear which indicates that winds are swirling in a
counterclockwise direction. In the Northern Hemisphere, tornadoes
generally twist counterclockwise (obviously, if the system were
used in the Southern Hemisphere, it should be modified to indicate
clockwise rotation). Next, the wind shear's proximity to a storm
cell is significant, as dangerous wind twisting or micro bursts
rarely occur apart from a storm cell. The familiar hook signature
of a meso-cyclic activity of a storm would also be very
significant. Finally, the wind conditions above and below the
identified wind shear should be detected to determine the depth of
the wind shear or circular movement. If the wind shear is isolated
in one level of the atmosphere, it is less likely to develop into a
dangerous twisting situation than windshear which is spread through
multiple levels. Other conditioning factors may be added by the
user to identify the important incidence of wind shear to be
displayed to the viewer.
[0027] The final step 140 is graphically displaying the location of
the prioritized wind shear, such as the by using "shear markers."
Shear markers are animated swirling circles which are a trademark
of Baron Services, Inc. A graphical representation 64 of the
geographic area covered by the radar system 22 will be necessary so
that viewers may readily identify the location of the dangerous
wind shear. In addition, the wind shear markers are preferably
displayed in conjunction with the typical storm cell information,
so that the viewers can see where the dangerous swirling winds are
in relation to a given storm. An example of the graphic
representation 64 is shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows the shear
markers 60 displayed in three-dimensional perspective, along with a
three-dimensional representation of a storm cell 62 which is a
recent innovation in weather-casting. Both are shown here
positioned on graphical representation 64 of the predetermined
geographic area covered by radar system 22. However, one of skill
will readily recognize that the shear markers are equally useful in
the more familiar two-dimensional format.
[0028] While the invention has been described in detail, it is to
be expressly understood that it will be apparent to persons skilled
in the relevant art that the invention may be modified without
departing from the spirit of the invention. Various changes of
form, design or arrangement may be made to the invention without
departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore,
the above mentioned description is to be considered exemplary,
rather than limiting, and the true scope of the invention is that
defined in the following claims.
* * * * *