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SkippySky Data
Hi All,
I started archiving the SkippySky maps because
1. I had "Unlimited Space", or so I thought, and
2. Someone might find the database useful.
In fact, after the recent Solar Eclipse, I was contacted
by a guy from NASA looking for a map of he conditions at the time
of the Eclipse, and I was able to provide this.
69GB in my line of work is but a trifling piece of snot.
The fact that it was available from my website as required, and was
*not* a backup of data files, to my mind made it a valid
use of unlimited space, complying with their user policy.
I use PNG files with a maximum of 64 colours. The files are typically
about 50kB in size for ease and speed of downloading, whilst
retaining legibility.
And please do remember that the GFS model produces an *average* of conditions for each 3 hour block. The maps you see are not a snapshot of conditions at say 2130, but an average of conditions from 2130..0030.
Animate the images by flicking through them, and watch the trends in the data. Think about what's likely to happen based on your knowledge of your locale.
The Seeing Index is a fairly simple weighting of wind speed at 10metres and at the Tropopause. Professional astronomers use readings taken every metre or so through the atmosphere, from which they construct a turbulence profile that they relate to arcsecond seeing. The GFS model does offer 26 layers through the atmosphere, but I can't afford to download all that extra data , at least not until you buggars start
paying for your weather forecasts... ;-)
Cheers,
Andrew Cool (co-author and webmaster of SkippySky)
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