Monday, September 8, 2014

Live interactive 3D map lets you watch rain, clouds and even hurricanes across the globe


From DailyMail  by Jonathan O'Callaghan

  • an interactive map from Europe's MeteoGroup lets you watch weather unfold around the world
  • by selecting different icons weather of varying types can be watched live in different countries
  • for example users can see the global cloud cover and also where it is raining at the moment
  • the interactive map even tracks the path of tropical storms and shows where wind is moving on Earth
  • data is pulled live from a forecast model by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts
Ever wanted to see what's going on with the weather in the world at this very second?
Now you can thanks to an interactive map that lets you see temperature, rainfall, winds and more in countries across the globe.

Called MeteoEarth you can navigate around the 3D globe below using your mouse, while selecting the icons on the right hand side will also reveal different types of weather.
MeteoEarth.com was launched by MeteoGroup, headquartered in London, one of Europe’s leading private weather companies.
The technology which powers MeteoEarth.com has been adapted from a professional broadcasting tool used by TV presenters around the world
Impressive 3D graphics compliment the high-end gaming technology used to fully engage the user with exploring the world’s weather.

For people who are simply interested in gaining a general overview of the world’s weather conditions, they can choose from a selection of weather layers; ranging from precipitation and cloud cover, to wind direction and temperature.
They can zoom in to focus on different areas of the world, zoom out to get a global overview, or even rotate the globe using the mouse.
For the more avid weather enthusiasts, there is the option to observe tropical storms by simply clicking a button to be guided towards an area on the globe where a tropical storm is occurring, with a line showing its path.
Once here, there are details of the storm’s name, wind, gust and overall speed.
Different layers of weather information can be built up to visualize the storm in its entirety.


An interactive map from Europe's MeteoGroup lets you watch the weather unfold around the world. By selecting different icons weather of varying types can be watched live in different countries.
For example users can see the global cloud cover or also where it is raining at the moment.
The interactive map even tracks the path of tropical storms (shown in Central America ) and shows where wind is moving on Earth

The interactive map will also show isobars (seen here above the UK), which reveal high and low-pressure systems (pictured).
In order to make the air pressure comparable, no matter what height you’re at, the air pressure is converted to the mean sea level.
As a comparison value, the barometric (atmospheric) pressure is shown in white, high pressure areas are in red and low air pressure is in blue

In addition a built-in screenshot feature provides an easy way to take particular weather images of a certain area, capturing still images of weather situations.
The frame of the map can be altered to include close-up sections of the map or zoomed out to get a more global overview.
The data on MeteoEarth.com comes from a forecast model by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
This is then refined by MeteoGroup using their own algorithms, and finally visualised on the website in the interactive map..
The data on MeteoEarth.com is updated twice per day.
It comes from the forecast model each day at 0:00UTC and 12:00UTC and the data is updated at 6:00UTC and 18:00UTC.

This is all an automated process with no human interaction, although MeteoGroup tells MailOnline their in-house developers are currently working on improving this process to offer an even more ‘live’ representation.
'This website will help to educate users with no prior meteorological experience about the weather,' said David Kaiser, Head of Consumer at MeteoGroup.
'The breathtaking graphics combined with the wealth of information about each weather feature provides an engaging demonstration of the world’s current weather and is sure to provide hours of entertainment to anybody viewing it.'

Data is pulled live from a forecast model by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
'This website will help to educate users with no prior meteorological experience about the weather,' said David Kaiser, Head of Consumer at MeteoGroup.
'The breathtaking graphics combined with the wealth of information about each weather feature provides an engaging demonstration of the world’s current weather and is sure to provide hours of entertainment to anybody viewing it'

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