3-D Launch Weather Analysis Tool

To improve and expedite the analysis of Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (LLCC), a 3-D launch weather analysis tool is being developed by the Weather Office at the Wallops Flight Facility (WFF). Prior to the development of the 3-D tool, a 2-D analysis approach of atmospheric conditions created extended analysis time and greater subjectivity for Launch Weather Officers (LWOs), which caused higher stress environments for launch weather decisions. The 3-D tool transforms the analysis approach of the LLCC rules by displaying a 3-D launch environment through a consolidation of pertinent launch and weather data into a single 3-D platform. ArcGIS Pro Scene is being utilized to create a 3-D real-time environment of launch trajectories, launch trajectory buffers, National Weather Service level-II radar reflectivity, Geostationary Lightning Mapper lightning data, Earth Networks all-types pulse lightning data, GOES-16 satellite imagery and isothermal height levels. Python scripts and the NOAA Weather and Climate toolkit are being used to automate the retrieval and processing of radar and lightning data into ArcGIS Pro. Additionally, external python scripts, utilizing ArcGIS Pro’s ArcPY module, are automating the analysis of the LLCC rules through raw statistics and tables. Post-processing of this analysis creates an expanded data source to further develop a LLCC climatology for WFF. The 3-D launch weather analysis tool provides an in-house solution to improve LLCC analysis, potentially increasing launch availability and improving LLCC climatology.