Weather Satellite Data for Mobile Devices

A major challenge in mobile-device map application development is to offer rich content and features with simple and intuitive controls and fast performance. Our goal is to bring visualization, animation, and notifications of near real-time weather and earth observation information derived from satellite and sensor data to mobile devices. Our robust back-end processing infrastructure can deliver content in the form of images, shapes, standard descriptive formats (e.g. KML, JSON) or raw data to a variety of desktop software, browsers, and mobile devices on demand. We have developed custom interfaces for low-bandwidth browsers (including mobile phones) and high-feature browsers (including smartphones), as well as native applications for Apple iOS devices. Mobile devices offer time- and location-awareness and persistent data connections, allowing us to tailor timely notifications and displays to the user's geographic and time context.

WxSat is the first iOS app to display and animate full resolution real-time geostationary satellite data. In its current form, WxSat leverages SSEC WMS servers to provide global coverage for visible, infrared, and water vapor channels to iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches. The capability exists to deliver directly to the user's hand any product managed by the WMS, allowing the user to overlay, animate, and freely roam around any combination of products they choose. We already host over 150 products that range from model output fields to convective initiation targets to MODIS true-color imagery.

SatCam allows the user to capture observations of sky and ground conditions at the same time that an Earth observation satellite is overhead. When you capture a SatCam observation and submit it to our server, it helps us to check the quality of the cloud products that we create from the satellite data. In return, we send you the satellite image that was captured at your location, anywhere in the world! SatCam supports the Terra, Aqua, and Suomi NPP satellites.

We will report on the status and future plans of our mobile device apps. See http://wms.ssec.wisc.edu for more information.