FX-NET as an weather visualization tool in undergraduate meteorological education

In October 1999, the Plymouth State College (PSC) Meteorology Program opened a new state-of-the-art workstation laboratory that featured the NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) FX-Net weather visualization package. The FX-Net provides an internet-based clone of the primary meteorological graphics display window features of an AWIPS workstation. The PSC site provided FSL with the first remote testbed for extensively testing and evaluating the package, while using it as an educational tool in an undergraduate meteorology curriculum. The initial stages of the project so far have involved faculty and students becoming familiar with the software and providing FSL with feedback on problem areas. During the Spring 2000 semester, PSC faculty started to incorporate FX-Net formally into various classes, including mesometeorology, atmospheric thermodynamics, and current weather seminar. PSC students have also completed an online FX-Net User Manual as they have gained expertise and exercised the myriad of possible features associated with the package. This paper reports on the activities and experiences in using FX-Net at Plymouth State College.