Metcast is a secure request-reply and subscription system for distributing, disseminating, publishing and broadcasting of real-time weather information. The system is comprised of clients and servers communicating via HTTP protocol. A Metcast server accesses one or more databases containing weather observation reports, forecasts, advisories, gridded data produced by weather models, satellite imagery, and plain text messages. A Metcast client uses a flexible request language, defined using XML, to retrieve a subset of data from a Metcast accessible database. The client can consist of a web page form, thick client or program specific interface that is used to build a query using the request language. A Metcast server -- which is an application (web) server -- parses requests, queries the database and sends the requested data in a single- or a multi-part reply. A server may act as a client to request a subset of data for further redistribution. Metcast servers are in operation on several U.S. Navy Meteorology and Oceanography centers worldwide. Clients are deployed on great many sites throughout the U.S. Navy as well as U.S. Air Force, DoD, NATO, NOAA and other government agencies.
Specific Case Studies include:
- Metcast used to seed the DAMPS model at Meteorology Centers
- NAVO is currently requesting grid data from the NOGAPS model to seed a WAM model using Metcast
- In October we used MetCast Channels to conduct a demo of getting shipboard sensor data back to NAVO to initialize the MODAS model
- Support for authentication and authorization to distribute data to various users securely. Metcast now includes a PKI capability for both publish and subscription to ensure secure two way data exchange.
- using Metcast to deliver model results to: (i) clients such as JMV, myWxMap ; (ii) mission planning systems and other tactical applications
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