Meteorology

Dr Robert Dahni is a meteorologist who has worked in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for over 28 years. From weather forecasting, IT support in research and operations to software development for domestic and international projects, he has developed skills in the analysis and visualisation of meteorological data.

Climate Classification

The Australian Climate Classification is an update of the Bureau of Meteorology's Climate Zones using the latest one-hundred years of Australian Water Availability Project (AWAP) monthly rainfall, and maximum and minimum temperature analyses, downloaded from the Bureau's archive (www.bom.gov.au/web03/ncc/www/awap/...). Averages (e.g. 10-year, 20-year, 30-year) are generated from the monthly AWAP data, and climate classification data sets and images, based on the Bureau's modified Koppen classification, are created from the past climate. More...

Synoptic Typing

Synoptic Typer Tools, an international synoptic typing system, is an extension of Synoptic Typer and uses Principal Component and K-means Cluster Analysis to classify MSLP and geopotential height data from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis data set.

Synoptic Typer is an interactive desktop application designed to perform automated objective synoptic typing using a pattern recognition scheme. A history of grid point analyses is used to develop the synoptic types using both principal component and cluster analysis techniques. Synoptic Typer is an IDL-based application.

Static Web Maps

Map Background (version 6.3 June 2011) is an interactive desktop application used to create background images for the web (i.e. static web maps) utilising coastline (e.g. IDL, GSHHS or GA), elevation (e.g. GTOPO30 or GADEM9S) and location spatial data sets. Features include simple updating of the map backgrounds with interactive placement of location name labels, and automatic generation of hotlinks for clickable maps. Map Background is an easy to learn application written entirely in IDL. The application can easily be extended, and read or write many formats of spatial data (e.g. shapefiles) and images.

Grid Visualiser

Grid Visualiser is an interactive desktop application for the analysis and visualisation of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Global operational Forecast System (GFS) high resolution (0.5 degree) data available at http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/ (downloaded via OpenDAP). Images are able to be generated automatically in batch mode. Grid Visualiser (latest version 1.5 November 2008) is written entirely in IDL. An earlier version of Grid Visualiser (Astronomy) was used in the generation of images on SkippySky Astro-Weather Forecast. More...