Software
This page describes software produced by Rasmussen Systems for severe weather research.
All of the software here is open source; see the notices in the code itself. It is provided strictly without support, maintenance, or liability. If you would like to collaborate on improving the software, please contact me and we'll talk.
All of the software here is open source; see the notices in the code itself. It is provided strictly without support, maintenance, or liability. If you would like to collaborate on improving the software, please contact me and we'll talk.
SASSI... Situational Awareness for Severe Storms Intercept
SASSI is an application for combining Geographical Information System (GIS), weather information including mobile platform data, and customized chat. The application is specifically designed to facilitate the coordination and effectiveness of field teams participating in mobile mesoscale weather experiments. More...
Coding is currently (22 December 2009) underway on the second generation of this application. Code is being managed via Subversion in collaboration with NCAR/EOL. When the application is mature, source code will be released, along with a doxygen documentation tree, supporting data, and executables. Watch this page for new links.
(Logo art credit: Lindsay Rasmussen)
Coding is currently (22 December 2009) underway on the second generation of this application. Code is being managed via Subversion in collaboration with NCAR/EOL. When the application is mature, source code will be released, along with a doxygen documentation tree, supporting data, and executables. Watch this page for new links.
(Logo art credit: Lindsay Rasmussen)
iMRV... intelligent Meteorological Research Visualization
Our research group is consolidating our tools around IDL iTools and the Intelligent Meteorological Research Visualization tool from Rasmussen Systems: iMRV. During 2010, provenance technology will be added to the tool suite in order for us to better track, share, validate, and repeat our analysis methods. You can read more about the current capabilities of iMRV.
iMRV is the successor to iWX, which was the successor to "Map". These have built on the previous code bases of their predecessor. Map utilized IDL Object Graphics, iWX utilized the iTools framework, and iMRV is building on that capability.
I will likely be adding tools to analyze radar data in polar coordinates, objectively analyze radar data and synthesize 3D wind fields from Doppler data, and generate 3D GIS-based analysis displays. Code sets addressing these needs are available, and will be incorporated into iMRV as time permits.
Download iMRV and read about the latest changes...
See the iMRV FAQ...
iMRV is the successor to iWX, which was the successor to "Map". These have built on the previous code bases of their predecessor. Map utilized IDL Object Graphics, iWX utilized the iTools framework, and iMRV is building on that capability.
I will likely be adding tools to analyze radar data in polar coordinates, objectively analyze radar data and synthesize 3D wind fields from Doppler data, and generate 3D GIS-based analysis displays. Code sets addressing these needs are available, and will be incorporated into iMRV as time permits.
Download iMRV and read about the latest changes...
See the iMRV FAQ...
Visualization of supercell from SAM simulation. View is from the west. Carved-out updraft is gray 20 m/s isosurface. Downdrafts stronger than 10 m/s below 6 km AGL are gold transparent isosurfaces. The green contour is rainwater from melting and shedding; the echo appendage can be seen at the rear of the updraft.
Our research group is consolidating our tools around IDL iTools and the Intelligent Meteorological Research Visualization tool from Rasmussen Systems: iMRV. During 2010, provenance technology will be added to the tool suite in order for us to better track, share, validate, and repeat our analysis methods. You can read more about the current capabilities of iMRV.
I will likely be adding tools to analyze radar data in polar coordinates, objectively analyze radar data and synthesize 3D wind fields from Doppler data, and generate 3D GIS-based analysis displays. Code sets addressing these needs are available, and will be incorporated into iMRV as time permits.
Download iMRV and read about the latest changes...
I will likely be adding tools to analyze radar data in polar coordinates, objectively analyze radar data and synthesize 3D wind fields from Doppler data, and generate 3D GIS-based analysis displays. Code sets addressing these needs are available, and will be incorporated into iMRV as time permits.
Download iMRV and read about the latest changes...
What happened to ParaView?
I spent a lot of time and effort in the last half of 2009, and in January of 2010, seeking an open-source solution that met our needs for scientific visualization and provenance. After much study and reading, I settled on ParaView, the Visualization ToolKit (VTK), and VisTrails for provenance.
The task of incorporating simple plugins into ParaView on the Mac OS X was daunting. I found the CMake build system to be incredibly complex, with little/no guidance as to how to best utilize it for building ParaView. It was trial-and-error work, and on a few occasions, small problems would take a week or more to resolve. It became clear that we just simply would not have the tools we need in the time frame we needed them.
I have had a lot of experience with IDL, including its Object Graphics and iTools system. The IDL software was instrumental in some of the discoveries we have made. I decided to revive some old code sets and see if I could produce a tool that was the equivalent of what I had produced in five months of ParaView work. I was able to produce a tool that was in many significant ways much better than the ParaView tool, in about five days of work.
The iTools have their own set of issues and complexities. This is especially true if one starts moving a bit outside the user interaction paradigms they were designed for. And the source code is really, really ugly. But the ability to prototype, change code while the application is running, and many other similar features just make development at least an order of magnitude faster than the open source solution. I think you will agree that the tool is powerful and elegant as I add screen shots to these pages.
The iTools provide about half of what I consider to be adequate provenance, via their macro system that records all the user interaction and can play it back. The other half is to be able to record the scientists thoughts, intentions, ideas, and observations as the work proceeds. So if ITT Visualization doesn't provide that part of provenance in the near future, I may try to build it myself.
I am producing MPEG4 tutorials for iMRV. I will add a new tutorial every time I build a new functionality, or learn some useful new tricks. If you find better ways to do things, let me know so I can learn from you and maybe build a tutorial with your methods.
Downloads:
Go to the iMRV downloads page...
For Ubuntu Linux, a package has been built and tested, and will be made available soon.
To get SAM data: contact Jerry Straka. These files are really too big (750 MB compressed) for me to be serving from my web site.
If you want help with iMRV color tables, you can email me and I will post them here, along with a bit of discussion about which color tables are appropriate for various tasks.
Downloads:
Go to the iMRV downloads page...
For Ubuntu Linux, a package has been built and tested, and will be made available soon.
To get SAM data: contact Jerry Straka. These files are really too big (750 MB compressed) for me to be serving from my web site.
If you want help with iMRV color tables, you can email me and I will post them here, along with a bit of discussion about which color tables are appropriate for various tasks.