====================
:Author: Jason Holmes
:Email: <Doppler5@aol.com>
-:Date: 2012-01-10
-:Revision: 0.6.3
-:Website: http://lug.rose-hulman.edu/proj/aweather/
+:Date: 2013-01-28
+:Revision: 0.8
+:Website: http://pileus.org/aweather/
About and contact information
-----------------------------
It is written in a standard GTK+/GObject architecture and features an
interactive display utilizing Grits and OpenGL technologies.
-The software source code is available for download on the RHLUG server at
-git://lug.rose-hulman.edu/proj/aweather.
+The software source code is available for download at
+git://pileus.org/aweather.
-AWeather relies upon the following dependencies: http://www.gtk.org/[gtk+] 2.16
+AWeather relies upon the following dependencies: http://www.gtk.org/[gtk+] 2.18
or later, http://www.gnome.org/[libsoup] 2.26 or later, http://bzip.org/[bzip],
http://trmm-fc.gsfc.nasa.gov/trmm_gv/software/rsl[rsl] 1.42 or later, and
others.
Packaged versions of the software are currently available for Gentoo, Debian,
Ubuntu, Microsoft Windows, and Mac OSX operating systems.
-The program currently provides data viewing from the standard one dimensional
+The program currently provides data viewing from the standard two dimensional
plan view to user-defined three-dimensional dynamic views of current and recent
radar data.
The software was developed and is maintained by Andy Spencer. He may be
-contacted through e-mail at andy753421@gmail.com and chat through IRC at #rhlug
+contacted through e-mail at andy753421@gmail.com and chat through IRC at #pileus
on irc.freenode.net.
Data types and sources
----------------------
-AWeather displays U.S. National Weather Service NEXt generation RADar data
-(NEXRAD) Level II data. This is the highest resolution form of radar data
-available in the public domain and consists of multiple tilts of data updated
-every 5 to 10 minutes depending on the current scan mode of each radar.
+AWeather displays U.S. National Weather Service NEXt generation RADar (NEXRAD)
+Level II data. This is the highest resolution form of radar data available in
+the public domain and consists of multiple tilts of data updated every 5 to 10
+minutes depending on the current scan mode of each radar.
The following Level II data types are supported by this program:
Level II data has been available through private weather data vendors for some
time but recently has been generously provided by some universities.
-AWeather requires an active internet connection along with a data feed source in
+AWeather requires an active internet connection along with a data source in
order to retrieve, decode and display current or recent radar data.
-The default radar feed is publically accessible thanks to Iowa State University
+The default radar feed is publicly accessible thanks to Iowa State University
and is located at: http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/data/nexrd2/raw/.
AWeather also displays some severe weather alerts provided by the NOAA weather
alerts http://alerts.weather.gov/[feed].
+When run under Linux, AWeather can interface with the
+http://www.catb.org/gpsd/[GPSd] location services to track and display the
+user's current location.
+
Program layout
--------------
~~~~
Offline:: stops the program from downloading data through the internet
Refresh:: reloads the current display
-Auto-updae:: automatically refresh the the radar after a certain delay
+Auto-update:: automatically refresh the the radar after a certain delay
Clean cache:: removes data files from the program's internal cache
Quit:: closes the program window and exits from memory
[horizontal]
alert checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle the weather alerts
elev checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle terrain rendering
- env checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle a blue atmosphere
+ env checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle a blue atmosphere and
+ compass rose
+ gps checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle gps tracking
+ [Linux only]
map checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle the map overlays
radar checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle the radar data
sat checkbox:::: allows the user to toggle satellite ground images
On program startup and when zoomed far from the earth's surface AWeather
displays a national radar composite image.
+Each available radar site is displayed on the map using the name of a nearby
+major city. Clicking on the city label will activate the radar site and center
+it in the viewer.
+
As the user zooms closer to the earth AWeather will automatically activate
nearby radar sites.
AWeather supports the use of the mouse and keyboard commands to change the map
window settings.
+When the map is rotated, a red and white compass in the top right corner shows
+the current direction of North. Clicking on the compass will reset the rotation
+so that north points toward the top of the screen and the viewer is pointed
+towards the ground.
+
Mouse usage::
[horizontal]
Left click and drag::: Pan the surface of the earth
* Vertical cross sections
* Support for derived L3 data (storm relative motion, echo tops, composite
- reflectivity, etc)
- * Additional data sources for surface data, etc
+ reflectivity, etc.)
+ * Additional data sources for surface data, etc.
* Animation support
* API for radar algorithms
* Additional features
projects / aweather / blobdiff