Sunday, April 12, 2020

CRN Data Visualization

Here's a follow-up to a post from a few weeks ago, where I mentioned that I was working on a web interface to visualize the high-quality climate data coming out of the Alaska CRN network.  Here's a first draft:

http://worldagweather.com/crn/



Note that the page is not designed for mobile viewing - sorry if that's an inconvenience.  And various refinements are needed; this is just a first attempt that provides static, pre-generated images for fixed intervals.  I'd like to move to a more interactive charting capability at some point, but that will depend on how much time I have.

Also note that I haven't included the two newest sites in southwestern Alaska, one in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, and one at Aleknagik (near Dillingham).  This is because I prefer to have at least a couple of years of data to calculate a seasonal "normal" for each of the weather variables.

The page should update every day by around 7am AKST, but let me know if you see any problems.

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3 comments:

  1. NL7YApril 13, 2020 at 12:11 PM

    Your interface is very informative-good work.

    On another note the Howard Pass WX station has been down or at least unavailable via MesoWest most of the winter, presumably due to typically harsh conditions:

    http://mesowest.utah.edu/cgi-bin/droman/meso_base_dyn.cgi?stn=HOWA2&unit=0&timetype=LOCAL

    Here's a recent news article about the area's archaeological values and NPS' WX site. I've flown through there and landed on the large lakes several times. The ancient tent sites and stone Inukshuks are readily visible:

    http://www.newsminer.com/features/sundays/alaska_science_forum/howard-pass-an-extreme-but-inviting-place/article_5552877e-7b95-11ea-ad72-eb289a07f37c.html

    Gary

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    Replies
    1. Richard JamesApril 13, 2020 at 6:30 PM

      Thanks Gary.

      Yes, it looks like the Howard Pass site went down in October, but it's not obvious that severe wind was the cause. Hopefully our good friends at NPS will be able to pay a visit this summer.

      Thanks for the link to Ned's article. It's hard to imagine human occupation during winter, but those folk were hardy. I suppose most of the winter it is relatively bearable (perhaps more so at times than the coldest interior valleys); the really severe wind episodes occur fairly infrequently, although they can be prolonged events.

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  2. NL7YApril 13, 2020 at 7:23 PM

    It's not directly WX related but I believe from reading the research of others that the majority of pre-contact winter occupation likely occurred adjacent to that pass. They may have been hardy but surely weren't fools to suffer extremes in wind chill if avoidable. Large nearby lakes E&W and river benches were favored as seasonal dwelling sites. High ridges offering a commanding view of drainages and migratory paths of animals show the remains of stone tent rings used to secure the temporary dwellings plus the herding structures mentioned. Later the Noatak River offered a corridor for seasonal movement to and from the coast for trading purposes.

    These sum up the hunt:

    https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/the-caribou-drive.htm
    https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/historyculture/landscape-archaeology-at-agiak-lake.htm

    Gary

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