System and method for predicting sunset vibrancy

• US 10,459,119 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2015
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skyfire Services
• Original Assignee: Matthew Kuhns
• Inventors: Kuhns, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Waldron, Scott A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lamardo, Viker A
• Application Number:
  US14/981,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20170109634A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,401 Days
• Field of Search: 706 11
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/10 Devices for predicting weather conditions computers per se G06; display devices G09
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 Machine learning

Abstract

A sunset prediction system performs the steps of determining a location of interest, and collecting weather forecast data at or around the time of either sunrise or sunset, at the location and a surrounding area adjacent the location. The collected weather forecast data includes cloud density and cloud altitude. The sun prediction system then determines from the collected weather forecast data whether there will be clouds at the location that are advantageous for photography at or around the time of sunrise or sunset, and whether the sunlight will be obstructed by obstructing clouds in the surrounding area. A forecast rating is then reported so that the user can determine whether to plan photography at the location.

Claims

1. A prediction system for forecasting conditions for photography about a time of sunrise or about a time of sunset, the prediction system comprising a computer system having one or more computer devices and computer memory which interact with a user device used by a user of the system, the computer memory storing executable code that, when executed, enables the computer system to perform a process that comprises the steps of:

determining a location of interest;

collecting weather forecast data at or about twenty to forty minutes within a time of either sunrise or sunset, at the location and a surrounding area adjacent the location via the computer system, wherein the computer system collects the weather forecast data at a plurality of particular intervals in view of an update to the weather forecast data, the collected weather forecast data comprising;

cloud density; and

cloud altitude;

constructing a three-dimensional model of an atmosphere and a surrounding terrain in view of the collected weather forecast data by referencing the location of interest with surrounding topographical information retrieved from a database and by segmenting cloud altitudes into a plurality of categories including low clouds, medium clouds, and high clouds;

determining whether there will be clouds at the location and whether sunlight will be obstructed by obstructing clouds in the surrounding area between the sun and the clouds at the location to determine conditions for photography at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset by determining a relative altitude of the location of interest with regards to the surrounding terrain between the location of interest and the sun;

determining a forecast rating of forecast conditions for photography at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset based upon the clouds at the location and presence of any obstructing clouds;

generating an overlay of the forecast rating, generated from the multiple categories of cloud layers including the low clouds, the medium clouds, and the high clouds, onto a four-dimensional map, having a horizontal axis X and Y, a vertical axis Z, and time, via the computer system in view of a first update to the forecast data at a first of the plurality of particular intervals, wherein the overlay visually indicates the forecast rating in view of a first color shade at the location;

reporting the forecast rating via a first alert sent to a user device in response to the forecast rating exceeding a user selected threshold value, wherein the user device is configured to display the overlay onto the four-dimensional map;

updating the overlay of an updated forecast rating onto the four-dimensional map via the computer system in view of a second update to the forecast data at a second of the plurality of particular intervals, wherein the overlay visually indicates the updated forecast rating in view of a second color shade at the location; and

reporting the updated forecast rating, via a second alert sent to the user device in response to the forecast rating exceeding the user selected threshold value, wherein the user device is configured to display the overlay onto the four-dimensional map, so that a user can determine whether to plan photography at the location.

2. The prediction system of claim 1, wherein the weather forecast data is in METAR format.

3. The prediction system of claim 1, wherein the weather forecast data is in grib, grib2, or graphical format.

4. The prediction system of claim 1, wherein the cloud density is selected from the group consisting of overcast, broken, scattered, few, and none.

5. The prediction system of claim 1, wherein the cloud density is in a form of a percentage.

6. The prediction system of claim 1, wherein the computer system determines the forecast rating at a plurality of the locations, and the prediction system further comprises the step of generating the overlay of an associated forecast ratings onto the four-dimensional map, the overlay functioning to visually indicate a projected quality of conditions for photography.

7. The prediction system of claim 6, wherein the overlay includes different colors to indicate the forecast ratings at each of the plurality of the locations.

8. The prediction system of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining a time at which the sun is 1 to 6 degrees of the horizon relative to the clouds at the location.

9. The prediction system of claim 8, wherein the step of determining whether there are any clouds in the surrounding area between the sun and the clouds at the location is performed at the time at which the sun is 1 to 6 degrees of the horizon relative to the clouds at the location.

10. The prediction system of claim 1, further comprising the step of determining whether there will be cloud color at the location in view of the constructing the three dimensional model.

11. A prediction system for forecasting conditions for photography about a time of sunrise or about a time of sunset, the prediction system comprising a computer system having one or more computer devices and computer memory which interact with a user device used by a user of the system, the computer memory storing executable code that, when executed, enables the computer system to perform a process that comprises the steps of:

determining a location of interest;

collecting weather forecast data at or about twenty to forty minutes within a time of either sunrise or sunset, at the location and a surrounding area adjacent the location via the computer system, wherein the computer system collects the weather forecast data at a plurality of particular intervals in view of an update to the weather forecast data, the collected weather forecast data comprising;

cloud density; and

cloud altitude;

constructing a three-dimensional model of an atmosphere and a surrounding terrain in view of the collected weather forecast data by referencing the location of interest with surrounding topographical information retrieved from a database and by segmenting cloud altitudes into a plurality of categories including low clouds, medium clouds, and high clouds;

determining a direction of sunlight at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset;

determining whether there will be clouds at the location and whether sunlight will be obstructed by obstructing clouds in the surrounding area between the sun and the clouds at the location to determine conditions for photography at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset by determining a relative altitude of the location of interest with regards to the surrounding terrain between the location of interest and the sun;

determining a forecast rating of forecast conditions for photography at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset based upon the clouds at the location and presence of any obstructing clouds;

repeating the above-described steps for a plurality of locations;

generating an overlay of the forecast rating, generated from the multiple categories of cloud layers including the low clouds, the medium clouds, and the high clouds, onto a four-dimensional map, having a horizontal axis X and Y, a vertical axis Z, and time, via the computer system in view of a first update to the forecast data at a first of the plurality of particular intervals, wherein the overlay visually indicates the forecast rating in view of a first color shade at one of the plurality of locations;

providing, to the user device for display, the first overlay for use with the four-dimensional map, the first overlay functioning to visually indicate the forecast ratings at the one of the plurality of locations;

updating the overlay of an updated forecast rating onto the four-dimensional map via the computer system in view of a second update to the forecast data at a second of the plurality of particular intervals, wherein the overlay visually indicates the updated forecast rating in view of a second color shade at the one of the plurality of locations; and

providing, to the user device for display, the overlay for use with the four-dimensional, the overlay functioning to visually indicate the forecast ratings at the one of the plurality of locations, wherein a user can determine whether to plan photography at the one of the plurality of locations in view of the overlay.

12. The prediction system of claim 11, further comprising the step of determining a time at which the sun is 6 degrees of the horizon of the clouds at the location.

13. The prediction system of claim 12, wherein the step of determining whether there are any clouds in the surrounding area between the sun and the clouds at the location is performed at the time at which the sun is 6 degrees of the horizon of the clouds at the location.

14. The prediction system of claim 11, further comprising the step of checking for obstructing terrain.

15. The prediction system of claim 11, wherein clouds at higher altitudes are assigned a greater weight than clouds at lower altitudes.

16. The prediction system of claim 11, further comprising a forecast rating system that separates light an hour before sunset from light forty-five minutes after sunset.

17. The prediction system of claim 11, further comprising a reporting system wherein alerts are sent out to the user based on user location and the forecast results.

18. A prediction system for forecasting conditions for photography about a time of sunrise or at about a time of sunset, the prediction system comprising a computer system having one or more computer devices and computer memory, the computer memory storing executable code that, when executed, enables the computer system to perform a process that comprises the steps of:

collecting, via the computer system, weather forecast data at or about twenty to forty minutes within a time of either sunrise or sunset at a location of interest, the collected weather forecast data comprising humidity at various cloud altitudes, wherein the computer system collects the weather forecast data at a plurality of particular intervals in view of an update to the weather forecast data;

constructing a three dimensional model of an atmosphere and a surrounding terrain in view of the collected weather forecast data by referencing the location of interest with surrounding topographical information retrieved from a database and by segmenting the various cloud altitudes into a plurality of categories including low clouds, medium clouds, and high clouds;

determining whether there will be clouds at the location to determine conditions for photography at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset by determining a relative altitude of the location of interest with regards to the surrounding terrain between the location of interest and the sun, the determination giving greater weight to humidity at higher altitudes that at lower altitudes;

determining a forecast rating of forecast conditions for photography at or about twenty to forty minutes within the time of either sunrise or sunset;

generating an overlay of the forecast rating, generated from the multiple cloud layers including the low clouds, the medium clouds, and the high clouds, onto a four-dimensional map, having a horizontal axis X and Y, a vertical axis Z, and time, via the computer system in view of a first update to the forecast data at a first of the plurality of particular intervals, wherein the overlay visually indicates the forecast rating in view of a first color shade at the location;

providing, to a user device for display, the overlay for use with the four-dimensional map, the overlay functioning to visually indicate the forecast ratings at the location;

updating the overlay of an updated forecast rating onto the four-dimensional map via the computer system in view of a second update to the forecast data at a second of the plurality of particular intervals, wherein the overlay visually indicates the updated forecast rating in view of a second color shade at the location; and

providing, to the user device for display, the overlay for use with the four-dimensional map, the overlay functioning to visually indicate the forecast ratings at the location so that a user can determine whether to plan photography at the location.

19. The prediction system of claim 18, wherein the overlay use a plurality of colors comprising at least red and blue to indicate various corresponding forecast ratings.