Tropical cyclone prediction system and method

• US 8,224,768 B1
• Filed: 04/18/2008
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DTN, LLC (TBG AG)
• Original Assignee: WSI Incorporated
• Inventors: Crawford, Todd Michael, Neilley, Peter Paul, Ramstrom, William Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): FERNANDEZ RIVAS, OMAR F
• Application Number:
  US12/148,376
• Time in Patent Office: 1,551 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 706/62
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/10 Devices for predicting weather conditions computers per se G06; display devices G09

Abstract

A method of predicting information related to a path of a weather phenomenon includes obtaining a plurality of tracks corresponding to the weather phenomenon from at least one source. A factor is assigned to each of the plurality of tracks. A set of probabilities for the weather phenomenon to intersect a plurality of segments corresponding to a boundary is determined using at least intersection points of the plurality of tracks with the boundary and the factor assigned to each of the plurality of tracks.

Claims

1. A method of predicting information related to a path of a weather phenomenon, the method comprising:

(a) obtaining a plurality of tracks corresponding to the weather phenomenon for a current forecast period from two or more sources;

(b) assigning a scaling factor to each of the plurality of tracks based on which of the two or more sources produced the respective track;

(c) determining, by at least one computer, a set of probabilities for the weather phenomenon to intersect a plurality of segments corresponding to a boundary using at least intersection points of the plurality of tracks with the boundary and the scaling factor assigned to each of the plurality of tracks.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of probabilities further includes statistically analyzing the tracks that do not intersect the boundary using their assigned scaling factors.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(d) providing a graphical representation of the set of probabilities to at least one entity to facilitate forecasting an impact of the weather phenomenon.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the forecasted impact is a financial impact.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the forecasted impact is utilized to facilitate emergency preparations related the weather phenomenon.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the graphical representation depicts a boundary intersection function.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the integrated area under the boundary intersection function is a total probability of the weather phenomenon intersecting the boundary.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the graphical representation is customized based on the needs of the entity by altering parameters for forming the plurality of segments along the boundary.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the parameters for forming the plurality of segments include at least one of position along the boundary, length of each of the segments, and number of segments.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein each probability of the set of probabilities corresponds to one of the plurality of segments.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(d) periodically repeating steps (a)-(c) using an updated plurality of tracks for the weather phenomenon generated by the two or more sources.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

(e) refining the scaling factors based on a comparison of at least some of the tracks for the weather phenomenon with the actual path of the weather phenomenon.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

(d) estimating an uncertainty in the probability for the segment with the greatest probability of intersection with a mean track of the weather phenomenon using the plurality of tracks including the corresponding scaling factors from step (b).

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracks include ensemble model tracks obtained from a forecast center.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracks include predictive tracks obtained from one or more short-range models related to the weather phenomenon.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the weather phenomenon is a tropical cyclone.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein a mean track of the tropical cyclone intersecting the plurality of segments includes the center of the tropical cyclone making landfall on the boundary of a geographic region.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the boundary of the geographic region in a coastline.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the scaling factor assigned to at least one of the plurality of tracks is time varying.

20. A method of predicting information related to a path of a tropical cyclone intersecting a boundary, the boundary being partitioned into a plurality of segments, the method comprising:

obtaining from each of a plurality of forecast centers a plurality of model tracks corresponding to the tropical cyclone;

assigning a scaling factor to each of the model tracks based at least in part on the forecast center that produced the model track, and weighting each of the model tracks according to the corresponding scaling factor;

determining for each of the plurality of model tracks from the plurality of forecast centers, a segment from the plurality of segments where the respective model track intersects the boundary;

calculating a segment value for each of the plurality of segments using a weighted average of a number of the plurality of model tracks intersecting the respective segment; and

determining, by at least one computer, a probability for a mean track of the tropical cyclone to intersect each segment of the boundary using the segment value for the respective segment, wherein an uncertainty of the mean track of the tropical cyclone intersecting the boundary is proportional to a variance of the intersection points for each of the plurality of model tracks at the boundary, the contribution of each intersection point to the variance based on the scaling factor for the respective model track.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

determining a set of probabilities related to a characteristic of the tropical cyclone based on the associated scaling factor and values of the characteristic for each model track at the intersection of the boundary.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the characteristic includes at least one of intensity, wind speed, minimum central pressure, tornado potential, precipitation rate, radius of impact, and storm surge height.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

aggregating the probabilities for each segment to provide a graphical representation of the probabilities to at least one entity to facilitate forecasting an impact of the tropical cyclone.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the forecasted impact is a financial impact.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the scaling factors are based in part on a historical accuracy of the corresponding forecast center in predicting actual tracks of tropical cyclones.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the scaling factors are assigned to the model tracks based at least in part on a geographic position of the tropical cyclone.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein the scaling factors are assigned to the model tracks based at least in part on characteristics of the tropical cyclone.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein the scaling factors are assigned to the model tracks based at least in part on at least one of atmospheric and ocean conditions affecting the tropical cyclone.

29. The method of claim 20, wherein the scaling factors are assigned to the model tracks based at least in part on the time of year for the occurrence of the tropical cyclone.

30. The method of claim 20, wherein the scaling factor assigned to at least one of the model tracks is a time varying scaling factor, the time scaling varying factor including a different value of the factor for different positions of the model track.

31. A method of predicting information related to a path of a tropical cyclone, the method comprising:

(a) determining a set of scaling factors corresponding to each of a plurality of forecast centers;

(b) assigning one of the scaling factors to each of a plurality of model tracks for the tropical cyclone, the plurality of model tracks obtained for a current forecast period from the plurality of forecast centers;

(c) determining, by at least one computer, a probability for a mean track of the tropical cyclone to intersect with each of a plurality of segments defining a boundary based upon a statistical aggregating of the intersections of each of the model tracks with the boundary; and

(d) estimating an uncertainty related to one or more segments of intersection, wherein the uncertainty is based at least in part on the plurality of model tracks and the corresponding scaling factors.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the one or more segments of intersection includes the most probable segment of intersection.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the uncertainty related to the most probable segment of intersection represents uncertainty in a position of most probable landfall of the tropical cyclone.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

(e) providing a graphical representation of the set of probabilities and the estimated uncertainty to at least one entity to facilitate forecasting an impact of the tropical cyclone.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the forecasted impact is a financial impact.

36. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

(e) periodically repeating steps (a)-(d) using an updated plurality of model tracks for the tropical cyclone generated by the two or more forecast centers.

37. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

(e) determining a mean track for the tropical cyclone using the plurality of model tracks and corresponding scaling factors.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein an indication of the most probable landfall position of the tropical cyclone is determined by the intersection of the mean track and the boundary.

39. An article of manufacture for predicting information related to a path of a weather phenomenon intersecting a boundary, the boundary being partitioned into a plurality of segments, the article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

obtaining from each of a plurality of forecast centers a plurality of model tracks corresponding to the weather phenomenon;

assigning a scaling factor to each of the model tracks based at least in part on the forecast center that produced the model track, and weighting each of the model tracks according to the corresponding scaling factor;

determining for each of the plurality of model tracks from the plurality of forecast centers, a segment from the plurality of segments where the respective model track intersects the boundary;

calculating a segment value for each of the plurality of segments using a weighted average of a number of the plurality of model tracks intersecting the respective segment; and

determining, by at least one computer, a probability for an mean track of the weather phenomenon to intersect each segment of the boundary using the segment value for the respective segment, wherein an uncertainty of a forecast track of the tropical cyclone intersecting the boundary is proportional to a variance of the intersection points for each of the plurality of model tracks at the boundary, the contribution of each intersection point to the variance based on the scaling factor for the respective model track.