Location-based weather nowcast system and method

• US 7,181,345 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2001
• Issued: 02/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nooly Technologies, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nooly Technologies, Ltd.
• Inventors: Reich, Yaron, Rosenfeld, Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Barlow; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Taylor; Victor J.
• Application Number:
  US10/450,196
• Publication Number:
  US 20040043760A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,892 Days
• Field of Search: 702 1- 6, 709/200, 340/540, 340/601, 340/1, 342/26
• US Class Current: 702/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 2203/00 Real-time site-specific personalized weather information, e.g. nowcasting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 90/10 Information and communication technologies [ICT] supporting adaptation to climate change, e.g. for weather forecasting or climate simulation

Abstract

A method for providing a mobile user with updated weather nowcasts comprises: receiving a request from a user, the request being associated with a location, and for a period such as about an hour sending the user regular meteorological information regarding the location. The user may be a mobile telephone user and the location may be determined from the location of the mobile telephone.

Claims

1. A method for providing a meteorological nowcast according to a location for a user, comprising:

receiving a weather forecast request from an individual user, said request being associated with a location,

determining an area of up to about 5 kilometers in radius; and

providing an updated meteorological nowcast requested by said user at intervals over a period of less than about 60 minutes in said area.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining said area further comprises:

determining a current location of the user for use as said location.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the current location is determined according to a location of a wireless device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the current location is determined according to a location of a GPS device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the current location is determined according to a location of a landmark.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the current location is determined according to information provided by the user.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the current location is determined according to information provided by a third party device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said request is associated with a location of interest to the user.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said location of interest is provided by the user.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein said nowcast is formed by combining a plurality of weather parameters.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein said plurality of weather parameters comprises type, intensity, development and movement of a precipitation.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein said plurality of weather parameters further comprises cloud properties such as existence, height, thickness, cloud movement, and development of clouds.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein said plurality of weather parameters further comprises wind direction, velocity, temperature, effective temperature (windchill factor), humidity, solar radiation, ultraviolet (u.v.) radiation, and barometric pressure.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein said plurality of weather parameters further comprises pollution data.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein said pollution data comprises information about at least one of pollutant gases, pollutant particles or pollen.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein said plurality of weather parameters further comprises environmental parameters.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said plurality of weather parameters further comprises heat stress, wind-chill factor, frost, safe exposure time for various skin types, safe time for avoiding heat stroke, and air quality health index.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein said area is about 1 square kilometer and wherein said intervals are portions of about one minute each.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein determining the meteorological nowcast is performed according to a deterministic algorithm.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein said intervals are portions of about five minutes each.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein said meteorological nowcast is formed by combining data from a plurality of different sources having different resolutions in at least one of time or time.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

displaying information about the meteorological nowcast to the user.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein said displaying said information is performed on at least one of a computer, a PDA, a cellular telephone, a pager, a dedicated display device or a public display.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein said displaying said information is performed on at least one of a third party device or hardware, said hardware featuring a dedicated chip.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein said displaying said information is performed on a third-party application.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said third-party application is operated for a business promotion.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein personalized information about the user is stored on a database accessible to said third-party application.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein said plurality of different sources comprises at least two of weather satellites, weather radar, air quality monitoring stations, or national meteorological services.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said plurality of different sources comprises at least one of weather satellite data, weather radar data, or air quality data.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein said plurality of different sources comprises at least one of a solar map, an ultra-violet light map, a pollution map, a topographical map, a satellite imagery map, a radar map, and a pollen map.

31. The method of claim 21, wherein said meteorological nowcast is determined by:

constructing a map over a geographical region for a given time; and

dividing said map into a plurality of cells to form a zone map, wherein said determining the meteorological forecast is performed separately for each cell.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein said dividing further comprises building a Nowcasting matrix for each cell, wherein each cell has a resolution of about one minute.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein said dividing further comprises building a Nowcasting matrix for each cell, wherein each cell has a resolution of about five minutes.

34. The method of claim 21, wherein said meteorological nowcast is determined by:

constructing a map over a geographical region for a given time; and

dividing said map into a plurality of cells to form a zone map, wherein said determining the meteorological forecast is performed for a plurality of cells corresponding to a meteorological feature.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said dividing further comprises building a Nowcasting matrix for each cell.

36. The method of claim 21, wherein the meteorological nowcast is determined for operating a smart house.

37. The method of claim 21, wherein the meteorological forecast is determined for a moving vehicle.

38. The method of claim 1, wherein a length of said period is determined according to a request by a user.

39. The method of claim 1, wherein a time of initiation of said period is determined according to a request by a user.

40. The method of claim 1, when at least one of said period and said area is determined according to a profile about a user.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said profile is determined according to information submitted by said user.

42. The method of claim 40, further comprising:

displaying information about the meteorological forecast to the user by a device determined according to said profile.

43. A method for providing a location-based nowcast, wherein the nowcast is determined according to a location of less than about 5 km radius, the method comprising:

(a) initiating a request, by a user, for a time evolution of user selected nowcast parameters, by transmission of said request over a public communication network to a computer, wherein said time evolution is performed for a period of less than about 60 minutes;

(b) determining location of user cell;

(c) receiving raw data from a plurality of sources, said raw data containing information about at least two of a plurality of geophysical parameters;

(d) processing said raw data to create a time-series of forecasted parameters maps;

(e) extracting a time evolution of user requested nowcast parameters from said time-series of forecasted parameter maps by positioning said cell on said time series; and

(f) distributing information to said user about the user-selected nowcast parameter within said time evolution.

44. A method for providing a location-based nowcast for a user, wherein the nowcast is determined according to an area of less than about 5 km radius, the method comprising:

(a) dynamically determining a location for the user;

(b) receiving raw data from a plurality of sources, said raw data containing information about at least one geophysical parameter;

(c) processing said raw data to create a weather map over a geographical region for a given time;

(d) dividing said weather map into a plurality of cells to form a zone map;

(e) determining the nowcast for a plurality of cells corresponding to a meteorological feature, and

(f) Sending said user a weather nowcast of a corresponding map cell.