Formulation of daily weather observation

• US 7,379,817 B1
• Filed: 11/22/2005
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DTN, LLC (TBG AG)
• Original Assignee: The Weather Channel Incorporated (CF Entertainment, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tyson, Bradley Lyon, Koval, Joseph Paul, Estupinan, Jeral Garcia
• Primary Examiner(s): McElheny, Jr.; Donald E
• Application Number:
  US11/285,333
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: 702/3, 702/4
• US Class Current: 702/3
• CPC Class Codes: G01W 1/06 giving a combined indication of weather conditions catathermometers for measuring "cooling value" related either to weather conditions or to comfort of other human environment G01W1/17; computers per se G06

Abstract

Methods and articles of manufacture for providing an indication or representation that describes the state of weather over a period in the past for a particular location. Observation data for the location is accumulated and stored over the period. Because forecast engines exist and can be adapted for use in determining the indication of weather, the observation data is converted into a format of forecast data. The data is then grouped into subsets and processed as forecast data. For each subset, a representation of weather is determined. The representations of weather for each subset are then processed to determine the representation of weather for the period of time.

Claims

1. A method of providing an indication of average weather for a location over a predetermined past period of time, comprising:

receiving observation data for said location for said predetermined past period of time;

converting said observation data to a forecast data format;

processing said forecast data format to provide said indication of average weather; and

producing to a user a representation of said indication of average weather over said predetermined past period of time.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

grouping the observation data into sub-periods of time;

processing each sub-period of time to determine an indication of average weather for each sub-period of time; and

processing the indication of average weather for each sub-period of time to determine the indication of average weather for said predetermined period of time.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising ranking the observation data within each group by severity.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising ranking each said group by severity.

5. The method of claim 1, said converting the observation data to forecast data comprising:

representing the observation data in a first format; and

correlating the observation data in said first format to forecast data that is represented in a second format.

6. The method of claim 5, said first format and said second format comprising a numerical format.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing said indication of average weather as one of an icon, text, and an indication of forecast accuracy.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing said indication of average weather with a forecast for said predetermined period of time to determine an accuracy of said forecast.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising refining a forecast engine based on said accuracy of said forecast.

21. The method of claim 4, further comprising rolling up the converted forecasts utilizing said rankings to provide a best weather representation that encapsulates said groups.

10. A method for providing an indication of historical average weather for a location over a predetermined past period of time, comprising:

storing observation data for the location for said predetermined past period of time;

grouping the observation data into sub-periods of time;

converting the observation data in each sub-period of time into a format of forecast data;

processing the converted forecast data for each sub-period to provide an indication of average weather for each sub-period;

processing said indication of average weather for each sub-period into said indication of historical average weather over said predetermined past period of time; and

outputting said indication of historical average weather over said predetermined past period of time to an output system.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising ranking the observation data within each sub-period by severity.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising ranking each said sub-period by severity.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing said indication of historical average weather as one of an icon, text, and an indication of forecast accuracy.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising comparing said indication of historical average weather with a forecast for said predetermined period of time to determine an accuracy of said forecast.

15. A system for providing an indication of historical weather for a location over a predetermined past period of time, comprising:

a database that receives observation data for said location for said predetermined past period of time;

a conversion engine that groups said observation data into sub-periods of time and converts said observation data in each sub-period of time to forecast data format;

a forecast engine that processes the forecast data format for each sub-period to provide an indication of average weather for each sub-period;

an aggregator that processes said indication of average weather for each sub-period into said indication of historical average weather over said predetermined past period of time; and

an output system that generates an output of said indication of historical average weather.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein said formatted forecast data is ranked within each sub-period by severity.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each said sub-period is ranked by severity.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein said indication of historical average weather is provided as one of an icon, text, and an indication of forecast accuracy.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising a comparator that compares said indication of historical average weather with a forecast for said predetermined period of time to determine an accuracy of said forecast.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the observation data is METAR data.