McIDAS
Encyclopedia
McIDAS, the "Man computer Interactive Data Access System", is a pioneering weather forecasting
tool developed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in the 1970s and used continually to this day. In its early incarnations it was widely used to generate graphics for television stations, but today is used primarily by the NOAA and related agencies. Users of the McIDAS system developed a similar version for microcomputers and sold by ColorGraphics Weather Systems
that generated much of the computerized weather imagery seen on television in the US in the 1980s.
measured the heat budget of a corn field for his doctoral thesis at the University of Chicago
. For the rest of his professional career he worked in the field of remote measuring using radiometer
s, often working with Robert Parent. They developed a remote sensing radiometer
with the intent of flying it into space and measuring the heat budget of the Earth. Their first attempt was fitted to Vanguard TV3
, but this exploded on launch. A similar experiment flew on Explorer 7
in 1959. This experiment demonstrated the impact of cloud cover on the heat balance of the Earth.
To further develop the field of satellite-based meteorology, NASA and National Science Foundation
(NSF) grants led to the creation of the Space Science and Engineering Center
(SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
. At the SSEC, Suomi and Parent developed the Spin Scan Cloudcover Camera (SSCC) to accurately measure and map cloud cover. The SSCC imaged a single strip of the Earth at a time, feeding out its information directly to a radio for broadcast to the ground. Fixed to the body of a rotating satellite, the SSCC would build up a 2D image as the satellite spun and rotated in its orbit.
SSCC was launched on ATS-1 on 6 December 1966. On 5 November 1967 ATS-3
launched the Multicolor Spin Scan Cloudcover Camera, which provided the first color meteorological imaging. Data from these instruments was captured on realtime printouts, and required manual work to cut and paste the successive strips into a single image, and then into multiple time-lapse images. Although a number of advances were made while examining this data, the work was tedious and time consuming.
Known as WINDCO, the system consisted of a video disk for storing imagery and a Raytheon 440 minicomputer
controlling it. The computer was used to record the imagery from the satellites, buffering a single frame from the strips and then storing it out along with timing information. The user interacted with the resulting video to select points on the frames that represented the same point as it moved over time, the output of their selections being punched to paper tape. The paper tape was then read by the 440 and copied onto punched card
s containing instructions for the UNIVAC 1108 mainframe
, which converted them into a vector map overlaid on top of a map of the Earth.
At a demonstration to NOAA, NASA and NSF on 12 April 1972, the system demonstrated the ability to generate 1000 wind vectors per hour. The attendees were impressed, but noted that the system was unable to correlate data from the satellites, which originated in a very specific format, with data being collected from other sensors, like automated weather stations. They encouraged the SSEC team to continue development, make the system even more automated, and include the ability to combine data from any source.
McIDAS accepted data from a number of sources. Cloud imagery was buffered on tape and then fed in as needed, data from the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite
could be fed in directly from a satellite feed at 1.7 MB a second, FAA data at 75 bps, or National Weather Service
radar at 1200 bps. All of this data could be overlaid on hand-drawn vector maps. The system was later extended to support data from the Earth Resource Technology Satellite and the Mariner planetary probes. A command line interpreter allowed the user to call up data with short commands,
The first McIDAS system was complete in June 1972, but tuning continued for several months. In October 1973 a real-time feed from McIDAS to the local WHA-TV state public television service was installed. Upgrades and new data feeds continued to be added; local weather radar maps, feeds for the newer generation GOES
satellites and others were added by 1976. Demand for the system was so high that the system had to be upgraded several times for additional performance and storage, with 24-hour scheduling for workstations. A system was later installed at the US Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory
.
Continued demand resulted in the creation of a second-generation version of McIDAS based on six Harris/6 computers connected together using a custom networking system they called "burn lines". Two of the machines acted as database servers with 300 MB disk drives, while the other four supported up to 18 workstations each with 80 MB drives. Remote terminals inside the University were set up over 9600 bps lines, and later another was set up at the National Environmental Satellite Service center in Kansas City
, where data from the Landsat series was processed. After a tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas killed several people in 1979, Congress directed that a new McIDAS be set up at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (now known as the Storm Prediction Center
), which was completed in January 1981.
The West German Space Agency started the task of converting McIDAS to an Amdahl
mainframe in 1976, and a similar system was later installed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
. Newer versions were written for the IBM 370
and IBM 4331. With the improved performance these machines offered, the distributed architecture of the second-generation McIDAS was no longer needed and systems returned to a single-server installation. In 1984 development started on a standalone version for the IBM PC
using EGA or VGA graphics, first on DOS
and later on OS/2
. These versions spread McIDAS beyond the university and laboratory, and users were soon found at television stations and weather prediction agencies around the world.
A fourth-generation system, the current version, was built on Unix
in 1993. A version using X Window was released in 1996 as McIDAS-X. With standardized networking, the Unix version allowed low-cost terminals to be attached to the Unix workstations, and client versions for OS/2 and Windows NT
were developed. As of December 2009, McIDAS-X is tested and supported by SSEC on AIX, Enterprise Linux, HP-UX, IRIX, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows XP workstations.
The fifth generation of McIDAS is actively being developed. This new package, named McIDAS-V, is a free, open source visualization and data analysis tool that displays weather satellite (including hyperspectral) and other geophysical data in 2- and 3-dimensions. McIDAS-V can also analyze and manipulate the data with its powerful mathematical functions. McIDAS-V is built on SSEC's VisAD
and Unidata's IDV
libraries, and contains "Bridge" software that enables McIDAS-X users to run their commands and tasks in the McIDAS-V environment. The functionality of SSEC's HYDRA software package is also being integrated into McIDAS-V for viewing and analyzing hyperspectral satellite data.
Current versions of the various McIDAS packages can be downloaded from the McIDAS Download Software page.
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
tool developed at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in the 1970s and used continually to this day. In its early incarnations it was widely used to generate graphics for television stations, but today is used primarily by the NOAA and related agencies. Users of the McIDAS system developed a similar version for microcomputers and sold by ColorGraphics Weather Systems
ColorGraphics Weather Systems
ColorGraphics Weather Systems was a computer graphics company that pioneered the use of computer graphics for displaying weather forecasts on local television...
that generated much of the computerized weather imagery seen on television in the US in the 1980s.
ATS
In 1953 Verner SuomiVerner Suomi
Verner E. Suomi was the father of satellite meteorology. He invented the Spin Scan Radiometer, which for many years was the instrument on the GOES weather satellites that generated the time sequences of cloud images seen on television weather shows.Together with Robert Parent, in 1965 Suomi...
measured the heat budget of a corn field for his doctoral thesis at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. For the rest of his professional career he worked in the field of remote measuring using radiometer
Radiometer
A radiometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term radiometer denotes an infrared radiation detector, yet it also includes detectors operating on any electromagnetic wavelength....
s, often working with Robert Parent. They developed a remote sensing radiometer
Radiometer
A radiometer is a device for measuring the radiant flux of electromagnetic radiation. Generally, the term radiometer denotes an infrared radiation detector, yet it also includes detectors operating on any electromagnetic wavelength....
with the intent of flying it into space and measuring the heat budget of the Earth. Their first attempt was fitted to Vanguard TV3
Vanguard TV3
Vanguard TV3 was the first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit around the Earth. It was a small satellite designed to test the launch capabilities of the three-stage Vanguard rocket and study the effects of the environment on a satellite and its systems in Earth orbit...
, but this exploded on launch. A similar experiment flew on Explorer 7
Explorer 7
Explorer 7 was launched October 13, 1959 at 10:36 a.m. Eastern Time by a Juno II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to an orbit of 573 km by 1073 km and inclination of 50.27°. It was designed to measure solar x-ray and Lyman-alpha flux, trapped energetic particles, and heavy...
in 1959. This experiment demonstrated the impact of cloud cover on the heat balance of the Earth.
To further develop the field of satellite-based meteorology, NASA and National Science Foundation
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(NSF) grants led to the creation of the Space Science and Engineering Center
Space Science and Engineering Center
The Space Science and Engineering Center is a research and development center with primary focus on geophysical research and technology to enhance understanding of the atmosphere of Earth, the other planets in our Solar System, and the cosmos...
(SSEC) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
. At the SSEC, Suomi and Parent developed the Spin Scan Cloudcover Camera (SSCC) to accurately measure and map cloud cover. The SSCC imaged a single strip of the Earth at a time, feeding out its information directly to a radio for broadcast to the ground. Fixed to the body of a rotating satellite, the SSCC would build up a 2D image as the satellite spun and rotated in its orbit.
SSCC was launched on ATS-1 on 6 December 1966. On 5 November 1967 ATS-3
ATS-3
The ATS-3 is a geostational communications satellite and is reputed to be the oldest active satellite in existence. NASA refers to the ATS-3 as "The oldest active communications satellite by a wide margin".- History :...
launched the Multicolor Spin Scan Cloudcover Camera, which provided the first color meteorological imaging. Data from these instruments was captured on realtime printouts, and required manual work to cut and paste the successive strips into a single image, and then into multiple time-lapse images. Although a number of advances were made while examining this data, the work was tedious and time consuming.
WINDCO
In order to speed up the process of examining the data, Suomi started an internal competition to develop an automated solution. Two teams were set up, one developing an analog solution and another using software. The software solution, by Smith and Phillips, was able to demonstrate the ability to calculate wind speed and direction based solely on the images of the clouds. Based on this success, Suomi was able to gain additional funding from NASA and the NSF to develop a prototype all-computerized image processing system.Known as WINDCO, the system consisted of a video disk for storing imagery and a Raytheon 440 minicomputer
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
controlling it. The computer was used to record the imagery from the satellites, buffering a single frame from the strips and then storing it out along with timing information. The user interacted with the resulting video to select points on the frames that represented the same point as it moved over time, the output of their selections being punched to paper tape. The paper tape was then read by the 440 and copied onto punched card
Punched card
A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...
s containing instructions for the UNIVAC 1108 mainframe
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
, which converted them into a vector map overlaid on top of a map of the Earth.
At a demonstration to NOAA, NASA and NSF on 12 April 1972, the system demonstrated the ability to generate 1000 wind vectors per hour. The attendees were impressed, but noted that the system was unable to correlate data from the satellites, which originated in a very specific format, with data being collected from other sensors, like automated weather stations. They encouraged the SSEC team to continue development, make the system even more automated, and include the ability to combine data from any source.
McIDAS
The biggest problem in developing a fully automated solution was finding a machine within their budget with the speed and storage capabilities required. The team eventually settled on a Datacraft/5 computer equipped with 96 kB of core memory and two 5 MB hard drives, one fixed, one removable. The new software, McIDAS, was much more automated, with the user's primary role in the data acquisition phase reduced to checking the quality of the vectors being automatically generated by the software. An image enhancement system was added to help see the clouds in low-light areas.McIDAS accepted data from a number of sources. Cloud imagery was buffered on tape and then fed in as needed, data from the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite
Synchronous Meteorological Satellite
For the Synchronous Meteorological Satellite program, NASA developed two weather satellites which were placed into geosynchronous orbit. SMS-1 was launched May 17, 1974 a and SMS-2 was launched February 6, 1975. Both satellites were carried to orbit by Delta 2914 rockets...
could be fed in directly from a satellite feed at 1.7 MB a second, FAA data at 75 bps, or National Weather Service
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service , once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States government...
radar at 1200 bps. All of this data could be overlaid on hand-drawn vector maps. The system was later extended to support data from the Earth Resource Technology Satellite and the Mariner planetary probes. A command line interpreter allowed the user to call up data with short commands,
YK T 500 1200 USA would generate a display of the 500 mb temperature data from the 1200 UTC measurements over the USA.The first McIDAS system was complete in June 1972, but tuning continued for several months. In October 1973 a real-time feed from McIDAS to the local WHA-TV state public television service was installed. Upgrades and new data feeds continued to be added; local weather radar maps, feeds for the newer generation GOES
Goes
Goes is a municipality and a city in the southwestern Netherlands in Zuid-Beveland, in the province Zeeland. The city of Goes has approximately 27,000 residents.-History of Goes:...
satellites and others were added by 1976. Demand for the system was so high that the system had to be upgraded several times for additional performance and storage, with 24-hour scheduling for workstations. A system was later installed at the US Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratory
Hanscom Air Force Base
Hanscom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately south-southwest of Bedford, Massachusetts. The facility is a joint use civil airport/military base with Hanscom Field which provides general aviation and charter service.The host unit at Hanscom is the non-flying...
.
Continued demand resulted in the creation of a second-generation version of McIDAS based on six Harris/6 computers connected together using a custom networking system they called "burn lines". Two of the machines acted as database servers with 300 MB disk drives, while the other four supported up to 18 workstations each with 80 MB drives. Remote terminals inside the University were set up over 9600 bps lines, and later another was set up at the National Environmental Satellite Service center in Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
, where data from the Landsat series was processed. After a tornado in Wichita Falls, Texas killed several people in 1979, Congress directed that a new McIDAS be set up at the National Severe Storms Forecast Center (now known as the Storm Prediction Center
Storm Prediction Center
The Storm Prediction Center , located in Norman, Oklahoma, is tasked with forecasting the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in the contiguous United States. The agency issues convective outlooks, mesoscale discussions, and watches as a part of this process...
), which was completed in January 1981.
The West German Space Agency started the task of converting McIDAS to an Amdahl
Amdahl Corporation
Amdahl Corporation is an information technology company which specializes in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products. Founded in 1970 by Dr. Gene Amdahl, a former IBM employee, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu since 1997...
mainframe in 1976, and a similar system was later installed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Goddard Space Flight Center
The Goddard Space Flight Center is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, USA. GSFC,...
. Newer versions were written for the IBM 370
IBM 370
The IBM 370 printer was used on the IBM 305 RAMAC computer system, introduced by IBM on September 14, 1956. The 370 was connected to the 305 by a serial data line from the S track of the computer's drum memory and printed 80-columns with a punched tape controlled carriage...
and IBM 4331. With the improved performance these machines offered, the distributed architecture of the second-generation McIDAS was no longer needed and systems returned to a single-server installation. In 1984 development started on a standalone version for the IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
using EGA or VGA graphics, first on DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and later on OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
. These versions spread McIDAS beyond the university and laboratory, and users were soon found at television stations and weather prediction agencies around the world.
A fourth-generation system, the current version, was built on Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
in 1993. A version using X Window was released in 1996 as McIDAS-X. With standardized networking, the Unix version allowed low-cost terminals to be attached to the Unix workstations, and client versions for OS/2 and Windows NT
Windows NT
Windows NT is a family of operating systems produced by Microsoft, the first version of which was released in July 1993. It was a powerful high-level-language-based, processor-independent, multiprocessing, multiuser operating system with features comparable to Unix. It was intended to complement...
were developed. As of December 2009, McIDAS-X is tested and supported by SSEC on AIX, Enterprise Linux, HP-UX, IRIX, Mac OS X, Solaris, and Windows XP workstations.
The fifth generation of McIDAS is actively being developed. This new package, named McIDAS-V, is a free, open source visualization and data analysis tool that displays weather satellite (including hyperspectral) and other geophysical data in 2- and 3-dimensions. McIDAS-V can also analyze and manipulate the data with its powerful mathematical functions. McIDAS-V is built on SSEC's VisAD
VisAD
VisAD is a Java component library for interactive and collaborative visualization and analysis of numerical data. It combines a flexible data model and distributed objects to support sharing of data, visualizations and user interfaces between different data sources, different computers and...
and Unidata's IDV
IDV
The Integrated Data Viewer from is a Java based software framework for analyzing and visualizing geoscience data. The IDV release includes a software library and a reference application made from that software...
libraries, and contains "Bridge" software that enables McIDAS-X users to run their commands and tasks in the McIDAS-V environment. The functionality of SSEC's HYDRA software package is also being integrated into McIDAS-V for viewing and analyzing hyperspectral satellite data.
Current versions of the various McIDAS packages can be downloaded from the McIDAS Download Software page.