Over two million data points every day

Every day, the MetOceanView service ingests and serves up to our clients more than 2 million unique data points. These are modelled and observed data providing vital marine and atmospheric weather information to users. 

The MetOceanView platform displays forecast and historical data for a range of locations. Clients worldwide use the site to access the results from customised wave and hydrodynamic models, helping them make important decisions to maximise safety and improve efficiency.    

“MetOceanView provides a phenomenal amount of information for a wide range of clients,” explains Dr Rafael Soutelino, who manages the team working on data management for MetOceanView. “In order to run such a system, the platform has to process an enormous amount of data.” 

“Every day, we ingest about 2.25 million discrete data points. More than 2 million of these are unique modelled data from global weather and marine models. In addition to modelled data, we continuously incorporate satellite, lightning, weather station, wave buoy, current metre, and tide gauge data as part of the operational infrastructure behind MetOceanView. Some of these data, like METAR stations, NOAA-NDBC buoys, NOAA-MADIS, Himawari 8, GOES and MODIS satellite images are displayed directly on the MetOceanView interface. Others are shown to provide comparisons with our modelled data - e.g. wave buoy data displayed on a graph comparing observed to forecasted wave height. 

“Real-time lightning data at times add a huge number of additional observations. Provided through Blitzen (TOA and GPATS), each single lightning strike constitutes a discrete observation. This means that on some days we incorporate millions of lightning data points per day, displaying real-time strikes for Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Example of real-time lightning observations as shown in MetoceanView. Coloured crosses represent clusters of lightning strikes. 

We also use observational data to calibrate and validate our meteorological, wave and hydrodynamic forecast models. Observed data can also be used to directly improve our near-real-time forecasts using modern techniques such as machine learning and can result in significant accuracy gains. 

“All this information comes from a variety of sources. Much of the data used in MetOceanView are from our own models and instruments, but some observational data come from external providers. Some of it is private, for example where clients have observations that can help improve the models for their locations.

Forecast operational models (blue: SWAN (wave) red: WRF (atmospherics); green: ROMs (hydrodynamics); and yellow: WaveWatch III (wave).

“Ingesting such quantities of data requires a range of techniques. Often, we have to process the raw information coming in to make it useable for our internal databases. We have designed our systems so that they can handle that complexity, transforming data into any format and making it available to MetOceanView promptly so that clients have access to the best and latest information.” 

“Ultimately, our clients use MetOceanView as a one-stop-shop for their marine and atmospheric weather information needs. The data we incorporate are valuable to our clients because they help them gain a complete picture of the atmospheric and marine conditions at their site. Good data visualised in an easy-to-understand format allows informed decision-making, which makes for safer operations and increased efficiency, and that is what MetOceanView is all about.” 

For more information about MetOceanView, check www.metoceanview.com or contact us at enquiries@metocean.co.nz