The Next Version of Active Sky

[Damian Clark 1,273]

Thanks for the response Damian. Without asking you to reveal any "trade secrets" regarding your specific data sources, I assume your weather servers are parsing and processing gridded data from the NCEP GFS model (or equivalent) to produce your worldwide winds aloft and temp aloft data.

 

If so, (in the case of the GFS), for each standard pressure level, and lat/lon grid, in the same group as the U wind, V wind and temp K parameters, there is a parameter for RH (relative humidity). My thought is that for any grid point where the RH is at, or close to 100%, (temp/dew point spread =0), there is almost certain to be visible moisture, with the specific kind of cloud determined by the temperature at that point. Water droplets above 0C (though water can exist in supercooled form as low as -10 to -15C, with any moisture at ambient temps below -15C almost certain to be in the form of ice crystals.

 

If you really wanted to get fancy, you could also look at the VVEL (vertical velocity) parameter, which is an indirect measure of stability i.e. would an upper level cloud deck be likely to be in the form of alto or cirro stratus vs. alto or cirro cumulus etc.

 

Just a thought re: some of the additional model data available to determine the likely presence or absence of clouds at levels above those reported in standard METARS, or in remote areas without reporting stations.

 

Thanks Jim, we're actually already in progress of using more information from the gridded data as part of our scheduled server technology update, and will definitely use this in client determination of cloud occurrence and type..  We have other things coming too in this regard  We really appreciate your feedback!

Can some tell me how to 'turn off' the wind indicator flags in map mode? It seems that once you activate them there is no way to deactivate them. Tried exiting out of the sim and AS, reloaded, restarted and still have the flags. I know, not a big deal, just a little annoying if you don't want them visible any longer and no way to deactivate. Thanks.

 

Perhaps not entirely intuitive (we'll work on that), but you simply need to click the same winds level again to toggle it off.  I.e. if 3000 level is showing, click the 3000 level again, and it will turn off.

[EasyE 7]

Awesome. Damien, I've been a user for years, have been through Rex also. THIS is the most incredible sim depiction I've ever imagined. To all of you...amazing work and thank you for adding a jaw-dropping level of immersion and realism to our hobby. Simply fantastic. I've enlisted quite a few of my fellow pilots at the VA I fly with to try the trial and based on numerous posts there are probably going to be a lot of former opus and Rex 'lifers" making a switch. Great work and again, thank you.

 

Easy E

 

 

[red259 31]

I am trying out the trial and have flown two short flights so far. One cyul to kjfk and the other cyvr to cyyc. Both flights were with pmdg 737-800ngx. I am using rex textures. Taking off from cyul i flew into low cloud cover and my plane was totally immersed in the clouds. I broke through and there was a nice cloud base that I flew above. On the first flight I had a fair amount of turbulence shortly after takeoff. On the ground at cyvr while at the gate it was snowing/sleet. This changed over to all rain prior to push back. During cruise over the mountains I saw the peaks coming up out of the clouds. There was minor cloud popping to the side. Its not like it was perfectly clear and then clouds appeared, instead there were some clouds and more popped up, which caused a small flickering effect. Overall passing through clouds was smooth. I could see beyond the clouds ahead of me and then I could see clouds being drawn before I got to the empty space which was a tad jarring, but I am thinking there may be settings that can be adjusted to limit that effect.

 

I have it setup to auto launch the weather based on the flight plan I have loaded, and its a simple startup. I've used rex and opus. The first two flights were promising and I hope to do more testing this week, including some with the 777 and dash 8. I was pleased with my first two flights and it seems to be an improvement over opus, but I need to do several more flights in varying conditions to confirm if this is the case. I do recommend people running the trial to see what they think.     

[CSTOD 1]

I wish to test ASN, but my trial license that I requested on sunday has expired!... why? happened to anyone else?

[Andydigital 93]

I suggest you contact support directly and open a ticket, this is not something that can be rectified here.

 

http://support.hifitechinc.com/

[CSTOD 1]

Yes, I will do it... thanks

[netshadoe 144]

Can some tell me how to 'turn off' the wind indicator flags in map mode? It seems that once you activate them there is no way to deactivate them. Tried exiting out of the sim and AS, reloaded, restarted and still have the flags. I know, not a big deal, just a little annoying if you don't want them visible any longer and no way to deactivate. Thanks.

Just click on the FL that is selected in the winds menu (the one with the checkmark). Clicking on the same selection should turn it off and on.

[EasyE 7]

Thanks everyone for the info on shutting off the wind depiction flags. Two other questions, just to confirm something please....loaded a flight plan in ASN, started FSX and performed normal set up. Now, once I start the flight is ASN performing correctly even though the current activity states idle? Also, is it working correctly even though the FSX startup screen is stating clear weather in the weather window? I'm assuming that ASN overwrites whatever weather is listed in the FSX startup window? Thanks for any help, just wanted to clarify that all is as it should be.

[Andydigital 93]

Now, once I start the flight is ASN performing correctly even though the current activity states idle?

Yes that is normal, it only has a few states, idle, downloading and depicting if I remember correctly. So  if you have weather updating at the default of every 15 minutes you will only see something other than idle for a few seconds each quarter of an hour.

 

Also, is it working correctly even though the FSX startup screen is stating clear weather in the weather window?

 

 

Yes that is normal too, ASN completely takes over weather depiction. The only time you need to worry is when ASN pops up an error message saying so, you won't miss it as you have to click on a button to clear the error dialogue.

[EasyE 7]

Yes that is normal, it only has a few states, idle, downloading and depicting if I remember correctly. So if you have weather updating at the default of every 15 minutes you will only see something other than idle for a few seconds each quarter of an hour.

 

Thank you Andy for the quick response. And thank you for the confirmation. Now, time to fly!

 

 

Yes that is normal too, ASN completely takes over weather depiction. The only time you need to worry is when ASN pops up an error message saying so, you won't miss it as you have to click on a button to clear the error dialogue.

[capt sl 15]

hi

 

exploring the free trial at the moment . of ASN

 

just curious about the depiction of thunderstorm. is it always the same i guess im enquiring about this

 

Clouds: Overcast at 1000 feet, Broken at 9000 feet, Broken at 18000 feet, Overcast at 24000 feet

 

upon checking a few ICAO with tstorms i found this value to be always same

 

and it seems climbing through it u go through clouds and reduced visibility up to a very high altitude ( even above 30000 ft) before breaking out

 

ie the coverage distance appears to be standard

[Andydigital 93]

and it seems climbing through it u go through clouds and reduced visibility up to a very high altitude ( even above 30000 ft) before breaking out

Quite normal, some storms can tower well above the maximum altitude of most if not all commercial airliners, even Concorde. I've seen over 20Km quoted a few times, that's 65,000 feet or more.

[capt sl 15]

thanks Andy

 

but does ASN depict all thunderstorms as the same in terms of intensity and coverage dist. i mean some storms cells can be smaller and thus u can get pass that quicker

 

i havent noticed that so far

[Andydigital 93]

Hi Shail, I saw the question but don't have an answer, I don't know sorry, I'm a beta tester for Hifi not a developer.

[capt sl 15]

no worries .. thx for the other answer though :smile: