Don't know if it's better to post here or on the Active Sky forum, but I think that the radar returns, both on the 777 and 737, are exaggerated, very often red areas when in fact there is only a light rain. Is the radar capable of distinguishing between light and heavy rain, based on the data received from ASN?

It's not a matter of gain, this happens also with the gain at minimum.

Thanks.

radar returns, both on the 777 and 737, are exaggerated

In ASN options if you have ticked enhanced thunderstorms (or something to that effect) it could cause exaggerated returns on some systems,

No, that option is not selected. Speaking of thunderstorms, those exaggerated red returns are also present when there is rain but no thunderstorms or big cumulus clouds...

No, that option is not selected. Speaking of thunderstorms, those exaggerated red returns are also present when there is rain but no thunderstorms...

 

There is no color for thunderstorms. The colors are only intensity of precip. The only correlation is that storms usually dump tons of rain, so you usually see red with storms.

 

Square is rectangle - rectangle is not necessarily square.

There is no color for thunderstorms. The colors are only intensity of precip. The only correlation is that storms usually dump tons of rain, so you usually see red with storms.

 

Exactly, Kyle, that's just what I mean, I would like to see red returns when there is heavy rain, that is, most of the times, when there are cumulus clouds and heavy precipitation (not necessarily lightnings and thunderstorms). Many times I happened to see an area full of red returns, while out of the window I could see only light rain and stratus shaped clouds. 

Exactly, Kyle, that's just what I mean, I would like to see red returns when there is heavy rain, that is, most of the times, when there are cumulus clouds and heavy precipitation (not necessarily lightnings and thunderstorms). Many times I happened to see an area full of red returns, while out of the window I could see only light rain and stratus shaped clouds. 

 

I think that's a little more related to your cloud settings, honestly, but you might want to check with HiFi as well. We're just reading the data their program is putting out there.

Even though we have advaced weather software such as AS Next, FSGRW and others nowadays, the cloud and weather depiction in FSX or P3D is still kind of bad...The other day I was on final approach in my 777 and saw a huge bolt of lightning come out of a tiny white cloud near the approach path...   

 

 

The other day I was on final approach in my 777 and saw a huge bolt of lightning come out of a tiny white cloud near the approach path...   

 

That's a lot of anger for a little cloud.

 

Kinda like Brutus:

LOL I like this thread.... yes, the radar data is very toyish and the clouds are like little cartoons. All of this belongs in the HiFi forum however, also when there be sure to thank them for the great progress they have made since the original active sky product.  In fact, ASN is the first weather product I routinely use but not for the clouds and radar but they have done a really good job with winds and general conditions.  I can't wait for their next advancement, whatever that is.

 

 

the radar data is very toyish

If ND gets too cluttered with returns I turn it off so I can see the "Magenta Line," If makes no difference if is on or off. It's only eye candy.

Do you have the prevent CB option checked or unchecked in your asn settings? - David Lee

LOL! In real life, here in the USA, I use Intellicast and other weather sites with radar images to watch our weather. Not FS weather. Real life weather! Not worth the time to write out a detailed description of how often the radar images show precip here that is not falling, or how often the precip intensity varies greatly from the radar images.

 

Read my profile for more understanding.....

It's not a question of whether rain is really there or not, more whether the display is looks realistic or exaggerated. All red returns with little or no yellow and green doesn't make much sense. I've posted about it on the hifi forum to see what they have to say.

H James,

 

we' are aware of an issue in our signal attenuation with distance algorithm, that may lead to increased signals close to the aircraft. What we tried to do is to fine tune the extent that signal intensity attenuates as the radar beam spreads with distance (at some point during ASN SP3 development). That seems to work inversely and may adversely affect signals close to the aircraft in certain cases. By increasing the ND range, I am certain you will not only get "red" signals. We'll adjust this at some point.

 

I will not comment on other posts that are not specific enough and may be the result of not correct (i.e. unintented) usage of our technology. I do want however to make some other comments:

 

- You can't expect to get realistic thunderstorm depiction when the "consensus" (by well "respected" community members) tends to be to have the cloud density slider set to medium, in order to preserve performance (especially in P3D).

- Lightning: ASN does not control that and is unrelated to the way the radar works. You'll get lightning out of nowhere if you add a CB cloud with a coverage 1/8 or 2/8 in the sim. It's in our plans to try to "fix" this too, but it's not yet here.

- In FSX/P3D currently there is no way to visualize rain shafts/virga in the distance. So it's all about what we get at the aircraft positiion and the radar is working based on what ASN will  inject as precipitation/turbulence at this specific point once the aircraft gets there.

- What ASN does is control the ambient precipitation intensity in real time and keep turbulence and generation of up and down drafts in sync with that (as proven by ASN debug window). This includes hail generation when certain criteria are met.  These are the only things a weather engine can (and should) do. The final "effect" you'll feel in the sim obviously depends on other things (aircraft weight etc).

 

Obviously not everything is perfect, there are bugs and limitations (in both our code and the sim) and we always try to improve things moving forward. But I do wonder if you set in ASN settings the max up/downdraft values to let's say 2000 feet/min, check the detailed thunderstorms option, have cloud density to max and then try to fly in a thunderstorm ("red") area how well you'll be able to control the aircraft on approach (or at cruise). Of course to get all this ASN has to  be up and running....

 

Have a nice weekend.

Very informative, Kostas, that explains a lot. Look forward to seeing how things look when the attenuation is sorted out. Will be even better if you can are able to get control over FSX lightning.