[aprssig] Changing visibility Weather Symbols

[Eric Christensen]

Bob,
A question...  Will the symbols, themselves, be retained or will there 
actually be an overlay on a symbol?  I'd like to see the actual weather 
symbols retained as I feel it is important to display the 
internationally recognized weather symbols [1] on the charts.  I'm not 
sure if all the APRS clients out there actually use the proper symbols 
or not, however.

Obviously the link shows many more symbols that just aren't feasible or 
necessary on APRS but you get the picture.

73,
Eric W4OTN

[1] http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jetstream/synoptic/ww_symbols.htm


Robert Bruninga wrote:
> WEATHER Groupies beware?
> 
> In the initiative to upgrade APRS symbols, we are wasting some
> very valuable OVERLAYABLE symbol subgroups with a few nailed
> down legacy weather symbols.  We are proposing to consolidate
> some of these Weather symbols to open up much more space.  Since
> this is the first time we have considered actually CHANGING some
> symbol definitions, this can cause problems out there for some
> users of some legacy systems.
> 
> That is why I am posting this plan to the APRS community.  If we
> do this, XASTIR and UIVIEW will be able to download new symbol
> definitions.  But some legacy clients that do not operate from
> external symbol files will show the wrong symbols for these. If
> users of those systems forsee some serious problems with the
> re-arrangement of these symbols, let us know the specific impact
> and your ideas for a workaround.. 
> 
> The symbols that are impacted are as follows:
> 
> First, consolidate all of the visibility symbols into the old
> SMOKE symbol and change its meaning to "VISIBILITY", and then
> differentiate them with the overlay characters.  
> 
> "\E"  (existing smoke) the symbol with no overlay
> "HE"  (an H overlay) will mean Haze
> "SE"  (an S overlay) will mean Smoke
> "BE"  (a  B overlay) will mean Blowing Snow
> "DE"  (a  D overlay) will mean blowing Dust or sand
> "FE"  (an F overlay) will mean Fog
> 
> Another category is to expand the RAIN symbol to make it kinda
> like lots of angled dots coming from the sky, but with an open
> center so that we can use overlays for a number of common
> PRECIPITATIONS.  The consolidations would be:
> 
> "\`" (existing Rain) would be the symbol with no overlay
> "R`" (an R overlay) would mean Rain
> "F`" (an F overlay) would mean Freezing Rain
> "H`" (an H overlay) would mean Hail
> "D`" (an D overlay) would mean Drizzle
> "E`" (an E overlay) would mean slEEt
> "S`" (an S overlay) would mean Snow
> Etc. and other particulates coming from the sky
> 
> Next, I propose expanding the existing RAIN SHOWER "\I" symbol
> to look like some kind of cloud symbol with specks in it that
> can be overlayed. (It needs to look different from the next
> CLOUD symbol). It can then consolidate these symbols:
> 
> "RI" (an R overlay) would mean Rain Shower
> "SI" (an S overlay) would mean Snow shower
> "LI" (an L overlay) would mean Lightening
> Etc. and other things related to clouds
> 
> Next, I propose expanding the existing CLOUD symbol to allow
> definition of any number of different types of cloud.  This
> needs to also look like a cloud but a different shape and allow
> for overlays  (Maybe this cloud is clear):
> 
> "\(" is the existing cloud symbol (would have no overlay)
> "P(" with P overlay would mean partly cloudy
> "W(" with W overlay would be a wall cloud
> "F(" would be Funnel cloud, but the original "\f" will also be
> retained for now
> 
> This free's up a lot of overlayable symbol GROUPS each of which
> can suport up to 36 different overlays in each group for the
> future:
> 
> #H for 36 new Hazards (was only Hail)
> #[ for 36 new human symbols (was only Wall Cloud)
> #B was only blowing snow
> #b was only blowing dust/sand
> #{ was only fog
> #* was snow only
> #: was hail only
> #D was drizzle only
> #F was freezing rain only
> #e was sleet only
> #G was only Snow shower
> #J was only Lightening
> #p was only partly cloudy
> 
> Of course future code can fully draw each of these overlays as
> distinct special symbols in any way they want.  But Uiview uers
> are stuck with only seeing overlays on basic group shapes for
> now.
> 
> To keep the noise-to-signal rate down, I suggest replying only
> if you have something of significance that will be impacted by
> this proposal.  I especially want to hear from Dale Hugley who
> is a resource for weather, and Stephen Smith who will have to
> draw them for Uiview. And others with a stake in this...
> 
> Bob, WB4APR
> 
> 
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