Slide 1 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 4 The next generation of meteorological workstation at ECMWF Stephan Siemen Graphics Section ECMWF

Slide 2 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Overview News Magics++ updates Metview updates Metview 4 Other developments

Slide 3 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June News Magics++ updates Metview updates Metview 4 Other developments

Slide 4 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Changes since last EGOWS The development of MAGICS 6 has been frozen -Only minor updates are planned Magics++ developments continued with various releases New Metgrams have been released (Wavegrams) Two new versions of Metview have been released: -3.10: New VarEps support -3.11: Major internal change moving from gribex to GribAPI Start of installation of new super computer (IBM Power 6)

Slide 5 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June th Workshop on Meteorological Operational Systems 12 th – 16 th November 2007 at ECMWF, Reading, UK Speakers were invited to report on “new trends in meteorological visualisation applications” Focus was on web services and applications. We had discussions on how useful Rich Internet Applications can be. Calls for a separate Workshop to discuss OGC web standards / services The presentations and conclusions are available at

Slide 6 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June EGOWS 2010 ECMWF is happy to offer to host EGOWS 2010 Will be at the weather centre in Reading, UK We will inform / invite Member States

Slide 7 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June News Magics++ updates Metview updates Metview 4 Other developments

Slide 8 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Magics++

Slide 9 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Magics++ - MagML XML based format to describe Magics++ plots Descriptive, not procedural some support of variables and global definitions No need for (re-)compilation magml interpreter program processes a MagML file and produces output graphics Interpreter can be easily called in user code Description close to Metview’s icon convention Can be integrated into more complex XML request descriptions

Slide 10 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Magics++ - MagML usage MagML is very popular with users Main aim is the large scale automatic production of plots MagML enables easy use of new features of Magics++ to make it more attractive for producing web output -Generating meta information / JavaScript code to support interactivity of web output -Layers -New formats: SVG, GIF, PDF, KML Used in this way in the Plot-On-Demand project at ECMWF Ideal as backend for web interfaces with static layout and visual properties but changing data

Slide 11 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June

Slide 12 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June <text font='Times-Roman' colour='rgb(0.1,0.6,0.2)' bottom="90%" display="inline" >Z500 Contour Plot MagML - example - the code Variables can be passed to interpreter

Slide 13 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June MagML - example - the output

Slide 14 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metgrams

Slide 15 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Magics new features Rotated grids Observation plotting Support for BUFR metgram data Python interface

Slide 16 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Magics++ - next steps Start testing new ECMWF interpolation library Develop features to support Metview 4 “Style sheets” for data types / products (possible replacement for specification groups) Investigate streamlines Introduce new projections (e.g. tephigrams) Investigate advanced GIS features (e.g. shaded relief maps)

Slide 17 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June News Magics++ updates Metview updates Metview 4 Other developments

Slide 18 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview ECMWF's meteorological data visualisation and processing tool Complete working environment for the operational and research meteorologist GRIB BUFR Matrix other PostScript PNG, JPEG Macro Metview Visualisation Processing InteractiveBatch script routine production Mars

Slide 19 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 3.11 – developments Support for Grib 2 through migration from gribex to GribAPI -Meant many internal changes -Internally we still convert Grib 2 to Grib 1 for visualisation only Support for inline C/C++ in Metview Macro (same as inline Fortran) New features to support ECMWF’s Observations DataBase (ODB) -Allows examining and reading for visualisation and processing -Only released inside ECMWF

Slide 20 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June News Magics++ updates Metview updates Metview 4 Other developments

Slide 21 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 4 - Aims Take full advantage of features from support libraries: -Magics++ -GribAPI -New Interpolation library -Terralib (INPE / Brazil) Address issues reported by users: -More options to work with satellite data -Enhanced Macro editor -Easier installation (e.g. binary distribution) -Integrate Magics++ tools (MagML, Metgrams) -Improved NetCDF support

Slide 22 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 4 - improvements Magics++ and Metview will both use C++ -Interface between both is generated from the same XML description files as the Fortran and MagML interface is More sharing of code between Magics++ and Metview More input and output formats (Magics++) Improvements in user interactivity, such as layers -The ability to dynamically toggle certain graphical objects, such as contour labels and maxima/minima Querying the properties of graphical objects displayed on screen Generate MagML for plot-on-demand (web)

Slide 23 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 4 - status Currently in alpha status User can switch between current, MAGICS 6 based plot module or new, Magics++ based plot module New plot module, using OpenGL, is working as first prototype -Better fonts -Improved zooming functions Thanks to modular architecture, Metview 3 modules continue to work alongside new Metview 4 modules Some Metview 3 modules might be removed later or redirected to a ‘translator’ to call a respective new module

Slide 24 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 4 - new display

Slide 25 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview 4 - Next steps Start having users testing Metview 4 this summer -Mainly for new ODB / NetCDF features Release future test version of Metview including new Metview 4 modules Currently non-invasive work on Metview 3 Review of ‘old’ features - some might be rewritten or even removed Consider new GUI toolkit additional to Motif - stepwise transition First release in 2009

Slide 26 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June News Magics++ updates Metview updates Metview 4 Other developments

Slide 27 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June WMO symbols fonts (1) Wmo.jhf (Java - VisAD) Suggestion for a Wiki ERSI font files Disadvantages: inclusion in vector formats, no layouts Possible commercial fonts  Thanks for all your feedback!

Slide 28 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June WMO symbols fonts (2) We test now TTF fonts in Magics++ We test Pango as the layout engine Inclusion in vector formats (SVG, PS) a real problem We still look for a ‘full’ set of WMO symbols  We will keep you informed about our progress!

Slide 29 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June OGC web services Web standards defined by Open Geospatial Consortium WMS - Web Map Service -Examples: Google Earth WFS - Web Feature Service -Retrieving or altering feature descriptions WCS - Web Coverage Service -Provide ‘coverage objects’ File formats -GML -KML (Google Earth)

Slide 30 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June OGC services - our plans Support KML output in Magics++ / Metview 4 -Start Google Earth from Metview Support of OGC description of projections -Terralib supports EPSG codes -Possibility to use Magics++ to build WMS service Enable definition of WMS request and import of results Add support for GML and WCS as input?  There are plans to hold a Workshop about OGC web services end of November 2008!

Slide 31 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Summary Metview -Metview 3.10 export version -Next export version 3.11 planned this June Magics++ -Magics export version -Next Export 2.6 version planned 3Q 2008 For more information and to keep up-to-date with developments, please visit our webpage or subscribe to our RSS at

Slide 32 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview demo

Slide 33 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview Principles First Metview Principle: “Everything in Metview is an Icon” Second Metview Principle: “Every Metview Task is a sequence of actions on icons”

Slide 34 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview user interface Edit to open Desktop Click-Right for Desktop Menu Main Desktop Opened Desktop Icon Drawers Menu Bar Desktop Menu

Slide 35 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview Icon Editors (1) Graphical editor (Display Window) Standard editor (MARS Retrieval) Family editor (Simple Formula) Text editor (Macro)

Slide 36 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Icon Id (click to see contents in plain text format) Input area Input element: Check Button Templates Drawer: Stores predefined (frequently used) icons Save/Exit area Help Button (linked to HTML Help Pages) Input element: Icon Field Input element: Option Menu Input element: Alphanumeric Field Metview Icon Editors (2)

Slide 37 19th EGOWS, Ljubljana, June Metview - Display Window Menu Bar Frame Menu (Click-Right) Content Tab Controls Tab Command Buttons (‘Tool Tip Help’ when pointing to) Plot Size Control