Early warning system for Wimbledon weather

06 July 2007, 9:12am

ESRI (UK) provides web-based geographic information system (GIS) for Met Office, improving weather forecasting for Wimbledon tennis tournament.

The effects of rain at Wimbledon has been minimised this year thanks to the system for forecasting weather from the Met Office and ESRI (UK), the market leader in enterprise Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.

Providing warnings for when the covers need go over the tennis courts before rainfall, ESRI (UK) has integrated its ArcIMS software with the Met Office’s EnviroMet system, which displays radar imagery of varying weather conditions for the whole of the UK with the built in ability to focus on Wimbledon.

At the event, the Met Office is able to check the intensity of rainfall every 15 minutes, for example, using EnviroMet images overlaid on an interactive online map of the area provided by ESRI (UK)’s software, offering more accurate data for forecasters.

The new system enables the Met Office to analyse regions down to a 1km square in most urban areas including Wimbledon, as opposed to 5km previously. Being web-based, EnviroMet enables the user to access a range of forecast and actual precipitation information. In addition to these, the user is able to access information on; forecast and actual lightning; forecast temperature; forecast wind-speed; hydrological factors such as snow melt and forecast freezing level.

The Met Office is dedicating a forecaster for the two week event who will have access to the forecasting system via a secure website. The forecaster will brief the Championships’ Referee and Head Groundsman on a continual basis and more frequently if rain is likely.

John Hammond, forecaster at the Met Office, said: “With rain and showers forecast for the start of the tournament, it is imperative that the covers are on in quick time – to protect the courts and to ensure we see as much tennis as possible.

This year the Met Office and ESRI (UK) have gone a step further to ensure the most accurate weather reporting possible to benefit the whole tournament and Hammond added: “EnviroMet and ESRI’s ArcIMS is a powerful combination of weather imaging and mapping technology that enables us to forecast the weather more accurately than ever before. The mapping element means we can provide our clients with an immediate and detailed picture of the specific area of the country on which they would like up-to-date weather information”.

As well as sporting organisations such as the All England Club, the Met Office works with other organisations such as water companies that require accurate forecasting to adapt and mitigate under circumstances of differing precipitation events.

Richard Waite, managing director, ESRI (UK) said: “The Met Office is a great example of an organisation that is using our GIS technology to gain more vision from its data for the benefit of its customers.”

www.esriuk.com

GeoConnexion UK