The Korea Meteorological Administration said it will provide a revamped version of Weather Nuri’s “Weather Map” service starting September 22.
The key change is that users can now examine global atmospheric flows, rather than viewing only the area around the Korean Peninsula.
How might the screen used to check the weather in your neighborhood connect to weather changes far away?
3-line summary
1. Weather Nuri’s weather map is expanding worldwide
2. A 3D map and wind information are being added
3. Distinguish model forecasts from actual weather
Korean-model forecasts expanded beyond the Korean Peninsula
The Korea Meteorological Administration announced that it is expanding the coverage of its weather map, based on data from the Korea Integrated Model (KIM), from the Korean Peninsula to the entire world. KIM is software that predicts the weather by calculating equations based on the physical laws that determine atmospheric movements.
The most noticeable change in this update is the map’s coverage. Users can check major weather patterns around the world on a single screen and move to a specific city through search. The plan is to provide time-based changes in weather conditions—including temperature, wind, and humidity—when users select a location on the map.
The Korea Meteorological Administration explained that it has introduced a 3D globe map in addition to the existing flat map. The purpose is to allow users to examine the Earth’s overall atmospheric circulation three-dimensionally. This may represent a change for users who want to view broad weather changes together, going beyond looking only at domestic weather.
Showing areas of rain clouds and wind together
The new weather map displays wind information together with precipitation areas identified by radar. The Korea Meteorological Administration said this will enable users to examine in conjunction which direction rain-bearing precipitation bands are moving and at what speed.
Existing radar imagery used an image-based format whose quality could deteriorate as it was enlarged, but this update fuses radar and wind information for display using a vector-based format, the agency explained. It also applied a modern data-processing system that quickly loads high-resolution meteorological data, establishing a basis for providing information immediately when a region is selected on the map.
However, maps from numerical weather prediction models are forecasts calculated for future atmospheric conditions. Rather than interpreting the movement path of rain clouds or time-based changes in a particular region as having the same meaning as actual observations, it is more appropriate to view them as information for examining the flow of weather changes.
Available on Weather Nuri and the app; app interface revamp also planned
The Korea Meteorological Administration said the revamped weather map is available through the KMA Weather Nuri weather map and the Weather Alert app. The service is intended to let users connect major global patterns with detailed information about surrounding areas on a single screen.
The Korea Meteorological Administration said it plans to improve and introduce a more user-friendly home screen for the Weather Alert app around December. This is an announced plan and needs to be distinguished from the weather-map update that the agency said would begin being provided this time. The value of this service lies less in the map’s expanded coverage than in enabling users to read the context of weather changes by viewing radar precipitation areas and wind information together.
References
Tags #KMAWeatherNuri #KMA #WeatherNuri #WeatherMap #KoreaIntegratedModel #KIM #NumericalWeatherPredictionModel #GlobalWeather #WeatherMap #RadarImagery #RainClouds #WindInformation #WeatherAlert