Suitability of Unidata Metapps for Incorporation in Platform- Independent User-Customized Aviation Weather Products Generation Software
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Air Force Institute of Technology AFIT Scholar Theses and Dissertations Student Graduate Works 3-8-2002 Suitability of Unidata Metapps for Incorporation in Platform- Independent User-Customized Aviation Weather Products Generation Software Harmen P. Visser Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.afit.edu/etd Part of the Meteorology Commons, and the Software Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Visser, Harmen P., "Suitability of Unidata Metapps for Incorporation in Platform-Independent User- Customized Aviation Weather Products Generation Software" (2002). Theses and Dissertations. 4500. https://scholar.afit.edu/etd/4500 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Graduate Works at AFIT Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of AFIT Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SUITABILITY OF UNIDATA METAPPS FOR INCORPORATION IN PLATFORM-INDEPENDENT USER-CUSTOMIZED AVIATION WEATHER PRODUCTS GENERATION SOFTWARE THESIS Harmen P. Visser, Captain, USAF AFIT/GM/ENP/02M-09 DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE AIR UNIVERSITY AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED Report Documentation Page Report Date Report Type Dates Covered (from... to) 8 Mar 02 Final Jun 2001 - Mar 2002 Title and Subtitle Contract Number Suitability of Unidata Metapps for Incorporation in Platform-Independent User-Customized Aviation Grant Number Weather Products Generation Software Program Element Number Author(s) Project Number Capt Harmen P. Visser, USAF Task Number Work Unit Number Performing Organization Name(s) and Performing Organization Report Number Address(es) AFIT/GM/ENP/02M-09 Air Force Institute of Technology Graduate School of Engineering and Management (AFIT/EN) 2950 P Street, Bldg 640 WPAFB OH 45433-7765 Sponsoring/Monitoring Agency Name(s) and Sponsor/Monitor’s Acronym(s) Address(es) AFWA/DNXT ATTN: Mr. Bruce Telfeyan 106 Sponsor/Monitor’s Report Number(s) Peacekeeper Drive Offutt AFB NE 68113-4039 Distribution/Availability Statement Approved for public release, distribution unlimited Supplementary Notes Abstract Due to multiple factors, including an increase in military operations tempo and the improved resolution of meteorological models, demand for access to customized aviation weather products has increased exponentially. This has given rise to a need for a multi-purpose interactive aviation weather product generation software solution. This software solution must be platform-independent, multiple data source access configurable, robust, extensible or upgradeable, user-friendly, and an improvement over current visualization applications used in the operational military aviation weather community. This thesis determines whether Unidata MetApps meets these criteria. A software reuse and component-based engineering approach was taken in this thesis. Two experimental applications were constructed using a software design approach resembling the Facade software design pattern. The first application used existing MetApps stand-alone prototype applications, while the second exploited capabilities of the MetApps component library. Both experimental applications were measured against the above set of criteria to determine their suitability for incorporation in platform-independent user-customized aviation weather products generation software. The results prove that a Facade software design approach can be effectively used to build applications. It was determined however that, even though MetApps shows promise, it may not be suitable for incorporation into an operational application. Subject Terms Meteorology, Meteorological Applications (MetApps), Interactive Graphics, Java, Unidata. Report Classification Classification of this page unclassified unclassified Classification of Abstract Limitation of Abstract unclassified UU Number of Pages 103 The views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the U. S. Government. AFIT/GM/ENP/02M-09 SUITABILITY OF UNIDATA METAPPS FOR INCORPORATION IN PLATFORM- INDEPENDENT USER-CUSTOMIZED AVIATION WEATHER PRODUCTS GENERATION SOFTWARE THESIS Presented to the Faculty Department of Engineering Physics Graduate School of Engineering and Management Air Force Institute of Technology Air University Air Education and Training Command In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Meteorology Harmen P. Visser, BS Captain, USAF March 2002 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED AFIT/GM/ENP/02M-09 SUITABILITY OF UNIDATA METAPPS FOR INCORPORATION IN PLATFORM- INDEPENDENT USER-CUSTOMIZED AVIATION WEATHER PRODUCTS GENERATION SOFTWARE Harmen P. Visser, BS Captain, USAF Approved: Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis advisor, Lt Col Timothy Jacobs, for his guidance and support throughout the course of this thesis effort. The insight and experience he provided was greatly appreciated. My gratitude also goes out to Lt Col Walters, for his dry wit, and Major Huffines, for helping me keep things that are truly important in perspective. I would, also, like to thank my organizational sponsor, the Technology Exploitation Branch at the Air Force Weather Agency, for both the technical support and latitude provided to me in this endeavor. I also wish to acknowledge the help from my fellow thesis students from both the Engineering Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering Departments. Their comments, suggestions, quips, snipes, good-natured haranguing, and occasional much needed “correction-of- attitude” helped keep me from always losing my temper. I am, also, indebted to the late author Theodore S. Geisel. At the age of ten, I was presented by my parents with a copy of Geisel’s “The Sneetches and Other Stories,” and introduced to the English language (some say that this goes a long way to explaining why I write and speak English the way that I do). Finally, and certainly not least, I wish to thank the Lord and my family. Without their patience, understanding, and unconditional love, I would certainly have had a lot tougher time getting through the creation of this thesis than I did. Harmen P. Visser iv Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements............................................................................................................ iv List of Figures................................................................................................................... vii List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. ix 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background............................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem....................................................................................... 5 1.3 Scope......................................................................................................................6 1.4 Overview of Approach........................................................................................... 6 1.5 Organizational Overview....................................................................................... 8 2. Related Work ............................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Overview.............................................................................................................. 10 2.2 McIDAS............................................................................................................... 10 2.3 GrADS ................................................................................................................. 13 2.4 Vis5D ................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 VisAD .................................................................................................................. 17 2.6 MetApps............................................................................................................... 21 2.7 4DWX.................................................................................................................. 23 2.8 Summation ........................................................................................................... 25 3. Methodology................................................................................................................ 27 3.1 Overview.............................................................................................................. 27 v 3.2 Goals .................................................................................................................... 27 3.3 Requirements for Success.................................................................................... 28 3.4 Design of Experimental Applications.................................................................. 29 3.4.1 Overview ................................................................................................... 29 3.4.2 Application