Sensor Correction
Facility
| In some locations,
such as San Francisco Bay, and San Pablo Bay, the accuracy of the program's current
predictions can be enhanced by inputting actual current data. This is obtained by
telephone messages and web sites which report real-time measurements by NOAA current
sensors. These corrections can be significant during the winter season, when the amount of
fresh water entering these Bays from heavy rains and snowmelt changes the average
quantities built into the annual data set. These measurements only take place at a few,
widely separated points, and have little direct use to the recreational boater. Once this
data is entered into the program, however, its predictions over the entire region are
corrected to conform to the seasonal variations exhibited at the sensor locations. The
resulting current predictions are far more accurate in the off-season than those of any
other source. Until recently, collection of this data from the San Francisco sensors (known as the "PORTS" system) was fairly tedious, since individual timepoints had to be compiled over an ebb cycle, and a flood cycle, in order to be fed into the program by hand. Fortunately, the need to do this was infrequent, perhaps every 2-3 weeks in mid-winter, and not at all from late spring to early winter. Now it is possible to download a file containing all of the information the program needs, and it can do the whole procedure automatically, in seconds. If you are a San Francisco user, check this site's "Download" page for new versions of your program which can take advantage of this new capability. There are plans by NOAA to install similar sensors at other locations around the country in the next few years. As these come online, Local Knowledge will utilize them to test and improve the accuracy of its predictions in the corresponding region. |
Other Features of Local Knowledge Programs:
