Step 2 - Matching Ceilometer Data to the Webcam Location
Step two was to match ceiling data with each webcam image and its corresponding location, so that in later steps, the MLA could identify ceiling height from the camera image.
1) To find the closest METAR to a particular camera, use the Iowa State University data set first. (Iowa State University ASOS-AWOS-METAR Data) to collect visibility and ceiling data.
- This dataset is user-friendly and enables you to view the locations of METAR stations within a particular state.
2) Record the corresponding METAR with the camera details you found in Step 1. It's also important not only to include coordinates of the camera itself, but also the coordinates of its closest METAR station.
- Two types of ceilometer data were found. The first is METAR data, which is sourced from the Aviation Weather Center (https://aviationweather.gov/data/metar/), as well as from Metar-Taf (https://metar-taf.com/). The second source comes from a website called the Unified Ceilometer Network (https://ucn-portal.org/sites), which provides the user with a 24 hour plot of ceiling height for a given location across the U.S.
- If you need to convert the coordinates, here are some helpful tools:
Airport Coordinates: https://airportcodes.aero/
DMS/DD Coordinate Converter: https://gps-coordinates.org/coordinate-converter.php