Digital Atmosphere is a powerful weather forecasting program that allows
you to create detailed maps of real-time weather for anywhere in the world.
It makes extensive use of techniques and algorithms that are comparable
and in some cases superior to the National Weather Service's multimillion-dollar systems.
It runs on any Windows system,
and uses free data from government and university sources on the Internet.
Digital Atmosphere Historical
Data is now included as of version 3.06!
Try out a copy!
You can download a fully functional program and use it for 30 days to test out
its capabilities. If you like it,
register and we will send key numbers to keep the program functional past the
30-day evaluation period. Registrations are processed manually and you will receive an email with instructions on how to obtain your key within 3 days of your order.
»
Download Digital Atmosphere
Types of data supported
Digital Atmosphere imports and displays land synoptic (WMO FM 12 SYNOP),
ship synoptic (WMO FM 13 SHIP),
METAR (WMO FM 15 METAR),
buoy (WMO FM 18 BUOY),
upper air (WMO FM 35 TEMP),
aircraft data report (ACARS) (WMO FM 42 AMDAR),
NMC frontal depiction transmission format (ASUS1 KWBC),
gridded binary (GRIB) (WMO FM 92-IX),
NEXRAD Level III (ICD 2620001) WSR-88D NEXRAD format,
Australian AXF comma-delimited observational data and similar formats,
NHC Hurricane Warning bulletins,
any weather agency's radar images available on the web (JPG or non-animated GIF; configuration may be required),
and more!
Screen shots
Click any screen shot to enlarge.
Basic surface data can be plotted worldwide from METAR, SYNOP, and BUOY data.
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Composite of surface data, radar reflectivity, and gridded wind.
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The powerful radar import feature allows use of international radars, such as in Canada.
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Digital Atmosphere not only imports Australian AXF data but also can use the legacy NMC/NCEP font.
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Digital Atmosphere's SKEW-T's are suitable for the most demanding storm forecasting work.
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Radar data can be plotted against detailed U.S. maps in the Professional Version.
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Digital Atmosphere supports the European FLEETCODE bulletins.
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Standardized planetary maps can be imported from many different sources on the Internet.
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Plotting shapefiles is a breeze. Here, a shapefile for U.S. railroads is imported.
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Digital Atmosphere allows color schemes to be changed readily.
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Hurricane Charley as plotted against street-level TPC raster maps (Professional Version) in west central Florida. You can see exactly which communities are getting struck by the eyewall.
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Hurricane Charley with streamlined METAR/BUOY wind fields. There is a slight position shift since the radar is minutes old while the surface data is about 20 minutes old.
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Helpful links
Download
Screen shots
FAQ and support
Upgrade information (for existing users)
Online manual
Case Study (2000 heat wave)
Questions & Answers
What is the current version and what's new?
The current version is 3.06, released 24 June 2018. Adds anti-aliased isopleths, station
tables updated to 6/24/2018, support for
Digital Atmosphere Historical Data, debugging
info added to About form, QC panel has been fixed, unlimited scripting character limit per row,
shading analysis scripts added, other changes.
What kind of raw data does Digital Atmosphere accept?
It uses almost every conceivable format established by the
World Meteorological Organization. These include SYNOP, SAO, METAR, PILOT
(TTAA/TTBB/PPBB), NIDS WSR-88D data, and more! All of
this data is accessible for free (it's on the Internet
and anyone can get it).
Where do I get the data?
It's taken care of for you! You just check off the kind
of data you want on the Internet Retrieval panel
and Digital Atmosphere will fetch it for you and import it
for instant viewing. You can change or add
new URLs at your discretion. You can also use
great weather databases such as WSI and AccuData, and any canned (saved) data.
What is Digital Atmosphere Historical Data?
View weather situations going back 87 years with Digital Atmosphere Historical Data!
These are complete sets of observations for North America (US, all 50 states, plus Canada, and Mexico)
twice a day, at 00Z and 12Z. This provides all known observations, not just a coarse subset of data.
This data differs from our premium
Global Surface Archives product
in a few ways: the Digital Atmosphere version is in a binary format usable for plotting and
analyzing in Digital Atmosphere only, there is no coverage outside North America, there is only
data twice a day instead of 24 times a day, and it
requires Digital Atmosphere 2018 V3.06 or later.
As with other datasets, the coverage is sparse in the 1930s and early 1940s due to the limited
availability of hourly observations. However the package offers a spectacular look
at synoptic and mesoscale details for almost any situation going back to the WWII years. You can download this
data free at our
downloads page.
What kind of other cool stuff does Digital Atmosphere do?
Digital Atmosphere contains a scheduler for automatically retrieving
and redisplaying maps every hour (copies can even be saved to disk).
There is a fascinating climatology module that lets you display
highs, lows, rainfall, etc for specific cities or plotted on
your basemaps.
Finally Digital Atmosphere is a great tool for creating basemaps that
can be used in web sites, studies, and publications.
Why not just use premade weather maps I can already get off the Internet?
Nearly all Internet sites let you look at only live data. You're out of
luck if you want to see the maps that led up to a significant weather event. With Digital
Atmosphere you can load and view historical data any time you want!
What's the fun of using a map you didn't make? Maps online are often
not quite perfect for the uses you intend. With Digital Atmosphere
you have total control over the appearance -- you can specify your
own contours, plot styles, and overlays.
You are totally at the mercy of online map sites.
If they go down or stop receiving data (which is common from time to time), the maps
also go down. With Digital Atmosphere you are not tied to one
specific data source. You always have maps at your fingertips.
What's the difference between the Standard and Professional Version?
The Professional Version has three main differences:
Highly detailed raster basemaps for the United States at 4 different levels. It fills up an entire CD-ROM.
No serial and key validation -- our anti-pirating scheme is disabled so you never have to register your copy. Suitable for corporate use.
Unlimited analysis menus (the Standard version has a limit of 100 analysis menu entries)
What's this I hear about topographic maps?
Topography is an essential element of forecasting weather, and
Digital Atmosphere features both topography and photoreal terrain.
What kind of system requirements are there?
All you need is a Windows computer (Windows 7/Vista/XP/2000)
with at least 30 MB of disk space. That's it! Digital Atmosphere
is also cleanly written and unlike a lot of software does not populate
your system with dozens of nasty drivers, DLLs, and dependencies.
Who writes this program?
The software was written by Tim Vasquez, a
former Air Force forecaster and veteran storm chaser. Digital Atmosphere
enjoys a legion of grass-roots support because it is a clever software
application written for professionals and amateurs alike.
Can I try it for free?
Of course! Our downloadable version is fully functional, and when you
register there's nothing else to download or install.
Simply scroll to the top of this page and use the DOWNLOAD link at the left.
What happens if I don't register?
Certain features in your evaluation version will stop working after 30 days.
You will still be able to retrieve, import, and create maps, but certain
features are disabled. These features are restored when you register
the software and you get your key; you simply enter it in Help > Register.
Your registration is appreciated; not only does it make your copy legitimate
but it goes to pay the author's mortgage and groceries. Rest assured
you aren't just feeding some corporate bank account.
How can I order? What's the cost?
Just go to the top of this page and look at the ADD TO CART links on the left-hand side.
The cost is $89 for the Standard Version and $199 for the
Professional Version.
What technical support is available?
Check out our contact page
to reach us with comments and questions.
What other support options are there?
For general questions about Digital Atmosphere and other software, visit our
online forum.
Also read the informative
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
list.
Corporate customers
Most of our users are amateurs, hobbyists, individuals, students, and retired meteorologists.
However, our list of corporate users reads like a Who's Who of the industry. Digital
Atmosphere finds its niche in an astounding cross section of the meteorological community!
The users who have registered Digital Atmosphere during 2002 and 2003 alone include...
INDUSTRIAL - Perhaps the most popular use for our software is for power companies to
research current and past weather data to determine energy loads, as well as to do day-to-day
forecasting.
Salt River Project (Phoenix AZ);
Idaho Power Company (Boise ID)
UNIVERSITIES - Many instructors have found that Digital Atmosphere makes a powerful
tool for recreating examples and case studies: a perfect thing since Internet maps
perish in mere hours.
Northland College (Ashland WI);
University of North Dakota (Grand Forks ND);
SUNY Brockport (Brockport NY);
Univ of North Carolina (Asheville NC);
Emory University (Atlanta GA);
Mississippi State University (Starkville MS);
Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (Yongin, South Korea);
GOVERNMENT - Digital Atmosphere has proven itself as a powerful utility for all
kinds of forecasting and research work in the government sector.
National Weather Service (Hastings NE);
National Weather Service (Pendleton OR);
NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (Silver Spring MD);
Centro Meteorologico Regionale (Milano, Italy);
KNMI (De Bilt, Netherlands);
MeteoSwiss (Zurich, Switzerland);
Cyprus Meteorological Service (Lefkosia, Cyprus);
US Geological Survey / Water Resources of Indiana (Indianapolis IN)
RESEARCH - Digital Atmosphere is used to sift through historical datasets (including the
sets we sell) and to examine current weather in closer detail.
Meteorological Institute (Munich, Germany);
Weizmann Institute of Science (Neteanya, Israel)
CONTRACTORS - The Digital Atmosphere software package makes a powerful add-on for all
types of meteorological equipment.
UKWtechnik Electronic GmbH, Baiersdorf, Germany;
Mobile Weather Information Systems GmbH (Seewalchen, Austria);
Skycom Telecom Ltd (Newchapel, UK);
Zephyrus Communications (Tulsa OK);
Sea Scan International (Caledon East, Ontario)
PUBLIC FORECASTING - Private consulting firms find Digital Atmosphere to be an
indispensable and flexible tool for all types of situations.
DTN Weather Services (Burnsville MN);
Meteorlogix (Burnsville MN);
The Weather Network (Mississauga, Ontario);
Meteo WVl (Koksijde, Belgium)
T-Storm Weather (Chicago, IL)
MILITARY - Digital Atmosphere's no-nonsense graphics, easy usability, and flexibility
compared to corporate display systems makes it ideal for all types of planning and operational decisions.
US Air Force / Air and Space Operations (Pentagon, Washington DC);
3 ASOS (Air Force) (Eielson AFB AK);
US Navy NAVEURMETOCCEN (Souda Bay, Greece);
US Navy NAVPACMETOCCEN (Pearl Harbor HI);
US Navy NACPACMETOCCEN (Yokosuka, Japan);
Maritime Warfare Centre (HMNB Portsmouth, UK);
Naval Technical Training Unit (Keesler AFB MS)
AVIATION - Digital Atmosphere makes it easy to examine winds aloft and examine
weather systems three-dimensionally.
Colt International (Houston TX);
ABX Air / Flight Operations (Wilmington OH)
MARINE - Using ship reports and buoy data, Digital Atmosphere helps fine-tune wind and
wave forecasts that are only hinted at by models in data-sparse regions.
WNI Oceanroutes (Aberdeen, Scotland);
Fugro GEOS / Marine Weather Services (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates);
Oceans Limited (St Johns, Newfoundland)
TELEVISION - Digital Atmosphere makes an excellent backup for demanding forecasters,
offering an excellent alternative to black-box weather display
systems and inflexible, sometimes unreliable Internet graphics.
KIMT-TV (Mason City IA);
World Weather Productions (Cesson Sevigne, France)
SCHOOLS - The best way to inspire kids is to let them approach an interesting task just like the
pros do. Some teachers choose to leave the textbooks and let kids do just that! Some
such schools include...
Upper Dublin High School (Fort Washington PA);
Erik Ramstad Middle School (Minot, ND);
Woodward Academy (College Park, GA)
Quotes
"It was a great pleasure to receive a new key for our very useful Wx Software Digital Atmosphere 2000.
I am thankful to you. I am working with your Digital Atmosphere 2000 software here in Bangladesh Air Force."
- Abul Hossain
Bangladesh
"DA is really a great software, I cannot live without it! When will the next=
major upgrade be made available?"
- Dennis Le Bihan
France
"Thanks Tim for your quick response (we like that at FedEx) about our
Professional Versions! As we're
a 24/7 operation, we're look forward to augmenting our present weather
system with Digital Atmosphere."
- Mel Bradley, FedEx Operations
Memphis, Tennessee
"The addition of NEXRAD radar has made this program valuable far
beyond its price. Thanks for all the hard work."
- Jerry Nieman
Lockwood, Missouri
"The NEXRAD support is truly awesome and easy to use – and the ‘other’ feature
just really tops it off. This is about my sixth email tonight – the other
five being to other spotters in the area telling them they just have to
download Digital Atmosphere and give it a serious going over."
- David Cashion
"I am very impressed with what you have done. I have already
shown several people at work your site. I plan on talking to our MIC
(Meteorologist In Charge) soon to see
if we can get Digital Atmosphere in the office to complement/supplement AWIPS."
- Ken Simosko, NWS
Pocatello, Idaho
