Gather local wind data

On Monday, September 24, 2012 11:48:37 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
Steve, Would XCSkies work for your needs? I see, looking at the map for Hutchinson, that you should be getting lift up to 2,000' AGL right now! "Steve Leonard" wrote in message ... On Monday, September 24, 2012 12:10:39 AM UTC-5, Eric Greenwell wrote: Here is a rocket logger: altitude, temperature - $80 http://www.perfectflite.com/sl100.html May have to get one of those. But again rockets are not the way to go for recurring cost. As I recall from talking with one of our local rocket guys, they are $30 and up per shot. Don't mind a few more bucks to get started, but hate recurring costs. Thanks for the searching, Eric. If I get one, I will let you know how the kite flying and data collecting goes. That one might have issues, as the launch, climb, and recovery of the kite will likely be more than 9 minutes. Reeling in 7000 feet of like takes a bit of time! Steve

xcskies is still a model based forecast. when the model is broken it doesn't matter if dr. jack or xcskies is interpreting the data it still will be wrong.

On Monday, September 24, 2012 1:02:02 PM UTC-4, Tony wrote:
On Monday, September 24, 2012 11:48:37 AM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:


xcskies is still a model based forecast. when the model is broken it doesn't matter if dr. jack or xcskies is interpreting the data it still will be wrong.

Yeah, but...

It seems to me that the models are more often wrong about the parts of the forecast that wouldn't be "fixed" by a local sounding.

There are obviously times (e.g. exact timing of a frontal passage) which can make a difference between a soarable day at the local airport and playing golf, but in such cases a morning sounding wouldn't matter. Similarly, we can have a perfectly good boundary layer in place but a pesky short-wave aloft produces a alto-cu layer just where we didn't need it, killing our heating. Again, that one wouldn't be caught by the local sounding. Same for advection of some slightly drier air that takes our day for 3/8 Cu to blue.

I'd be curious if Dan Gudgel or Walt Rogers would weigh in on this one. Maybe I'll just ask :-)

P3