NOAA Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) Weather Feed for Google Earth
We’re happy to announce a dynamic Google Earth data layer for the NOAA Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) Program position/weather reports. The VOS feed contains ship weather observations from around the world updated hourly. This is our 1st true dynamic layer to coincide with the EarthNC Marine Charts for Google Earth.
Our data source includes observations for the previous 24 hour period. Each report is ‘timestamped’ so you can use the time slider in Google Earth to set the timerange you’d like to see reports for (and see the 24 vessel tracks for ships which regularly report). We are updating the data once per hour and the network link above is set to refresh at the same rate. You’ll need Google Earth Version 4 - which was released on 9 Jan 2007 for the network link to work correctly.
Download our Network Link
DestinSharks.com NOAA VOS Weather Layer for Google Earth
Layer Legend and Description
The position icons are coded to convey a fair bit of information directly. Here’s the current ‘legend’:
1. Arrow - points in the direction the wind is blowing towards
- white is <20kts (6 Beaufort)
- yellow is >20kts but <40kts (9 Beaufort)
- red > 40kts
- if no arrow, then no winds are reported or are calm
2. Center Color
- White is visibility > 10sm
- Grey is visibility <10sm but >2sm
- Black is visibility <2sm
- Blue is no visibility information reported
3. Hover Label (for example ‘SHIP W 120@15 T 66/55 P 30.31″+ 12sm Broken’)
- Vessel ID (usually SHIP or a number)
- Wind From Direction @ Speed in MPH (W 120@15)
- Air Temp and Dew Point in F (T 66/55)
- Pressure and 3 hr Trend (P 30.31″+)
- Visibility and Cloud Cover (12sm Broken)
4. Info Window
- click on any icon for all weather info, observation time, and wave heights/periods
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:31 am
[…] Hot on the heels of our NOAA Voluntary Observing Ship weather report layer, we’re excited to release our latest dynamic weather feed for Google Earth. Our DestinSharks.com Metar Weather Feed displays the latest weather observations for over 1,700 US locations in Google Earth. These observations include wind speed and direction, temperature, dewpoint, visibility, and general conditions. For a comprehensive view of weather in Google Earth, we’ve also created a ’super’ link which includes our new Metar Feed, VOS Ship Feed, NOAA National Nexrad Radar, and NOAA Watches and Warnings. […]