Weather Routing

[bdbcat]

All...
Weather Routing plugin is now updated in the master catalog. This version updates the acceptable climatology plugin version to 1.6. There are no other functional changes.


Good Luck
Dave

[kevinvh]

Originally Posted by bdbcat

All...
Weather Routing plugin is now updated in the master catalog. This version updates the acceptable climatology plugin version to 1.6. There are no other functional changes.


Good Luck
Dave

Hi Dave,

I have installed WeatherRouting 1.15.18.0, but unfortunately, Climatology 1.6.3.0 will not install on my 2023 16" MBP M2 running MacOS 14.1. See attached screenshots and log file.

Best regards - Kevin

[bdbcat]

Kevin...
I'll check that.


Thanks
Dave

[bdbcat]

Kevin...
Climatology v1.6.30.2 is now available in master catalog.


Good Luck
Dave

[Olivia1006]

Originally Posted by rgleason

@wholybee Much of what you suggest about the accuracy and use of weather_routing is true. It is basically a planning tool and should be taken with a "grain of salt". The weather_routing manual explains much of this.



"The plugin does not use wave gribs or wave polars, and wave height and period have a dramatic effect on sailing speed, pointing ability, etc."

Weather_routing does use current information, but indeed does not use the information in wave gribs because you would need to have matching wind polars taken in various wave size and intervals. The program could interpolate between two sets of "wave" gribs just as it does presently between two different gribs which would save some effort in collection of data.

One thing to think about is how the boat.xml files works. If you load 3 or 4 grib files into your boat.xml file, weather_routing will use the most advantageous polar. So for example, if you have an engine polar in the boat.xml which has a polar showing boat speed between 6nm/hr upwind to 8nm/hr downwind. If the currently used wind polar shows less than that range, the optimized route will use the engine polar automatically for that segment of the route.

Now we need to think about what happens when you have multiple wave polars in the Boat.xml file (none, small, med, large). Quite obviously the way the plugin works now is to automatically use the polar for no waves because it will be the faster route.

We might be able to develop a "wave polar" option that will try to interpolate the wave polars to match the waves predicted in the grib files and have a more accurate routing.

Currently we have another more generalized tool which allows you to set a %reduction in speed for waves. This has been shown to be quite useful.


I suggest reading the Weather_routing Manual to the end.

Thank you for the information. It was something new for me, and I found it interesting to learn about

[rgleason]

Originally Posted by Olivia1006

Thank you for the information. It was something new for me, and I found it interesting to learn about

@Olivia1006
Regarding this

We might be able to develop a "wave polar" option that will try to interpolate the wave polars to match the waves predicted in the grib files and have a more accurate routing.

Wave Height Explanation
https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/faq/measdes.shtml

H1/10 is the average of the highest 10% of waves observed. This is what is newly being displayed in our forecast. This is indicated by "Waves occasionally to xx feet".

If the grib files have this data, we could use it to populate a table that uses the appropriate user generated polar data (none, choppy, medium, large waves). Alternatively we could have values for adjustment of a single polar when in (none, choppy, medium and large waves) as per the data predicted in the grib.

[rgleason]

I think it would be easier to use this approach to account for wave height:

Wave Height Explanation
https://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/faq/measdes.shtml

H1/10 is the average of the highest 10% of waves observed. This is what is newly being displayed in our forecast. This is indicated by "Waves occasionally to xx feet".

If the grib files have this data, we could use it to populate a table that uses the appropriate user generated polar data (none, choppy, medium, large waves). Alternatively we could have values for adjustment of a single polar when in (none, choppy, medium and large waves) as per the data predicted in the grib.

[SoggyPaws]

Can someone explain from this routing result what the light brown arrows are? I know that the dark brown arrows are from the GRIB file. I am guessing that the GRIB (saildocs grib) doesn't have dense enough wind data, and WR tries to interpolate the wind between the sparse GRIB wind arrows?
Is this true wind or apparent wind? (The arrows when they are on top of each other don't line up).
FYI, this is from Langkawi, Malaysia to Sabang (N tip of Sumatra), Indonesia.
Thanks,
Sherry

[rgleason]

Originally Posted by SoggyPaws

Can someone explain from this routing result what the light brown arrows are?
Sherry

What version wxroute and grib please?
I can't get wxroute 1.5.18.6 and grib 4.1 to be recognized. In wxroute configuration the grib setting is frozen.
I can't do any routing to figure out what your problem is. I guess we have a bigger problem with wxroute and grib.



Also I see you have black arrows current turned on.
Are you using two grib files? (maybe also two different wind files with different resolution?)



Also try wxroute view settings and check your grib file settings under wind.

[rgleason]

I am frustrated about this. I got wxroute to work, but climatology is not working and the dropdown is frozen.
Boat and polar files are also an issue, something has changed.

[SoggyPaws]

Originally Posted by rgleason

What version wxroute and grib please?
I can't get wxroute 1.5.18.6 and grib 4.1 to be recognized. In wxroute configuration the grib setting is frozen.
I can't do any routing to figure out what your problem is. I guess we have a bigger problem with wxroute and grib.
Also I see you have black arrows current turned on.
Are you using two grib files? (maybe also two different wind files with different resolution?)
Also try wxroute view settings and check your grib file settings under wind.

I am using the latest of everything, I think.
Windows 10 (latest update)
OpenCPN 5.8.4
Grib 4.1
WR 1.15.18.3
Cllimatology 1.6.30.3

Yes, I have Climatology set for "currents only".
Only one grib--from Saildocs via Veiwfax.

Everything works for me, just wondering how the dense small arrows are created.

Sherry
s/v Soggy Paws in Malaysia

[SoggyPaws]

Just did another one with a new grib file.
See screen shots from just the grib, just the climatology, and what WR shows after running the routing.
The relative wind arrows on the course (the purple ones) look about right. I just don't know what the light brown ones represent.
Thanks

[SoggyPaws]

Realized I wasn't using the latest version of WR. Upgraded to 1.15.18.6 and ran it again. Works. Still has those little light brown arrows that are 90 degrees to the wind from the GRIB.

[rgleason]

Originally Posted by SoggyPaws

Realized I wasn't using the latest version of WR. Upgraded to 1.15.18.6 and ran it again. Works. Still has those little light brown arrows that are 90 degrees to the wind from the GRIB.

Now I think that the large brown arrows are from settings in Climatology for average Wind. You need to turn those off I think, if you don't want to see them.

I also realized that I did not have Climatology "Enabled" so my longer routings (greater than 15 days) that depend on Climatology wind data did not work or complete, and the Climatology drop down selector was frozen.

Now it is working fine for me.

[rgleason]

One thing that we really need for a better user experience, is and to ensure routing completion in and around land, is Dynamic and Automatic Time Intervals.

This is an essential next step for more reliable weather_routing and less frustration.

Sean has been reluctant for years to make this change and consequently our weather_routing plugin has suffered, even though we have requested the change and Didier even made a PR for it many years ago.

Since then Didier has left the fold.

Weather_routing has to be made more user friendly and simple or it will wither, as there are many better alternatives now.