Weather Routing

[rgleason]

Never mind look earlier in this thread for most recent link to OpenCPN. File thigie. Or look in Plug in List thread for same.

[rgleason]

I am going to try to attach a Boat.xml file with the extension doc added.
You will need to download this, rename and add it to the directory ...
C:\ProgramData\opencpn

I am also attaching a "WeatherRoutingConfiguration.xml.doc" file that has waypoints and routes defined which you can try. This goes in the same place and should also be renamed.

Don't forget to use Climatology or a real fresh downloaded grib of at least 8 days.

Also remember to check Climatology box and Grib boxes appropriately in the configuration menu, and to set the time to Gib time.

Remember if the grib is not long enough for the route, the route will show "fail", but the routing that can be done is shown.

If you have loaded and started climatology, and checked it enable in configuration, the routing will complete using climatology data (data averaged over 1975-2011).

Good Luck. Hope this helps.

Weather_Routing is available here

OpenCPN Beta File Thingie File Thingie 2.5.7
There are two versions in different folders:

Directory: Plugins-Win-Opencpn-3.3.604
file: weather_routing_win32_pi110_v08-3_ov33604_pi.dll
Has earlier interface and menus, shown in the manual. A number of features are not implemented but it works.

Directory: Plugins-Win-Opencpn-3.3.604
file: weather_routing_win32_pi110_v09_ov331009_pi.dll
Has most recent interface and menus, some features are not fully implemented, and the setting for boat beam is not remembered. The illegal external references have been fixed so this will run with OpenCPN 3.3.1006 and later. This one works differently with waypoints.

Keep in mind when the plugin is active, you can right click and pick a new weather_routing waypoint and name it.

Then you use that waypoint in the configuration for your routes

Follow instructions and download and create the WEATHER_ROUTING/DATA/ directory and add the file.

[bbowers2004]

Works like a charm, thanks!

[cagney]

Originally Posted by rgleason

.....
Don't forget to use Climatology or a real fresh downloaded grib of at least 8 days.
............
Also remember to check Climatology box and Grib boxes appropriately in the configuration menu, and to set the time to Gib time.
...........
If you have loaded and started climatology, and checked it enable in configuration, the routing will complete using climatology data (data averaged over 1975-2011).
....

Rick

Go back and read this post again please.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1332432

Climatology does not work for weather routing. Even the author of the plugin admits that. The trivial exception is in areas where the wind is very steady in direction. So I think that it is misleading to still talk about using climatology for weather routing, the way you do. If you insist on using climatology, you can refer to it as general passage planning, nothing else. There is nothing new in this. It's exactly what my 1973 "Ocean Passages for the World" says in paragraph 1.61. when discussing the content of the book (largely based on climatology) in relation to weather routing.

The wiki about the routing plugin also needs changing, as it is not factually correct and misleading.

The best we can do for routing, without access to newer info, is using the GFS gribs with 0,5 degrees resolution, for a period of up to 8 days. After that I think the GFS gribs with 2.5 degrees resolution for up to 16 days comes into play.

A saildoc request line for the latter looks like this

 GFS:59N,54N,6E,17E|2.5,2.5|0,3,6..384|WIND,PRESS

I have a feature request to include this in the grib plugin.

After about 3 days the accuracy of the gribs goes down a lot, and after 16 days it is down to guess work, more or less.
But, what sets this apart from pure statistics = Climatology, is that it starts with facts available on day 0.
A navigator needs a calibrated digital barometer to compare the gribs with the real world, and get a handle on their reliability. This should be done from the beginning of the grib period.

Thomas

[rgleason]

Sean wrote in post #345:

Currently it only makes sense in areas with very prevailing conditions. In these areas you don't really need a computer to route you normally so I agree it is currently virtually useless for most practical purposes.

Eventually the idea is the expand the climatology data to include more than just averages, so that with grib data, it can lock on to a past weather pattern, and make a better long term guess. Also possible is to show best/worst/average case scenarios etc..

Thomas, sorry I should have used the term "Passage or Voyage Planning" when associated with Climatology, rather than "Weather Routing".

I agree with Sean, but I am not ready to say use of Climatology is worthless. It does find the fastest average routes and the trade wind routes, yet it is hampered when conditions are really variable. Sean's idea of locking onto a past weather pattern or macro factor, might work better for those variable areas.

I note that the program "Visual Passage Planning" is very useful (free trial), and that Voyage or Passage Planning with Weather_routing_pi and Climatology_pi in Opencpn is very similar to this program. Visual Passage Planning has several algorithms which can be picked depending on conditions found, for more effective planning. I would also like Weather_Routing_pi to have a similar feature.

Perhaps we should call it "Weather_Routing" and "Passage Planning" but that is a big mouthful. Maybe the Climatology checkbox should say "Climatology Passage Planning" as an alternative.

I agree that the OpenCPN website Weather_Routing Plugin documentation needs to be updated to the current interface and the images replaced and compressed more. I have not had time to do that, and am just back from a pretty long voyage to FL. However the the current documentation does adequately describe the limitations of using Climatology.
Weather_Routing Plugin - See "Warning about Data" at the bottom
Climatology Plugin - See "Warning about use of Data" at the bottom.

Thank you Thomas, for reminding us all of those limitations. We do not want voyagers taking overly optimistic voyages and running out of food or fuel or into bad weather if possible! These are just tools to look at and plan a voyage, the big picture and ultimate decisions are made bringing all information together and weighing the sources.

Use of Weather_Routing with Gribs or Climatology are both "predictive". Gribs are more accurate in shorter time periods, and predictions can vary significantly for longer 5, 8 and 14 day gribs. They vary in a manner similar to the weatherman's predictions! "Climatology -Passage Planning" is based on averages over many years, and is currently blind to current macro patterns.

I hope the notes in the plugin documentation adequately expresses these variations and unknowns. Here is a short step by step of voyage planning, which does not cover the "predictive" aspects that we are discussing here, but does give an overview of Planning a Safe Passage.


As your example at the bottom, don't take known chances:
Navionic's Pass 23 30.0 N, 075 42.4 W
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...mas-98087.html

[bbowers2004]

That's Great added information fellas, although myself as an interrupter of your information understood this concept, but am glad that you further explained it in detail for everyone.

[betelnuss]

Hi everybody,

First I would like to say to all contributors: fantastic job it looks great and thank you very much for all your efforts.

I have been playing around with opencpn for a while, but I cant't get wxrouting to run. I am running mint olvia on a 32 bit setup. Open CPN is 3.3.1117. I can get the regular plugins to run, but the plugins I downloaded from the file thingi (namely wxrouting and climatology) dont't show up in the opencpn settings dialogue). The rights are fine, I also cannot find them as sudo. Will it only run on 64 bit in Linux or am I missing anything else.

I hope someone can point me in the right direction

best regards Georg

[rgleason]

Georg,

I confess I do not know what mint olvia 32 bit is! What OS are you using?
The DLL files on Opencpn file thingie are generally for Windows.

I have not yet compiled and posted the current Weather Routing version with a patch to fix illegal external references yet.

You can download Sean's weather_routing_pi code at github https://github.com/seandepagnier/weather_routing_pi

and apply the patch I have uploaded to Tracker/Flyspray FS#1135
FS#1135 : No longer compiles - Plugin dependency problems - (Fixed, now need to submit to Git)

Regarding Climatology_pi it does not have the file dependency problem, so if you are using linux the versions of sourceforge will work I believe, however it is Version 02, and the current version 03.
opencpnplugins - Browse /climatology_pi at SourceForge.net

It appears the important data files for Climatology_pi are current on Sourceforge, as well as Opencpn Beta File Thingie. These files include the updated current files 1992-2012.

So I suggest you download the Climatology_pi source files from Sean's github and recompile for linux in order to have the current version 03

The current Windows DLL files are on Opencpn Beta File Thingie
I hope that helps.

[betelnuss]

Rick,

thanks a lot, mint olivia (15) is based on ubuntu 13.04. Its for the "I need to click on it to get it to work" people like me. I will try that tomorrow.

thanx Georg

[rgleason]

Sean is sailing north towards Philippines, when he has internet service he'll post, but for now we hope he is sailing in good weather, and we are on our own insofar as getting this plugin running. (I have been trying to recompile under Open3.3.1117 to fix External File Refs, etc and am having problems. Will not read grib files now.) I've taken this as far as I am able with my skill set, so if someone has some suggestions or guidance, that would be very welcome. See
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1409860
OpenCPN::Tracker pi - WeatherRouting: Tasklist
FS#1250 and FX#1135
FS#1250 : Does not read Grib files now, but does read climatology files.

Please note that the earlier version of weather_routing does run in earlier versions of Opencpn.

[rgleason]

For details about changing weather_routing_pi code and compiling for Opencpn 3.3.1117 see this thread. Mike [Rasbat] has been very helpful.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1415282

OpenCPN Beta File Thingie will be updated again.

[rgleason]

Weather_Routing_pi has been updated, thanks to Mike [Rasbats]

OpenCPN Beta File Thingie File Thingie 2.5.7
rguser rgpass
There are two versions in different folders:

Directory: Plugins-Win-Opencpn-3.3.1117
file: weather_routing_win32_pi110_v09_ov331117_pi.dll

Don't forget the readme.doc and that the weather_routing/data/ ...2 files are mandatory! Find these files in the directory above.

You may need to use freshly download gribs. Also for a look at my test and some quick tips about use, see this post in another thread.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post1416160

This fixes
FS#1250 - Does not read Grib files now, but does read climatology files.
and Illegal External file refs, now compiles under msvc++ Opencpn331117

PLEASE TEST and ADVISE

[rgleason]

This is an absurd question, because I've been using Weather_routing for quite awhile,. but does anyone know the format for Opencpn Polar Format?
I think it is the same as a program called Bluesea (which I have not been able to find right now).

I am trying to test the Polar csv import capabilities, but have crashed several times. bdcat and Nohal, sorry, but I sent reports.

So it would be very helpful to know what that format is....anyone willing to venture a guess?

[rgleason]

Opencpn weather_routing_pi and the required polar format

The weather_routing_pi plugin references several files located in c:/ProgramData/opencpn.

To see where these files are set in the plugin, select a route or make a new one. Pick Configuration --> Edit.
Then pick Boat "Edit" a tabbed dialogue box will open.

"Plot Details" Tab has Open, Save and Save as buttons. This is the pointer to the <boat>.xml file which contains the boat characteristics, it is initially set to "boat.xml". After you have gone through all the tabs and set the boat's Lwl, Loa, Displacement, etc. you should "Save as" using your boat's name. Then "open" that file each time weather_routing needs those settings..

Initially under <Configuration > Edit > Boat Edit > Plot Details [tab] the file referenced is "boat.xml".
Make sure you have a file "boat.xml" in your opencpn data directory, if you are having troubles, download a boat.xml file and "load" it.


The second file is under <Configuration > Edit > Boat Edit > Polar [tab] and this is an optional polar file "<boat>.csv"
"Polar File" Tab shows the path of the Polar file being used, if one exists, otherwise the program has builtin VPP calculation using the boats characteristics which have been entered, which is in effect when the path shows as "<computed>".

If you have prepared a polar file in the Opencpn format for your boat, you can load it into the plugin from this tab, and after you "Save" from the "Plot Details" tab, the pathname willl be remembered [note the pathname in the sample <boat>.XML file below].


Sometimes the plugin is picky about these files. If it is close the plugin and opencpn and reopen, to reset it. Then try again.
The two sample files are shown below. They are paired. If you load the XML file the referenced polar file will be loaded if it is in the path and the correct format.

Shannon38-opencpn-roundtrip.XML [This is the <boat>.XML file]
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<OCPNWeatherRoutingBoat version="0.9" creator="Opencpn Weather Routing plugin">
<BoatCharacteristics displacement_tons="21" lwl_ft="34" loa_ft="38" beam_ft="11" />
<BoatDrag frictional_drag="0.0170" wake_drag="0.9500" />
<Plan Name="Initial Plan" computed="0" csvFileName="C:\ProgramData\opencpn\Shannon38-opencpn.CSV" />
</OCPNWeatherRoutingBoat>


Shannon38-opencpn.CSV [This is the <boat polar>.csv file.]
twa/tws;6;8;10;12;14;16;20
0;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00
30;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00;0.00
40;2.80;4.10;4.40;4.70;4.90;5.00;5.10
45;4.00;4.90;5.20;5.50;5.70;5.80;5.90
52;4.50;5.40;6.10;6.40;6.60;6.70;6.80
60;5.00;6.00;6.50;6.70;6.80;6.90;7.00
75;5.50;6.40;6.80;7.00;7.20;7.30;7.40
90;5.70;6.60;7.00;7.30;7.50;7.60;7.70
110;5.80;6.70;7.10;7.40;7.60;7.70;7.90
120;5.50;6.50;7.00;7.30;7.60;7.90;8.20
135;4.80;6.00;6.60;7.00;7.40;7.70;8.30
150;4.00;5.00;5.90;6.50;6.90;7.30;7.90
165;3.70;4.80;5.20;6.20;6.60;6.90;7.50
180;3.30;4.20;4.70;5.90;6.30;6.60;7.20

qtVLM Polar Format
QtVlm Polar Diagram - VlmWiki
Extension of the file name. Csv
Separator ';' (semicolon)
Double-entry table
The first cell always contains 'TWA \ TWS'
The first line lists the wind forces. Vlm does not go beyond 60 knots of wind.

Beginning of each line ** gives the look, then each value corresponding to the shape and strength of the wind (column heading)

The digital data of the polar use a decimal point, 'that is the point.' An integer (no point ended) is valid.
Whites are valid (value = 0.0) but discouraged. Thank you for being explicit
Text file format is UNIX ie lines that are terminated by LF (Line Feed) and not CR (Carriage Return) and LF. A good text editor windows (PsPad or Notepad + +) knows rerecord this format.

TWA\TWS;0;2;4;6;8;10;12;14;16;18;20;22;24;26;28;30 ;32;34;36;38;40;42;44;46;48;50;52;54;56;58;60
0;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000; 0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0. 000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.00 0;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000
5;0.000;0.210;0.420;0.630;0.800;0.860;0.920;0.940; 0.950;0.970;0.980;0.980;0.990;0.950;0.880;0.810;0. 740;0.670;0.600;0.530;0.460;0.370;0.280;0.190;0.09 0;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000;0.000

=====

Maxsea Polar Format (same as Adrena, or SailGrib WR)
WR user guide

The first row defines the True Wind Speed.
The first column defines the True Wind Angle
In the example, the theoretical hull speed for various wind velocities and wind angles is in the cells.
Modify the True Wind Speed values in the first row. The example below uses 10 and 30 Kts.
Enter these values in the first row and delete the other columns.
In an Excel spreadsheet
TWA 10 15 20 25
30 2.0 5.4 7.2 7.9
90 4.7 9.5 11.5 12.8
150 2.9 7.4 10.5 13.0


SailingPerformance - Products
Expedition Expedition
Isler Expedition Software
BLUR Boats and Polars Boats & Polars | BLUR

[rgleason]

Boat.xml file located in C:/ProgramData/opencpn/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<OCPNWeatherRoutingBoat version="0.9" creator="Opencpn Weather Routing plugin">
<BoatCharacteristics displacement_tons="21" lwl_ft="34" loa_ft="38" beam_ft="11" />
<BoatDrag frictional_drag="0.0210" wake_drag="1.0000" />
<Plan Name="Initial Plan" computed="1" eta="0.1600" luff_angle="5.0000" />
</OCPNWeatherRoutingBoat>

When a polar file has been loaded and the "Plot Detail" Tab XML file has been "Saved" the file will look similar to this:
Shannon38-opencpn.XML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<OCPNWeatherRoutingBoat version="0.9" creator="Opencpn Weather Routing plugin">
<BoatCharacteristics displacement_tons="21" lwl_ft="34" loa_ft="38" beam_ft="11" />
<BoatDrag frictional_drag="0.0170" wake_drag="0.9500" />
<Plan Name="Initial Plan" computed="0" csvFileName="C:\ProgramData\opencpn\Shannon38-opencpn.CSV" />
</OCPNWeatherRoutingBoat>