The Weather Underground: Application of Computer Technology to Science in Michigan Secondary Schools

SAMSON 95-54211在密歇根大学大气、海洋和空间科学系内运行，地下气象中心已经向互联网社区提供了近三年的实时气象条件和国家气象局预报。地下气象局开发了一项技术，可以将用户的互动带到图像中。为了提供一个直观的界面来探索复杂的数据(所有当前的天气情况，以及美国每个机场的预报)，开发了一种客户端-服务器技术，它提供了一个框架，可以将信息‘附加’到图像上。信息可以像文本(字幕)一样简单，也可以像运动视频(CUSee-Me会话)一样复杂。天气地下的灵感愿景是由一个专注于多个学科的个人团队完成的。人文和科学界之间的交叉授粉创造了一个在大学之间延伸的协作工作环境。通过NSF的支持，这一资金周期将把复杂的天气地下系统带到整个互联网社区的教师和学生手中。建议建立软件系统，使参与者可以轻松地创建交互式图像，并创建基于服务器的调查系统。这种系统的建立将允许参与者创建特定领域的面谈，通过互联网进行。这项提案所涉及的内容领域是水文循环，包括水质。这是一系列内容组件中的第二个，这些组件将连接天气、空气质量、水文循环、水质、土地利用和农业。这一研发迭代将改进目前用于输入和浏览复杂数据集的直观界面。此外，在适当情况下，将使用数据收集方法收集大量教育研究数据样本，并自动处理这些数据。交互式图像格式(.iif)是一种定义区域和动作的语言，允许作者创建网络图像。区域包括：点/像素、多边形、矩形、颜色、弹出菜单、帮助气泡。操作包括：暖(鼠标悬停)、热(鼠标单击)。动作影响属性，包括：显示、隐藏、URL(ftp、gopher、http)。与.html类似，.iif语言是独立于平台和服务器的，确保从多个硬件平台进行浏览和创作，并允许将.iif文件合并到现有的Internet浏览器中。这一轮融资将为Macintosh和X-Windows平台产生直观的IlFConstructor。这些编辑器将是面向图形的，并且非常易于使用。他们的产品将是利用网络资源的互动图像。将这位编辑的权力交到K12学生手中，是《天气地下》的目标。地下气象局在实时数据流方面的经验已经产生了一系列非常复杂的相互连接的软件程序，能够摄取、处理和显示大量数据。这一系统来自于目前NSF-MT的资金。这项提议是将我们的多带宽用户界面与我们复杂的数据处理引擎联系起来的一种尝试。地下气象局已经与教育和科学合作伙伴合作，能够创建一个有大量参与者参与的试验床。这项提议是一种尝试，通过直观的“酷”界面将我们的“原始计算”交到世界各地的参与者手中。

Samson 95-54211 Operating from within the Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences Department at the University of Michigan, The Weather Underground has been supplying the Internet community near real-time meteorological conditions and National Weather Service forecasts for 3 years. The Weather Underground has developed a technology which brings user interactivity to imagery. Growing from the desire to provide an intuitive interface for exploring complex data (all current weather conditions, and forecasts for every airport in the United States), a client-server technology has been developed which provides a framework where information can be 'attached' to imagery. Information can be as simple as text (caption), or as complex as motion video(CUSee-Me session). The Weather Underground's inspired vision is carried to completion by a team of dedicated individuals in multiple disciplines. The cross pollination between the humanities and the science communities has created a collaborative working environment extending between universities. Through NSF support, this funding cycle will bring the complexity of the Weather Underground systems into the hands of teachers and students throughout the Internet community. It is proposed to build software systems where participants can easily create interactive imagery, and create server based survey systems. The creation of such systems will allow participants to create domain specific interviews, carried out over the Internet. The content domain in which this proposal sits is the hydrology cycle, including water quality. This is the second of a series of content components, which will link the weather, air quality, the hydrology cycle, water quality, land use, and agriculture. This iteration of research and development will refine current intuitive interfaces for entering and browsing complex data sets. Additionally, the data collection methods will be used, when appropriate, to gather large samples of educational research data and process this data automatically. The Interactive Image Format (.iif) is a language which defines regions and actions, allowing authors to create networked imagery. Regions include: points/pixels, polygons, rectangles, colors, pop-menus, help bubbles. Actions include: warm (mouseOver), hot (mouseClick). Actions effect properties, including: show, hide, URL(ftp, gopher, http). Paralleling .html, the .iif language is platform and server independent, insuring browsing and authoring to occur from multiple hardware platforms, and allowing .iif files to be incorporated into existing Internet browsers. This round of funding will produce intuitive IlFConstructors for both the Macintosh and X-Windows platforms. These editors will be graphically oriented and very easy to use. Their products will be interactive images which utilize networked resources. It is the goal of The Weather Underground to put the power of this editor into the hands of K12 students. The Weather Underground's experience with real-time data streams has produced a very intricate series of interconnected software programs capable of ingesting, processing, and displaying large volumes of data. This system has come from the current NSF-MT funding. This proposal is an attempt to link our multi-bandwidth user interfaces with our sophisticated data processing engines. The Weather Underground has teamed with educational, and scientific partners capable of creating a testbed involving large numbers of participants. This proposal is an attempt to put our 'raw-computation' into the hands of worldwide participants through intuitive ,"cool" interfaces.