Configure Weather Operational Effects

Weather Operational Effects can be used to quickly understand the impact of weather on military operations.

In this topic, you'll learn how to configure the Weather Operational Effects solution to meet specific needs of your organization.

Configure the Weather Operational Effects project

To get started, follow the steps below to download and review the Weather Operational Effects Project

1. Sign in to your ArcGIS organization and browse to the Weather Operational Effects Project desktop application template.
2. From the item page, click Download.
3. In the Catalog Pane, expand the Tasks folder and then double-click the Weather Operational Effects task group.

Set up the Weather Operational Effects project

Weather Operational Effects can leverage either local or hosted data layers. Both sets of data are provided in the solution.

To set up the Weather Operational Effects project, complete the following steps:

1. In the Tasks pane, click the Set up the Weather Operational Effects project task group to expand the collection of tasks.
2. If you plan to utilize the Portal applications and hosted feature layers, double-click Set up for Enterprise.
3. If you do not plan to utilize Portal content and would prefer to use local data, double-click Set up for Local Data.

Configure threshold CSVs (optional)

Note:

This workflow is optional and doesn't need to be completed in order to work with the solution.

After Weather Operational Effects is deployed, downloaded, and unzipped, you can modify the threshold CSVs to best suit the needs and capabilities of your unit. Currently, the thresholds are based on U.S. Army doctrine - ATP 2-01.3 Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (March 2019).

There are individual threshold CSVs for each supported operation and weather type. For instance, Tracked Vehicle operations have CSVs for rainfall rate, snow depth, and visibility. Each CSV outlines the favorable, marginal, and unfavorable conditions for this operation and weather type. These values are then used in the Threshold Operations tool.

1. Browse to the downloaded and unzipped Weather Operational Effects project folder and open the thresholdtables folder.
2. Double-click the CSV file you wish to update.
3. In the open CSV file, modify the numeric Min or Max values to best meet the needs and capabilities of your unit.

   It is critical that these updated values are in the same units as the original values.

   Note:

   Only modify the numeric values in the Min and Max columns. Do not modify any of the other columns, rows, or CSV file names because it will result in processing errors.

   For example, in AirborneOperationsCeiling.csv, the Unfavorable threshold currently spans a minimum of 0 feet and a maximum of 300 feet. These numeric values need to be updated to reflect 0 to 500 feet instead. For the Unfavorable row, you would replace the Max value of 300 with 500. This change also affects the Marginal threshold. For the Marginal row, you would replace the Min value of 300 with 500.

4. Save the updated CSV file.

Configure raster functions (optional)

Note:

This workflow is optional and doesn't need to be completed in order to work with the solution.

In addition to the threshold CSV files, the raster functions can also be modified to best suit the needs and capabilities of your unit. Like the threshold CSV files, there are individual raster functions for each supported operation and weather type.

To modify the raster functions applied to the forecast mosaic dataset as processing templates, follow these steps.

1. Browse to the downloaded and unzipped Weather Operational Effects project folder.
2. Open the WOE.aprx file.
3. In the Catalog pane, navigate to the default file geodatabase (WOE.gdb).
4. Expand the file geodatabase contents.
5. Right click the WOE_Forecast mosaic dataset and select Manage Processing Templates.
6. In the Manage Processing Templates pane, scroll to the raster function template that you wish to update.
7. In the template item, click the Edit button to open the Function Editor.
8. To modify the thresholds used in the raster function template, double-click the Remap item.
   The Remap properties open.

9. In the List table, update the minimum and maximum values as needed.

   Note:

   Ensure that the units are the same as defined in the preceding Unit Conversion function. Do not modify the Output values as these correspond to the Favorable, Marginal, and Unfavorable classification defined in the Attribute Table raster function.

10. After editing is complete, click OK.
11. In the Function Editor, click the Save button to save your changes.

Configure Forecast Overlay web map and app

After the forecast mosaic dataset has been published as an image service using the Weather Operational Effects project and tasks, it can be configured with a Portal web map and application.

Configure Portal web map

First, the image service must be added to a web map and rendered using the operational effects processing templates.

1. In a browser, sign in to Portal.
2. Browse to the Forecast Operational Effects Overlays Map and open the item page.
3. Open the map in Map Viewer Classic.
4. Add the published image service to the map.
5. Follow the Use a predefined template instructions to render the image service with the operational effects processing templates.

   Note:

   Template load and application may take several minutes, depending on your system resources.

6. Save the map.

Configure Forecast Effects app

After the forecast image service has been configured in the web map, it can be used in an application with a Time Slider widget.

1. Browse to the Forecast Operational Effects Overlays App and open the item page.
2. Click Edit Application.
3. In the side panel, click the Widget button and browse to the Time Slider widget.
4. Follow the Configure the Time Slider widget instructions to use the widget to play the time-enabled image service.
5. Save the application.