A networked desktop synoptic laboratory

Over the past several years, the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois has developed a computerized weather laboratory that permits interactive access to real-time data from observing sites around the United States and to output from numerical weather prediction models at the operational centers. Such a setup, with timely access to observations and numerical model forecasts from any networked terminal, personal computer, or workstation, is a valuable tool for education and research in meteorology. The Univeristy of Illinois system acts as a real-time, on-line, in-class instructional meteorology laboratory for students. The data-display software is based on the X-windows protocol, which is network transparent and system independent. -from Authors