MIDSNET Web Based Lightning Display for

MIDSNET™ - Web Based Lightning Display for

In order to permit the user to extract maximum benefit from the ALPS™ lightning location technology, we provide a broad range of analysis and display capabilities, which can be tailored to satisfy a broad range of needs.  These system solutions typically include MIDS™ and MIDSnet™.  Both applications are PC-based, automatically receive the lightning location data from the ASP™ and generate displays of the lightning location solutions in graphical and textual form on maps of the area of interest.  Further details are provided below.
Ingest and display of radar and satellite imagery in conjunction with lightning data is an option available with the optional Hydromet Decision Support System (HDSS). The HDSS in conjunction with the Lightning Prediction System, will support flood forecasting and lightning nowcasting requirements.

MIDSnet™ is an enhanced web-based lightning and weather radar display system for use with TOA’s lightning location systems.  The MIDSnet™ web-based display system software runs on standard PCs and can be customized to provide any number of map features, including terrain, roads, electric power lines, geopolitical boundaries, etc.  The system can also be upgraded with a number of advanced weather nowcasting technologies developed by Weather Decision Technologies, Inc.

ALPS Network

The MIDSnet™ web-browser based display image shown above is an animated composite product, consisting of, current lightning strike activity integrated with optional Doppler weather radar data and lightning predictions.

We offer the MIDSnet™ web-browser based display technology because it enables us to provide any authorized user who has access to the Internet with real-time access to LDN and nowcasting data, using any available computer running the MIDSnet™ display application.

MIDS™ Mapping & Information Display System

MIDS™ is a Microsoft Windows based application designed by TOA’s Australian sister company (GPATS) specifically for the display and manipulation of lightning data from the TOA ALPS™ lightning network.  The MIDS™ display consists of a number of windows, and the program is controlled and operated from the main window, which contains the menu and control buttons.  This control window is the program, along with one map display window.  All other windows can be switched on or off as the user desires.  Closing the control bar window will terminate the MIDS™ program.

MIDS Lightning Stroke Map Display

This program is designed to operate in a multi-tasking mode and, as such, can be connected and operated in the background while other Windows application programs are operating.  For this reason, careful consideration should be given to the type and speed of the CPU, along with the amount of RAM contained in the compute. Windows XP is the preferred O/S. (For Unix based Display System please contact TOA)The MIDS™ has a number of very advanced and user-friendly features, including:

  • Multi Map Windows, where a user may open up to four map windows at one time, displaying different areas of the main map at different zoom levels.
  • Any map can be moved, resized, or minimized individually and can display Time - Color, or Amplitude - Color. Our current software limits the displays to two maps.
  • In addition, a new window allows the user to display the Incoming Live Data in text form scrolling down the window.
  • All Cycle Graphs have been incorporated into one single window. The cycle graphs can display either Time orAmplitude ratios, depending on what the user has set in the individual windows.
  • The most exciting of the new features is the Alarm Region Polygons, which allow the user to design multiple polygons around areas of interest.
  • GIS Mapping Capabilities- The maps allow the user to incorporate the terrain, roads, electric power lines, geopolitical boundaries, etc., as well as to define alarm regions. Alarms will then be activated when lightning falls within those regions.
  • Lightning Display Modes- The MIDS™ display allows a user to view the motion of lightning stroke clusters by color change over periods of a few minutes or by time replay mode. The system, however, does not perform any forecasting of the cluster movement, but there is a graphical indicator that shows whether the storm may be increasing or decreasing in intensity.
  • Stroke Presentation- MIDS™ is a dedicated lightning display system designed to facilitate operation of the ALPS™ network and address specific lightning-related analysis requirements. The MIDS™ Display allows for the reception and display of the lightning information calculated by the ASP™ system. The MIDS™ will identify on the screen the different types of strokes such as ground or cloud strokes with different display symbols and by color differential in order to indicate the motion of the storm and its intensity. The operator can choose the period of time and the color of the strokes displayed.

The MIDS™ Server

The MIDS™ Server is a multi-threaded application written for Windows. It allows users to access the lightning data over a network using TCP/IP and is capable of handling numerous connections, each connection having different characteristics, which include data area, maximum connect time and maximum number of times a user can connect.
The MIDS™ Server includes support for dial-up networking, which allows the server to connect to remote networks. This is an important feature, as users can access data over the Internet without compromising the security of the internal network.