Resources for Forecasting Thermals
This is a collection of links for forecasting thermals for paragliders. Based on my notes from a course by http://robair.ch/ No guarantees of correctness, completeness etc!
- Emagrams (e.g. Payern): old, inprecise, complicated to read ==> don’t use anymore, there are more modern tools available
- The only manual thermal forcast in Switzerland is from Schaenis Soaring
RASP (Regional Atmospheric Soaring Predictor)
- John Glending
- good for outside the Alps
- use only in winter and summer as the partially snowed in landscape in spring and fall messes up the prediction
- uses GFS (27km) –> WRF (bis ~2km) grids
- this is used by the following websites (same model, different presentation)
- http://meteo-parapente.com/ (free)
- http://soaringmeteo.ch/ (free)
- http://www.cumulus.it/raspit/ (small cost)
Regtherm/Alptherm/Toptherm
- more precise for Alps, prefer over RASP when in the Alps
- uses COSMO-7 model (7km grid)
- offered by these websites
- http://www.alpenflugwetter.com/
- costs CHF 65 per year (but well worth it!)
- very precise
- lists the expected vertical thermal velocities for location and time of day/temperature:
- velocity number should be 4 or larger (4 * 0.5 m/s = 2 m/s), people use this to look at the forecast for their starting position and wait for takeoff until the precise time or temperature when the number is 4 or larger
- http://www.meteoschweiz.admin.ch/
- http://www.alpenflugwetter.com/
Other Stuff
- http://www.thermikcheck.ch/ people used this in the old days
- study pilot tracks at http://www.xcontest.org
- http://thermal.kk7.ch/ click on “Show Hotspots” and the download hotspot data to vario
- for wind forecast use the 800m-above-ground instead of the 10-m-above-ground as this is more relevant for us