Welcome to the VISITview Home Page

Last update: November 4, 1998

The VISIT program sponsors Distance Learning Training for Satellite Meteorology as part of the National Weather Service's Integrated Sensor Training program. One of the tools used for this activity is the VISITview program. This was developed for the VISIT program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison by Tom Whittaker; the tool set continues to evolve as needs are identified.

VISITview uses a client/server model. Some of the terminology is defined here. A functional overview is available, along with details on using the controls. In addition there is information about the VISITview server.

VISITview may be run partially or completely over the Internet. In the local mode, the image files are stored on each students' computer while commands to the software (load images, loop, draw lines, etc.) still flow across the Internet. In the remote mode, the image files are also loaded in real-time across the Internet. This mode requires no extra, explicit downloads and uses Netscape or Internet Explorer for the display and control; it is, however, only effective if the students have good connectivity.

During any session, the modes may be mixed -- that is, some of the students may be connected in a local mode while others are connected in a remote mode.

In addition, VISITview may be used for real-time data collaborations. If a suitable database is available (for example, the RAMSDIS OnLine database), then establishing a VISITview server on that machine would allow such collaborations. We are currently testing this type of application through the cooperation and generosity of the CIRA group.

Instructors:

details of how to create a new lesson
specific information about the HTML parameters that drive VISITview

Students:

sample installation instructions for installing VISITview for local mode (data files reside on the local disk) lesson can be found here; specific instructions should be supplied by the instructor for each lesson.
Answers to commonly asked questions.
instructions for downloading the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) can be found here

Try it out!

If you want to give VISITview a quick try out, please aim your Web browser at:
http://allegro.ssec.wisc.edu/visit/vex.html
Here you'll join whomever else might be trying it out, so don't be surprised if your images change or something! This URL puts you (and everyone else) in as a master.

Also, we've put together a stand-alone example that you can download onto your own computer so you may try out VISITview. You'll need a computer with TCP/IP installed (even though it's all self-contained, it still needs to communicate with itself!) and the Java Runtime Environment. The example requires about 10MB of free disk space. Please refer to this page for specific information.

More Info?

If you need more information, or would like a copy of VISITview for your classroom work, please send an email message to: Tom Whittaker (tomw@ssec.wisc.edu)

This work is supported by NOAA through CIMSS, CIRA, and COMET,