An agent network for microburst detection

Abstract

Meteorological data provides a rich source of imagery which is well suited to the growing field of agent networks based image processing. We discuss one such system which analyses Doppler and reflectivity radar volumes to detect microbursts (windshear events). The system employs a network of agents, each performing a subtask of the detection, with message passing between agents. The various agents detect reflectivity cores, high divergent shear zones, microbursts and trade microbursts through time. It is implemented in the Java language, and is successfully detecting microbursts in data from the Kurnell radar near Sydney.