Customer Stories

Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET)
Uses Amzi! WebLS
for Weather Forecasting in Brazil

During the second quarter of 1998, our team received the mission to develop the new home page for the Instituto Nacional de Meteorlogia in Brazil.  The new home page was to retain the functionality of the older home page plus add new features and an improved visual presentation.  The main challenge was to create modules that can generate new web pages on demand.  WebLS brought us a simpler way to approach our objective.

The first module developed is called "On Record Parameters" and includes information such as location, date, time, rain fall and relative humidity.  This data is updated twice daily.  The second module developed is called "Water Balance".   This is an inventory calculation based on the principle that, during a certin time interval, the total water gain to a given catchment area or body of water must equal the total water loss plus the net change in storage in the catchment.  This data is updated once every ten days.

We used Visual Basic to get the data from the data base and generate the logic-bases to be handled within WebLS.  We did have to configure a Windows NT web server for the new modules while keeping our other web pages on a Linux server.  Both servers run the Apache web software to keep compatibility between the two environments.

The "On Record Parameters" module is activated when a user selects a state within Brazil from a map and then a region within the state from a second map.  This second selection calls the WebLS logic-bases and a list box appears and the user selects a specific location and receives the pertinent data.  The "Water Balance" module works in a similar way when the user selects a state within Brazil from a map.  This calls the WebLS logic-bases and a radio button appears and the user selects the desired region.  The water balance information is generated and displayed.

This project took place with four steps:  First was to develop the Visual Basic application, second was to implement the WebLS architecture, third was the installation and setup of the Windows NT server running the Apache web software and fourth, the design for the page and the art for the maps and icons.  The result was great.  WebLS has worked very well and performance is excellent.  You can see our work at our site www.inmet.gov.br

http://www.inmet.gov.br/
Ronald Piacenti Jr.
Instituto Nacional de Meteorlogia
Eixo Monumental Via S1
Brasilia, DF  BRAZIL
71610-400