ColorGraphics Weather Systems: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 03:37, 14 December 2008

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'''ColorGraphics Weather Systems''' iswas a pioneering [[computer graphics]] company, formed in 1979 by Terry Kelly and Richard Daly, that producespioneered athe seriesuse of systemscomputer graphics for displaying [[weather forecast]]s dataon used bylocal [[television stations]]. OriginallyIt basedis on custom hardware,now todaypart their products are software-based systems running onof commodityWeather systemsCentral.

==History==

Terry KellyAfter graduatedgraduating from the [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] in 1971 with a degree in [[meteorology]], andTerry almost immediatelyKelly took a job with the local television station Channel 27 calculating weather predictions. Over the next two years he introduced a number of new techniques to the industry - using magnets to represent high and low points, color markers on a whiteboard for graphics, and later hand-photographing satellite cloud imagryimagery with a Bolex camera to produce the first cloud-movement animations.<ref name=p306>Nelson, pg. 306</ref><ref name=mad>Robert Chappell, [http://www.madisonmagazine.com/article.php?section_id=918&xstate=view_story&story_id=194192 "The Liberal Media"], ''Madison Magazine'', March 2005</ref>

Kelly and several of his colleges also produced [[weather forecasting]] [[software]]. In 1974 he was promoted to chief meteorologist at Channel 27,<ref name=mad/> and at the same time started Weather Central to sell and operate their software for smaller organizations likesuch as ski resorts and local hiwayhighway departments.<ref name=p306/>

ColorGraphics was formed in 1979 as a partnership between Kelly and Richard Daly. Kelly and Daly had both worked in the [[University of Wisconsin]]'s Space Science and Engineering department, developers of the [[PDP-11]]-based "McIdas" (Man-Computer Interactive Data Access System) weather display system. McIdas used downloaded satellite cloud cover images and superimposed them on locally generated maps. Designed for the [[National Weather Service]], McIdas was a high-end system well beyond the budgetsbudget of a television station.<ref>Nelson, pg. 302</ref>

Kelly's idea was to adapt the McIdas concept for lower cost [[home computer]] systems that were appearing in the late 1970s. Their first system, "LiveLine", was based on the [[Apple II]]. Its graphics system could not be [[genlock]]ed, so a TV camera had to be pointed at the screen to send the video into the production systems. This initial system was soon replaced by a similar one running on [[Cromemco]] computers using a modified version of their [[Cromemco Dazzler|Dazzler]] color-graphics card.<ref>Robert Kuhmann, [http://www.retrotechnology.com/herbs_stuff/crom_kuh.html "Cromemco S-100 computer ~ a Silicon Valley memoir (1977-1997)"], January 2008</ref> In spite of its simplicity and low resolution, the fast production and "high tech" look caught on, and soon the system was almost universal, replacing [[bluescreen]] systems on cardboard maps that had previously been used.<ref>Nelson, pg. 303</ref> The company notes that 70% of the top 50 TV markets were using the system by 1982.<ref name=wxc>[http://www.wxc.com/corporate/history.html "Weather Central History"]</ref>

In 1982 the company was purchased by [[Dynatech]], an expanding electronics company. Dynatech later purchased [[Cromemco]] and rolled the two companies together, before divesting themselvesall of all theirits media properties in the early 1990s. Kelly and Daly purchased the rights back from Dynatech in 1994, operating under the Weather Central name. In 1995 they introduced the new "GENESIS" platform on [[Silicon Graphics]] computers, which later moved onto [[Hewlett-Packard]] workstations.<ref name=wxc/>

==References==