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Chapter 5: Conclusions and Future Work

A principal benefit of CRAFT, particularly in terms of cost and reliability, is its utilization of existing software (e.g., LDM, BZIP2, Linux) and networks (Abilene and the commodity Internet). This framework lays the foundation for the cost-effective expansion of CRAFT to all WSR-88D radars by the NWS.

Although the Internet itself might be viewed as unreliable for use in time-sensitive meteorological operations, the CRAFT results have proven otherwise. Indeed, the Internet is so pervasive and redundant that it probably represents one of the most reliable means of data transmission currently available.

In conclusion, project CRAFT allows the archival of the radar base data easily and reliably and it facilitates real-time access through the Internet in a very cost-effective and efficient manner.

Project CRAFT is an ongoing project, therefore it is still in its experimental phase. The following outlines the future work to be done for further enhancement and improvement on the project:

1. One principal limitation of Project CRAFT is the single point of failure in the communications link from the radar to the Internet. Therefore, some redundancies may be needed in the future to provide a certain degree of reliability.
2. In the new Open Systems Architecture, the functionality of the RIDDS and LDM computers will be replaced by a more powerful single machine known as the Base Data Distribution System (BDDS).
3. Ability to allow data access in real time to all appropriate users by minimizing delay through hardware and software improvements.

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