·5 min read
The corridor endpoint: a forecast that moves with you
A point forecast is one place at one time. A cross-country flight is a moving point. /v1/corridor samples along a track with the forecast hour advancing as you fly it.
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Field Explainers
CategoryWhat every output field means - wstar, cloudbase, day rating, and more.
·6 min read
Anatomy of a good day: reading the fields together
A single forecast point comes back as a couple of dozen numbers. Here is how the ones that matter fit together on a classic good XC day - and how the day rating actually combines them.
·6 min read
Convergence lines: reading `horizontal_convergence_s1`
Convergence lines are the long-distance pilot's quiet superpower - thin streets of forced lift you can fly along without ever circling. Here is what the new convergence and divergence fields actually represent and how to read them.
·5 min read
Day rating is a label, not a magic number
`day_rating` is a composite label: poor, marginal, fair, good, or excellent. Under the hood it comes from an internal score, but the API returns a readable label. Here is how to interpret it without being misled.
·6 min read
Reading a forecast sounding without overreading it
The sounding endpoint gives you the full vertical profile at any point in the domain. Here is how to read the things a sounding is good for and ignore the things it is not.
·5 min read
Boundary layer height vs soaring height: they are not the same
`boundary_layer_m` and `hglider_agl_m` are two different numbers in the API. They come from the same meteorology but mean different things, and mixing them up gives you the wrong briefing.
·5 min read
`hglider_agl_m`: the glider-capped thermalling ceiling
`hglider_agl_m` is the height a glider can actually work up to, capped by cloudbase and the top of the useable thermal layer. It is not the raw boundary layer height.
·5 min read
Trigger temperature: the most useful number before breakfast
`thermal_trigger_temp_c` is the surface temperature that has to be reached before the first thermal of the day breaks the morning inversion. The field is in the API today as a placeholder. Here is what it will do once it lands.
·5 min read
What `wstar_ms` actually tells you
Pilots see `wstar_ms` and read it as thermal strength in metres per second. That is not what it is. Here is what the number actually represents.