Subject Area Concepts This subject area highlights the new weather-related entity types added in ARTS ODM V7.0/7.1. Weather is a very important determinant of consumer demand. The ARTS data model links weather to Site (and through BusinessUnitSite to BusinessUnit), RetailTransaction and MerchandiseHierarchy. These relationships provide the raw data retailers can use to assess how weather impacts sales of merchandise. Actual weather conditions are captured in the METARWeatherCondition entity. Forecasted weather is captured in the METARWeatherForcecast entity. Weather conditions are encoded using the METAR. METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by pilots in fulfillment of a part of a pre-flight weather briefing, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting. Raw METAR is the most popular format in the world for the transmission of weather data. It is highly standardized through International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which allows it to be understood throughout most of the world. The ARTS ODM uses METAR as a world wide basis for establishing weather reporting areas. METARs typically come from airports or permanent weather observation stations. Reports are generated once an hour, but if conditions change significantly, a report known as a special (SPECI) may be issued. Some METARs are encoded by automated airport weather stations located at airports, military bases, and other sites. Some locations still use augmented observations, which are recorded by digital sensors, encoded via software, and then reviewed by certified weather observers or forecasters prior to being transmitted. Observations may also be taken by trained observers or forecasters who manually observe and encode their observations prior to transmission. |