Current BUFKIT Version

The most recent release of BUFKIT is Version 19 published on February 12, 2019.

Warning Decision Training Division

Office of Chief Learning Officer

BUFKIT

Introduction

BUFKIT is a forecast profile visualization and analysis tool kit. It is targeted as a training and forecast tool for the decision makers of the National Weather Service. It is also available to anyone that would like to explore very high vertical and temporal resolution model output for specific point locations.

Bufkit 19 (Released February 12, 2019)

Installation

Windows:

Uninstall any earlier version of Bufkit. (Good news if this earlier version was one of the Bufkit 18 releases).
Download the Bufkit19.zip file by clicking on this link right below:

bufkit19.zip download
Unzip this file and place the resulting three files in the same directory.
Double click on the SetUp.exe to set up Bufkit 19.
If there was a previous version of Bufkit 18 that you uninstalled, Bufkit 19 will retain all your data and configuration files. If this is a first time Bufkit installation or the previous version of Bufkit was prior to Bufkit 18, you’ll have to configure Bufkit again.

Linux and Mac instructions will be added later.

Bufkit 19 provides 3 additional features over Bufkit 18

Expanded System Time Support. In addition to US and European standard date formats, Bufkit 19 can support OS system time using the YYYY/MM/DD format.
FV3 Support. Bufkit 19 now displays FV3 model output to 120 hours (using hourly resolution) and out to 180 hours (using 3-hour resolution). Bufkit takes advantage of the latest Bufrgruven patch that replaces the incorrectly coded vertical velocities using W (in cm/sec) with the correct Omega (in μbars/sec)
Freezing Rain Accumulation Model (FRAM). Bufkit 19 provides Freezing Rain (ZR) accumulations for elevated flat surfaces (e.g. bridges) and round surfaces (e.g. power wires). FRAM details can be found in this August 2016 AMS WAF article: Analysis of Ice-to-Liquid Ratios during Freezing Rain and the Development of an Ice Accumulation Model.

To use FRAM in Bufkit 19 (see sample below):
1. Go to the Bufkit Overview and display Precipitation.
2. Turn on the “Icing” accumulation check box and be sure “Snow” and “Snow Accumulation” if turned off. Those Snow selections have precedence so turn them off if you want to see Ice Accumulation.
3. Bufkit 19 will now use a yellow line plot the ration of ice to liquid equivalent water. The ice accumulation to liquid water ratio uses the left most axis (see the red arrow below) where 1000 represents 1.000 to 1 ice-to-liquid ratio and 500 represents .500 to 1 ice-to-liquid ratio.
4. You can accumulate ice over a period of time by holding down the right mouse button and sliding the pointer over the period of interest. The readout (see the box pointed out by green arrow below) provides two readouts:
  - f = ZR accumulation in inches on an elevated flat surface
  - r = ZR accumulation in inches on radial surfaces

Example of the Freezing Rain Accumulation Model in Bufkit 19

Overview on Bufkit 18.7 (Released July 13, 2018)

Bufkit 18.7 provides a security enhanced version of the Bufget profile gathering application. If you are running previous version of Bufkit and are getting "tls errors", uninstall the previous version of Bufkit and install this version of Bufkit (Bufkit 18.7)

Overview on Bufkit 18.6 (Released June 28, 2018)

Bufkit 18.6 provides the following additional features over the Bufkit 18 (as detailed below).

Bufget now works when AWIPS Thin Client is also installed on the same PC
Bufkit supports 15-minute profiles out to 48 hours (193 data points)

All time functions no longer need to be configured. (Time Zone, daylight savings time, etc.). Linux configuration no longer required. Time scales automatically available for overview configuration. dProg/dt no longer a configuration parameter but changeable within Bufkit.

The Overview “Current Time” bar accuracy has increased from “within 2 hours” to “Within 5 minutes”.
Support for the new FV3 profiles (under development --- NCEP accidently released FV3 burf files with “w”s in place of “omegas”)
Bufkit 18.6 begin the process of moving help information from WDTD’s servers to YouTube (under development).

Installation Videos

Installing Bufkit 18 under Windows:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHuvad23p0A

Updating Bufkit under Windows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S53u_HbTvHM

Installing Bufkit under Linux: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMx2n60YOoU

Installing Bufkit 18.7

Uninstall previous version of Bufkit. If your previous version of Bufkit was Bufkit17 or Bufkit18, most of your configuration files will be retained.
After you uninstall previous versions of Bufkit, download the Bufkit 18.7 zipped package.
Unzip the zipped installation file. There will be three files. Run the setup.exe file

Overview on Version 18

1. Bufkit 18 now supports downloading Bufkit profiles using the HTTPS protocol (in addition to the previous HTTP and FTP protocols).

2. Bufkit 18 can now successfully run on a computer that has the AWIPS thin client software installed.

3. Bufkit 18's dProg/dT mode can now dynamically create different dProg/dT displays on the fly. By displaying the Profile "Controls" panel, the user can vary the number of presented profiles (the number of dProgs) and vary the period of profile overlap (dT).

4. Bufkit 18 now highlights the freezing temperatures on the overview temperature display.

5. Bufkit 18 will no longer crash if one of the 4 user defined map areas is invoked but has not yet been defined.

Bufkit18 Installation

Note: You will need administration privileges to install this package.

1. If you have a previous version of Bufkit (Bufkit16 or older):
- Back up your Bufget scripts [Optional]. What I do is click the different scripts within Bufget, highlight the script, copy (control-C) and then paste (control-V) them into a text document. Once Bufkit 17 is installed, I copy the scripts in the text document and paste them back into the new version of Bufget.
- Uninstall the old version of Bufkit. This is Mandatory.
2. Download the Bufkit distribution package. You can use the link in the "Installing Bufkit 18.7" section above.

3. Unzip the three files in the distribution package. Note the location of the file "Setup.exe".

4. Run the setup program “Setup.exe”

5. Run Bufkit18. As this is the first run, Bufkit will ask where you want your Bufkit configuration files installed.

Bufkit18 Upgrade from Bufkit17:

Note: You will need administration privileges to install this package.

These procedures will keep almost all of your Bufkit17 data, configurations, macros, and maps.

1. If you have a version of Bufkit17 installed:

Back up your Bufget scripts [Optional]. What I do is click the different scripts within Bufget, highlight the script, copy (control-C) and then paste (control-V) them into a text document. Once Bufkit 17 is installed, I copy the scripts in the text document and paste them back into the new version of Bufget.
Uninstall the old version of Bufkit17. This is Mandatory.

2. Download the Bufkit distribution package. You can use the link in the "Installing Bufkit 18.7" section above.

3. Unzip the three files in the distribution package. Note the location of the file "Setup.exe".

4. Run the setup program “Setup.exe”

5. Run Bufkit 18. Bufkit18 will make use your you existing Bufkit configuration files.

Bufkit 18 Sample Bufget Scripts

Bufkit 17 Users

If you are only approved for use of Bufkit 17, you can still download it from our server.

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