Define Orders
(New Order)
Order definition flow
When you request to create a new subsetted order we use a wizard style GUI flow to step through the various stages of the order selection.
Click on a section to the right for more detail.
At the end of the selection pages we present an order summary which calculates an estimated monthly download size which can be used to determine the GB subscription required and therefore the cost.
Any element of the order selection can be amended from the order summary page and the estimated size will be recalculated.
Order status
As you build your order its initial state will be ‘Incomplete’. We cannot calculate estimated sizes for incomplete orders as the order is not yet fully defined enough.
When the order is fully defined and a size can be calculated the status becomes ‘Draft’. Draft orders can be freely amended.
An order only becomes ‘Active’ when confirmed and only at this point can data be downloaded against the order. Active orders can no longer be amended.
Active orders can be cancelled and will become ‘Expired’ but data can no longer be downloaded against that order.
Order summary
Presented at the end of the New Order wizard and accessible from the Order List the Order Summary presents the current state of the order and if not yet confirmed allows the order to be amended.
Each of the order definition steps can be reloaded and the defined subset amended.
At the bottom of the order summary we present some more technical information on how the data will be available through our API.
File preferences which control how the GRIB files are split can also be amended. However, please note we cannot guarantee preferences will always be honoured to protect performance ot other operational reasons, but we always show the actual breakdown of files we will deliver.
A full file list is also available if required.
You can confirm the order from here to make it active and available to get the data.
A pdf file is also available containing the same information as the order summary for your records, if required.
Order management
My orders
The order list screen provides a list of current orders for the user for a particular product.
Orders of a particular status can be selected by a series of tabbed views if required.
Various actions as defined below are available behind the actions cog as well as the option to add a new order and start the order definition flow.
Order actions
Action | Notes |
---|---|
Cancel | An active order can be cancelled. It will only be visible under the expired orders tab and data can no longer be downloaded against the expired order |
Confirm | A draft order can be confirmed to make it active. Data can then be downloaded against the active order. |
Copy | All orders can be copied in case you wish to make minor changes or see the size difference if changing the definition of an order |
Delete | Incomplete or draft orders can be deleted but the order definition will no longer be accessible or visible if deleted. |
Edit | Incomplete or draft orders can be edited to change the attributes of an existing order. Note we are aware that some users find the inability to edit active orders a real restriction. We are reviewing the possibility to extend the edit capability to active orders. |
Rename | Orders are created with a system generated name which can be amended through the rename function. Beware if renaming orders you will need to change the order names in the API to continue to utilise this order. |
Monthly Data Usage
On the right-hand side of the order list and order summary we show various statistics relating to data usage.
Summary
Estimated order size (by status) if all selected data for all runs is taken based on an expected file size per parameter. Note this is a guide only and actual sizes for each parameter will vary.
Whilst every effort has been made to make the estimated file download sizes accurate customers should check the projected figures via their account dashboard which are based on actual downloads as well as the estimated file sizes.
Usage this month
This figure is the actual data transferred/ number of requests for this calendar month so far.
We use calendar month as this is the time basis on which evaluation of headroom on our subscriptions is based for data downloads.
Projected Monthly Usage
The projected monthly usage is calculated by:
- Retrieving the amount of data downloaded in the last 30 days
- Divide by the number of active days (>0 bytes/ requests downloaded) to get a daily average
- Multiply by the number of days in the current month for maximum monthly usage
Dashboard
The dashboard option allows the user to delve a little deeper into their profile of use of the WDH APIs
Error rate and order decomposition graphs are also available.
All graphs allow the timeframe for display to be manipulated.
Order Subsetting
WDH provides the capability to subset the vast amount of data generated in its forecast models. This section provides an overview of that capability to ‘slice and dice’ the data.
Note the exact capability and options available varies by product/ model.
Model
The model selection page shows all of the models available in a tabbed view.
A summary description of each model characteristics is displayed.
Select the tab for the model you want and select ‘Start a New order’
Region
Within the bounds of your selected model you can draw a bounding box to define a customised region.
The selected region will also populate the co-ordinate boxes underneath the map.
These co-ordinates can be used to fine-tune your regional selection.
A number of common preset regions are also available (variable by model). Just use the preset dropdown box to select a preset region, if required.
The UK model in standard projection (Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area) only allow a small number of region presets due to the difficulty of defining a bounding box in this projection.
Many users choose to take our UK model as an Equirectangular Latitude-Longitude (UK Lat-Lon) projection as it is easier to subset and integrate with other models.
Single level parameters
Our single level parameters are presented in collapsed concertinas split by category.
Selecting the '+' against a category will expand the parameter selection as below.
Select your desired parameters within each category
Click on the info link to load the glossary for an explanation of that parameter.
This includes a scientific description, units and timestep availability as well as the technical parameter names used in our APIs.
Multi level parameters
Multi-level parameters occur at various levels in our models
- Pressure (x33)
- Height (x34)
- Depth (x4)
The number of parameters in view can be extended by clicking expand view, or you can use the arrows to scroll across.
All the available levels can be expanded by clicking Show all at the bottom of the checkbox table. We only display the most popular selection of levels on initial display.
You may select as many or as few combinations of parameters and levels as you wish.
Time steps
The time steps presented is very dependent on the model selected
Use the frequency and range presets to select your required time steps
For maximum flexibility you can select valid time steps individually- so any preferred combination of time steps is possible.
Note at this stage we do not consider the variable run lengths for model runs. If the selected time step is available for the model run it will be delivered.
Model run times
Again variable by model you can select from the available run times.
For each run we show you the length of the forecast available for each run.
Select one, more or all runs as required.
File delivery preferences
GRIB is extremely flexible as a file format in that it can be split or combined as required.
Therefore, subject to certain volume constraint we allow you to select the granularity of files to be delivered.
We cannot guarantee your preference - the order summary contains the actual file split we will deliver in.