Alerts and Data Monitoring

This lesson provides basic user instruction on the AWIPS alert management application called AlertViz. 

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AlertViz Overview

The main interface for AlertViz is a thin window outside of CAVE containing a row of status icons (related to FFMP, FOG, SafeSeas, SCAN and SNOW alerts) and general AWIPS alert text log controls. AlertViz provides different alerts through the use of pop-ups, colors, and sounds. Your ITO can configure AlertViz to alert in different ways to tailor some of the notifications, but AWIPS by nature generates a lot of alerts that you will need to know how to manage. 

Note: In live operations AlertViz is started when the user logs in, and it must be running for CAVE to launch.

Hiding the AlertViz Dialog Box

You can hide and show the AlertViz bar by toggling on/off the “Show Alert Dialog” option in a menu that appears by right-clicking on the AlertViz icon in the task bar on your machine's desktop. While hiding the AlertViz bar can reduce the clutter on your screen, there is one important consequence. When hidden, you cannot see certain text-only responses or alerts (i.e., alerts that have a low system priority). Alerts with higher priorities will still trigger pop-ups and sounds that the forecaster will see.

Text Section Log

The Text Section Log in AlertViz allows the user to obtain more detailed information on a message and to filter messages by category. A list of AlertViz messages can be launched from the AlertViz bar. The window that contains these messages provides the option to show more detail about a message in a split-screen format.

Alert Visualization Configuration GUI

The Alert Visualization Configuration GUI allows you to working with your ITO to configure message alerts to reduce notification distractions. The image on the next page shows what the configuration GUI looks like. Within this GUI, you can create and save different configuration files. Some of the properties that can be adjusted include the following:

• Message text layout
• Text message settings, such as the ability to show message priority and adjusting the blink/audio durations
• Visual/audio settings for each of the different priorities from High (Priority 0) to Low (Priority 5) for different sources (CAVE, EDEX, FFMP, etc.)

The Alert Visualization Configuration GUI is launched from the menu that appears by right-clicking on the AlertViz icon in the task bar on your machine. In this menu, you would select the “Configuration...” option and press the left-mouse button. See your ITO or local AWIPS Focal Point before changing any of your alert settings because you don't want to miss a critical alert!

Using the AWIPS Data Monitor

This lesson provides instructions on how to assess data outages. Because the AWIPS monitoring capability is not integrated in the WES-2 Bridge, this lesson requires a live AWIPS.

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The AWIPS Data Monitor is part of the AWIPS System Monitor, which provides a status of the AWIPS Data (Radar, Point, Grid, Satellite, Local, Graphic, and Disk Usage) and the data ingest processes. The page is composed of collapsible tables with a data label and a corresponding state value. The state is characterized by one of four symbols: a green check mark, a red circle with a white “X”, a blue question mark, and a yellow triangle with a black exclamation point. Each one of these has a specific meaning.

• A green check mark indicates that data are being received in a complete and timely manner.
• A yellow triangle with a black exclamation point indicates that data are somewhat late (i.e., more than 20 minutes old) or the data disks are running at a somewhat high level.
• A red circle with a white “X” indicates that data are very late (i.e., more than 40 minutes old) and/or very incomplete.
• A blue question mark indicates that no files are present in the data storage for that data set (i.e., perhaps a dedicated radar is down for maintenance for an extended period of time).

Clicking on the plus sign (“+”) in the Data Monitor page provides a more detailed listing of products within each data type, as well as the respective state of each data product. If a symbol other than a green check mark appears in the status column of a particular data set, it is important to click on the plus sign to see which product(s) may have problems.

NOTE: It is important to note that a yellow triangle denotes a problem that is logged by the Network Control Facility (NCF), but not necessarily known by NCF controllers. However, a red circle denotes a problem that would be visible on a NCF controllers monitor. It is important to communicate any system problems with the NCF using local guidelines.

Note: The AWIPS Data Monitor is only available on a live AWIPS workstation.