ManUniCast: a real-time weather and air-quality forecasting portal and app for teaching

Abstract

ManUniCast is a real-time weather and air-quality forecasting portal developed for education and outreach at the University of Manchester. The web portal http://manunicast.com displays model output from a weather research and forecast (WRF) simulation with 20km horizontal grid spacing over the North Atlantic and Europe, including a 4km nest over the UK and Ireland. Also available is output from a WRF-Chem simulation at 12km grid spacing over the UK. The portal displays over 60 different meteorological, chemical and composition quantities. Both the portal and an accompanying mobile app are free for all to access. Educational opportunities for incorporating ManUniCast into existing courses are discussed.