from Hacker News

Request HN: Build me an app to show where the air I'm breathing came from

by kadonoishi on 6/16/22, 4:19 PM with 6 comments

I was sitting on my porch just now and this fresh breeze came through, lifting my mood immensely. I looked up and sniffed, and the air was so fresh and beautiful, it reminded me of something long ago that I loved. I got more focused, smelled the air, identified the components; and it was a sea-breeze. My porch is 250mi from the nearest coast, but the breeze was unmistakeably a sea-air, carrying the salt and fish and general smell of the sea; specifically the south Atlantic, and the website [1] shows a swirl at 10kft that could indeed have lofted me a sea-breeze up from Myrtle Beach where my family used to vacation.

I request that HackerNews build me an app that will display where the air mass over my current location originated. Take this [1], and run it backward.

Can it be done?

[1] https://earth.nullschool.net/

  • by zkirill on 6/16/22, 4:34 PM

    Sure, but you didn't say how much you would pay for this app, and how would you market it beyond just yourself.

    We have a project going that's doing something similar but with food. You'd think that if someone were interested in where their air comes from, they would be even more interested in where the things they choose to put inside their body come from. However, we're finding that the market is either underdeveloped (low awareness) or very small (wealthy people who can eat anything they want). I'd be curious to hear your perspective.

  • by simne on 6/16/22, 7:35 PM

    This is not easy, because air mostly cycling in cyclones/anticyclones. And storm front is like giant horizontal tornado.

    Exists locations in space-time, where air moving very steady, so could say, it move from some point, or locations with very little exchange with surround, but need additional research and large scale modelling to map such locations (may be, gather many-years data would be enough), but for others air is usually mixed.

    For example, Mexico City is located in the Valley of Mexico, so surrounded by mountains, and it have little air exchange with surround.

    Here once I seen interest whole year diagrams, with temperatures for many large cities, but I'm not sure it is what you looking for.

  • by weinzierl on 6/16/22, 6:18 PM

    At least one weather service in Germany offers what they call "trajectory prognosis". Site is in German but it is pretty simple, either click one of the preselected locations at the bottom of the pop up (Chernobyl, etc.) or close it and click a location on the map.

    [1] https://kachelmannwetter.com/de/modellkarten/swiss-mrf/ukrai...

  • by 35mm on 6/16/22, 5:03 PM

    Have you tried using Windy.com? That might give you a very rough idea of air currents and such.