Product overview
Data flow
IRIS Focus runs on a web server that users can connect to in an enterprise intranet or from an external location or the Internet.
The following figure shows a setup where IRIS Focus is used as part of a complete Vaisala weather device network consisting of 2 radar sites, 2 WindCube Scan Lidar sites, and an additional lidar or radar site.
In this case, IRIS Analysis, IRIS Radar, and wind lidar software can be considered back-end services for the IRIS Focus front-end interface. Network connections between IRIS Focus and IRIS Analysis processing back-end go through a socket server, a custom protocol over TCP/IP that delivers radar data from the IRIS back-end services to IRIS Focus. IRIS Focus polls the server for data and displays it on screen using the browser.
The components have the following functions:
- IRIS Radar - Operates the radar site and stores data gathered from the radar signals in RAW format.
- Wind lidar software - Operates the lidar site and stores data gathered from the lidar signals in NetCDF format.
- IRIS Analysis - Receives RAW data from a weather device through secure connection and processes it into displayable weather products.
- IRIS Focus - Polls pre-configured weather products from IRIS Analysis, displays them on the web interface, and generates on-demand weather products from RAW or NetCDF data.
The back-end collects data in different configurations, which are defined as tasks in IRIS Radar and wind lidar software. Tasks are sets of operating parameters for the device hardware and signal processing components, for example:
- Surveillance PPI scan at a single elevation angle
- Complete volume scan at multiple elevation angles
- Wind velocity scan
Each task type provides different source data. Users can select the task type when selecting an on-demand weather product to display in IRIS Focus.
IRIS Focus licensing
IRIS Focus requires a software license to run. To activate the license, you need a product key.
Vaisala delivers the product key when you purchase the software. If you have purchased the software and you have not received the product key, please contact Vaisala.
For server deliveries, Vaisala activates the product key in the factory, and a Vaisala representative sends you the key for future reference.
The license is mapped to the hardware of your IRIS Focus server or the ID of your virtual environment. If your hardware configuration changes and you need to re-install IRIS Focus, you must request a replacement license from your Vaisala representative.
An exception to this is the USB license key. If you have a USB license key, IRIS Focus runs when the USB license key is inserted in the server. If you install IRIS Focus on another server, you can move the USB license key to that server.
To view
information about the license version, login to IRIS Focus as admin,
and select .
License options
IRIS Focus has a basic license called IRIS Focus Light. This license enables users to view certain weather data on the map, but gives limited interaction with the tools. The full license is called IRIS Focus. This license provides access to the interactive features of IRIS Focus. The IRIS Focus license includes all the features of IRIS Focus Light.
There are separate licenses for weather radar/wind lidar data visualization and for lightning data visualization. One user can have access to both licenses. Access to licenses is defined by the IRIS Focus administrator in the user's profile.
IRIS Focus Light
IRIS Focus Light view has an unlimited number of seats. If there are no IRIS Focus license seats available, the user will be logged in with an IRIS Focus Light license. If the licence is missing, users cannot log in. This could happen, for example, if the USB license key has been removed or if this is a new installation, not from the factory, that requires an e-mail be sent to Vaisala to retrieve the license.
With an IRIS Focus Light license, the user sees the IRIS Focus Light map view. The following features are available:
- View one pregenerated weather product at a time (no on-demand products)
- See areas of interest with active alerts highlighted in the alert severity color when viewing current data
- View WMS map layers
- View the animation timeline
- View the cursor tool
- Create and edit personal color scales
- Change radar/lidar site
- Select map features
- Use the Ruler Tool
- Change user preferences
There are two variants of the IRIS Focus Light license:
-
IRIS_Focus_Light_LGT
This license is for viewing lighting data.
-
IRIS_Focus_Light_WR
This license is for viewing weather radar/ wind lidar data.
IRIS Focus
IRIS Focus licenses are based on a floating seat pool.
There are two variants of the IRIS Focus license:
- IRIS_Focus_Lightning
This license enables users to view the full-scale visualizations of lightning network sensor data, and to use all the related interactive tools.
- IRIS_Focus_Weather_Radar
This license enables users to view the full-scale visualizations of weather radar and wind lidar data, and to use all the related interactive tools.
The following features are available with the IRIS Focus license (in addition to all the IRIS Focus Light features):
- Create places of interest and set up alerting for them
- View alert icons on the map
- View alert history and the list of active alerts
- Advanced map features and tools
Advanced feature licenses
In addition to the IRIS Focus Light and IRIS Focus licenses, the following advanced feature licenses are available. These are system level licenses; one advanced feature license applies for all users.
Using the NetworkHealth product, Turbulence product, and Nowcasting also requires that the user has a Focus seat.
-
IRIS_WMS
With the IRIS_WMS license, external WMS layers can be added to the system. Users can then access the layers through the weather product panel.
-
IRIS_Nowcast
With the IRIS_Nowcast license, you get access to the nowcast algorithm for creating forecasts based on weather radar data up to 6 hours into the future. Using this feature also requires the IRIS_Focus_Weather_Radar license.
-
IRIS_NetworkHealth_LGT
With the IRIS_NetworkHealth_LGT license, you can get the network performance information from the Total Lightning Processor, and display the information as NetworkHealth product in the product panel. Using this feature also requires the IRIS_Focus_Lightning license.
-
IRIS_StormIntensity_LGT
With the IRIS_StormIntensity_LGT license, you can view the Storm Intensity product layer. Using this feature also requires the IRIS_WMS license.
-
IRIS_ThreatZone_LGT
With the IRIS_ThreatZone_LGT license, you can view the Lightning Threat Zone product.
-
IRIS_VHF_LGT
With the IRIS_VHF_LGT license, you can view VHF lightning data.
-
IRIS_Turbulence
With the IRIS_Turbulence license, you can view the Turbulence product.
Seat-based license pool
IRIS Focus licenses are available in different configurations. To increase your seat count, you must replace the current license with a new one by contacting your Vaisala representative.
The seat count defines how many users can access IRIS Focus at the same time. For example, if there are 10 users with IRIS Focus privileges configured to the system, and there are only 5 IRIS Focus seats, then the first 5 users to access the system will be given IRIS Focus rights, whereas the remaining 5 users will enter the system with IRIS Focus Light credential.
Seat counts within a workstation are browser-based. For one license reservation, users may view IRIS Focus in as many instances or tabs of one browser, such as Firefox®, as they like. If a user opens IRIS Focus in a different browser, such as Google Chrome™, they reserve one license for each browser.
Licensing based on the number of weather radars
 | Caution
If you have more radars in the network than licenses, and you have not configured the list of radars to apply the licenses to, the system will not display any radar data. |
For detailed instructions, see IRIS Focus Administrator Guide.
For detailed instructions, see chapter Configuring licensing based on the number of radars.
Licensing based on the number of lidars
IRIS_Focus_Light_WR and IRIS_Focus_Weather_Radar licenses are valid for a defined number of lidars. If you have more lidars in the network than licenses, you need to define which lidars the licenses are applied to. To do this, configure the vsoweb-override.ini file.
| Caution
If you have more lidars in the network than licenses, and you have not configured the list of lidars to apply the licenses to, the system will not display any lidar data. |
For detailed instructions, see IRIS Focus Administrator Guide.
For detailed instructions, see chapter Configuring licensing based on the number of lidars.
Focus Light user and Focus user differences
The following table summarizes differences between the IRIS Focus Light view (without the Focus role/Focus license) and full IRIS Focus view (with the Focus role and license).
| Feature | IRIS Focus Light view | IRIS Focus full view |
|---|---|---|
| View one pregenerated weather product at a time |  |
|
| View up to four weather products simultaneously (pregenerated and on-demand products) | - | |
| Create personal areas of interest and monitor these areas for weather events | - | |
| View organization-level areas of interest | |
|
| See areas of interest with active alerts highlighted in the alert severity color when viewing current data | |
|
| View alert icons on the map | - | |
| View alert history and the list of active alerts | - | |
| Change user preferences | |
|
| View WMS map layers | |
|
| View the animated timeline | |
|
| Use data analysis tools, like Tracking tool, Ruler tool, and Cursor tool | |
|
| Select map features | |
|
| Edit color scales | |
|
| Advanced map features and tools | - | |
| Select radar/lidar site | |
|