Utah DOT Webcams add from KML file from UDOT server
-
UDOT does not appear to have live feeds. However, I found a KML that can be updated from their system with thumbnails that appear to update every 10-15 minutes. I did not want to submit each individual webcam. Maybe this will help. Utah is short on cameras in the Windy app.
https://www.udottraffic.utah.gov/ForecastView/KmlFile.aspx?kmlFileType=Camera
I found this KML when looking for information. Here is the map that it came from, which appears to be publicly available: https://udottraffic.utah.gov/ForecastView/Default.aspx
Looks like there are some other KML feeds for RWIS data as well...
https://www.udottraffic.utah.gov/ForecastView/KmlFile.aspx?kmlFileType=RWIS -
Just a little friendly feedback about that idea. Someone did what you're proposing here in Georgia, cluttered up the map with hundreds of traffic cameras pointing down at the road or some highway, not showing anything to do with the weather and so if someone is actually wanting to look at actual weather conditions, they end up having to sift through many, many, traffic cameras. Nothing wrong with wanting to see the traffic or road conditions but those sorts of cameras are not the same thing as weather cameras. I don't go to the DOT website to view the weather map and I don't go to Windy to see what the traffic is like. You might instead look to see if there are any tv stations that have web cams. Those tend to nearly always be high quality. So, please, please reconsider adding traffic cameras in bulk.
-
I idefix37 marked this topic as a regular topic on
-
@winniw10
Thanks for the feedback - and I agree with you that the purpose of windy is for weather conditions. I am not sure about the quality and purpose of the cameras in Georgia - or the technical issues that have messed them up - but in Utah - while we do have some minor traffic in the cities - the cameras on roads throughout the state are very weather-focused. In fact, many camera stations are also providing weather data as well that is publicly available via a KML feed from the same server. I imported both as a layer into Google Earth, and the locations of the cameras are spot on.
If Windy could incorporate the camera data feed with the images and locations, it would add to the app's usefulness for observing the conditions in an area.
As an example of the weather conditions nature of the UDOT cameras (which most have been upgraded in recent years to HD) - here is a site that someone constructed and UDOT crews use to monitor conditions. UTAH Camera Grids
It appears that many of the cameras are PTZ, capturing the road surface as well as the sky in both directions. This would, in my opinion, be valuable for someone looking to see the conditions in an area. Here is an example of an image showing the various directions along with the road surface.
This camera appears to be stationary - but provides an excellent elevated view for observation of conditions for miles.
-
@Andrew-Cordes I run PTZ cameras so I think it's reasonable to excuse the brief periods where a DOT camera might be zoomed into an accident scene or something like that. My weather cameras are not just for weather, they are also to monitor fires and some days, they're zoomed into that. But when the vast majority of cameras are just planted on a road or are very low quality fixed lens cameras, that shouldn't be posted on Windy.
Now then, you say it all comes from some bulk list. Well, clearly a bulk list isn't the right way to do it. I wouldn't mind a DOT camera if it looked anything like yours you just showed.
They don't show the sky, but why would they need to for their intended purpose, which is to show traffic conditions.The answer is to be selective about what is on Windy so the platform isn't cluttered up with garbage that nobody wants to see that is of no value to users.
And yes, that means going through them all one by one.