{
  "id": 5952,
  "title": "What information is a priori?",
  "url": "/competitions/flight2-milestone/discussion/5952",
  "author_name": "",
  "post_date": "2013-10-03T19:15:13.973Z",
  "votes": null,
  "comment_count": 1,
  "views": 1471,
  "content": "<p>Below, I'll list the information I'm using today and the assumptions I have going forward. &nbsp;Can you please confirm my assumptions? If I'm missing a key piece of approved information, can you let us know?</p>\n<p>Currently my model uses:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>testFlightsRev3:&nbsp;Starting position, destination airport, &amp; cost factors</li>\n<li>Airports file: destination position</li>\n<li>Weather: 13070419.rap.t19z.awp130bgrbf00.grib2 NOAA RAP</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Some assumptions:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>The &quot;cut off time&quot; is the time when the plane is at the current lat/long position (this is suggested in a <a href=\"http://www.gequest.com/c/flight2/forums/t/5455/cutofftime-is-always-after-scheduledarrivaltime/30370#post30370\">post </a>but not confirmed by an admin<span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">)</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">We may use NOAA RAP files published up until the cut-off but not after</span></li>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">Note to others: While more accurate data is available from later hours, using it is&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.gequest.com/c/flight2/forums/t/5832/using-live-wind-information/31501#post31501\">grounds for disqualification</a></span></li>\n</ul>\n<li>The time cost penalties only apply to the time elapsed after the expected arrival (the evaluation <a href=\"http://www.gequest.com/c/flight2/details/evaluation\">page </a>suggests otherwise: &quot;t is the <strong>time in flight</strong> in hours, and the remaining terms are hourly cost rates related to crew, passenger and overhead costs.&quot;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Thanks!</p>",
  "messages": [
    {
      "id": "31997",
      "postDate": "10/03/2013 19:15:13",
      "content": "<p>Below, I'll list the information I'm using today and the assumptions I have going forward. &nbsp;Can you please confirm my assumptions? If I'm missing a key piece of approved information, can you let us know?</p>\n<p>Currently my model uses:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>testFlightsRev3:&nbsp;Starting position, destination airport, &amp; cost factors</li>\n<li>Airports file: destination position</li>\n<li>Weather: 13070419.rap.t19z.awp130bgrbf00.grib2 NOAA RAP</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Some assumptions:</p>\n<ul>\n<li>The &quot;cut off time&quot; is the time when the plane is at the current lat/long position (this is suggested in a <a href=\"http://www.gequest.com/c/flight2/forums/t/5455/cutofftime-is-always-after-scheduledarrivaltime/30370#post30370\">post </a>but not confirmed by an admin<span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">)</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">We may use NOAA RAP files published up until the cut-off but not after</span></li>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">Note to others: While more accurate data is available from later hours, using it is&nbsp;<a href=\"http://www.gequest.com/c/flight2/forums/t/5832/using-live-wind-information/31501#post31501\">grounds for disqualification</a></span></li>\n</ul>\n<li>The time cost penalties only apply to the time elapsed after the expected arrival (the evaluation <a href=\"http://www.gequest.com/c/flight2/details/evaluation\">page </a>suggests otherwise: &quot;t is the <strong>time in flight</strong> in hours, and the remaining terms are hourly cost rates related to crew, passenger and overhead costs.&quot;</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Thanks!</p>",
      "rawMarkdown": "",
      "votes": null
    },
    {
      "id": "32032",
      "postDate": "10/04/2013 17:17:39",
      "content": "<p>Hi David,</p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">The cutoff time is the time beyond which no further information is provided for that day. So for flights in the test set, you will have all information about the flight that is known prior and up to the cutoff time.</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">Yes, you may use NOAA RAP files up to the cutoff time but not after. It's best to think of this rule as part of a broader general approach where no future information is allowed. Using NOAA data after the cutoff time is using future information about the weather.</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">With regards to the milestone, your third point is false. Time cost penalties apply between the actual arrival and scheduled arrival, regardless of which event happens first. Should you land before the scheduled arrival, this results in a negative crew/passenger/overhead cost. Should you land exactly at the scheduled arrival, these costs would be zero.&nbsp;</span></span>As a heads up, in the next stage of the competition, we'll be removing the possibility of these negative costs. Further, the evaluation page will be updated to be consistent with the code.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Thanks for the post, and for your patience in getting the response! We working hard on the next phase and look forward to seeing how the competition progresses.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>",
      "rawMarkdown": "",
      "votes": null
    }
  ],
  "comments": [
    {
      "id": 32032,
      "author_name": "joycenv",
      "author_url": "",
      "post_date": "10/04/2013 17:17:39",
      "content": "<p>Hi David,</p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">The cutoff time is the time beyond which no further information is provided for that day. So for flights in the test set, you will have all information about the flight that is known prior and up to the cutoff time.</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">Yes, you may use NOAA RAP files up to the cutoff time but not after. It's best to think of this rule as part of a broader general approach where no future information is allowed. Using NOAA data after the cutoff time is using future information about the weather.</span></li>\n<li><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.4\">With regards to the milestone, your third point is false. Time cost penalties apply between the actual arrival and scheduled arrival, regardless of which event happens first. Should you land before the scheduled arrival, this results in a negative crew/passenger/overhead cost. Should you land exactly at the scheduled arrival, these costs would be zero.&nbsp;</span></span>As a heads up, in the next stage of the competition, we'll be removing the possibility of these negative costs. Further, the evaluation page will be updated to be consistent with the code.</li>\n</ul>\n<p>Thanks for the post, and for your patience in getting the response! We working hard on the next phase and look forward to seeing how the competition progresses.</p>\n<p>&nbsp;</p>",
      "votes": null,
      "replies": []
    }
  ],
  "raw_markdown_by_id": {
    "31997": "",
    "32032": ""
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}