From lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu Fri Dec 5 15:02:38 2003 From: lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu (Linda Miller) Date: Fri, 05 Dec 2003 15:02:38 -0700 Subject: Call for Participation from Academic Community in WSR-88D Level II Data Distribution Message-ID: <32042915.1070636558@happy.unidata.ucar.edu> Call for Participation from Academic Community in WSR-88D* Level II** Data Distribution The National Weather Service (NWS) has adopted Unidata's Local Data Manager (LDM) technology to distribute Level II data using Internet2/Abilene to satisfy NWS requirements, including the delivery of Level II data to National Centers for Environmental Prediction and National Climatic Data Center. The use of Internet 2/Abilene presents an opportunity for academic institutions to receive the data in the same manner in which they receive other data sets currently provided via LDM and Internet Data Distribution (IDD). This call for participation is to inform the academic community of this activity and to solicit responses from institutions interested in being top-level relay node in the redistribution of the Level II data to: 1) University community free of charge and in an unrestricted manner; and 2) Private sector with only cost recovery It is expected that academic institutions that are selected to provide top-level service will enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the NWS. The MOA will stipulate unrestricted redistribution and usage rights and not-for-profit cost recovery when distributing data (non-value added) to private sector customers. The large volume, importance, and time criticality of the data necessitates stringent criteria in the selection of top-level relay nodes. Due to network bandwidth constraints and NWS requirements, the opportunity to become a top level relay node is limited to one or two sites that can provide a sustained commitment to distribute the data to the academic and the private sector communities. It is expected that sites will send data to approximately four second-tier Unidata member universities at no charge. The following list represents the minimum requirements the NWS is seeking for top level relay sites: -- Receive and relay data from all 132 and possible expansion to over 140 participating radars -- Knowledge of Level II data format and use -- At least an Internet2 connection -- Capability for large product queue (> 2 GB) support in LDM -- Bandwidth to deal with projected volume of data by year 2005: o minimum incoming bandwidth=80 Mb/second o minimum outgoing bandwidth=400 Mb/second (based on four downstream sites) -- Access to commodity Internet to serve the private sector -- 24x7 operations support highly desired, but not required -- UPS/power generation facilities and redundant disk arrays (RAID systems) -- Willingness to upgrade equipment if necessary -- Use of Unidata supported or approved platforms -- Willingness to upgrade LDM software when needed -- Staffed by Unidata workshop trained professionals or those with strong working knowledge of LDM software -- Working knowledge of Unix or one of its variants such as Linux -- Over 95% data distribution reliability, uptime, and availability -- Provide LDM statistics Final decision on top-level relay site selection will be made by the Unidata Program Center, based on the requirements of the stakeholders and in consultation with the National Weather Service. Replies should be sent to the email address below by close of business on December 22, 2003. Top level relay sites will be expected to have the MOA signed with the NWS and be ready for operation by January 31, 2004. For additional information, please contact level2 at unidata.ucar.edu *WSR-88D (Weather Surveillance Doppler Radar) **Level II (base data) Linda Miller - lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu External Liaison, Unidata University Corporation for Atmospheric Research P.O. Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307-3000 303-497-8646 fax: 303-497-8690 From lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu Wed Dec 17 10:23:29 2003 From: lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu (Linda Miller) Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 10:23:29 -0700 Subject: 20031215: Re: Update On WSR-88D Level II Project (fwd) Message-ID: <13564294.1071656609@happy.unidata.ucar.edu> Hi, I couldn't remember if I had forwarded this to you or not, so I'm doing it again! There are now 96 radars delivering data to CRAFT. Linda ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- > Date: Monday, December 15, 2003 3:51 PM -0600 > From: Tim D Crum > SUBJECT: Update On National Weather Service (NWS) Project To Collect And > Distribute WSR-88D Level II Data In Real Time > > TO: Participants Of June 18, 2003 Level II Public Meeting > NWS Regional Headquarters WSR-88D Focal Points > DOD and FAA WSR-88D Focal Points > > FROM: Tim Crum (Tim.D.Crum at noaa.gov) > > Date: 15 December 2003 > > > 1. This is an update to the NWS WSR-88D Level II data collection and > distribution network project I sent on 25 November. > > 2. Status of Phase 1 of implementing the Initial Operating Capability > (IOC). The hardware and Internet2 circuits required to implement the IOC > are now in place for the NWS Central Region (CR) and Western Region (WR). > All CR WSR-88D sites have joined the ?CRAFT? network and WR sites are > joining the network every day. The server hardware will be installed at > Eastern Region by the end of the month. The connectivity to the Southern > Region (SR) will not be established until early January. Thus, no > additional SR sites will be added to the network until January. The list > of 96 sites sending data electronically to the CRAFT server, National > Climatic Data Center, and available for distribution is at: > http://www.osf.noaa.gov/NWS_Level_2/Site_Listing.asp. I will update the > site at least weekly until the last of the 124 sites are on the network. > > 3. The research project that was funding for the connections for the > Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP) and Atlanta (FFC) data feeds has run out of > funds to continue the connections. Thus, data from these two sites will > not be available until the SR server connectivity is established in January > as discussed above. > > 4. Please feel free to send me additional questions and comments on this > project. > ---------- End Forwarded Message ---------- Linda Miller - lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu External Liaison, Unidata University Corporation for Atmospheric Research P.O. Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307-3000 303-497-8646 fax: 303-497-8690 From lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu Thu Dec 18 08:21:54 2003 From: lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu (Linda Miller) Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:21:54 -0700 Subject: Federal Meteorological Handbook-FMH-11 Release Announcement Message-ID: <6044341.1071735714@happy.unidata.ucar.edu> All, The following information was received for broad distribution from Tim Crum, NWS ROC. Please contact Tim if you have questions. Happy Holidays! Linda ______________________________________________________________ Federal Meteorological Handbook Number 11 (FMH-11) Updates Prepared By: Tim Crum Les Lemon NOAA/NWS RSIS/BCI Norman, OK Kansas City, MO The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) agencies (Departments of Commerce, Defense, and Transportation) are updating the Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 11 (FMH-11). The FMH-11 provides standards and procedures to facilitate the efficient collection, sharing, and use of meteorological information by agencies of the federal government and industry. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM) published FMH-11 parts A - D during 1990 to 1992 as the NEXRAD Program was beginning to deploy the network of Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) systems. Earlier FMH handbooks governed radar operation and use of weather radar data of pre-WSR-88D radars. The four parts of FMH-11 include: o Part A: System concepts, responsibilities, and procedures o Part B: Doppler radar theory and meteorology o Part C: WSR-88D products and algorithms o Part D: WSR-88D unit description and operational applications The FMH-11 handbooks require updating to reflect the new technology, software, and products added to the WSR-88D since the handbooks were published. The FMH-11 Part A was updated in June 2003 and is available for viewing and download at: http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh11/fmh11.htm. Parts C and D will be updated next using the WSR-88D Radar Product Generator software Build 6 as the baseline. The target completion of these updates is early 2005. Part B will be updated to include the Open Radar Data Acquisition deployment baseline. The target completion of Part B is spring 2005. The NEXRAD agencies plan to update the FMH-11 documents more frequently than in the past. The updates will be a part of the 6-month WSR-88D software release cycle. The more frequent updates will be easier due to the planned use of internet posting of the electronic version of FMH-11 documents on the OFCM webpage (http://www.ofcm.gov). This will make FMH-11 a dynamic, informative, and useable document. The documents will also serve as training and reference material for the NEXRAD agency operators and users of WSR-88D. Additionally, the updates will help the growing number of non-government WSR- 88D users of products and digital base-data (archive Level II) in real time better understand the products and data. Questions and suggestions for the updates should be addressed to Tim.D.Crum at noaa.gov. This project is supported by the authors of this note and a contract with RS Information Systems, Inc. (RSIS), Basic Commerce and Industries, Inc. (BCI). __________________________________________ Linda Miller - lmiller at unidata.ucar.edu External Liaison, Unidata University Corporation for Atmospheric Research P.O. Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307-3000 303-497-8646 fax: 303-497-8690