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010
NOUS41 KWBC 091906
PNSWSH
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 06-30
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
308 PM EDT TUE MAY 9 2006
TO: FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA
WEATHER WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...
EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
/EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS...
OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE /NWS/ CUSTOMERS
AND PARTNERS... AND NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: GLENN AUSTIN
DIGITAL SERVICES TRANSITION MANAGER
OFFICE OF CLIMATE WATER AND WEATHER SERVICES
SUBJECT: NWS NATIONAL DIGITAL FORECAST DATABASE /NDFD/
ELEMENT FILES TO BE SPLIT INTO SMALLER FILES ON
SEPTEMBER 6 2006 /SEPTEMBER 7 LOCAL GUAM TIME/
IN THE NDFD EACH FORECAST ELEMENT FILE CURRENTLY CONTAINS
MULTIPLE FORECAST GRIDS FOR UP TO 7 DAYS. ALL GRIDS ARE CREATED
AND POSTED TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME EACH HOUR. THIS CAN PRODUCE
FILES THAT ARE TOO LARGE FOR RELIABLE DATA TRANSFERS. IT ALSO
FORCES CUSTOMERS TO DOWNLOAD UP TO 7 DAYS OF DATA /UP TO 12
MEGABYTE FILES/ EVEN IF THEY ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN A SINGLE DAY
OR HOUR. TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES NWS IS MAKING THE FOLLOWING
CHANGES:
ON SEPTEMBER 6 2006 /SEPTEMBER 7 LOCAL GUAM TIME/...GRIDS FOR
DAYS 1 THROUGH 3 AND GRIDS FOR DAYS 4 THROUGH 7 WILL BE POSTED IN
SEPARATE FILES. OPERATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL NDFD ELEMENTS FOR
ALL DOMAINS ARE AFFECTED BY THIS CHANGE.
IF THE IMPLEMENTATION DAY IS A CRITICAL WEATHER DAY...IT MAY BE
POSTPONED. IN THAT CASE USERS WILL BE NOTIFIED OF THAT DECISION
AS FAR IN ADVANCE AS POSSIBLE.
WITH THIS CHANGE THE ELEMENT FILES FOR DAYS 4 THROUGH 7 WILL ONLY
BE UPDATED IN NDFD 4 TIMES A DAY AT 0000 COORDINATED UNIVERSAL
TIME /UTC/...0600 UTC...1200 UTC...AND 1800 UTC. THESE FILES
WILL BE POSTED AT H+45 MINUTES RATHER THAN AT THE TOP OF THE
FOLLOWING HOUR AS THEY ARE NOW. FOR EXAMPLE THE DAYS 4 THROUGH 7
GRIDS CURRENTLY POSTED IN FILES AT 1800 UTC WILL BE POSTED AT
1745 UTC ONCE THIS CHANGE IS IMPLEMENTED.
THE DAYS 1 THROUGH 3 NDFD ELEMENT FILES WILL CONTINUE TO BE
UPDATED HOURLY AND BE POSTED AT THE TOP OF THE HOUR AS THEY ARE
NOW. FOR EXAMPLE...DAYS 1 THROUGH 3 GRIDS CURRENTLY POSTED IN
FILES AT 1800 UTC WILL CONTINUE TO BE POSTED AT 1800 UTC.
USERS OF NDFD GRAPHICS AND NDFD IN EXTENSIBLE MARKUP LANGUAGE
/XML/ VIA WEB SERVICE DO NOT NEED TO MAKE ANY CHANGES IN THE
METHODS THEY CURRENTLY USE TO VIEW OR ACQUIRE NDFD ELEMENTS AFTER
THEY ARE SPLIT INTO SMALLER FILES ON SEPTEMBER 6 2006. THE CHANGE
WILL BE TRANSPARENT TO THESE USERS...WITH THE EXCEPTION THAT DATA
COVERING DAYS 4 THROUGH 7 WILL ONLY BE UPDATED 4 TIMES PER DAY.
USERS WHO PULL ANY OF THE OPERATIONAL OR EXPERIMENTAL NDFD
ELEMENT FILES IN GRIDDED BINARY /GRIB2/ FORMAT FROM THE NWS FTP
SERVER...EITHER VIA THE INTERNET OR VIA THE FAMILY OF SERVICES
SERVER ACCESS SERVICE...WILL NEED TO UPDATE THEIR PROCEDURES AND
SCRIPTS TO ENSURE CONTINUED ACCESS TO THE OPERATIONAL AND/OR
EXPERIMENTAL NDFD ELEMENTS OF INTEREST. A NEW SUBDIRECTORY TO
ACCOMMODATE THE SPLIT FILES WILL BE ADDED TO THE URLS USED TO
DOWNLOAD NDFD ELEMENT FILES VIA FTP. NEW WORLD METEOROLOGICAL
ORGANIZATION /WMO/ SUPERHEADINGS WILL ALSO BE IMPLEMENTED WITHIN
THE NDFD ELEMENT FILES AS PART OF THIS CHANGE.
MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR FTP USERS REGARDING THIS CHANGE
WILL BE PROVIDED IN A FOLLOW-UP TECHNICAL IMPLMENTATION NOTICE
/TIN/ BY JUNE 1 2006. THIS WILL INCLUDE AN EXPLICIT LIST OF ALL
THE NEW FTP URLS AND WMO SUPERHEADINGS TO BE IMPLEMENTED AS OF
SEPTEMBER 6 2006.
THIS IMPLEMENTATION INCLUDES NO OTHER MODIFICATIONS TO NDFD. THE
FORMAT OF NDFD ELEMENT FILES REMAINS THE SAME...AS DO THE
TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL RESOLUTION OF THE DATA.
RELATED NDFD WEB SITES /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS FOR ALL URLS SHOWN
BELOW/:
CONTENT OF AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING THE OPERATIONAL AND
EXPERIMENTAL GRID ELEMENTS IN GRIDDED BINARY /GRIB2/ FORMAT:
NOTE: THE FOLLOWING WEB PAGE WILL BE UPDATED TO REFLECT
SPLITTING THE ELEMENT FILES INTO TWO PARTS CONCURRENT
WITH THE ISSUANCE OF THE FOLLOW-UP TIN BY JUNE 1 2006.
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NDFD/TECHNICAL.HTM
CONTENT OF AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCESSING THE OPERATIONAL AND
EXPERIMENTAL GRID ELEMENTS IN XML:
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/XML/
NDFD GRAPHICS:
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/FORECASTS/GRAPHICAL/SECTORS/INDEX.PHP
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION DOCUMENTS /PDD/ FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL NDFD
FORECAST ELEMENT DATA FILES AND GRAPHICS:
HTTP://PRODUCTS.WEATHER.GOV/VIEWLISTE.PHP
NDFD VERIFICATION INFORMATION:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/NDFD/VERIFICATION/
FOR GENERAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE NDFD...YOU MAY EMAIL:
NWS.NDFD@xxxxxxxx
IF YOU HAVE TECHNICAL QUESTIONS REGARDING THE DATA IN NDFD...
PLEASE CONTACT:
DAVID RUTH
CHIEF...MESOSCALE PREDICTION BRANCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910
EMAIL: DAVID.RUTH@xxxxxxxx
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS NOTICE...PLEASE CONTACT:
CHRIS ALEX
DIGITAL SERVICES
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE OF CLIMATE...WATER...AND WEATHER SERVICES
1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910
EMAIL: CHRISTINE.ALEX@xxxxxxxx
THIS AND ALL OTHER NWS TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES ARE
POSTED AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM
$$
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