20000619: Juneau-data: 06-00.8 (fwd)

• To: nws-changes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
• Subject: 20000619: Juneau-data: 06-00.8 (fwd)
• From: Linda Miller <lmiller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 16:01:50 -0600

505
NOXX10 KWBC 191659
DATA MGT MESSAGE 06-00.08
EFFECTIVE JULY 01 2000

EFFECTIVE ON THE ABOVE DATE THE FOLLOWING MARINE VERIFICATION
CODED FORECAST PRODUCT FOR WFO JUNEAU ALASKA WILL BE ADDED
TO THE AWIPS/NOAAPORT DATASTREAM.

AWIPS ID    WMO HEADING

MVFAJK      FXAK57 PAJK

FOR FOS/NOAAPORT QUESTIONS PLEASE CONTACT JULIE HAYES
PHONE  301 713-1741 EXTENSION 205
EMAIL  JULIE.HAYES/AT SYMBOL/NOAA.GOV
       EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE ALL LOWER CASE

FOR NON-AWIPS CUSTOMERS - IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS
REGARDING ROUTING OR WOULD LIKE TO ADD THESE PRODUCTS
TO YOUR DATASTREAM PLEASE CONTACT.

FRED BRANSKI
SENIOR DATA MANAGER

PHONE  301 713-0864 EXTENSION 146
EMAIL  FRED.BRANSKI/AT SYMBOL/NOAA.GOV
       EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE ALL LOWER CASE

WALTER SMITH
PHONE  301 713-0864 EXTENSION 139
EMAIL  WALTER.SMITH/AT SYMBOL/NOAA.GOV
       EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE ALL LOWER CASE

RICHARD ROBINSON
DATA MANAGER

PHONE  301 713-0864 EXTENSION 179
EMAIL  RICHARD.ROBINSON/AT SYMBOL/NOAA.GOV
       EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE ALL LOWER CASE

THIS INFORMATION IS ALSO POSTED ON THE NWS SYSTEMS OPERATIONS
CENTER CHANGE NOTICES WEB PAGE. THE URL IS LISTED BELOW.

NOTE THE URL SHOULD BE TYPED IN ALL LOWER CASE.

HTTP TO WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OSO/NOTICES/NOTICES.SHTML

LLOYD IRVIN  CHIEF
GRAPHICS AND DISPLAY SECTION SECTION
SYSTEMS OPERATIONS CENTER
RTH WASHINGTON SENDS




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From owner-nws-changes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tue Dec 29 13:57:17 92 -0700

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 92 13:57:17 -0700
From: "Unidata User Support" <support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: nws-changes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: AWIPS contractor announcement
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PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
250 PM EDT TUE DEC 29 1992

TO:    NWS EMPLOYEES  (SECOND TRANSMISSION)

FROM:  JOE FRIDAY,
      ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR WEATHER SERVICES

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
today awarded a $41-million, thirty-nine (39) month contract to
PRC, Inc of McLean, Virginia to develop an Advanced Weather
Interactive Processing System, (AWIPS), which will rapidly

    "AWIPS is the linchpin of the National Weather Service's 10
year modernization program,"  said Dr. Elbert W. "Joe" Friday,
Jr., NOAA's assistant administrator for weather services. "By
pooling a veritable ocean of data from our new Doppler radars,
satellites, and surface observing systems, it will enable
forecasters to provide faster, more accurate weather advisories
for transportation, agriculture, manufacturing and communities
across the nation."

    NOAA's programmed upgrade of weather satellites, improved
weather radars and hundreds of ground-based sensors will mean a
quantum leap in weather observation data available to weather
service forecasters and hydrologists.  AWIPS allows access to all
of these multiple sources of data through a single workstation,
permitting local and area forecasters to manipulate incoming data
quickly in "pictographic" form and interact with other such
stations in the state and national network.

    AWIPS uses both powerful computer technology and
sophisticated software to make these multiple sources of data

linked by a high speed communications network.  The first office
will be outfitted by 1995.  Forecasters working with AWIPS daily
will have routine access to over 200 satellite "snapshot" images
from the new GOES satellite 22,000 miles above the equator to
analyze clouds, temperature and moisture in areas as small as a
few square miles. They will have daily access to as many as 8,000

observations of temperature, precipitation, wind speed, direction

     "Forecasters can request displays that overlay and animate
images and graphics to give them a comprehensive look at weather
data, a key to higher accuracy and reliability of warning and
forecasts," said Friday. "Access to this great new flow of
weather information will minimize the manual part of the
forecasters job while giving maximum sway to his or her

     Forecasters typically "roller-skated" around the forecast
office from radar screen to teletype to clip board, acquiring the
information needed to make informed decisions. Forecasting to
date has been too time consuming, according to Friday. Timely and
accurate weather warnings have been hampered by the lack of data
and the complex installations needed to define developing severe
weather at the area and local levels, he explains.

         (301)713-0038
         Frank Lepore
         (301)713-0622

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Weather Service
Office of Public Affairs                Silver Spring, MD 20910
                                       301-713-0622

    Since 1982 a computer system known as AFOS (Automation of
Field Operations and Services) has provided the data
communication, processing, and display capabilities that are
critical to the warning and forecast services of NWS field
offices across the nation.  That system conceived and developed
in the 1970s is now obsolete and the AWIPS contract is designed
to replace it.

    A new high-speed computer network is required for the
modernized National Weather Service - one capable of ingesting,
digesting and distributing the greatly increased flow of data
from new Doppler radars, new satellites and hundreds of new
surface observing systems.  The AWIPS (Advanced Weather
Interactive data Processing System) has been developed to satisfy
this need.

    The Department of Commerce has awarded a $41-million thirty-
nine (39) month contract to PRC, Inc. of McLean, Virginia for the
development of the AWIPS system, the centerpiece of the National
Weather Service's modernization program.

    The contract includes a combined option for the two year
deployment and the six year operations phases, bringing the
potential contract total to $199-million for 1,000 workstations
and operation services.  Options for extra sites could total an
additional $27.6-million (twenty-seven point six).  The contract
was negotiated by NOAA's Systems Program Office, which is
responsible for obtaining new major systems for the Weather
Service and other major NOAA components.

    PRC, Inc. will team with Hewlett-Packard Corporation of Palo
Alto, California for high-speed computer work stations, and
subcontract to GTE Spacenet of McLean, Virginia for satellite
communications services.

    The contract award follows conclusion of the Definition
Phase of the AWIPS program.  The next phase of the program, the
Development Phase, will continue from contract award until
February 1996 when the first deployments are scheduled.  The last
deployments will take place in February 1998.  The Operations
phase of the AWIPS system is scheduled to conclude in 2004, at
which time it is planned to re-compete operational support of the
system.

    The AWIPS system is composed of two primary components, the
forecast office workstation networks and the communications
network.

                       AWIPS Workstation

    The workstation will be the main interface between a weather

workstation interpreting and analyzing data, and preparing
weather forecast products for transmission.  Each user will view
large amounts of image, graphic, and alphanumeric displays in
carrying out the operational mission of the NWS.   General
requirements of the AWIPS workstation networks include the
storage, retrieval, and display of the following
hydrometeorological data:

*    Radar
*    Satellite
*    Surface Data including hydrologic, meteorologic, or marine
conditions at a specific point at a specific time or over a
specific duration of time.
*    Upper Air Data, which describes environmental conditions at
specified points located above the earth's surface.
*    Gridded Data, which is hydrometeorological data presented in
the form of a rectangular or polar grid of values.
*    Contour Data, which is hydrometeorological data presented in
the form of lines of equal value in a two-dimensional plane and
Graphics Data (Weather Contour data) which will originate at the
National Meteorological Center (NMC), Camp Springs, Md.
*    Event Data, which is information that is usually produced by
visual observation of weather conditions.
*    Weather Threat Forecasts, which provide the extent of
forecast hazards to life and property.

    AWIPS systems will be deployed at all modernized Warning and
Forecast Offices, at regional River Forecast Centers, and at
three NWS National Centers:  The National Meteorological Center
in Camp Springs Maryland, which runs the computer forecast models
and interprets them as guidance for forecasters nationwide; the
National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Florida, which
specializes in tropical weather analysis and prediction; and the
National Severe Storms Forecast Center in Kansas City, which
provides aviation advisories and prediction of conditions that

             The AWIPS Communication Network (ACN)

    A hybrid network will feed growing volumes of data to each
AWIPS site, distribute information between the AWIPS sites, and

Point-to-Point segment, a Multi-Point-to-Point segment, and a
Point-to-Multipoint segment that will support the acquisition,

    To get the enormous volumes of weather data to AWIPS sites
at the national centers and the nearly 120 forecast offices, as
well as to private sector interests and universities in the
future, a service called NOAAPORT will be instituted.  NOAAPORT
is the point-to-multipoint information lifeblood of AWIPS,
consisting of a satellite-based broadcast segment that will pump
millions of bits of weather and satellite data every minute from
the weather service central computers in Maryland to all AWIPS

    Initially, NOAAPORT will carry only satellite images,
surface and upper air observations, and computer-generated
forecast model information needed by government weather
forecasters.  In the future, other NOAA data, including images
from polar-orbiting satellites, sea ice and sea surface
temperature analyses, and some data from foreign environmental

firms will be able to build or purchase NOAAPORT receivers to tap

    In addition to NOAAPORT, the NWS AWIPS sites will be
interconnected by a high-speed data network of land-based
communications lines.  This network will allow forecasters at
different sites to exchange warning and forecast information,
including new doppler weather radar data, with nearby sites that
may be effected by the same weather system.

    When new NOAA GOES weather satellites are operational,
beginning in 1994, NOAAPORT will bring as many as 1200 pictures
daily to each forecast site, compared to typically 72 from
today's GOES.  Other meteorological data "traffic" on the
terrestrial portion of the ACN will generally double that of
today's AFOS system, and will jump to a factor of 10 in a

    Each year, the United States experiences a great variety of

the general public close to $8 billion and have resulted in
hundreds of deaths.  The AWIPS program is the cornerstone of an
effort by the Department of Commerce to modernize meteorological
and hydrological warning and forecast operations in the United
States.  As such, it is a top priority effort.