[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

[Datastream #RCG-527598]: Global near real time synoptic surface observations

Hi Oliver,

re:
> many thanks for you help. I am primarily interested in current global
> synoptic observations. I already download METARs and synoptical
> observations from the NWS. But I noticed that the number of global WMO
> weather stations sending current data is limited and also varies
> between data providers like NWS, met.fsu.edu, weather.cod.edu,
> atmos.albany.edu, etc.

There is a likely explanation for the difference:

- Unidata university sites (e.g., FSU, COD, UAlbany) typically use the
  data being sent in the IDS|DDPLUS datastream of the Unidata IDD.
  The products in this datastream are exactly what are sent in
  the NOAAPort SBN operated by the NWS.  The NWS does _not_, however,
  send all of the data in the GTS in NOAAPort.  Their policy is
  that only the data that has operational requirements for the NWS
  forecast offices is added to NOAAPort.  We (Unidata Program Center)
  have on behalf of the Unidata user community requested the addition
  of additional products flowing in the GTS to the NOAAPort SBN.  These
  requests have pretty much gone nowhere.

- The NWS is one of the world hubs for GTS data exchange.  Because of
  this, they get _all_ of the data that is flowing in the GTS.  Like
  I noted in the previous bullet, not all of this data is broadcast
  in NOAAPort.

  I have long wanted to get direct access to the data available in
  the GTS and relay all of it to the Unidata community.  We periodically
  make an attempt to get this access, but, so far, we have been
  unsuccessful.

re:
> Therefore I was asking for the source of the
> data and this seems to be the GTS/NOAAPort SBN, right?

Correct.

re:
> Could you do me
> a favor and check if synoptic observations from the weather stations
> with the following WMO IDs deliver current observations to GTS NOAAPort
> SBN? Thanks.
> 
> 06041 Skagen
> 06079 Anholt
> 06119 Kegnaes
> 11357 St. Wolfgang
> 11152 Mattsee
> 11153 Mondsee
> 07040 Dieppe
> 07010 Dunkerque
> 07749 Cap Bear
> 07666 Leucate

If you do not find data for these sites at the three Unidata university
sites that you referenced above, it does not exist in the subset of
GTS data being sent in NOAAPort.

re: install your own satellite reception system for NOAAPort

> Do you have any idea where to buy such a satellite reception system?

There are a number of commercial suppliers of these kinds of systems.
Your best first reference is:

NOAA's National Weather Service
NOAAPORT User's Page
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/noaaport/html/noaaport.shtml

This was the top link returned on a Google (tm) search using 
'noaaport' (with no quotes) as the search key.

re:
> I have got a weather website which contains global weather data with
> free access. Would it be more reasonable to buy my own satellite
> reception system or would it make more sense to try to convince a
> Unidata university to give me access?

Which route you choose to pursue must be based on what makes sense to
you.  Either option has its own pluses and minuses.  A small number
of Unidata university sites have chosen to install their own NOAAPort
reception system because they want to:

- decrease network bandwidth needed to get the data from one or more
  upstream sites

- have redundant sources for the ingest (i.e., satellite ingest in
  addition to receipt over the IDD)

Commercial entities and home hobbyists mostly go the route of installing
their own satellite ingest systems since they may or may not be able
to convince a university participating in the IDD to feed them data,
and/or they want to be in complete control of their data ingest.

re:
> If the later, which university would you recommend?

It depends on where you are located and what you may have to offer
the university (some may require a quid pro quo arrangement).

re:
> Many thanks for your help!

No worries.  Best of luck in your endeavors!

Cheers,

Tom
--
****************************************************************************
Unidata User Support                                    UCAR Unidata Program
(303) 497-8642                                                 P.O. Box 3000
address@hidden                                   Boulder, CO 80307
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unidata HomePage                       http://www.unidata.ucar.edu
****************************************************************************


Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: RCG-527598
Department: Support Datastream
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed