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NATIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION MESSAGE 94-09
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS
200 PM EDT WED APR 20 1994
TO: USERS OF NWS PRODUCTS RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE TELECOMMUNICATION GATEWAY
FROM: MARY C. NEWTON
ACTING CHIEF, SERVICES DEVELOPMENT BRANCH
SUBJECT: CHANGES IN FORMAT FOR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
PRODUCTS
(THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION WAS PROVIDED BY AL MONGEON AND
HOWARD DIAMOND OF THE OFFICE OF SYSTEMS OPERATIONS AND CHRISTINE
ALEX OF THE OFFICE OF METEOROLOGY)
The modernization activities of the National Weather Service
(NWS) require certain changes in the format of some messages
which are transmitted from the NWS communications system.
Beginning in mid-July 1994, selected TEXT PRODUCTS ORIGINATED BY
NWS FORECAST AND WARNING OFFICES will have a line inserted at the
beginning of the text of the message. This new line will
immediately follow the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
abbreviated heading line.
This extra line of text is being inserted to aid the NWS in the
planned transition from AFOS to AWIPS and will not affect how
products are transmitted. The information in this notice is
being provided merely to inform users of a format change that
will begin appearing in these selected text products. Unless
these text products are read by software applications, there
should be no impact on users.
Bulletinized TEXT products, such as surface observations (SAOs),
Winds Aloft (FDs), upper air observations, ship reports, synoptic
observations, and centrally-produced guidance products from TDL
(such as the MOS guidance) or NMC, or any coded, GRIB, or BUFR
products, are NOT affected by this change.
The NWS encourages each user of the affected NWS TEXT PRODUCTS to
review any software applications which they use to process,
decode, and/or data base NWS text products to determine if the
addition of this new second line will require any software
modifications.
NOTE TO AFOS AND NWWS USERS: THERE WILL BE NO IMPACT TO EITHER
NWS AFOS OFFICES OR TO NWWS USERS. The new second line will be
added by the NWSTG to TEXT PRODUCTS ONLY which originate at AFOS
offices for dissemination on all circuits connected to the NWSTG.
DESCRIPTION OF NNNXXX LINE AND EXAMPLE:
This additional line will take the form of NNNXXX. The NNN is an
internal NWS product category code, and the XXX is a product
designator code. The new line will be automatically inserted by
the NWS Telecommunication Gateway (NWSTG) upon receipt of
selected TEXT PRODUCTS originating at most NWS field offices.
The new line will not be used for those data in WMO code forms
which require that the form MiMiMjMj be part of the first line of
coded text.
The first group or product category code (NNN) will be a three
character acronym designating the data type of the product in a
more detailed way than that of the WMO abbreviated heading. The
NNN will always be three characters, but the last character
(i.e., the third "N") may be numeric. The second group or
product designator code (or XXX) will be one, two, or three
alphanumeric characters to provide greater geographic specificity
beyond that indicated by the WMO abbreviated heading.
An example of the NNNXXX and its associated WMO abbreviated
heading (the two lines together are now termed the AWIPS
identifier) would be:
FEUS44 KSFO 031215 (WMO abbreviated heading)
LFPBFL (New second line of text)
where: LFP is the internal NWS product category code designating
a local forecast product, and BFL is the product designator code
which identifies the product as being prepared for the
Bakersfield, California, area by the NWS forecast office in San
Francisco, California, (that is identified by the KSFO designator
in the first line of the WMO abbreviated heading).
Follow-up notification as to the extent of the text products
involved will be provided at a later time.
If you have any questions or concerns about this change, contact
Howard Diamond, the NWS Implementation and Phase Over Program
Manager, at (301)-713-0436 or via e-mail at the following
address: hdiamond@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
END
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