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NOUS41 KWBC 171230 PNSWSH TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 08-97 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC 730 AM EST WED DEC 17 2008TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-FAMILY OF SERVICES
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
OTHER NWS PARTNERS...AND NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: KEVIN SCHRAB CHIEF... OBSERVING SERVICES DIVISION OFFICE OF CLIMATE WATER AND WEATHER SERVICES
SUBJECT: CALENDAR YEAR 2009 IMPLEMENTATION OF RADIOSONDEREPLACEMENT SYSTEM /RRS/ WITH TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS OF RADIOTHEODOLITE TRACKING /ART/ AND RADIO DIRECTION FINDING RADIOSONDES /RDF/
NWS WILL CONVERT 14 UPPER AIR /UA/ SITES TO RRS TECHNOLOGY IN 2009. THE FIRST SITE ON THIS SCHEDULE IS OAKLAND CALIFORNIA ON FEBRUARY 2 2009. FOUR SITES IN ALASKA CONCLUDE THIS RRS SCHEDULE.
SID STATION NAME OUTAGE DATES 72493 OAKLAND CA 30 JAN 2009 72250 BROWNSVILLE TX 19 FEB 2009 72597 MEDFORD OR 05 MAR 2009 72456 TOPEKA KS 26 MAR 2009 74494 CHATHAM MA 16 APR 2009 72632 WHITE LAKE MI 30 APR 2009 72747 INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN 14 MAY 2009 72520 PITTBURGH PA 28 MAY 2009 72501 UPTON NY 11 JUN 2009 72518 ALBANY NY 09 JUL 2009 70200 NOME AK 23 JUL 2009 70261 FAIRBANKS AK 06 AUG 200970361 YAKUTAT AK 20 AUG 2009 70398 ANNETTE AK 04 SEP 2009
EACH UPPER AIR SITE WILL BE OUT OF SERVICE FOR ABOUT 10 DAYS. WHEN NWS UA OBSERVATIONS RESUME THE RRS WILL BE GATHERING METEOROLOGICAL DATA FROM GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM /GPS/ RADIOSONDES. THE NWS DESCRIBES THE RRS RELEASE POINT LOCATION WITH THE NATIONAL GEODETIC SURVEY /NGS/ OPUS SOLUTION. THIS IS A DATUM COMBINATION THAT RELIES ON NORTH AMERICAN DATUM OF 1983 /NAD83/ FOR LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE WHEREAS THE RELEASE POINT ELEVATION IS BASED ON NORTH AMERICAN VERTICAL DATUM 1988 /NAVD88/ WITH THE GEOID03 MODEL. BY CONTRAST THE GPS RADIOSONDE FLIGHT INFORMATION OF LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE AND ALTITUDE WILL RELY ON THE WORLD GEODETIC SYSTEM 1984 /WGS84/ STANDARD. BE ADVISED WITH RRS CONVERSION PARTS OF THE UPPER AIR CODED MESSAGES WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER. NWS HAS COORDINATED WITH ITS PARTNERS ON THE LONGER LENGTH OF THESE MESSAGES.
THE FORMAT OF THE MESSAGES WILL BE THE SAME WMO FORMAT FOR CODED UPPER AIR MESSAGES USED WITH THE MICROART LEGACY SYSTEM. THE NUMBER OF LEVELS IN THE CODED MESSAGES WILL BE TWO TO THREE TIMES GREATER FOR THE TTBB AND TTDD. AS A RESULT TWO CATEGORIES OF AWIPS TEXT PRODUCTS WILL INCREASE IN SIZE: SGL AND ABV. THE NUMBER OF LEVELS IN THE TTAA...TTCC...PPBB AND PPDD PARTS WILL BE RELATIVELY UNCHANGED. THESE CHANGES REFLECT UPDATED CODING PRACTICES AND HIGHER RESOLUTION LEVEL SELECTION CRITERIA. THE MAXIMUM SIZE LIMITS OF THE PARTS OF THE CODED MESSAGES ARE AS FOLLOWS: TTAA: 15 LEVELS TTCC: 10 LEVELS TTBB: 135 LEVELS TTDD: 40 LEVELS PPBB: 40 LEVELS PPDD: 40 LEVELS IN ADDITION THE 31313 MESSAGE INDICATOR ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS PARTS OF THE MESSAGE WILL BE INCLUDED WITH EACH PART OF THE THERMODYNAMIC MESSAGE PARTS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE MESSAGE REQUIREMENTS...REFERENCE WMO 306: MANUAL ON CODES: INTERNATIONAL CODES: VOLUME 1.1 PART A- ALPHANUMERIC CODES AND WMO 306: MANUAL ON CODES: REGIONAL CODES AND NATIONAL CODING PRACTICES: VOLUME II. USERS CAN FIND INFORMATION ON THE LEVELS SELECTION CRITERIA USED IN NWS CODING SOFTWARE ONLINE AT /USE LOWERCASE LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.UA.NWS.NOAA.GOV IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK...PLEASE CONTACT: DOMINIC BOSCO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE / OPS11 1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910301-713-1841 EXT. 123 DOMINIC.BOSCO@xxxxxxxx
NWS NATIONAL TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES ARE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/NOTIF.HTM $$ NNNN
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