SADIS
MANAGEMENT REPORT
2005-2006
WAFC LONDON
March 2006
FOREWORD
F.1 In the final report of the SADISOPSG/2, Paragraph 2.10 and Conclusion 2/3 placed the following action on the United Kingdom as the provider State of SADIS.
F.2 ‘In order to extend the future annual reviews of the operational efficacy of the SADIS in step with the increase in SADIS VSAT installations, it was agreed that:
a) ICAO should solicit the opinion of user States/users prior to each SADISOPSG meeting and report on the results to the group; and
b) The service provider should be requested to provide annual Management reports prior to each SADIS meeting.
F.3 This management report by the United Kingdom attempts to meet this requirement. Diagrams and other relevant documents are included in a series of Annexes to the report.
F.4 A summary of the year’s main events is provided at the beginning of the report. Further detail is given in the individual sections or in working papers and information papers to be presented at SADISOPSG/11.
Richard Orrell WAFC London March 2006
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: YEAR 2005 TO 2006
E.1 Growth in the use of SADIS during the past 12 months has resumed. Six new users have been approved. This represents the largest annual increase since year 2001-02. Three of these new users have chosen to access their data via the SADIS FTP Service only and do not have the intention of purchasing a SADIS 2G VSAT.
E.2 Implementation of BUFR encoded SIGWX data is complete. BUFR encoded data produced at both WAFCs is now available from the services.
E.3 An updated SWH and SWM BUFR specification (Version 2.8) has been produced and circulated to the workstation manufacturers and known users of the BUFR encoded data. A further evaluation of workstation software has been completed. This latest evaluation reviewed the depiction of BUFR encoded jet depths and medium level SIGWX (SWM) data, and the ability of the software to produce compliant charts without manual intervention. Six companies are considered compliant.
E.4 Portable Network Graphics (PNG) formatted SIGWX charts prepared by both WAFCs have been added to the broadcasts for trial and evaluation.
E.5 Work has been carried out to map out a project plan for implementing a number of significant enhancements to the SADIS FTP service. These enhancements, subject to the approval by SADISOPSG/11, include the implementation of PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) that will enable digitally signed products to be issued from the SADIS FTP server.
E.6 Regrettably three short duration outages at WAFC London had an impact on some of the operational services, though WAFC backup procedures significantly reduced the user impact.
E.7 ASHTAM and NOTAM (related to volcanic ash) bulletins were distributed via the SADIS FTP Service for a limited period but were later withdrawn following the receipt of some spurious OPMET data to the AFTN address reserved for these bulletins in the UK.
E.8 Administration messages have been issued on a regular basis during the year. These messages have been made available for viewing on the SADIS web site and the SADIS FTP service.
E.9 Work is on-going to implement a solution to the cause of sporadic data loss from some SADIS 2G user MegaPACs.
E.10 Additional SADIS training has been provided to helpdesk operators at WAFC London.
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CONTENTS
Page 1. THE SYSTEM COMPONENTS
1.1 SADIS System Specification 7 1.1.1 Broadcast Service 7 1.1.2 Data Collection Service 8 1.1.3 Back-up Services 8 1.1.4 User Support Service 9 1.1.5 SADIS Workstation Software 9
1.2 SADIS Inventory 11 1.2.1 Equipment 11 1.2.2 Procured Services 14 1.2.3 Annual Staff Requirement 15
1.3 SADIS Technical Components and Costs 17 1.3.1 Budgetary cost of 2G SADIS Hardware 17 1.3.2 Protocol options available from SADIS 2G 17 1.3.3 Suppliers of SADIS 2G hardware 18
Annex 1 Glossary of abbreviations 21 Annex 2 WAFC Backup Procedures 22 Annex 3 SADIS Operations Group Software Functionality Requirements 25 Annex 4 List of Commercial Suppliers of SADIS Visualisation Software 31
2. SADIS USAGE & DATA VOLUMES
2.1 Status of Operational Systems 33
2.2 Hub Infrastructure 33
2.3 Data Rates and Broadcast Content 34 2.3.1 Data Rates 34 2.3.2 Content of Broadcast 35 2.3.2.1 WAFS ‘thinned’GRIB 35 2.3.2.2 T.4 Charts 36 2.3.2.3 WAFS SIGWX charts in PNG format 38 2.3.2.4 OPMET 40 2.3.2.5 Unscheduled Data on the SADIS Broadcast 41 2.3.2.6 AIRMETs & GAMETs 42 2.3.2.7 Tropical Cyclone Advisory Messages 42 2.3.2.8 BUFR encoded data 43
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2.3.2.9 New products and services 45
Annex 1 SADIS 2G Infrastructure 46 Annex 2 Data Type by Average Percentage Volume - March 2006 47 Annex 3 EUR region GAMETs available via SADIS 48 Annex 4 EUR Region AIRMETs available via SADIS 52 Annex 5 WAFS GRIB Distribution Schedule 55 Annex 6 List of unscheduled bulletin headers transmitted on SADIS 56 Annex 7 Daily distribution of unscheduled OPMET bulletins on SADIS 68 Annex 8 Visualisation of BUFR encoded WAFS SIGWX Data (V2.8) 70
3. PERFORMANCE OF THE VSAT & HUB
3.1 VSATS 107 3.1.1 Installation procedures 107 3.1.2 Returned VSAT hardware 107 3.1.3 SADIS 2G MegaPAC configurations 107
3.2 Service Interruptions 108
3.3 Signal loss 109 3.3.1 Sun/Satellite Conflicts 109 3.3.2 Data Losses and re-sends 109
Annex 1 Status of Implementation of SADIS, as of 23 January 2006 111 Annex 2 Report on data loss from SADIS 2G user MegaPACs 115
4. DATA AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS & SOURCE
4.1 Data Availability 122 4.1.1 Summary of Administrative Messages issued between April 2005 and March 2006 122 4.1.2 Administrative Messages Issued by SADIS Gateway 123 4.1.3 SIGWX Chart Areas 124 4.1.4 WAFS GRIB-1 Data 125 4.1.5 Sources of OPMET Data 125
4.2 BUFR Encoded SIGWX Products 125
Annex 1 Examples of SIGWX charts available on SADIS: 127 Examples of SWH WAFS Charts 4-1 to 4-7 127 WAFS Charts: Area K (SIO), Area D (ASIA), Area E (INDOC), Area G (MID), Area H (NAT), Area C (AFI), Area B (EURSAM) (Produced by WAFC London.)
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Examples of SWM Charts (FL100 to FL450) 4-8 to 4-11 135 Examples WAFS Charts: EUR, MEA, ASIA SOUTH, NAT (Produced by WAFC London except NAT) Examples of SWH WAFS Charts 4-12 to 4-17 138 Charts covering ICAO regions Area A (The Americas), Area I (North Pacific), Area F (South Pacific), Area M (North Pacific), Area H (NAT) and Area J (South Polar). (Produced by WAFC Washington.)
5. USER SERVICES
5.1 Help Desk 145 5.1.1 Met Office Help Desk 145 5.1.2 SADIS Gateway Help Desk 145
5.2 Hardware Returns Procedure 145
5.3 SADIS FTP Service 146
5.4 SADIS User Guide 146 5.5 SADIS Web Page 147
Annex 1 SADIS FTP Service Technical Information Document 148 Annex 2 Met Office Help Desk Facility: Service Provision Agreement 163
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1. THE SYSTEM COMPONENTS
1.1 SADIS System specification (in compliance with the SADIS User Guide)
The SADIS consists of three operational services.
The SADIS 1G broadcast infrastructure has remained unchanged since the SADISOPSG/10 meeting and has remained stable throughout the last 12 months.
The SADIS 2G broadcast has been ”fine tuned” during 2005 to resolve a number of issues. Further information about this work is provided in section 3 of this report.
The SADIS FTP Service has remained unchanged throughout the period of this report from an infrastructure perspective but has benefited from a number of new products and improvements to service monitoring.
1.1.1 Broadcast Service
a) Distribution of WAFS upper wind, temperature and geo-potential height forecasts in GRIB1 code derived from 0000, 0600, 1200, and 1800 UTC model runs, and relative humidity (RH) fields for FL050, 100, 140, and 180;
b) Until 1 July 2005 the distribution of WAFS upper wind and temperature forecasts (from 0000 and 1200 UTC model runs only) in T.4 facsimile chart format1; c) Distribution of WAFS SIGWX (SWH and SWM) forecasts in T.4 facsimile chart form2;
d) Distribution of WAFS SIGWX (SWH and SWM) forecasts in PNG (portable network graphics) chart form3;
e) Distribution of WAFC London derived high level SIGWX forecasts (SWH) in BUFR format;
f) Distribution of WAFC London and WAFC Washington derived medium level SIGWX forecasts (SWM) in BUFR format4;
g) Distribution of OPMET information from the SADIS Gateway in alphanumeric format (METARs, TAFs, SPECIs, SIGMETs, special AIREPs, ASHTAM, NOTAM related to volcanic ash, volcanic ash and tropical cyclone advisory statements) as made available by States to the SADIS provider State5;
h) European region AIRMET and GAMET;
i) Volcanic ash trajectory and dispersion charts (VAG) in T.4 facsimile format from VAACs Toulouse, Washington and Montreal (action is being taken to source charts from
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the other VAACs, and PNG variants will be added to the broadcasts as they are made available to WAFC London by the VAACs); j) Distribution of amendments to the foregoing as available. k) Provision of an operational real-time SADIS FTP service.
Note 1: the WAFS T4 wind and temperature charts were removed from the SADIS 1G and 2G broadcasts on 1 July 2005. They were removed from the SADIS FTP Service on 30 September 2005.
Note 2: It is the expectation that the WAFS T4 SIGWX charts (SWH and SWM) will be removed from the broadcast on 30 November 2006.
Note 3: PNG formatted SIGWX charts have been added to all three SADIS services. This activity was completed on 3 October 2005. “Unbulletinised” (no WMO telecommunications envelope applied) versions of the products are provided via the FTP Service; “bulletinised” versions are provided via the two satellite based services.
Note 4: BUFR encoded SWM data from both WAFCs was made available to all three SADIS services on 6 July 2005.
Note 5: ASHTAM and NOTAM related to volcanic ash were added to the SADIS FTP Service during September 2005. The bulletins were added to the two satellite broadcasts on 8 February 2006.
1.1.2 Data Collection Service a) Collection of relevant OPMET information from States by the SADIS Gateway (operated by UK National Air Traffic Services Ltd.).
b) Monitoring and validation/quality controlling of data received at the SADIS Gateway to standard agreed and listed in the SADIS Gateway Operations Manual, available via URL
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/news/OperationalHandbookIssue1.pdf.
The provision of real-time scheduled reports and off-line quality control analysis. c) Collection of other required WAFS products, such as WAFC Washington SIGWX charts and volcanic ash trajectory charts.
1.1.3 Back-up Services a) Reception of the United States ISCS broadcast (Atlantic broadcast; AOR) is available for data back-up purposes. ISCS data is also available to the SADIS provider via the GTS
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link to Washington (NWS Telecommunication Operations Centre [NWSTOC]). In practice this latter route is preferred for data backup purposes. c) ISDN connection between the Washington message switch (NWSTG) and Whitehill, the SADIS uplink station. This link can be used to send WAFS data from Washington to Whitehill in the event of the failure of the SADIS provider being able to populate SADIS with operational data. Testing of this link has not proved successful. Active consideration is being given to modifying the topology of this backup infrastructure. A working paper to be submitted to SADISOPSG/11 proposes a number of preferred options. d) The production of key WAFS products such as SIGWX data and GRIB encoded data is subject to an agreed WAFC backup plan. A copy of this backup plan is available from http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/backup.pdf
1.1.4 User Support Service a) Met Office 24-hour help line/faults desk. b) Support programme and user trials as determined by the relevant ICAO groups. c) Dissemination of all SADIS administrative messages via the three live broadcasts and the SADIS web site. d) Maintenance of a SADIS News Page on the SADIS web site e) Dedicated hardware support and SADIS service assistance during normal office hours.
1.1.5 SADIS Workstation Software
Concern was expressed by SADISOPSG/8 and WAFSOPSG/1 about the ability of some of the commercially available software packages to produce SIGWX charts from the BUFR code that are fully compliant with Annex 3 and the SADISOPSG software functionalities list. This list was updated and enhanced at SADISOPSG/10 to include requirements to display a number of new products, e.g. PNG formatted WAFS SIGWX charts, and BUFR encoded SWM data. It was also agreed at SADISOPSG/10 that a further software review should take place to verify that these new requirements are met the current workstation software.
A copy of the updated functionality list is provided in Annex 3 to this chapter, and is also available from URL http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/software/index.html
Work has been on-going throughout the period of this Management Report to review the workstation software against the updated list of criteria. To date one of the workstation companies has declined to submit their software for evaluation.
Following completion of this review the SADIS provider is of the opinion that a small number of the packages do have a number of deficiencies, some significant. However the situation has improved significantly since SADISOPSG/9. Currently six workstation packages can be considered compliant. These six packages have been listed on the SADIS web site at URL http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/software/index.html and are detailed below.
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The following WAFS/SADIS workstation companies have produced visualisation software that can depict WAFS data to the ICAO standard that was current on 1 July 2005.
Corobor; MESSIR AERO application Version 6.40
IBL Software Engineering; Aero Weather application V2.2.0
Info Electronic Systems (I.E.S.); ULTIMA application Version 2.1
Institute of Radar Meteorology (IRAM); MeteoExpert/MeteoConsultant applications
MapMaker Group Ltd; Meteo V3.54, SIGWX Module V2.26, BUFR Decoder V2.07
Netsys; FlightMan Version 04.23/NSWS Version 04.12 applications
The software evaluation process does not certify or endorse any single software application, neither does it recommend one application over another. The software evaluations are the results of software reviews that the Met Office has carried out on behalf of the ICAO SADIS Operations Group. The purpose of these reviews is to verify whether the applications can deliver certain minimum functions which the SADIS Operations Group considers are essential for the correct use of the WAFS and OPMET data.
It remains the responsibility of the user to ensure that procured software meets their full requirements. It is not intended that the software evaluations fulfil this task. The results from the software evaluations may be used as one additional source of information to aid any procurement process but should not be viewed in isolation of other important procurement requirements.
The SADIS provider will continue to provide guidance to the workstation vendors with the intention of increasing the number of software packages reaching a compliancy standard. The SADIS provider has also offered to provide a consultancy service under commercial terms to other organisations who require guidance on how to provide WAFS charts that are fully compliant with the aforementioned standards.
The software review process will need to be repeated following changes to the WAFS if it is to continue to provide relevant information to the users. One example is the change to the depiction of jet depth information which is scheduled to occur in July 2006, after completion of the current evaluation. However it should be appreciated that the evaluations are resource intensive and any further occurrences are at the discretion of the SADIS provider State.
Full contact details for all eight suppliers of SADIS (or ISCS) workstation software are available from Annex 4 to this chapter.
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1.2 SADIS Inventory
SADIS Inventory (2006-07)
Note.— The inventory items identified below cover the equipment and staffing required to provide, operate and maintain the SADIS. The inventory includes: hub infrastructure (including all additions following the completion of the hub enhancement project) and communications circuits, ISCS data back up system, procured services, and staff. It should be noted that some equipment items are under lease and form part of a wider infrastructure. Costs of individual items cannot be separated from the required infrastructure that includes a significant part of the development of the software and technical configuration. The inventory is in accordance with the SADIS User Guide.
1.2.1 EQUIPMENT
1.2.1.1 Key Components of Hub Infrastructure and Communications Circuits
1.2.1.2 The SADIS 1G hub infrastructure connection to the MET Office message switch (FROST) consists of a number of units developed in conjunction with EADS Astrium and other suppliers. These are installed either at Exeter or at the uplink site at Whitehill, Oxfordshire, UK.
1.2.1.3 Additional hub infrastructure has been installed at Exeter and Whitehill to provide a resilient SADIS 2G service. This hardware is physically separate from the SADIS 1G infrastructure.
Solely procured for SADIS (major components)
SADIS gateway function software (developed specifically for the gateway as part of the NATS CoreMet system; see items under “Not procured principally for SADIS”).
Hewlett Packard L-Class servers to provide SADIS FTP Service (see section 1.3)
Principally procured for SADIS
a) at the Met Office
See section 1.3 for itemised components
b) communications between Whitehill and Met Office
1) 2 Kilostream 64 Kbps circuits in support of SADIS 1G service 2) 2 Kilostream 64 Kbps circuits in support of SADIS 2G service
c) at the uplink site (Whitehill)
1) units forming part of a totally integrated rack structure to provide SADIS 1G service, with back-up, referred to as Chain A and Chain B (see the list under sections 1.3); and
2) units and services leased from Cable and Wireless Communications Ltd. to support SADIS 1G and 2G services:
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— 1 (70 to 140 MHz) convertor — use of 1 (140 to C band) convertor
— use of satellite hub (lease represents only a very small part of this large aperture) for SADIS 1G and 2G services
3) units forming part of a totally integrated rack structure to provide SADIS 2G service, with back-up, (see the list under sections 1.3
d) communication link (SVC) between SADIS Gateway and Met Office in support of SADIS 1G service. e) communication link (utilising WMO TCP/IP sockets protocol) between SADIS Gateway and Met Office in support of SADIS 2G service. (Note: it is expected that this single link will be upgraded to dual contingent links within the next 12 months.)
Not procured principally for SADIS
a) message switch (FROST): total investment 1.2M* of which 3.15 per cent is attributable to SADIS usage: switching data to operational (1G) broadcast service and to 1G monitoring system - Corobor Comparitor (Note: the percentage attributable to the SADIS 1G service has increased as a result of increased costs incurred to support the legacy X.25 protocol);
b) message switch (FROST): total investment £1.2M* of which 0.91 per cent is attributable to SADIS FTP Service usage: switching data to operational FTP service;
c) message switch (FROST): total investment £1.2M* of which 1.82 per cent is attributable to SADIS usage: switching data to operational (2G) broadcast service and to 2G monitoring system (Corobor Comparitor)
d) allocated bandwidth (2Mbps bursting to 4Mbps) between server and Internet Service Provider (ISP) in support of the SADIS FTP service; and
e) message switch (CoreMet System)
*Budgeted cost (£) for providing FROST service during FY06/07.
Note.— Some elements of the CoreMet System are exclusively for the support of the SADIS gateway function.
ISCS data back-up system
a) ISCS VSAT system, including TCP/IP receiver, and cables. (Note: this hardware is not currently used in an operational environment.)
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Hub equipment and services located at Exeter and Whitehill
Item Description Quantity 1. Exeter Equipment to support SADIS 1G 1.1 Network Management System (NMS Computer) 1 1.2 MemoTech PAD (for NMS) 1* 1.3 Telecoms interface units Megabox 2 1.4 CX1000 Frame Relay Switch (for NMS) 1* 1.5 Product display console including software (COROBOR) 1* 1.6 Communications rack floor space in IT hall 1 and space in 1 stores to locate spare equipment
2. Exeter Equipment (Spares) to support SADIS 1G 2.1 Telecoms interface units Megabox 2 2.2 NMS Spare CPU 1 2.3 MemoTech PAD (for NMS) 1* 2.4 CX1000 Frame Relay Switch (for NMS) 1 Note: communication links in support of SADIS 1G service are included in section 1.1 of Inventory.
3. Whitehill earth station (SADIS 1G uplink equipment) 3.1 Telecoms controller Megapac V rack assembly 2 3.2 Station interface unit (SIU) 2 3.3 8360 Modulator 2* 3.4 8471 Receive Demodulators 12 3.5 8550 Modem Switch 1* 3.6 140 - L band upconverter 2 3.7 X Term NMS simulator 1 3.8 Equipment Rack Assembly (Chain 1) 1* 3.9 Equipment Rack Assembly (Chain 2) 1 3.10 Communications rack floor space for two communications 2 racks
4. Whitehill earth station SADIS 1G (spares) 4.1 8471 Receive Demodulators 1 4.2 Station interface unit (SIU) 1 4.3 Megapac V rack assembly 2 4.4 Mega PACV Frad units 2 4.5 140 - L band upconverter 1 4.6 8360 Modulator 1 4.7 8550 Modem Switch 1
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5. Whitehill services (leased from Cable & Wireless)
5.1 70 MHz to 140 MHz converters 2* 5.2 140 MHz to C band converter 2* 5.3 Satellite Hub leased bandwidth 1 slot*
6. Test Rig at Poynton 6.1 Enhanced (SADIS 1G) Simulator 1
7. ISDN back-up service to Washington (NWSTG) 7.1 Mega PAC 2003 router (MP-2003) 1 7.2 Mega PAC 2003 router plus expansion (MP-2003-3-B) 1 7.3 ISDN 2e circuit 1 7.4 A/B switch 1 7.5 Interface cables 1 Note.— Hardware listed items under Section 7 are located at Whitehill.
8. SADIS FTP Service 8.1 HP L2000 servers with 2Gb RAM 2 8.2 18Gb internal disk drives 2 8.3 DVD-ROM 2 8.4 Processors 2 8.5 Licenses, misc. support and maintenance costs 1
9. Operational SADIS 2G Infrastructure 9.1 FROST port 1 9.2 MegaPAC V 3* 9.3 MegaPAC 2003 4* 9.4 Uplink modem (Comtech EF Data SDM-300a) 3 9.5 Communications cabinet and lease 1 9.6 MegaWatch and PC 1 9.7 Corobor comparator software and PC 1 9.8 Comtech EF Data CR100 redundancy switch 1 9.9 XIO Modules 8 9.10 SIO Modules 2 9.11 8Mb RAM Modules 2 9.12 Communications rack floor space at Exeter in IT hall 1 and IT hall 2, and at Whitehill. 3 9.13 Space in stores at Exeter to locate spare hardware. 1 *Note: includes one unit stored as a cold spare.
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1.2.2 PROCURED SERVICES
a) space segment annual lease: 1.2MHz wide frequency band dedicated to SADIS 1G and 2G with minimum data rates at 38.4 Kbps for both services;
b) annual maintenance of Met Office and Whitehill site equipment (1G, 2G and SADIS FTP server); and
c) gateway function:
1) communication circuits between Met Office and NATS infrastructure site; and
2) system maintenance.
1.2.3 ANNUAL STAFF REQUIREMENTS
Met Office of the UK
Help desk
Note.— The Help desk acts as a first point of contact for all inquiries, including those concerning the OPMET Gateway function. Complex inquiries will be passed to a relevant expert. Experts are available either on a 24-hour rota basis, or as a daytime support with limited on-call capability.
Normal working hours Grade and skill
1. Help desk (first point of contact) Scientific supervisor
Note.— Outside normal working hours, the helpdesk facility is provided by the 24-hour positions below.
24-hour support Skill
1. Operations systems analyst (OSA) Systems analyst 2. Networks and services engineer (NSE) Computer engineer 3. Networks and systems supervisor (NSS) Technical supervisor 4. Nowcasting and Service Continuity Manager (NSCM) Scientist
Normal Working hours support Skill
1. Change and problem manager (CPM) Systems analyst 2. Additional helpdesk operator Systems analyst
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Note.— The total support for SADIS is considered as 1 percent of the total support provided by the help desk and operational support function. These functions comprise 4 * 24-hour rosters of six staff each, an additional three-man team(CPM), and one further 5 roster team providing further (normal- working-hours) help desk support.
Additional support
Additional support Grade and skill
1. Systems integration team 30 per cent of network computer engineer 2. Administrator 75 per cent of executive office
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3. International aviation management 15 per cent of manager 4. Data traffic 5 per cent communications engineer 5. Contract Procurement and Management, and invoicing 5 per cent of senior procurement officer 6. UNIX support 10 per cent of computer engineer 7. Web team support 10 per cent of web site designer
Note.— Support by the UNIX Team of the SADIS FTP Service will incur some additional costs in excess of simple human resources. These costs are applied to all internet facing services and primarily relate to costs associated with ensuring high levels of IT security.
NATS infrastructure site – CACC (OPMET Gateway function)
Note.— The CACC provides the OPMET Gateway function, which is provided from one operational site, but with a full contingent capability at an alternative site. Staff are available either on a 24-hour rota basis, or as a daytime support with on-call capability The staff is made up of 6 x watches of 1 ATSA4 & 1 ATSA3 each (Operations), 8 ATCE4 (Engineering Watchkeeping) and 3 ATCE4 (Engineering Day Support).
24 hour support Grade and skill
1. Operational staff support 10 per cent of ATSA4 & 40 per cent of ATSA3 2. Engineering staff support 10 per cent of systems engineer
Day Support
3. SADIS administration support 40 per cent of ATC T&S C 4. Engineering + on-call 10 per cent of 75 per cent of ATCE4
Bought-in Services
Additional support and maintenance agreements with third parties are in-place to provide 3rd line support of the SADIS 1G and 2G services. — — — — — — — —
1.3 SADIS Technical Components and Costs
All three SADIS services (1G, 2G and the FTP service) have been operational throughout the period of this Management Report. Following the implementation of the SADIS 2G service in 2004 all new users of the SADIS are advised to procure 2G hardware or consider using the FTP service. In addition users with failing 1G hardware are advised to consider purchasing new 2G technology rather than invest in maintaining the older units. This is likely to be the most financially prudent solution for many users with the cost of the indoor 2G hardware approximately 50% cheaper than the cost of equivalent 1G units which are increasingly difficult and expensive to support.
1.3.1 Budgetary Cost of 2G SADIS Hardware
A complete SADIS system consists of the following hardware components: antenna (normally 2.4 metre, though a 1.8 metre antenna may suffice for users located closer towards the centre of the footprint), low noise block (LNB), cabling (between LNB and receiver), digital receive-only (DRO) receiver (e.g. Advantech AMT-10 or Comtech EFD SDR-54A, or Radyne Comstream DD2401), Megapac 2003 (or equivalent) penetrating or non-penetrating mount, and optional spares.
One-Way System (including a 1.8 metre antenna) = ~ £6000 excluding packing, shipping and installation.
One-Way System (including a 2.4 metre antenna) = ~ £7000 excluding packing, shipping and installation.
Optional Spares = ~£3500K (which includes spare receiver and megapac)
It may be noted that a third SADIS 2G compatible receiver is now available. This new unit manufactured by Canadian based Advantech is particularly suited for installation in countries that are prevented from receiving U.S. manufactured hardware by trade restrictions.
1.3.2 Protocol Options available from SADIS 2G
Data can be presented from a megapac to the users end system using a variety of different protocols. It is extremely important that the user informs the hardware supplier which protocol they require.
Output from the megapac uses a 'spoofed' protocol. In other words the megapac mimics a standard international protocol such as TCP/IP or X.25. 'Spoofing' is required because data transmission over the service is one-way, and both X.25 and WMO TCP/IP sockets require two-way data traffic. The return signal from the user or client cannot be communicated to the host.
Data from the 2G service can be presented to the user either as IP UDP multicast (preferred and recommended solution), 'spoofed' WMO TCP/IP sockets, or 'spoofed' X.25 PVCs (presentation similar to output from SADIS 1G receiver). For users selecting IP, we recommend the use of UDP multicast as opposed to WMO TCP/IP sockets. The use of UDP multicast is simpler to administer and to facilitate change to downstream systems. Some problems with the implementation of TCP/IP and UDP 18
protocol have been encountered during the period of this management report. More information is provided in section 3 of this report.
Some high level hardware procurement guidelines to assist users in the purchase of their 2G hardware are available for review from URL http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/hardware/suppliers/hardware_procure_guide.html
1.3.3 Suppliers of SADIS 2G Hardware
Competition exists in the market for provision of SADIS 2G receiving hardware. Currently two suppliers or “integrators” are recommended. This represents an improvement on the situation current at the time of SADISOPSG/10 when only a single supplier was available.
The two suppliers that are currently recommended can provide a wide range of general communication services in addition to the provision of SADIS 2G compatible VSAT hardware. Further details are provided below.
L-Teq Ltd.
Services provided:
Provision of antennae, LNBs, 2G compatible receivers*, configured MegaPAC units
On-site installation and training
Support and maintenance
Hardware repair
General satellite communications provision and troubleshooting
* The 2G compatible receivers can be provided as standalone units, or incorporated into a single unit along with a MegaPAC.
Contact details:
Ms. Julie Carver L-Teq Ltd. Lapwing 440, Frimley Business Park, Frimley, Surrey, GU16 7SZ, UK.
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +44 (0) 1276 686566 Fax: +44 (0) 1276 686550 Web: www.lteq.com
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Paradigm Communications
Products:
Satellite products
Satellite earth stations
Flyaway and quick-deploy satellite and FWA systems
Wireless solutions
IP solutions
Network management systems
Services provided:
System design
Equipment sales
Programme management
Installation services
Customer services
Logistics
Repair centre
Bonded warehouse
Quick delivery
Application development
Factory and field training
Contact details:
Paradigm Technology House Station Road Alton Hampshire GU34 2PZ UK
Telephone: +44 (0)870 902 4000 or +44 (0)1420 88199 Fax: +44 (0)870 902 4001 or +44 (0)1420 88842 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.paracomm.co.uk
The MegaPAC technology which is used both at the uplink hub and at each user site is manufactured and supported by Vados Systems. The preferred user supply chain is through one of the integrators – L-Teq and Paradigm Communications, who can liaise with Vados Systems when appropriate. It is preferred that users do not contact Vados Systems directly.
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Vados Systems
Services provided through the integrators:
SADIS 1G to SADIS 2G Migration Solutions
SADIS 2G Solutions
SADIS 2G data streams output over IP
SADIS 2G data streams output over X.25
Vados Systems are the manufacturer of the SADIS 2G system components. With many years involvement with the SADIS project we are seen by the user community as providers of highly reliable equipment with the knowledge and experience that will ensure these systems fit your requirements.
Sales contact details:
Vados Systems Ltd Silwood Park Buckhurst Road Ascot Berkshire SL5 7PW UK
Tel. +44 (0) 1344 637300 Fax. +44 (0) 1344 637386 E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.vados.com/?pageid=2g
In addition to purchasing SADIS 2G hardware directly through one of the integrators users can also purchase through a third party such as one of the workstation suppliers (see Annex 4). Many SADIS users will find this the most straightforward migration approach to adopt because their supplier of workstation software can verify prior to purchase compatibility between an existing workstation configuration and the output from the new SADIS 2G hardware.
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ANNEX 1 – GLOSSARY OF ABBREVIATIONS
AIREP Air report
BUFR Binary Universal Format for the Representation of Meteorological Data.
CAA Civil Aviation Authority - UK Met. Authority
FROST Met Office message switch
GRIB Gridded binary (code)
ISCS International Satellite Communication System (US satellite broadcasts similar to SADIS covering North and South America, the Caribbean and Central America, the Pacific and Eastern Asia).
METAR Routine aviation weather report in code form
NATS National Air Traffic Services
OPMET Operational meteorological (information or data).
PIRG ICAO planning and implementation regional group.
PNG Portable Network Graphics [format]
SADIS GATEWAY The United Kingdom message-handling system which receives data, from the Aeronautical Fixed Service, for transmission on SADIS.
SIGMET Information of specified en route weather phenomena that may affect the safety of aircraft operations.
SIGWX Significant weather.
T.4 Coded digital facsimile transmission format.
TAF Terminal Aerodrome Forecast. Aerodrome forecast in code form.
TROPICS Transmission and reception of observational and product information by computer-based switching (message switching equipment).
WAFS World Area Forecast System.
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Annex 2 - WAFC Backup Procedures
INTRODUCTION
A WAFC will provide any or all of the WAFS services as needed when the interruption of the operation of the other WAFC occurs. WAFC London and WAFC Washington have studied a number of potential service interruption and outage scenarios, reviewed the current communication links between the two WAFCs, and agreed upon the appropriate responses to each interruption in service.
1. INTERRUPTIONS IN NUMERICAL WEATHER PREDICTION (NWP) OR SIGNIFICANT WEATHER (SIGWX) FORECAST PRODUCTION a. WAFC London interruptions
i. A global grid point NWP model runs in Exeter. The output from this NWP model forms the basis for the wind and temperature forecasts in the Gridded Binary (GRIB) code form. Two largely identical supercomputers are housed in separate computer halls, allowing the model to run on either machine. Therefore, routine or non-routine maintenance can be performed on one of the supercomputers without affecting the operational capability of WAFC London. In the rare event that the model cannot be run on either supercomputer, the following course of action would be taken. When the first model run is delayed significantly or is not available, a decision will be made to use the output from the previous model run incremented forwards by six hours . In the event that the output from a second consecutive run is unavailable, WAFC London would use the output from the last good run, incremented forwards by twelve hours. If subsequent model runs fail then a decision will be taken to either issue data from the last good run incremented forwards by the appropriate number of hours, or issue WAFC Washington derived GRIB data in a format that is acceptable to end users that routinely receive the WAFC London product. If the interruption affects the ability of WAFC London to produce WAFS SIGWX products WAFC Washington may be notified to begin the production of the backup WAFS SIGWX forecasts. These forecasts along with other WAFS data are then sent to the WAFC London message-switching centre for normal distribution. ii. In the event of a failure at the primary operational workstation, the forecaster would use one of the backup workstations located on the forecast floor, or in the backup operations centre. If WAFC London is affected by a massive failure, paragraph 5 describes the action under “Total outage of a WAFC.” b. WAFC Washington interruptions i. A global spectral model runs at the National Centres for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and produces the WAFC Washington NWP output. This forms the basis for the wind and temperature forecasts in the GRIB code form. NCEP maintains the ability to run the global model on redundant systems in the case of a failure of the primary system. If the NWP is significantly delayed or missing due to the failure of the primary or secondary computer systems, a decision is made to use the NWP data routinely received from WAFC London at the National Weather Service Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG), incremented by the appropriate number of hours, to produce the WAFS forecasts. ii. If the primary operational workstation fails, the forecaster would use a backup workstation located on the forecast floor. If the WAFC Washington SIGWX production centre is out, WAFC London is called on to produce all of the WAFC Washington SIGWX forecasts. These forecasts are then switched back to the NWSTG with the routine WAFC London SIGWX forecasts for dissemination via the International Satellite Communication System (ISCS). If WAFC Washington is affected by a massive failure, paragraph 5 describes
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the action under “Total outage of a WAFC.”
2. INTERRUPTIONS IN MESSAGE SWITCHING a. WAFC London interruptions i. Two message switches exist at WAFC London. In the rare event of a failure at the primary switch, the backup switch would be used to send and receive data. The backup message switch can be immediately connected to the Washington and Toulouse WMO global telecommunication system (GTS) routes, and is permanently connected to the satellite distribution system for information relating to air navigation (SADIS).. In the extremely unlikely event that WAFC London cannot connect to the GTS, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) circuit between Silver Spring and Exeter will be used to send and receive data. This circuit is a physical backup to the link that is normally in place, and is used only when a major failure occurs. b. WAFC Washington interruptions
An integrated services digital network (ISDN) circuit is maintained between WAFC London and the ISCS uplink site. In the rare event that the message switch at the NWSTG is out WAFC London would be notified to begin sending WAFS products on the ISDN circuit directly to the ISCS uplink site. The ISCS satellites then broadcast these products normally.
1. INTERRUPTIONS IN SATELLITE UPLINK AND SATELLITE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS a. The operation of the satellite communications systems used to provide the SADIS and ISCS broadcasts of the WAFS data is outside the control of the two WAFCs. The reliability and availability of these services is guaranteed by the commercial operators, and not by the two WAFCs.
3. TOTAL OUTAGE OF A WAFC a. WAFC London outage
It is considered extremely unlikely that WAFC London would ever be totally out. A new state of the art infrastructure ensures that both computers can operate completely independent of each other. Separate primary and backup power supplies are furnished for each computer. The backup procedures carried out will depend on the nature of the outage. In a worst-case scenario when the primary supercomputer becomes inoperable and the WAFC Washington to WAFC London GTS link cannot be regained, the ISDN circuit described in 4.1 would be used to send and receive data from Washington. Thus, the failure of the primary supercomputer would not affect the ability of WAFC London to disseminate WAFS products on the SADIS broadcast or send them to Washington for broadcast on the ISCS. In the event of the forecast office at WAFC London becoming unserviceable, WAFC Washington may be contacted to initiate backup production of all the high-level and medium-level SIGWX forecasts routinely produced by WAFC London. It should be noted that a backup forecast office is provisioned at WAFC London in a separate wing of the building. Thus, it is considered highly unlikely that WAFC London would be totally unable to produce their WAFS SIGWX forecasts. The SIGWX forecasts would still be available for SADIS uplink from either forecast office in such a scenario assuming that either computer is available.
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WAFC Washington outage i. The WAFS product generation facilities are located at multiple sites. Thus it is highly unlikely that WAFC Washington would ever be completely out. The backup procedures carried out would depend on the facility affected, and have been described above. Two independent data paths exist from the message-switching centre. Thus, a cable cut would not disrupt communications to or from the switch. However, in a scenario where the Washington message switch is completely out, the distribution of products to WAFC London and to the ISCS is also severed.
4. ROUTINE AND BACKUP SIGNIFICANT WEATHER FORECASTS
Table C-1summarizes the ICAO areas to be used by WAFCs Washington and London for both routine and backup SIGWX forecasts.
Table C-1. Routine and backup SIGWX areas with WMO headers
SWH Area Primary WAFC WMO Header
A Washington PGEE07 KKCI B London PGSE06 EGRR B1 Washington PGIE07 KKCI C London PGRE06 EGRR D London PGZE06 EGRR
E London PGGE06 EGRR F Washington PGGE07 KKCI G London PGCE06 EGRR H London PGAE06 EGRR Washington PGAE07 KKCI I Washington PGBE07 KKCI J Washington PGJE07 KKCI K London PGKE06 EGRR M Washington PGDE30 KKCI
SWM area Primary WAFC WMO Header NAT Washington PGNE40 KKCI EUR London PGDE15 EGRR MID London PGCE15 EGRR S ASIA London PGZE15 EGRR
.
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Annex 3 – SADIS Operations Group Software Functionality Requirements (as agreed at SADISOPSG/10 Meeting, May 2005)
SOFTWARE FUNCTIONALITY Available and Comments Compliant? 1. Display of OPMET data and other data types in text format
2. WAFS GRIB decoder and compliant display package
3. WAFS SWH and SWM BUFR decoder and compliant display package
4. Display and ability to prompt users of the arrival of chart amendments
5. Display and ability to prompt users of the arrival of SADIS administrative messages 6. Display of tropical cyclone advisory statements
7. Display of volcanic ash advisory statements
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8. Display of volcanic ash trajectory/dispersion charts
9. Display bulletin contents from the WMO header
10. Display of Special AIREPS
11. Ability to receive all the SADIS products via FTP from the SADIS FTP Service
12. Ability to receive WAFS SIGWX charts in the PNG (portable network graphics) format from all three SADIS services, and display them using standard visualisation software. Please refer to the accompanying notes that detail the requirements
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Requirements
The numbers of the notes below correspond to the numbers of the 11 items listed in the table above. For a software package to receive a "Y" as opposed to a "N" in the "Available and Compliant" column on the table, all of the functions detailed below need to be satisfied for each functionality item.
For every workstation provider that is happy for their software to be tested under these criteria, it our intention is to make the information available to all existing and prospective SADIS users via the SADIS web page at URL http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/software/index.html.
Ability for the data to be sourced from SADIS 1G or SADIS 2G and SADIS FTP service.
1. • The ability to receive and display OPMET data and other data types in text format (including TAFs, METARs, SPECIs, SIGMETs, EUR region AIRMETs and GAMETs, and ASHTAMs and NOTAMs related to volcanic ash). • The ability for a user to display OPMET for aerodromes specified by the user. • Prompt users of the arrival of a SIGMET, SPECI, ASHTAM and NOTAM related to volcanic ash.
2. • The ability to receive and display GRIB data, sourced from WAFC London and WAFC Washington*.
• The functionality to enable a user to produce a wind-temperature chart from the GRIB data over a configurable user-specified area. Global coverage is required. The ability to produce charts spanning the International Date Line and including all of the standard ICAO areas is required.
• A "zooming facility" for GRIB chart areas.
• The ability to produce a wind-temperature chart from GRIB encoded data that is identical as far as the meteorological content is concerned and largely identical as far as other features (e.g. the position of text boxes) are concerned to a standard T4 wind and temperature chart for the same area, and meets Annex 3 requirements. The product must clearly display whether the chart is derived from the WAFC London or WAFC Washington GRIB encoded data.
• Automatic chart production is required, i.e. human intervention is not required to modify a chart to ensure compliancy.
3. • The ability to receive and display WAFS SIGWX BUFR data, sourced from WAFC London and WAFC Washington.
• The functionality to enable a user to produce a SWH and a SWM SIGWX chart from BUFR data over a configurable user-specified area. Global coverage for the SWH data is required. The ability to produce charts spanning the international date line and covering all of the standard ICAO areas is required for the SWH data.
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• A "zooming facility" for BUFR chart areas.
• A de-clutter facility for tropopause heights, whereby the quantity of tropopause data plotted over an area is appropriate to the size of the area, and hence maximises the clarity of the end product.
• The ability to produce a SIGWX chart from BUFR encoded data that is identical as far as the meteorological content is concerned and largely identical as far as other features (e.g. the position of text boxes) are concerned to a standard T4 SIGWX chart for the same area, and meets Annex 3 requirements. The product must clearly display whether the chart is derived from WAFC London or WAFC Washington BUFR encoded data. If the software allows the user to modify any of the plotted meteorological parameters, reference to either WAFC must be automatically removed if such modification is carried out by the end user.
• Automatic chart production is required, i.e. human intervention is not required to modify a chart to ensure compliancy.
4. • The ability to receive, display and prompt users of the arrival of chart amendments. These amendments are text messages issued with the following WMO headers:
FXUK65 EGRR T4 SIGWX chart amendments FXUK66 EGRR T4 Wind & Temperature Chart amendments
5. • The ability to receive, display and prompt users of the arrival of SADIS administrative messages. These amendments are text messages issued with the following WMO headers:
NOUK10 EGRR NOUK11 EGRR NOUK12 EGRR NOUK13 EGRR NOUK31 EGGY NOBX99 EBBR
6. • The ability to receive, display and prompt users of the arrival of tropical cyclone advisory statements. These bulletins are in text format and are of the form FK**** CCCC.
7. • The ability to receive, display and prompt users of the arrival of volcanic ash advisory statements. These bulletins are in text format, and the WMO headers of those currently available for dissemination of SADIS are listed below. These bulletin headers are of the form FV**** CCCC.
FVAK20 PANC FVAK21PANC FVAK22 PANC
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FVAK23 PANC FVAK24 PANC FVUK01 EGRR FVXX20 KWBC FVXX21 KWBC FVXX22 KWBC FVXX23 KWBC FVXX24 KWBC FVXX25 KWBC FVXX26 KWBC FVXX27 KWBC FVXX28 KWBC FVXX29 KWBC FVAF01 LFPW FVEU01 LFPW FVAW01 LFPW FVSV30 FDMS FVFE01 RJTD FVCN01 CWAO FVCN02 CWAO FVCN03 CWAO FVCN04 CWAO FVAU01 ADRM FVPS01 NZKL
8. • The ability to receive and display volcanic ash trajectory and dispersion charts (VAG). These charts are in standard T4 format. The products that may be available for dissemination on SADIS have the following WMO headers:
PFXB00 CWAO PFXD00 CWAO PFXG00 CWAO PFXI00 CWAO PFXB00 CWAO PFXD00 CWAO PFXG00 CWAO PFXI00 CWAO PHBE10 KWBC PHBI10 KWBC PURG00 LFPW PVRE00 LFPW PVRD00 LFPW PUAG00 EGRR PVAG00 EGRR
Additional (VAG) bulletins over and above those listed above will be broadcast on SADIS as they become available.
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9. • The functionality to enable a user to display the contents of a single bulletin (including all types of bulletins except GRIB and BUFR encoded bulletins) by typing in the WMO header of the bulletin.
10. • The ability to receive, display and prompt users of the arrival of special AIREPS. These bulletins are in text format, and the WMO headers of the bulletins currently available for dissemination on SADIS are listed below. The bulletins are of the form UA**** XXXX
UANT90 EGRR UAUK90 EGRR
11. • The ability to receive all of the operational SADIS data (detailed in items 1 - 10 above, and 12 below) via FTP over the Internet from the SADIS FTP Service, and to display it using the same interface. In addition, the ability to receive and display PNG (portable network graphics) versions of the SIGWX charts from the SADIS FTP server.
12. • The ability to receive WAFS SIGWX charts in the PNG (portable network graphics) format from all three SADIS services (1G, 2G and SADIS FTP Service), and display them using standard visualisation software, e.g. web browser.
*It should be noted that there are some subtle differences between London and Washington GRIB data. Washington GRIB would only be transmitted over SADIS if there was a major problem with the production of London GRIB. It would only have the purpose of forming a backup to the London GRIB in the event of problems with disseminating the former.
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Annex 4 – List of Commercial Suppliers of WAFS Visualisation Software
SADIS data processing and display suppliers
Supplier Product Almos Systems BV, a Telvent Company METWORX® Mr. Ronny Voets www.almossystems.com Almos Systems BV, a Telvent Company Landzichtweg 70 Tel.: +31 345 544080 4105 DP Culemborg Fax: +31 345 544099 The Netherlands E-mail [email protected]
Corobor MESSIR - SADIS
www.corobor.com Mr M Bourgues
134 rue Julian Grimau Tel + 33 1 4573 6060 94400 Vitry sur Seine Fax + 33 1 4573 2080 France Contact sales
GST/3SI METLAB www.3sinc.com/Products/WAFS/wafs.html Mr. Paul Heppner 12000 Lincoln Drive West, Suite 201 Tel + 1 856 596 2226 Marlton, NJ 08053 USA Fax + 1 856 596 2274 E-mail [email protected] Or, www.3sinc.com Tel + 1 301 474 9696 Mr. Gene Schaffer Fax + 1 301 474 5970 7855 Walker Drive, Suite 200 www.gst.com Greenbelt, MD 20770 USA
IBL Software Engineering Aero Weather www.iblsoft.com Mr. Michal Weis Mierova 103 Tel + 4 212 4342 7227 SK-82105 Bratislava Fax + 4 212 4342 7214 Slovakia E-mail [email protected] Info - Electronic Systems Inc HI - WIPS
www.info-electronics.ca Mr H P S Ahluwalia 1755 St Regis Tel + 1 514 421 0767 Suite 100 Fax + 1 514 421 0769 Dollard-de-Ormeaux (Montreal) E-mail [email protected] Quebec Canada H9B 2M9
Institute of Radar Meteorology (IRAM) MeteoExpert/MeteoConsultant Applications
Dr. T Bazlova Tel (81370) 75 171 15, p. Voejkovo, Fax (81370) 75 592 Vsevolozhskij rajon, E-mail [email protected] Leningradskay oblast, Russia, 188685
MapMaker Group Ltd. GIS Meteo mapmak.mecom.ru/egmsadis.htm Mr. Alexey Solomakhov B. Predtechensky per. 11, Tel + 7 095 255 2195 Moscow Russia, 123242 Fax + 7 095 255 2303 E-mail [email protected] Meteo France International (MFI) WEDIS www.sofreavia.com Mr D Paris Park Avenue Tel + 33 5 6143 2940 9 rue Michel Labrousse, 31100 Toulouse Fax +33 5 6143 2941 France E-mail [email protected]
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Netsys UK Ltd FlightMan/NSWS www.netsys.co.za Mr C Moffat 74 Dickerage Road Tel + 44 20 8949 2157 Kingston on Thames Fax + 44 20 8336 2097 Surrey KT1 3SS E-mail [email protected] United Kingdom
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2. SADIS USAGE & DATA VOLUMES
2.1 Status of Operational Systems
The growth in the number of operational services has been six during the past 12 months. This represents the largest annual increase since year 2001-02. Three of these new users have chosen to access their data via the SADIS FTP service only and do not have the intention of purchasing a SADIS 2G VSAT.
Table 1 Number of access approved units by ICAO Region March 2006
ICAO Area Access Approved – 04/2006 EUR 64 MID 19 AFI 47 ASIA 21 TOTAL 151
Six of the approved users have access to the SADIS FTP service only.
Table 2 Number of access approved units by ICAO Region March 2005
ICAO Area Access Approved – 04/2005 EUR 59 MID 19 AFI 46 ASIA 21 TOTAL 145
In excess of 100 accounts have been established on the SADIS FTP server for SADIS and ISCS users. Approximately 40 of these accounts are used on a regular, daily basis. In excess of 12,000 files are downloaded from these accounts on an average day.
Even though many of these users are accessing the SADIS FTP server as a secondary or redundant source of data, an increasing number of users are believed to be accessing data from the server as their primary, and perhaps only source of data.
2.2 Hub Infrastructure
During the past 12 months, the SADIS 1G hub infrastructure has proved consistently stable, and no remedial action has been necessary. As a result no changes have been made to the SADIS 1G infrastructure at either Exeter or Whitehill.
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There have been no major changes to the SADIS 2G infrastructure during the past twelve months. One minor upgrade to the firmware operating in the 2G uplink MegaPACs at Exeter and Whitehill was implemented in late September 2005 to resolve erratic data loss across the network. This upgrade did not necessitate any change to the user MegaPAC configuration.
At the time of writing this report consideration is being given to making some enhancements to the configuration of the hub infrastructure at Whitehill which will have the effect of improving resilience and automatic failover.
No infrastructure changes to the SADIS FTP service have been implemented throughout the period of this report. However a considerable amount of planning effort has been undertaken to construct a realistic project plan for implementing a number of significant enhancements to the SADIS FTP service. This project plan will be reviewed by the SADISOPSG/11 meeting prior to any implementation work commencing. If these initiatives proceed then further detail is likely to appear in forthcoming management reports.
2.3 Data Rates and Broadcast Content
2.3.1 Data Rates
The aggregate data throughput of 38.4Kbps has been maintained across all three services in accordance with the technical specification.
Bandwidth control has been maintained on SADIS 1G throughout the past 12 months to limit the throughput of data to the following continuous rates:
GRIB 19.2Kbps T4 19.2Kbps OPMET 9.6Kbps.
This has satisfactorily resolved the problems encountered during 1998 - 1999, which related to the software contained within the EPROMS being unable to handle the input data fast enough. It is hard to believe that modern end systems will have any difficulty handling SADIS 1G data at the full 64Kbps (minus communication overheads) but knowledge of end systems is limited and we cannot be sure that all end systems would be unaffected if bandwidth control was removed. Therefore there is no expectation that this bandwidth control will be withdrawn or reduced prior to cessation of the SADIS 1G service on 31 December 2008.
SADIS 2G has generally been running at 64Kbps (less communication overheads) throughout the period of this report apart from during several periods when bandwidth control was introduced as part of engineering work.
The SADIS FTP service is implemented with available 2Mbps bursting to 4Mbps between the server and internet service provider (ISP). Individual connections are guaranteed a minimum speed of 38Kbps bursting to 256Kbps between server and ISP. 35
These speeds appear adequate for users but SADISOPSG/11 will be asked to comment on whether higher connection speeds are desirable now that rollout of broadband/ADSL internet connectivity is available in many states.
2.3.2 Content of Broadcast
2.3.2.1 WAFS ‘Thinned’ GRIB
GRIB bulletins are broadcast four times per day and are consistent with the WMO 306 standard for GRIB1. Repeat broadcasts are not routinely carried out.
TABLE 2.1 Average daily data volume of forecast fields in GRIB1 code
Bulletins GRIB1 (Mbytes) T+6 1568 6.6 T+12 1568 6.6 T+18 1568 6.6 T+24 1568 6.6 T+30 1568 6.6 T+36 1568 6.6 TOTAL 9408 39.6
The WMO headers of a complete set of WAFS GRIB data are listed below:
H(T,U,V)(I-P)(B-G)(85,70,60,50,40,30,25,20,15,10) EGRR
HR(I-P)(B-G)(85,70,60,50) EGRR HH(I-P)(B-G)(96,97) EGRR HH (I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)(B/C/D/E/F/G)(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HT(I-P)(B-G)97 EGRR H(U,V)(I-P)(B-G)96 EGRR
T = temperature parameter U = “U” wind vector component V= “V” wind vector component R = “R” relative humidity parameter H = “H” geo-potential height parameter (I-P) = letters corresponding to different geographical areas (B-G) = validity periods (B=T+6, C=T+12, D=T+18, E=T+24, F=T+30, G=T+36)
Total number of bulletins per model run is 2352. 4 model runs per day (0000, 0600, 1200 and 1800 UTC). This equates to approximately 9.8MB of data per model run, or 39.6MB of GRIB data per day.
Also see Annex 5 for a complete representation of the WAFS GRIB bulletin schedule.
In accordance with SADISOPSG/10 action was taken during September 2005 to withdraw the FL530 WAFS GRIB data was the broadcasts. This followed user
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notification and a delay of several months on the original date proposed for this change. Unfortunately a number of users reported significant operational difficulties resulting from the cessation of these products and subsequently the products were reinstated. The SADISOPSG Secretariat was informed and agreement was reached that the FL530 products would remain on the broadcasts until further notice.
WAFC Washington derived WAFS ‘thinned’ GRIB data is available from the SADIS FTP server but is not included on the two satellite based services. The bulletin headers of the Washington (CCCC=KWBC) data are identical to the equivalent WAFC London data with the exception that the CCCC group of this data is KWBC. Users should also note that the Washington data uses a different GRIB scaling factor to the equivalent WAFC London and therefore compatibility with GRIB decoding software is not automatically guaranteed.
The WAFC Washington data is marginally greater in size than the London data. A complete set of WAFS GRIB data from Washington is approximately 10.7MB in size.
2.3.2.2 T.4 CHARTS
On 1 July 2005 the T.4 WAFS wind & temperature charts were removed from the SADIS 1G and 2G services in accordance with instruction from the SADISOPSG and WAFSOPSG. It is appreciated that the removal of these products did cause some difficulties for a limited number of users but it is believed that the impact was limited in extent. The numerous communications about this important cessation over preceding months and years are believed to have given the majority of users sufficient time to make alternative arrangements.
The T.4 WAFS wind & temperature charts were retained on the SADIS FTP server for a short period longer to assist a small number of users. The charts were subsequently removed from the FTP server on 1 October 2005.
The production and distribution of T.4 WAFS SIGWX charts on all the services has been maintained throughout the period. Users should be aware that these mature products may be removed from the broadcasts on 30 November 2006 if the WAFSOPSG/3 meeting does not recommend a further extension to their production (WAFSOPSG Conclusion 2/12 refers).
64 T.4 SIGWX charts are broadcast every day (approx. 80KB per chart; approx. 5MB total), with 40 charts originating from WAFC London (28 SWH charts, and 12 SWM charts), 24 SWH from WAFC Washington (covering areas: A, F, H, I, J and M).
Additional non-routine T.4 products on the broadcast include Volcanic Ash Trajectory and Dispersion charts from VAACs Montreal, Washington and Toulouse. Unfortunately the equivalent charts produced by the other VAACs are not available for SADIS transmission because the products are not received by the Met Office.
Agreement reached at the IAVWOPSG/2 meeting will result in the volcanic ash graphical products being produced in the future in the PNG (portable network graphics) format.
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These products will be added to the three SADIS broadcasts as they become available to the Met Office.
The distribution schedule for the T.4 SIGWX chart is given below:
SIGWX charts based on 0000 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 10:00 and 11:00 (Nominal issue time is 10:30)
SIGWX charts based on 0600 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 16:00 and 17:00 (Nominal issue time is 16:30)
SIGWX charts based on 1200 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 22:00 and 23:00 (Nominal issue time is 22:30)
SIGWX charts based on 1800 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 04:00 and 05:00 (Nominal issue time is 04:30)
The complete broadcast schedule, including those produced by WAFC Washington, is listed below.
TABLE 2.2 WAFS SIGWX Chart (T.4) Distribution Schedule on SADIS
WMO SWH Area Originating WAFC Header Routine: Washington A PGEE07 KKCI Backup: London Routine: London B PGSE06 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: London C PGRE06 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: London D PGZE06 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: London E PGGE06 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: Washington F PGGE07 KKCI Backup: London Routine: London G PGCE06 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: London H PGAE06 EGRR Routine: Washington PGAE07 KKCI Routine: Washington I PGBE07 KKCI Backup: London Routine: Washington J PGJE07 KKCI Backup: London K Routine: London PGKE06 EGRR
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Backup: Washington Routine: Washington M PGDE30 KKCI Backup:London
The table below summarises the SWM WAFS charts produced by both WAFCs, and the WMO headers assigned to these products.
WMO SWM Area Originating WAFC Header Routine: London EURO PGDE15 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: London MID PGCE15 EGRR Backup: Washington Routine: London ASIA SOUTH PGZE15 EGRR Backup: Washington
The T.4 chart broadcast can be summarised as follows:
TABLE 2.3 Average daily volumes of T.4 chart data.
T.4 Charts Data Volumes (Mbytes)
Number generated at WAFC London SIGWX 40 3.2
Number generated at WAFC Washington SIGWX 24 1.9
Total broadcast 5.1 MB
Please note that occasional T.4 volcanic ash dispersion and trajectory charts from VAACs Montreal, Washington and Toulouse are sent in addition to the products listed above in table 2.3.
2.3.2.3 WAFS SIGWX Charts in PNG format
PNG (portable network graphics) format WAFS SIGWX charts produced by both WAFCs were added to all three broadcasts by early October 2005. These products are identical to the T.4 WAFS SIGWX charts that cover the same areas but take advantage of the modern PNG format which is supported by the vast majority of modern visualisation applications including web browsers.
The WMO headers of the products issued by the WAFCs on the satellite services (1G and 2G) are identical to the headers used for the equivalent T4 products except that the 39
“ii”group in the telecommunication header is one digit less than used for the equivalent T4 chart.
Example:
PGAE06 EGRR (T4 SIGWX chart covering ICAO area H)
Equivalent PNG chart PGAE05 EGRR (PNG SIGWX chart covering ICAO area H)
Users should be aware that all of the PNG formatted SIGWX charts distributed on the satellite services have a standard WMO telecommunications ‘envelope’ wrapped around the standard PNG image. Almost certainly this ‘wrapper’ will need to be removed before the image can be displayed via a standard PNG viewing application.
The PNG formatted charts are also available from the SADIS FTP service. These charts do not have a WMO telecommunications ‘envelope’ wrapped around them. They are available as standard PNG images and are immediately compatible with PNG viewing applications. ‘Double clicking’ on a file contained within the server directory should initiate download and subsequent display via web browser. Bespoke visualisation software is not required for this purpose and significantly simplifies the action of obtaining and displaying SIGWX charts on a standard PC based platform.
The PNG formatted SIGWX charts are available from:
ftp://[username]:[password]@sadis.metoffice.gov.uk/SIGWX_PNG/
Users are invited to inform WAFC London and ICAO about the usefulness of these new products. They are currently provided as trial products for evaluation purposes. The long term future of them will not be determined until the WAFSOPSG/3 meeting scheduled for September 2006. If a future demand for these charts is not realised then it is likely that they will be removed from the broadcasts during the latter part of 2006.
PNG formatted volcanic ash graphical (VAG) charts will be added to the three broadcasts shortly when their production commences at the VAACs. These products will be available from the SADIS FTP service at ftp://[username]:[password]@sadis.metoffice.gov.uk/Volcanic_Ash_Dispersion_Graphic s/PNG_format/
These products will be broadcast on the satellite services with a WMO telecommunications ‘envelope’ around the PNG images. These bulletins will be broadcast with the following WMO headers:-
PFXDii CCCC where ii = 01, 02, 03, etc. and CCCC is the standard station originator group applicable to the VAAC.
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2.3.2.4 OPMET
An average OPMET broadcast is about 10 Mbytes of data per day consisting of approximately 33,500 bulletins. The breakdown for 2005 and 2006, by ICAO region , is shown on the following tables. The table, derived from the traffic transmitted on a single day in February 2006, indicates the number of bulletins transmitted from each ICAO region to the SADIS provider for SADIS uplink, plus a number of regional bulletin compilations. For example a bulletin compiled in the UK (region EUR) which contains reports from South America (region SAM) will be placed under EUR.
TABLE 2.4 Example of Daily OPMET bulletins by source – February 2005
AFI ASIA CAR EUR MID NAM NAT PAC SAM Total FA 0 0 0 117 0 0 0 0 0 117 FC 160 66 0 1560 35 804 42 20 0 2687 FK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 FT 297 166 85 664 157 2425 12 76 164 4046 FV 0 3 0 2 0 0 0 8 0 13 NO 0 0 0 47 0 0 0 0 0 47 SA 1519 715 114 9426 595 7735 153 132 1144 21533 SP 4 15 2 82 2 3789 13 0 24 3931 WA 2 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 WS 7 22 0 38 0 31 10 26 33 167 WC 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 WV 0 2 2 24 0 0 1 9 0 38 Total 1989 989 209 11960 789 14784 231 271 1365 32587
TABLE 2.5 Example of Daily OPMET bulletins by source – February 2006
AFI ASIA CAR EUR MID NAM NAT PAC SAM Total FA 0 0 0 125 0 0 0 0 0 125 FC 145 101 5 1636 36 954 33 21 0 2931 FK 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 FT 259 218 122 632 141 2628 13 61 186 4260 FV 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 0 0 10 NO 0 0 0 4800000 48 SA 1564 1099 370 9485 667 7677 162 72 1355 22451 SP 26 15 0 129 0 4667 1 0 24 4862 WA 5 0 0 19 0 0 0 0 1 25 WS 12 4 2 30 1 114 0 0 65 228 WC 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 WV 0 0 3 300000 6 Total 2020 1437 502 12107 845 16050 209 154 1631 34955
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2.3.2.5 Unscheduled data on the SADIS Broadcast
Since the introduction of the SADIS gateway it has been possible to produce more detailed information on the unscheduled data transmitted on SADIS. The data presented in Annex 6 and 7 of this report were generated from data archived from the 1st April 2004 to the 28th February 2005. Data between 17th and 30 of September 2004 is not included because of a procedural problem.
In Annex 6 a list of all the distinct unscheduled headers transmitted during the period is presented in Annex 7 graphs of the numbers of unscheduled bulletins transmitted for each data type is also included.
During 2006 some problems were reported relating to the lack of distribution of Tropical Cyclone Advisories from Asia. Following investigation the routing was modified to ensure that in future all Volcanic Ash and Tropical Cyclone advisories would be routed to the SADIS distribution..
A number of reports of SIGMETs missing from the SADIS broadcast have also been received. In each case they have been investigated. In general the non transmission was because the SIGMETs were not received at the SADIS Gateway. In a small number of cases SIGMETs were issues with an ATSU indicator not recognised by the system but the rejection procedures at the Gateway were not strictly followed. As a result of this some retraining has been carried out and adjustments will be made to the User Interface to prevent inadvertent deletion of rejected messages. In general it can be seen from Annex 7 that there is a significant increase in the number of SIGMETs distributed during the last 12 months.
ASHTAM and NOTAM (related to volcanic ash) bulletins were added to the SADIS FTP Service during September 2005 as a result of SADISOPSG Conclusion 10/19. These bulletins are distributed via the generic header NWXX01 EGRR. Unfortunately these bulletins were withdrawn from service during March 2006 as it was realised that some rogue OPMET bulletins were also being distributed via the same mechanism as a result of some invalid AFTN routeing. The originators of the OPMET bulletins will be contacted and requested to modify their routeing prior to the re-establishment of the ASHTAM and NOTAM service on all three SADIS services. An information paper will be prepared for the SADISOPSG/11 meeting to address this issue in more detail.
2.3.2.6 AIRMETs and GAMETs
AIRMET and GAMET bulletins continue to be distributed. Most of these messages are originated from the EUR Region however this year some AIRMETs have been received from the SAM, AFI and MID Regions as well (See Annex 6).
The tables in Annex 3 and 4 show the distribution of GAMETs and AIRMETs for the EUR Region.
These bulletins are available from the SADIS FTP service from the sub-directories:
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ftp://[username]:[password]@sadis.metoffice.gov.uk/AIRMET ftp://[username]:[password]@sadis.metoffice.gov.uk/GAMET
AIRMETs have a bulletin header of format WA**** CCCC. GAMETs have a bulletin header of format FA**** CCCC.
2.3.2.7 TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVISORY MESSAGES
Tropical cyclone advisory messages are broadcast on SADIS with headers of format FK**** CCCC.
During the period 1 April 2005 to 31 January 2006 tropical cyclone advisories from TCAC Honolulu (PHFO), TCAC Darwin (ADRM), TCAC Miami (KNHC), TCAC New Delhi (VIDP) TCAC La Réunion (FMEE), TCAC Fiji (NFFN) and TCAC Tokyo (RJTD) were broadcast over SADIS. This confirms the integrity of the end-to-end routeing for these important products.
FK Headers FKAU01 ADRM FKAU03 ADRM FKAU05 ADRM FKIN20 VIDP FKIO20 FMEE FKNT21 KNHC FKNT22 KNHC FKNT23 KNHC FKNT24 KNHC FKNT25 KNHC FKPA22 PHFO FKPA23 PHFO FKPQ30 RJTD FKPQ31 RJTD FKPQ32 RJTD FKPS01 NFFN FKPZ21 KNHC FKPZ22 KNHC FKPZ23 KNHC FKPZ24 KNHC FKPZ25 KNHC
2.3.2.8 BUFR Encoded Data
The dissemination of BUFR encoded high-level SIGWX (SWH) information produced by WAFC London has continued throughout the period of this Management Report. This data has been considered an operational product since June 2003. BUFR encoded
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medium-level SIGWX (SWM) information produced by WAFC London was added to the broadcast on 6 April 2005 and has been considered operational thereafter.
BUFR encoded SWM data produced by WAFC Washington was added to the broadcasts on 6 July 2005.
Following requests made by a number of users WAFC Washington BUFR encoded SWH data was added to the SADIS FTP service during November 2005. This data is not currently available from the satellite services but could be added subject to demand and agreement by the SADISOPSG. All of the WAFC Washington BUFR encoded SIGWX data (SWH and SWM) is available from the following URL: ftp://[username]:[password]@sadis.metoffice.gov.uk/BUFR/KKCI
At the time of writing of this report there is evidence to suggest that only a relatively small number of users are using the BUFR encoded data in an operational capability. However WAFC London is pleased to report that all of the BUFR encoded data available from the services can be considered operational and benefits from a proven backup capability between the two WAFCs.
It should be noted that all of the workstation manufacturers have developed BUFR visualisation software. Some refinements to these packages are still necessary before they fully meet the requirements of the SADIS Operations Group software criteria. However six of these packages can now provide products to a high standard as confirmed during the recent software evaluation process. The results from this evaluation are available from the SADIS web site at URL http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/software/index.html
To assist the workstation companies in the construction of compliant visualisation software a new version of the document titled "Representing WAFS Significant Weather (SIGWX) Data in BUFR" has been prepared. This document is now available (Version 2.8) from the ICAO WAFS Operations Group web site at URL http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/guidelinesUK.pdf and is reproduced in Annex 9 to this chapter of the Management Report. This latest version contains guidance material on displayed the BUFR encoded SWM data and the new jet depth format that will become applicable from March 2006.
The broadcast schedule and headers assigned to the BUFR data are listed below.
BUFR charts based on 0000 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 10:00 and 11:00 (Nominal issue time is 10:30)
BUFR charts based on 0600 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 16:00 and 17:00 (Nominal issue time is 16:30)
BUFR charts based on 1200 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 22:00 and 23:00 (Nominal issue time is 22:30)
BUFR charts based on 1800 UTC model run -
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T+24 issued between 04:00 and 05:00 (Nominal issue time is 04:30).
BUFR FEATURE COMMON WMO HEADER used WMO HEADER used NAME by WAFC London by WAFC Washington SWH Jet-streams JETS JUWE96 EGRR JUWE96 KKCI SWH Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) CAT JUCE00 EGRR JUCE00 KKCI SWH Embedded Cumulo-nimbus CLOUD JUBE99 EGRR JUBE99 KKCI SWH Tropopause height TROP JUTE97 EGRR JUTE97 KKCI SWH Frontal Systems FRONTS JUFE00 EGRR JUFE00 KKCI SWM and SWH Tropical Cyclone, V_T_S JUVE00 EGRR JUVE00 KKCI Sandstorms & Volcanoes SWM Tropopause height M-TROP JUOE00 EGRR JUOE00 KKCI SWM jet-streams M-JETS JUTE00 EGRR JUTE00 KKCI SWM fronts M-FRONTS JUJE00 EGRR JUJE00 KKCI SWM cloud, in-cloud icing and M-CLOUD JUNE00 EGRR JUNE00 KKCI turbulence SWM Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) M-CAT JUME00 EGRR JUME00 KKCI
The results from the SADIS software reviews do not include an assessment of the ability of the software to correctly display either jet depth information or BUFR encoded SWM data. These two visualisation requirements will be evaluated in a second review scheduled during April and May 2005.
2.3.2.9 New Products and Services
A number of changes to the broadcasts have been made during the past twelve months. These are summarised below.
TABLE 2.7
New Product/Service(s) Implementation Date(s) Additional OPMET data On-going, as available to the SADIS Gateway WAFC London BUFR encoded SWM data 6 April 2005 on all three services WAFC Washington BUFR encoded SWM 6 July 2005 data on all three services PNG formatted WAFS SIGWX charts 3 October 2005 (SWH and SWM) on all three services ASHTAM and NOTAM related to volcanic September 2005 on SADIS FTP service ash Withdrawn from service on 9 March 2006 WAFC Washington BUFR encoded SWH November 2005 data on SADIS FTP service only WAFC London experimental (i.e. non- April/May 2006 (current schedule) operational) gridded icing, turbulence and CB-fields on SADIS FTP service only Introduction of revised jet depth format on July 2006 (current schedule) SWM and SWH charts.
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Annex 1 - SADIS 2G Infrastructure
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Annex 2 - Data Type by Average Percentage Volume - March 2006
SADIS Data Volume by Type 2% 2% OPMET 7% 16% 8% GRIB
T.4 SIGWX Charts
PNG SIGWX Charts
BUFR encoded SIGWX Misc. Products 65%
Average Daily Broadcast Schedule:
OPMET Data (incl. AIRMETs and GAMETs) 10MB
WAFS GRIB Data 40MB
WAFS T.4 SIGWX Charts 5MB
WAFS PNG SIGWX Charts 4MB
BUFR encoded SWH and SWM from both WAFCs <1MB
Other Products (e.g. T.4 volcanic ash dispersion charts) <1MB
------
~ 60 MB
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Annex 3 - EUR region GAMETs available via SADIS
State Bulletin CCCC Description Issue time Validity Period AUSTRIA FAOS41 LOWM WIEN FIR Winter: 0600 0700/1300 0900 1000/1600 1200 1300/1900 Summer: 0600 0700/1300 0900 1000/1600 1300 1400/2000 BELGIUM No products CYPRUS No products CZECH REP FACZ41 LKPR PRAHA FIR 0300 0400/1000 0900 1000/1600 1500 1600/2200 DENMARK No products ESTONIA No products FINLAND No products FRANCE No products GERMANY FADL41 EDZH GAMET 6 h Forecast for Bremen FIR 0200 0300/0900 0800 0900/1500 1400 1500/2100 2000 2100/0300 GERMANY FADL41 EDZE GAMET 6 h Forecast for Duesseldorf FIR 0200 0300/0900 0800 0900/1500 1400 1500/2100 2000 2100/0300 GERMANY FADL41 EDZB GAMET 6 h Forecast for Berlin FIR 0200 0300/0900 0800 0900/1500 1400 1500/2100 2000 2100/0300 GERMANY FADL41 EDZF GAMET 6 h Forecast for Frankfurt FIR 0200 0300/0900 0800 0900/1500 1400 1500/2100 2000 2100/0300
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GERMANY FADL41 EDZM GAMET 6 h Forecast for Munich FIR 0200 0300/0900 0800 0900/1500 1400 1500/2100 2000 2100/0300 GREECE FAGR31 LGAT GAMET 6 h Forecast for Athens FIR/1 0500 0600/1200 1100 1200/1800 1700 1800/2400 FAGR32 LGAT GAMET 6 h Forecast for Athens FIR/2 0500 0600/1200 1100 1200/1800 1700 1800/2400 FAGR33 LGAT GAMET 6 h Forecast for Athens FIR/3 0500 0600/1200 1100 1200/1800 1700 1800/2400 FAGR34 LGAT GAMET 6 h Forecast for Athens FIR/4 0500 0600/1200 1100 1200/1800 1700 1800/2400 HUNGARY FAHU41 LHBM BUDAPEST FIR 0500 0600/1200 1100 1200/1800 IRELAND No products ITALY No products LATVIA FALV10 EVRA EVRR FIR 0200 0300/0900 0500 0600/1200 0800 0900/1500 1100 1200/1800 1400 1500/2100
LITHUANIA No products MACEDONIA No products MALTA No products MOLDOVA FARM41 LUKK CHISINAU FIR Not observed NETHERLANDS No products NORWAY No products PORTUGAL No products ROMANIA No Products
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SLOVAKIA FASQ41 LZIB BRATISLAVA FIR Apr-Oct 0200 0300/0900 0800 0900/1500 1400 1500/2100 Nov-Mar 0400 0500/1100 1000 1100/1700 SLOVENIA SPAIN FAEW40 LEMM LECM North 0500 0900/1500 1100 1500/2100 1700 2100/0300 2300 0300/1500 SPAIN FAEW41 LEMM LECM South 0500 0900/1500 1100 1500/2100 1700 2100/0300 2300 0300/1500 SPAIN FAEW42 LEMM LECB 0500 0900/1500 1100 1500/2100 1700 2100/0300 2300 0300/1500 SWEDEN No products SWITZERLAN FASW41 LSSW LSAS 0200 0300/0900 D 0500 0600/1200 0800 0900/1500 1100 1200/1800 1400 1500/2100 1700 1800/2400 2000 2100/0300 2300 0000/0600 UK FAUK10 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK 0500 0600/1200 SIGNIFICANT WEATHER UK FAUK11 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK 1100 1200/1800 SIGNIFICANT WEATHER UK FAUK12 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK 1700 1800/2400 SIGNIFICANT WEATHER UK FAUK13 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST FOR UK 2300 0000/0600
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UK FAUK18 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK UPDATE 0200 0300/0900 AND OUTLOOK UK FAUK19 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK UPDATE 0800 0900/1500 AND OUTLOOK UK FAUK20 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK UPDATE 1400 1500/2100 AND OUTLOOK UK FAUK21 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST UK UPDATE 2000 2100/0300 AND OUTLOOK UK FAUK30 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SW 0700 0800/1700 ENGLAND UK FAUK31 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SW 1200 1300/2100 ENGLAND UK FAUK32 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SW 1600 1700/2100 ENGLAND UK FAUK34 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SE ENGLAND 0700 0800/1700 UK FAUK35 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SE ENGLAND 1200 1300/2100 UK FAUK36 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SE ENGLAND 1600 1700/2100 UK FAUK38 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST CROSS 1600 1700/0100 CHANNEL UK FAUK39 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST CROSS 0700 0800/1700 CHANNEL UK FAUK44 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SOUTHERN 0400 0500/1300 REGION UK FAUK45 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SOUTHERN 1000 1100/1900 REGION UK FAUK46 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SOUTHERN 1600 1700/0100 REGION UK FAUK47 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SOUTHERN 2200 2300/0700 REGION UK FAUK50 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST CENTRAL 0700 0800/1700 ENGLAND UK FAUK51 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST CENTRAL 1200 1300/2100 ENGLAND UK FAUK52 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST CENTRAL 1600 1700/0100 ENGLAND UK FAUK54 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST NORTHERN 0400 0500/1300 REGION
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UK FAUK55 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST NORTHERN 1000 1100/1900 REGION UK FAUK56 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST NORTHERN 1600 1700/0100 REGION UK FAUK57 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST NORTHERN 2200 2300/0700 REGION UK FAUK70 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SCOTTISH 0400 0500/1300 REGION UK FAUK71 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SCOTTISH 1000 1100/1900 REGION UK FAUK72 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SCOTTISH 1600 1700/0100 REGION UK FAUK73 EGRR AIRMET AREA FORECAST SCOTTISH 2200 2300/0700 REGION UKRAINE FAUR31 UKBB KIYV FIR 0400 0600/1200 1000 1200/1800 UKRAINE FAUR32 UKLL LVIV FIR 0400 0600/1200 1000 1200/1800 UKRAINE FAUR33 UKOO ODESA FIR 0400 0600/1200 1000 1200/1800 UKRAINE FAUR34 UKFF SIMFEROPOL FIR 0400 0600/1200 1000 1200/1800 UKRAINE FAUR35 UKHH KHARKIV FIR 0400 0600/1200 1000 1200/1800
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Annex 4 – EUR Region AIRMETs available via SADIS
State Bulletin CCCC FIR Description ALBANIA No products AUSTRIA WAOS41 LOWM Wien FIR AIRMET BELGIUM WABX31 EBBR Brussels FIR AIRMET CYPRUS No products CZECH REP WACZ41 LKPR Praha FIR AIRMET DENMARK No products ESTONIA No products FINLAND No products FRANCE No products GEORGIA WAGG31 UGGG Tblisi/Novoflexeyevka FIR AIRMET GERMANY WADL41 EDZH Bremen FIR AIRMET GERMANY WADL41 EDZE Duesseldorf FIR AIRMET GERMANY WADL41 EDZB Berlin FIR AIRMET GERMANY WADL41 EDZF Frankfurt FIR AIRMET GERMANY WADL41 EDZM Munich FIR AIRMET HUNGARY WAHU41 LHBM Budapest FIR AIRMET IRELAND No products ITALY No products LATVIA WALV31 EVRA Riga FIR AIRMET LITHUANIA WALT31 EYVI Not observed 0405- 0106 MACEDONIA No products MALTA No products MOLDOVA WARM41 LUKK Chisnau FIR Not observed 0405- 0106 NETHERLANDS WANL31 EHDB Amsterdam FIR AIRMET NORWAY PORTUGAL No products ROMANIA No products SERBIA AND WAYG31 LYBM Beograd FIR AIRMET MONTENEGRO SLOVAKIA WASQ41 LZIB Bratislava FIR SLOVENIA WALJ31 LJLJ Ljubljana FIR SPAIN WAEW40 LEMM Madrid North SPAIN WAEW41 LEMM Madrid South SPAIN WAEW42 LEMM Barcelona SWEDEN No products SWITZERLAND WASW41 LSSW Switzerland FIRs AIRMET TURKEY WATU31 LTAC Ankara FIR AIRMET TURKEY WATU31 LTBA Istanbul FIR AIRMET UK No products UKRAINE WAUR31 UKMS Kiyv FIR Not observed 0405- 0106 UKRAINE WAUR32 UKMS Lviv FIR Not observed 0405- 0106 UKRAINE WAUR34 UKMS Simferpol FIR Not observed 0405- 0106 UKRAINE WAUR35 UKMS Kharkiv FIR Not observed 0405-
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0106
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Annex 5 – WAFS GRIB Distribution Schedule
Period AHLs
T+06 HH(I-P)B(96) HH(I-P)B(97) HH(I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)B(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HR(I-P)B(85,70,60,50) HT(I-P)B(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HT(I-P)B(97) HU(I-P)B(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HU(I-P)B(96) HV(I-P)B(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HV(I-P)B(96)
No. of Bulletins 392
T+12 HH(I-P)C(96) HH(I-P)C(97) HH(I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)C(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HR(I-P)C(85,70,60,50) HT(I-P)C(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HT(I-P)C(97) HU(I-P)C(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HU(I-P)C(96) HV(I-P)C(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HV(I-P)C(96)
No. of Bulletins 392
T+18 HH(I-P)D(96) HH(I-P)D(97) HH(I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)D(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HR(I-P)D(85,70,60,50) HT(I-P)D(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HT(I-P)D(97) HU(I-P)D(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HU(I-P)D(96) HV(I-P)D(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HV(I-P)D(96)
No. of Bulletins 392
T+24 HH(I-P)E(96) HH(I-P)E(97) HH(I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)E(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HR(I-P)E(85,70,60,50) HT(I-P)E(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HT(I-P)E(97) HU(I-P)E(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HU(I-P)E(96) HV(I-P)E(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HV(I-P)E(96)
No. of Bulletins 392
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T+30 HH(I-P)F(96) HH(I-P)F(97) HH(I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)F(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HR(I-P)F(85,70,60,50) HT(I-P)F(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10 HT(I-P)F(97) HU(I-P)F(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HU(I-P)F(96) HV(I-P)F(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HV(I-P)F(96)
No. of Bulletins 392
T+36 HH(I-P)G(96) HH(I-P)G(97) HH(I/J/K/L/M/N/O/P)G(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) EGRR HR(I-P)G(85,70,60,50) HT(I-P)G(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HT(I-P)G(97) HU(I-P)G(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HU(I-P)G(96) HV(I-P)G(85/70/60/50/40/30/25/20/15/10) HV(I-P)G(96)
No. of Bulletins 392
Note:— The T+06 and T+36 time steps are broadcast at around 0335/0935/1535/2135 ending around 0430/1030/1630/2230. Total number of bulletins 2352 per model run for all WAFS GRIB. Please note that GRIB bulletins are NOT routinely repeated on the broadcast.
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Annex 6 - List of Unscheduled OPMET Bulletin Headers Distributed on SADIS
SIGMETs
WS Headers WSAG00 SAME WSAG00 SARE WSAG41 SABE WSAG41 SACO WSAG41 SAME WSAG41 SARE WSAG59 SAME WSAJ31 UBBB WSAM20 FCBB WSAM20 FTTJ WSAO20 DRRN WSAO20 GOOY WSAU21 ADRM WSAU21 AMHF WSAU21 AMMC WSAU21 AMRF WSAU21 APRF WSAU21 ASRF WSAW31 LOWM WSAZ31 LPMG WSBN31 OBBB WSBN41 OBBB WSBO31 SLLP WSBU31 LBSM WSBW02 VGZR WSBW20 VGZR WSBW21 VGZR WSBX31 EBBR WSBY31 UMMS WSBZ01 SBBS WSBZ20 SBAZ WSBZ21 SBRE WSBZ22 SBBS WSBZ24 SBCW WSBZ41 SBCW WSCH31 SCCI WSCH31 SCEL WSCH31 SCFA WSCH31 SCIP WSCH31 SCTE WSCI31 RCTP WSCI35 ZGGG WSCI35 ZJSY
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WS Headers WSCN02 CWUL WSCN32 CWEG WSCN33 CWUL WSCN34 CWUL WSCN35 CWEG WSCN36 CWEG WSCN36 CWUL WSCN37 CWEG WSCU31 MUHA WSCU41 MUHA WSCY31 LCLK WSCZ31 LKPW WSDL31 EDZB WSDL31 EDZE WSDL31 EDZF WSDL31 EDZH WSDL31 EDZM WSDL32 EDZB WSDL32 EDZF WSDL32 EDZH WSDN31 EKCH WSEE31 LOWM WSEE31 UBBB WSEG31 HECA WSEO31 EETN WSEW31 LEMM WSEW32 LEMM WSEW33 LEMM WSFG20 SOCA WSFI31 EFHK WSFI32 EFHK WSFJ01 NFFN WSFJ03 NFFN WSFR31 LFPW WSFR32 LFPW WSFR33 LFPW WSFR34 LFPW WSFR35 LFPW WSGG31 RUMS WSGG31 UGGG WSGH20 DGAA WSGL31 BGSF WSGR31 LGAT WSHU31 LHBM WSIE31 EIDB WSIL31 BICC WSIN31 VOMM
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WS Headers WSIN90 VABB WSIN90 VIDP WSIN90 VOMM WSIO20 FMMI WSIR01 OIII WSIR31 OIII WSIS31 LLBG WSIY31 LIIB WSIY31 LIMM WSJP31 RJAA WSKG31 UAFM WSKG41 UAFM WSKO31 RKSI WSLB31 OLBA WSLJ31 LJLJ WSLT31 EYVI WSLV31 EVRA WSMC31 GMMC WSME31 OLBA WSMP31 LMMM WSMS31 WMKK WSNG01 AYPY WSNL31 EHDB WSNO31 ENMI WSNO36 ENMI WSNT01 KKCI WSNT02 KKCI WSNT03 KKCI WSNT04 KKCI WSNT05 KKCI WSNT06 KKCI WSNT07 KKCI WSNT08 KKCI WSNT09 KKCI WSNT10 KKCI WSNT11 KKCI WSNT12 KKCI WSNT13 KKCI WSNT21 EGRR WSNZ21 NZKL WSOS31 LOWM WSPA31 PHFO WSPA32 PHFO WSPF21 NTAA WSPL31 EPWA WSPM31 MPTO WSPN01 PANC
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WS Headers WSPN03 KKCI WSPN04 KKCI WSPN05 KKCI WSPN06 KKCI WSPN07 KKCI WSPN08 KKCI WSPN09 KKCI WSPN10 KKCI WSPN11 KKCI WSPN12 KKCI WSPN13 KKCI WSPO31 LPMG WSPR01 SPIM WSPR31 SPIM WSPS21 NZKL WSQB31 LDZM WSQB32 LYBM WSRA10 ALAK WSRA10 UAAA WSRA21 UAAA WSRA31 ALAK WSRA31 RUAM WSRA31 RUCH WSRA31 RUDS WSRA31 RUEK WSRA31 RUHB WSRA31 RUIR WSRA31 RUKR WSRA31 RUMG WSRA31 RUMS WSRA31 RUNW WSRA31 RUOM WSRA31 RUPK WSRA31 RUPV WSRA31 RUSH WSRA31 RUUF WSRA31 RUVV WSRA31 RUYK WSRA31 UAAA WSRA31 UACC WSRA31 UAFM WSRA41 UACC WSRA41 UAFM WSRH31 LDZM WSRM31 LUKK WSRO31 LROM WSRS31 LOWM
60
WS Headers WSRS31 RUAA WSRS31 RUKG WSRS31 RUKZ WSRS31 RUMA WSRS31 RUMU WSRS31 RUNN WSRS31 RURD WSRS31 RUSM WSRS31 RUSP WSRS31 RUVN WSRS31 UAAA WSRS31 UBBB WSSB31 VCBI WSSD20 OEJD WSSN31 ESWI WSSN32 ESWI WSSQ31 LZIB WSSR20 WSSS WSSS20 VHHH WSSU31 HSSS WSSW31 LSSW WSTR31 RUMS WSTS31 DTTA WSTS40 DTTA WSTU31 LTAA WSTU31 LTAC WSTU31 LTBA WSUK31 EGRR WSUK33 EGRR WSUR31 UKBB WSUR31 UKMS WSUR32 UKLL WSUR34 UKFF WSUR35 ALAK WSUR35 UKHH WSUS31 KKCI WSUS32 KKCI WSUS33 KKCI WSUZ31 UTTT WSVS01 VVGL WSVS31 VVGL WSVS42 VVGL WSYE20 OYSN WSYE21 OYSN WSYE31 OYSN WSYG31 LYBM WSZA21 FACT
61
WS Headers WSZA21 FAJS WSZR20 FZAA
62
Volcanic Ash SIGMETS
WV Headers WVAG31 SACO WVAK01 PAWU WVAK02 PAWU WVAK03 PAWU WVAK04 PAWU WVAK05 PAWU WVAK31 PHFO WVAS31 VOMM WVCA31 MMMX WVCA31 TTPP WVCH31 SCEL WVCH31 SCFA WVCH31 SCTE WVCO31 SKBO WVCZ31 LKPW WVDL31 EDZF WVDL32 EDZF WVEQ31 SEGU WVFI31 EFHK WVFJ01 NFFN WVIL31 BICC WVIN31 VOMM WVIY31 LIIB WVJP31 RJAA WVMX31 MMEX WVMX31 MMMX WVMX34 MMID WVNG01 AYPY WVNZ21 NZKL WVOS31 LOWM WVPA06 PHFO WVPA20 PHFO WVPA31 LOWM WVPA31 PHFO WVPR31 SPIM WVRA31 GRUP WVRA31 RUHB WVRA31 RUPK WVSA31 SACO WVSA31 SCEL WVSA31 SEQU WVSR20 WSSS
64
Tropical Cyclone SIGMETs
WC Headers WCAK31 PHFO WCAS31 VHHH WCAU01 ABRF WCAU01 ADRM WCAU01 APRF WCCA31 TTPP WCCU31 MUHA WCCU41 MUHA WCEU31 LPMG WCFJ01 NFFN WCIN31 VOMM WCIO31 FMMI WCJP31 RJAA WCMX31 MMEX WCMX33 MMZT WCMX34 MMID WCMX35 MMTY WCNT31 LPMG WCNZ21 NZKL WCPA01 PHFO WCPA02 PHFO WCPA03 PHFO WCPA04 PHFO WCPA05 PHFO WCPA07 PHFO WCPA10 PHFO WCPA11 PHFO WCPA13 PHFO WCPA31 PHFO WCPH20 RPLL WCPH30 RPLL WCPH31 RPLL WCPH41 RPLL WCPM31 MPTO WCPN31 PHFO WCPN31 RPLL WCPS21 NZKL WCPS31 NFFN WCPS31 NZKL WCSA31 SKBO WCSA31 SOCA WCSR20 WSSS WCSS20 VHHH
64
65
AIRMETs
WA Headers WAAW31 LOWM WABX31 EBBR WABZ20 SBAZ WACZ41 LKPW WADL41 EDZB WADL41 EDZE WADL41 EDZF WADL41 EDZH WADL41 EDZM WAEG31 HECA WAEW40 LEMM WAEW41 LEMM WAEW42 LEMM WAGG31 UGGG WAHU41 LHBM WAIS31 LLBG WALJ31 LJLJ WALV31 EVRA WAMS31 WMKK WANL31 EHDB WAOS41 LOWM WASQ41 LZIB WASW41 LSSW WATS31 DTTA WATS40 DTTA WATU31 LTAC WATU31 LTBA WAYE21 OYSN WAYG31 LYBE WAYG31 LYBM
65
66
Tropical Cyclone Advisories
FK Headers FKAU01 ADRM FKAU03 ADRM FKAU05 ADRM FKIN20 VIDP FKIO20 FMEE FKNT21 KNHC FKNT22 KNHC FKNT23 KNHC FKNT24 KNHC FKNT25 KNHC FKPA22 PHFO FKPA23 PHFO FKPQ30 RJTD FKPQ31 RJTD FKPQ32 RJTD FKPS01 NFFN FKPZ21 KNHC FKPZ22 KNHC FKPZ23 KNHC FKPZ24 KNHC FKPZ25 KNHC
66
67
Volcanic Ash Advisories
FV Headers FVAF01 LFPW FVAK20 PANC FVAK23 PAWU FVAU01 ADRM FVAU02 ADRM FVAU03 ADRM FVAU04 ADRM FVAW01 LFPW FVCN01 CWAO FVEU01 LFPW FVEU01 LOWM FVFE01 RJTD FVPS01 NZKL FVXX01 SABM FVXX20 KNES FVXX21 KNES FVXX22 KNES FVXX23 KNES FVXX24 KNES FVXX25 KNES FVXX26 KNES FVXX27 KNES
AIREPs
UA Headers UACZ31 LKPW UANT90 EGRR UAUK90 EGRR
67
68
Annex 7 - Daily Distribution of Unscheduled OPMET Bulletins on SADIS
The following charts indicate the number of unscheduled bulletins distributed by SADIS between the 1st April 2005 and the 31st January 2006. The period 17th May to 30thMay 2005 is not included due to a procedural failure.
SIGMETS (WS)
450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 SIGMETs/Day 50 0 01/04/2005 15/04/2005 29/04/2005 13/05/2005 27/05/2005 10/06/2005 24/06/2005 08/07/2005 22/07/2005 05/08/2005 19/08/2005 02/09/2005 16/09/2005 30/09/2005 14/10/2005 28/10/2005 11/11/2005 25/11/2005 09/12/2005 23/12/2005 06/01/2006 20/01/2006 Date
Tropical Cyclone SIGMETs (WC)
40 35 30 25 20 15
SIGMETs/Day 10 5 0
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
4 4 5 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
4 8 2 6 0 3 7 1 5 8 2 5 9 3 7 1 4 8 2 6 9 3
0 1 0 1 3 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 3 1 2 1 2 0 2 Date
VA SIGMETs (WV)
25 20 15 10
SIGMETs/Day 5 0
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
4 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 1
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /
1 5 9 3 7 0 4 8 2 5 9 2 6 0 4 8 1 5 9 3 6 0
0 1 2 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 3 1 2 1 2 0 2 0 2 Date
68
69
AIRMETs (WA)
45 40
y 35 30 25 20 15
AIRMETs/Da 10 5 0 01/04/05 01/05/05 01/06/05 01/07/05 01/08/05 01/09/05 01/10/05 01/11/05 01/12/05 01/01/06 Date
TC Advisories (FK)
35 30 25 20 15 10
Advisories/Day 5 0 01/04/2005 15/04/2005 29/04/2005 13/05/2005 27/05/2005 10/06/2005 24/06/2005 08/07/2005 22/07/2005 05/08/2005 19/08/2005 02/09/2005 16/09/2005 30/09/2005 14/10/2005 28/10/2005 11/11/2005 25/11/2005 09/12/2005 23/12/2005 06/01/2006 20/01/2006 Date
VA Advisories (FV)
60 50 40 30 20
Advisories/day 10 0 01/04/05 15/04/05 29/04/05 13/05/05 27/05/05 10/06/05 24/06/05 08/07/05 22/07/05 05/08/05 19/08/05 02/09/05 16/09/05 30/09/05 14/10/05 28/10/05 11/11/05 25/11/05 09/12/05 23/12/05 06/01/06 20/01/06 Date
69
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Annex 8 - Visualisation of BUFR Encoded WAFS SIGWX Data (Version 2.8; V2.9 soon to be released)
Representing WAFS Significant Weather (SIGWX) Data in BUFR
Version 2.8
October 2005
World Area Forecast Centres (WAFCs) London and Washington
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Table of Contents
1. The BUFR format...... 6
1.1. INTRODUCTION ...... 76 1.2. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT ...... 76 1.3. CONCEPTS...... 77 1.3.1. BUFR TABLES...... 77 1.3.2. REPRESENTATION...... 77 1.3.3. STANDARDS ...... 77 1.3.4. OPEN/CLOSED AREAS...... 78 1.3.5. UNIT CONVERSIONS ...... 78 1.3.6. WMO MESSAGE HEADER ID's...... 78
2. HEADER Representation ...... 8
2.1. MESSAGE HEADER FOR SWH……………………………………………………………………………………… …………8 2.2. MESSAGE HEADER FOR SWM……………… ………………………………………………… 9
3. Features Represented...... 80
3.1 GENERAL GUIDANCE AND RECOMMENDED PRACTICES...... 11
4. JET STREAM Representation ...... 83
4.1. FEATURE HEADER...... 14 4.2. FEATURE DATA ...... 14
5. CAT Representation ...... 86
5.1. FEATURE HEADER...... 15 5.2. FEATURE DATA ...... 86
6. CLOUD Representation………………………………………………………………………………………………. ...15
6.1. FEATURE HEADER...... 16 6.2. FEATURE DATA ...... 88
7. FRONT Representation ...... 16
7.1. FEATURE HEADER...... 17 7.2. FEATURE DATA ...... 17
8. TROP Representation ...... 90
8.1. FEATURE HEADER...... 91 8.2. FEATURE DATA ...... 18
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9. VOLCANOES, STORMS and RADIATION Representation ...... 19
9.1. FEATURE HEADER...... 92 9.2. FEATURE DATA ...... 19
10. Medium Level SIGWX (SWM) Data…………………………………………………………………………………….20 10.1 General…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………20 10.2 SWM Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.)………………………………………………………………………………….21 10.3 SWM Tropical Cyclones, Sandstorms, and Volcanoes………………………………………………………………...21 10.4 SWM Tropopause height……………………………………………………………………………………………….22 10.5 SWM Jet-Streams……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22 10.6 SWM Fronts…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22 10.7 SWM Cloud, In-Cloud Icing and Turbulence…………………………………………………………………………..22 10.7.1 FEATURE HEADER………………………………………………………………………………………………….22 10.7.2 FEATURE DATA……………………………………………………………………………………………………..22
11. Relevant BUFR Tables ...... 24
12. Contact Details...... 30
DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION SHEET
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION
Document title: Representing WAFS Significant Weather (SIGWX) Data in BUFR.
Document Reference Number Issue : Version 2.8
Date Of Issue : 04/10/2005
Abstract
This document provides guidelines for the correct depiction of WAFS SIGWX data from BUFR code produced by the two World Area Forecast Centres.
Keywords: WAFS SIGWX BUFR
Disk Reference/ File Name : \\exxnas1\userdata$\richard.orrell\MyDocuments\Personal files\Misc
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Tel: E-mail: Contact : R Orrell (WAFC London) +44 (0)1392 [email protected] 884892
DOCUMENT APPROVAL
Action Responsibility Name Signature Date
Author WAFC London Richard Orrell
Accepted WAFC London and Richard Orrell
WAFC Washington Steve Schotz/Michael Mercer
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DOCUMENT CHANGE RECORD ISSUE DATE REASON FOR CHANGE SECTION PAGES AFFECTED 0.3 Nov. ‘03 First full draft prepared for joint All WAFC BUFR liaison meeting (18/12/03) 1.0 21/01/04 Final draft incorporating comments All from WAFC liaison meeting. 1.1 24/03/04 Minor word change in BUFR table 1.1, 3.1, 4 12,13, 15 020008, and some typos corrected. 1.2 30/03/04 Deletion of word “Typically” to Section 7.2 highlight the fact that only one set of frontal movement info should be assigned to each front within the BUFR bulletin. 1.3 15/04/04 Change to the use of figure 12 in Section 10 BUFR table 011031 1.4 14/05/04 Modifications to jet depiction taking Section 4 into account the display of the vertical height information. 1.5 21/05/04 Inclusion of DRAFT guidance on New Section 10 SWM chart production. 2.0 11/10/04 Refinement of text in section 10, a Section 4 & 10. A number of additions and few minor changes improvements to text throughout the throughout the document, in particular section 4. document. 2.1 01/11/04 Include modifications following Many sections. Washington review. 2.2 02/11/04 Minor corrections. Section 2.2 2.3 10/11/04 Editorial changes Many sections. 2.4 12/11/04 Editorial changes sections 2.2 and 11 2.5 16/12/04 Guidance about excluding Section 10.1. Himalayan region from Asia South New Appendix A. chart. 2.6 22/12/04 Minor changes to text to improve Section 8.1 clarity. Section 10.7.2 21/03/05 Additions to text resulting from Section 1.1 WAFSOPSG/2 Editorial changes and Sections 1.1, 1.3.6, changes/additions to text. 3.1 (new items 6 Include comments by Mr CM Shun. and 7), 4, 9, and 10.1, (delete) appendix A. 09/05/05 Include comments from WAFC Sections 1.2, 1.3.6, Washington 3.1, 7, 10.7.2 2.7 10/05/05 Remove reference to replication Section 10.7.1 factor used in MCLOUD bulletin.
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18/05/05 Change figure 10 in BUFR table Section 11 020008 to red coloured font, and change to explanatory text in section 11. 17/06/2005 Value 6 in descriptor 020008 change Section 11 to font colour red. 21/06/2005 Change "MID" to "MEA". Section 10.1 22/06/2005 Improvements to text and include Sections 2.2, 3.1, 4 more information to describe SWM and 10.1 chart areas. 23/06/2005 New point 8 in section 3.1 Section 3.1 29/06/2005 Feedback received and incorporated Section 10.1 from NCEP 2.8 02/08/2005 New point 9 in section 3.1 Section 3.1 New Annex 1 (extract from Annex 1 (new) Appendix 1 to ICAO Annex 3) 10/08/2005 New guidance to describe depiction Section 4 (several of revised jet depth locations) Figures in BUFR tables 02008 and 020012 highlighted in red font Section 11 Minor modification to text to include PNG charts Section 1.1 New chart displaying revised jet depth format. Section 3 19/09/2005 Incorporate changes suggested by WAFC Washington (editorial and an Sections front page improvement/clarification on words (logo), 1.2, 1.3.2, used). 1.3.6, 2.2, 3.1, 4, 5, 6 (new graphic), 7, 8, and 11. 04/10/2005 Minor editorials suggested by 1.2, 1.3.6, 3.1 - WAFC Washington points 6 & 7.
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1. The BUFR format
1.1 INTRODUCTION BUFR stands for Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data. It is a standard developed by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO; see WMO Manual 306 Part B for technical specification, which can be procured via the WMO web site - http://www.wmo.ch/index-en.html) for the efficient storage of meteorological features in a machine independent form, where all the information to describe the features are contained within the data.
This document has been prepared by the World Area Forecast Centres (WAFCs) for the purpose of providing guidance to software developers who have the task of constructing WAFS SIGWX BUFR visualisation software. The document is designed to assist developers in the construction of compliant visualisation software that receives its data input from text files obtained from BUFR decoding software supplied by WAFC London.
The primary aim of the visualisation software should be to decode and display WAFS SIGWX data in a format that is identical to the equivalent WAFS T.4/PNG SIGWX chart in regard to the depiction of the meteorological phenomena (cloud – type, coverage and associated icing and turbulence for medium level cloud, volcanoes, tropical cyclones, radiation events, C.A.T., jet-streams, and surface fronts), and largely identical to the T.4/PNG product in regard to the display of text boxes (related to areas of cloud, volcanoes, and C.A.T.). It is against this standard that compliances will be measured. In addition it is recommended that visualisation software can deliver WAFS products to the standards recommended within Annex 3 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation. In particular section 4 of Appendix 8 to this document provides recommendations related to the presentation of flight documentation. It is strongly recommended that visualisation software can deliver products to these recommended practices.
ICAO and WMO have asked WAFC London to implement a software review process that involves assessing the quality of WAFS products produced by different visualisation systems against a list of high level criteria set by the ICAO SADIS Operations Group. Subject to the continuing agreement of the owners of the reviewed software packages, the results from these reviews will be displayed on the WAFC London web site, with the purpose of assisting customers in their software procurement process. The information is currently available from URL: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/software/index.html It should be stressed that this review process is not considered a certification or an endorsement of one product over another, but is simply an objective analysis of the degree of compliance of the software to display WAFS products in a valid manner. By making the list of compliant software packages widely available to States and individual users via ICAO, it is the intention to use the review process as a mechanism to raise the level of software compliances.
The WAFCs have produced this document with the intention of circulating it to all interested parties. If additional guidance or advice in regard to any of the items included in this document is required, then users, software manufacturers and State Authorities are invited to contact WAFC London. A consultancy service is available to assist these users. Please contact Richard Orrell for further information: - E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44(0)1392 884892.
1.2 SCOPE OF DOCUMENT Sections 4 to 9 outline how each feature depicted on a HIGH level WAFS Significant Weather chart (SWH) is represented in BUFR. HIGH level data covers 25,000 - 63,000 feet (FL250 to FL630). Medium level data (SWM) which covers 10,000 - 45,000 feet (FL100 to FL450) includes additional cloud, moderate and severe TURBULENCE (TURB) and ICING data. WAFC London BUFR encoded SWM data is now available from SADIS and the WAFS FTP server. WAFC Washington BUFR encoded SWH and SWM data is also available from the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) FTP server at tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/DC.avspt/DS.sigwx/PT.bin_DF.buf/. A new section 10 of this 76
document covers the depiction of the SWM data.
Further additions and changes to the way in which features are depicted on the SWH and SWM charts are anticipated during the next few years. This document will be updated and re-circulated prior to the introduction of these changes.
This document outlines the text format used by both the WAFCs to encode and decode HIGH and MEDIUM level SIGWX data in BUFR.
1.3 CONCEPTS To produce a BUFR file two elements are needed. 1) A file of raw data and 2) a set of tables containing descriptors. When the raw data is encoded each data value is attached to a descriptor which defines what that data represents. The decoding process reads the BUFR file, looks up the descriptor in the relevant table and writes out the information in whatever format is needed.
1.3.1 BUFR TABLES The binary BUFR files contain a set of tables’ descriptors and data values. To be able to understand what the values represent the descriptors need to be decoded from a set of common tables that sit on the local machine. This format means that the BUFR messages are very small and are machine independent. They can be understood and decoded by any BUFR decoder which has the latest tables available.
The WAFCs use an ASCII file to store the raw data. This file is processed to produce a BUFR message. A similar procedure is used to decode BUFR messages into ASCII.
Examples of this ASCII text format are used throughout this document to explain how SIGWX data is represented in BUFR. The encoder, decoder, and example binary BUFR files are available on request to WAFC London. Sample files are also available from the SADIS FTP Service which is available to all approved SADIS and ISCS users, and manufacturers of commercial WAFS visualisation software.
1.3.2 REPRESENTATION
Data held in the BUFR format is completely independent of the way in which the data is depicted on SIGWX charts. Only the information that describes the feature is encoded. For example, a CLOUD area is a list of points with the height of the base and top, the cloud type and cloud amount attributes attached. There is nothing in the BUFR bulletin about how the cloud area should be drawn, or how the attributes are to be displayed. On SIGWX charts this is shown as a box, sometimes with a call-out arrow pointing to the area but this depiction is determined by the graphical display program. This document has been produced to provide a standard in this regard. It is recommended that the overall aim of BUFR visualisation, as stated in section 1.1, should be carefully considered.
1.3.3 STANDARDS
Although no information is given in BUFR on how to visually represent the data, rules have been laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and WMO. The ICAO requirements are laid out in Annex 3, Meteorological Service for International Air Navigation in the International Standards and Recommended Practices document. They specifically relate to such things as the World Area Forecast System (WAFS), how the forecasts should be prepared, the default chart areas (ICAO areas) that should be available and when the charts should be issued. They also include guidance on how the meteorological features are to be depicted on the charts. Further detailed information about these standards is available from WAFC London.
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WMO Manual 306 Part B should be the standard used for the BUFR code itself.
1.3.4 OPEN/CLOSED AREAS
The boundaries of areas of cloud and CAT are described as being either “open” or “closed”. Closed areas are defined as regions that have identical first and last coordinates. Open areas have different start and end coordinates. Both open and closed areas are used by the WAFCs to represent cloud and CAT boundaries. When call-out arrows are used to link these open or closed areas to associated text boxes, it may assist the visualisation if the arrows point to the boundaries of the areas, though this is not mandated by ICAO.
Areas are encoded with an orientation of the area being to the left of the boundary when drawn in the order of points given, i.e. area boundaries are encoded in an anti-clockwise direction.
1.3.5 UNIT CONVERSIONS On SIGWX charts heights are shown in 100’s feet (Flight Levels) and speeds in knots. In BUFR these are represented metrically. To convert between the two the following conversions can be used:
1 foot = 0.3048 metres 1 knot = 0.51444 metres/sec
1.3.6 WMO MESSAGE HEADER IDs WAFCs London and Washington produce HIGH and MEDIUM level SIGWX BUFR messages 4 times a day. Operational BUFR bulletins from both WAFCs are broadcast on the SADIS and ISCS satellite systems. WAFC London messages are also available on the SADIS FTP server. WAFC Washington message are available on the NWS FTP server at tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/DC.avspt/DS.sigwx/PT.bin_DF.buf/. The messages and the corresponding WMO headers (HDLs) are shown in Figure 1.
BUFR FEATURES COMMON NAME WMO HEADER used WMO HEADER used by WAFC London by WAFC Washington Jet-streams JETS JUWE96 EGRR JUWE96 KKCI Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) CAT JUCE00 EGRR JUCE00 KKCI Embedded Cumulo-nimbus CLOUD JUBE99 EGRR JUBE99 KKCI Tropopause height TROP JUTE97 EGRR JUTE97 KKCI Frontal Systems FRONTS JUFE00 EGRR JUFE00 KKCI Tropical Cyclone, Sandstorms & V_T_S JUVE00 EGRR JUVE00 KKCI Volcanoes SWM Tropopause height M-TROP JUOE00 EGRR JUOE00 KKCI SWM jet-streams M-JETS JUTE00 EGRR JUTE00 KKCI SWM fronts M-FRONTS JUJE00 EGRR JUJE00 KKCI SWM cloud, in-cloud icing and M-CLOUD JUNE00 EGRR JUNE00 KKCI turbulence SWM Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) M-CAT JUME00 EGRR JUME00 KKCI Figure 1 - WMO headers for SIGWX BUFR messages issued by WAFCs London and Washington
Bulletin JUVE00 EGRR/KKCI is applicable to both high and medium level data.
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There is a requirement for the visualisation software to clearly depict the limited coverage areas of the BUFR encoded SWM data. Unlike SWH data, the WAFCs only issue SWM data in BUFR for the areas currently forecast at medium level in T.4 facsimile and PNG format. To ensure that users do not try and produce SWM charts from BUFR data over user defined regions that do not contain forecast data, it is recommended that the software indicates, by way of diagonal hatching lines, all geographical areas that are not covered by forecast data. The areas for which data is produced at medium level will be described within the SWM bulletins.
2 HEADER Representation A BUFR message will always be packaged between the characters ‘BUFR’ and ‘7777’. Before the data representing the features appears a header is always found that details where the message has come from, the date and validity times and the flight levels it is valid for. At present each feature is encoded into a separate file (apart from the volcanoes, storms and radiation events, and SWM cloud, SWM in-cloud icing and in-cloud turbulence which are all included together), each of which have their own header.
2.1 MESSAGE HEADER FOR SWH Contains general data concerning the origin and validity time for the data.
93 Originating centre. 2001 01 31 00 00 DATA Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 2001 01 31 18 00 FORECAST Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 7620 19200 Flight level boundaries (base and top)
2.2 MESSAGE HEADER FOR SWM Contains general data concerning the origin and validity time for the data, plus information about the areas of data coverage.
93 Originating centre. 2004 04 04 12 00 DATA Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 2004 04 05 12 00 FORECAST Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 3050 13720 Flight level boundaries (base and top) 21.4 -21.6, 46.6 -56.6, 58.7 68.4, 26.4 33.4. Area EURO 10.0 17.0, 44.0 17.0, 44.0 70.0, 10.0 70.0. Area MEA 0.0 53.0, 36.0 53.0, 36.0 108.0, 0.0 108.0. Area Asia South 17.2 -54.1, 44.7 -101.7, 50.7 60.3, 19.7 10.0. Area NAT
Note: This is an example of a WAFC London header. Areas MEA and Asia South are both Mercator projection charts. Area EURO and NAT are both polar stereographic projection charts.
The last four lines of digits contain the latitude and longitude points of the corners of the standard ICAO chart areas for which data is included in the BUFR bulletin. The latitude (lat) and longitude (long) points are plotted in the following orientation: BLHC_lat BLHC_long, TLHC_lat TLHC_long, TRHC_lat TRHC_long, BRHC_lat BRHC_long where BLHC=bottom left hand corner, TLHC=top left hand corner, TRHC=top right hand corner, and BRHC=bottom right hand corner. Negative latitude values are located in the southern hemisphere, and negative longitude values in the western hemisphere. Complete descriptions of the four SWM areas (EURO, MEA, NAT, and Asia South) are provided in section 10.1.
In the example the last row of digits represents the corner points for the North Atlantic (NAT) SWM chart normally produced by WAFC Washington. Forecast data for this area will normally only be included in a SWM BUFR bulletin issued by WAFC London when London is backing up WAFC Washington. On the majority of occasions this additional row of digits will be replaced by free text indicating that Washington backup is not in operation.
93 Originating centre.
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2004 04 04 12 00 DATA Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 2004 04 05 12 00 FORECAST Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 3050 13720 Flight level boundaries (base and top) 21.4 -21.6, 46.6 -56.6, 58.7 68.4, 26.4 33.4. 10.0 17.0, 44.0 17.0, 44.0 70.0, 10.0 70.0. 0.0 53.0, 36.0 53.0, 36.0 108.0, 0.0 108.0. NO WASHINGTON BACKUP
Note: This is an example of a WAFC London header.
Example areas assigned to WAFC Washington headers.
During backup mode,
21.4 -21.6, 46.6 -56.6, 58.7 68.4, 26.4 33.4. 10.0 17.0, 44.0 17.0, 44.0 70.0, 10.0 70.0. 0.0 53.0, 36.0 53.0, 36.0 108.0, 0.0 108.0. 17.2 -54.1, 44.7 -101.7, 50.7 60.3, 19.7 10.0
During standard mode,
NO LONDON BACKUP NO LONDON BACKUP NO LONDON BACKUP 17.2 -54.1, 44.7 -101.7, 50.7 60.3, 19.7 10.0
3 Features Represented The chart in Figure 2 shows an example of SIGWX data and includes the following HIGH level features:
• Jet-streams • Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) • CB Cloud • Fronts • Tropopause heights • Volcanoes
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Figure 2 - Example High Level WAFS SIGWX (SWH) chart
3.1 GENERAL GUIDANCE AND RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
1. The standard against which software will be reviewed is for SIGWX charts produced from BUFR to be identical to the equivalent T.4 or PNG SIGWX chart in regard to the depiction of meteorological information, and largely identical to the depiction of non-meteorological features, which include cloud text boxes, volcano legend boxes and CAT boxes. In addition it is recommended that visualisation software can deliver WAFS products to the standards recommended within Annex 3 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation1. In particular section 4 of Appendix 8 to this document provides recommendations related to the presentation of flight documentation. It is strongly recommended that visualisation software can deliver products to these recommended practices.
2. Legends assigned to charts constructed from BUFR should state the production source (WAFC London or WAFC Washington) of the BUFR data used to create the chart. However if the user modifies any of the meteorological information contained on the chart, the software must automatically remove any reference to the originating source. The addition of new meteorological information, e.g. interpolated jet speeds, using techniques specified in this document is permissible. The physical positions of cloud text boxes and CAT boxes can be modified without needing to remove reference to the source of the data.
3. Legends are required to contain the same text as assigned to a T4/PNG SIGWX chart legend. This includes the following important information “CB IMPLIES MOD OR SEV
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TURBULENCE, ICE AND HAIL. ALL HEIGHT INDICATIONS IN FLIGHT LEVELS. ALL SPEEDS IN KNOTS. CHECK SIGMETS FOR VOLCANIC ASH.”
4. The standard ICAO areas (A, B, B1, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K and M) with their correct projections should be available to users as default areas. These include the ability to produce a chart which spans the International Date Line.
5. Production of SIGWX charts for these standard areas should be attainable via an automated process which requires no human intervention to “de-clutter” overlapping or misaligned text boxes. An auto-placement algorithm will need to be employed to determine the location of information that is not assigned with a position in the BUFR message, e.g. the location of cloud text boxes, CAT boxes. It is recommended that a manual editing facility is available to users so that the physical locations of these boxes can be changed if required. Attention must be given to the distance of the text boxes from the associated cloud. This is especially important when cloud areas straddle the edge of the depicted area.
6. Particular emphasis should be given to the correct depiction of tropical cyclones, radiation events, and volcanic eruption symbols and associated information. New standards have been agreed with ICAO regarding the depiction of any of these features that are co-incident or partially overlapping. The order of priority for these features is as follows: volcanic eruptions, followed by radiation events, and tropical cyclones. These features should be given a plotting priority greater than all other features displayed on the chart. In the event of any of these features being co-incident or partially overlapping then the item with highest priority should be placed at the location of the event, and an arrow should be used to link the location of the other item(s) to its associated symbol or text box.
7. ICAO Annex 3 (Appendix 8, section 4.1.1.1 point d refers) recommends that major aerodromes should be displayed on WAFS SIGWX charts as a dot and identified by the first letter of the name of the city the aerodrome serves as given in Table AOP of the relevant air navigation plan. It is strongly recommended that visualisation software conforms to this ICAO requirement as a minimum, and in addition, ensures that the dots and corresponding letters are not over-plotted by non-meteorological features, which include cloud text boxes, and volcano legends. Over-plotting by all meteorological phenomena (e.g. cloud areas), chart legend and CAT boxes is permitted.
8. Examples of decoded BUFR bulletins are included in this document. These examples include a "Feature Header", and "Type of Feature" description. It should be noted that the "Type of Feature" is included in this document for clarity purposes but is not included in the operational BUFR bulletins.
9 Data held within the BUFR bulletins does not include a description of the graphical representation of the phenomena, e.g. information describing the volcano symbol graphic, or the symbol used to indicate moderate C.A.T. Software will need to be designed so that it displays phenomena using the standard ICAO Annex 3 depictions included in Appendix 1 to ICAO Annex 3. Part of this appendix is included in Annex 1 to this document to assist developers. However it should be noted that not all of the elements included in this Annex are utilised on WAFS SIGWX charts. The elements that are utilised include: Thunderstorms, Tropical Cyclone, Severe Squall Line, Moderate Turbulence, Severe Turbulence, Moderate Aircraft Icing, Severe Aircraft Icing, Radioactive Materials in the Atmosphere, Volcanic Eruption, Widespread Sandstorm or Dust Storm, Convergence Line, Cold Front, Warm Front, Occluded Front, Quasi- Stationary Front, Tropopause High, Tropopause Low, Tropopause Level, Intertropical Convergence Zone, and Position, Speed and Level of Max. Wind. Note: the depiction of this latter information does not include jet depth information and displays the max wind height information in-line with the axis of the jet-stream. This depiction scheme is not followed on WAFS SIGWX charts and developers should follow the scheme which is detailed in section 4 of this document. (ICAO has been contacted about this anomaly.)
1 Two exceptions to the current version (November 2004) of Annex 3 are noted and acceptable.
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The first exception relates to the depiction of jet stream information (FL and jet depth). The depiction of this information should follow examples provided in this document as opposed to the depiction currently displayed in Annex 3. The Annex 3 depiction will be updated to include the format adopted by the WAFCs and included in this document. The other exception relates to the depiction of convergence lines/zones, in particular the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (I.T.C.Z.) across Africa. Again, the format included in this document should be followed. Users may note that Amendment 74 to Annex 3 (applicability date November 2007) will remove the requirement to plot convergence zones on WAFS charts. This BUFR guidelines document will be updated in due course.
4 JET STREAM Representation The JET STREAMS shown in Figure 2 can be represented in a text form which the BUFR encoder will understand. It will then be able to code up this data into a BUFR message.
A JET is made up of a series of CORE points, wind symbols (fleche marks) and change bars. The wind symbol at the location of maximum jet speed/speeds also contain vertical depth information in the new format JL/JU where JL = the flight level of the 80kt isotach below the maximum wind speed level, and JU = the flight level of the 80kt isotach above the maximum wind speed level. Please note that this new format will be implemented by the WAFCs on the T4 and PNG formatted SIGWX charts in March 2006, precise date to be determined. It is strongly recommended that implementation of the format from the BUFR encoded data does not occur before this date. The precise implementation date will be included (when it becomes available) on the WAFS Change Implementation 'Notice Board' at URL - http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/status%20of%20imp%20changes%20to%20WAFS.pdf
This vertical depth of wind maxima is always placed “underneath” the jet stream flight level text at the point of maximum speed or speeds only. Only jets of speed 120kt or more will contain vertical depth information.
Core points are encoded in BUFR with a designated latitude and longitude, but no speed or flight level. All of these core points should be used to plot the location of jet-streams. An appropriate smoothing technique such as a cubic spline should be used to smooth the jet-stream curve plotted between these core points. It is not recommended that any other points within the BUFR bulletin are included within the cubic spline routine for smoothing. Care should be taken when applying smoothing techniques not to over-smooth, causing significant deviations from the depicted lines on the T4 and PNG charts.
Latitude and longitude points assigned to wind symbols should not be included in the process used to draw the axis of the jet-stream. The wind symbols should be plotted separately along the length of the jet displaying the speed and flight level information assigned to them within the BUFR message. The latitude and longitude points that are assigned to each wind symbol should be viewed as a first estimate of the position of each wind symbol. This position may be a short distance away from the axis of the jet-stream depending on the degree of alignment between the smoothing algorithms employed at the production and user sites. It is recommended that the end users software utilises a function that computes the nearest position along the jet axis to the location of each wind symbol as provided in the BUFR messages, and automatically plots the wind symbol at this position.
For user defined chart areas that do not contain a jet max wind vertex we recommend that no vertical depth information is derived through interpolation. On such occasions we recommend that the jet is plotted with no vertical depth information, i.e. interpolated jet height values are not used.
If there is insufficient space (less than 15 characters) on the jet-stream to display a full wind symbol, a change bar may be used instead. A change bar depicts a change of speed of 20 knots. Please note that change bars are not used to depict changes in jet height.
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Figure 3 – Example Jet Stream
Figure 4 – Jetstream depiction showing display of vertical depth information at locations of maximum speed, and crossing jets.
Note: vertical depth information values are only included for jet-streams with a maximum speed of 120kts or more.
If two jet streams cross each other then the convention that should be adopted is that the jet at greatest altitude is displayed as a complete line, and the jet beneath is displayed as a broken line – see figure 4 above. Note: the break in the lower jet-stream is not encoded within the BUFR bulletin. This needs to be determined by the visualisation software.
The WIND SYMBOLS (sometimes called WIND FLECHES) indicate the wind speed, flight level and jet depth (at the point(s) of maximum speed only) for the locations it is positioned at. Each black triangle represents 50 knots, each line 10 knots and each half line 5 knots. The flight level is written underneath in terms of how many 100’s feet it is at. The example here gives a speed of 110 knots at 36,000 feet.
The CHANGE BAR represents a change of 20 knots along the JET. By ICAO definition a JET will always start and finish at 80 knots. By using change bars and wind symbols the speed of a JET can be plotted anywhere along its course. It is recommended that change bars are only plotted when there is insufficient space, less than 15 characters, between WIND SYMBOLS.
It is recommended that the software always plots the maximum wind (using a wind symbol) along the 84
length of the jet-stream, and then works laterally along the length of the jet in both directions using a combination of wind symbols and change bars as appropriate. This approach makes the change bars maximum speed relative as opposed to minimum wind (80 KT) relative, i.e. the change bars represent 20-knot steps from the maximum speed rather than from the 80-knot end points.
In BUFR change bars are not explicitly encoded. The scale of the chart being drawn and the area it covers will determine the proportion of wind symbols to change bars. This will need to be worked out by the graphics program that constructs the chart.
To mitigate against so-called “edge effects”, when jet speed and height information is missing from jets plotted near chart boundaries, it is permissible (indeed recommended) for the software to deduce the flight level at the start and end of jets near chart borders, and at any points in between as required, by assuming that the flight level at a point is the same as it is at the nearest available wind symbol. Similarly it is recommended that the software applies, when necessary, linear interpolation between wind symbols to establish the speed at any point along a jet axis.
4.1 FEATURE HEADER Contains the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
JET Type of feature 2 Number of jets in list
4.2 FEATURE DATA The first row for each jet lists the number of points (both core and wind symbol) in it. Six columns containing latitude, longitude, height information, speed data, height of 80 knot isotach located above jet, and height of 80 knot isotach located below jet follow. Height is stored in metres and speeds in ms-1. The visualization software needs to express the data on charts using conventional Flight Level and knots values.
11 Number of points to follow (1st jet)
35.4 -104.7 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 Core point (no height and speed data) 36.1 -101.6 10668.0 51.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 Wind Symbol (speed and height data given) 36.6 -99.6 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 36.9 -97.7 15240.0 61.8 15240.0 13716.0 Wind symbol at position of max speed 37.4 -94.9 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 38.3 -92.3 15240.0 51.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 39.2 -90.3 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 40.7 -88.1 15240.0 61.8 16154.0 14326.0 Wind symbol at position of max speed 41.5 -86.3 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 42.0 -82.7 9144.0 51.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 41.9 -78.9 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0
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8 Number of points to follow (2nd jet)
41.1 -101.8 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 Core point (no height and speed data) 42.0 -98.8 10668.0 51.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 Wind Symbol (speed and height data given) 42.2 -98.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 44.3 -96.9 12192.0 61.8 12802.0 11278.0 Wind symbol at position of max speed 45.2 -96.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 45.8 -96.3 12192.0 51.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 49.6 -95.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 51.4 -95.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0
5 CAT Representation Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) is represented on a SIGWX chart by a dashed area and a number, Figure 5. This number relates to the base, top and type information held in the CAT legend. In BUFR how the data is depicted is not specified. Only the points describing the line and the attributes associated with that line are held.
Figure 5 - CAT area and legend It is recommended that a cubic spline technique is employed to ensure that a smooth continuous line is plotted between vertices. However, care should be taken when applying smoothing techniques not to over- smooth, causing significant deviations from the depicted lines on the T4 and PNG charts.
Please note that open and closed boundaries are used for encoding CAT information – see section 1.3.4.
If call-out arrows are used to link areas of CAT to boxed numbers then it is recommended that the call-out arrows point to the CAT boundaries as opposed to inside the areas of CAT. This is not mandatory (and is not always followed by the WAFCs when constructing T4 and PNG formatted SIGWX charts) but may simplify the process of displaying "open" cloud and CAT areas.
5.1 FEATURE HEADER Contains the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
TURB Type of feature 2 Number of CAT areas in list
5.2 FEATURE DATA 1st row = heights of CAT base and top in meters, 2nd row = number of points in area. These are followed by two columns containing latitude and longitude data. A single number in the last row indicates the degree of turbulence (6=MOD, 7=SEVERE, 19=MOD OCNL SEVERE).
10363.2 12192.0 BASE and TOP of CAT area (metres)
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17 Number of points in CAT area 44.5 -96.8 Latitude and longitude values 44.6 -94.2 46.0 -89.1 44.8 -75.8 45.2 -63.5 44.6 -57.2 44.4 -50.0 44.8 -34.3 46.8 -32.8 51.5 -38.9 52.2 -47.1 52.6 -59.4 54.6 -69.0 55.3 -84.3 52.2 -91.6 47.0 -97.7 44.5 -96.8 CLOSED area because the last point matches the first 6 Degree of turbulence (see Section 11 - table 011030)
11887.2 13716.0 BASE and TOP of CAT area (metres) 12 Number of points in CAT area 72.2 -58.5 Latitude and longitude values 69.9 -59.8 67.1 -49.8 63.8 -35.3 61.0 -25.3 57.6 -16.0 53.6 -7.1 58.0 4.3 62.1 3.9 69.4 -11.6 74.4 -39.0 72.2 -58.5 CLOSED area because the last point matches the first 6 Degree of turbulence (see Section 11 - table 011030)
6 CLOUD Representation CLOUD areas (see figure 6) are shown on the charts as a scalloped area and an information box, sometimes shown with an arrow if the box is not inside the area. It may assist the visualisation software if the arrow points to the boundary of the cloud area. As with CAT, only the data is held in BUFR so the box itself, its position and the arrow are all added by the drawing package.
Open and closed cloud boundaries are encoded in BUFR – see section 1.3.4.
Figure 6 - CLOUD area and data box
It is recommended that a cubic spline technique is employed to ensure that a continuous scalloped line is plotted between vertices. Cloud areas are encoded with an orientation of the cloud area being to the left of the boundary when drawn in the order of points given.
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6.1 FEATURE HEADER Contains the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
CLOUD Type of feature 2 Number of CLOUD areas in list
6.2 FEATURE DATA 1st row = heights of CLOUD base and top in meters, 2nd row = number of points in area. These rows are followed by two columns containing latitude and longitude data. The numbers in the last row indicate the distribution and type of the CLOUD.
-9999999.0 12496.8 BASE and TOP of CLOUD area (metres) 9 Number of points in CLOUD area 26.7 -84.7 Latitude and longitude values 24.2 -84.2 19.0 -79.6 19.6 -74.9 23.0 -72.2 28.2 -72.2 31.7 -77.9 28.6 -85.1 26.7 -84.7 9 9 CLOUD distribution (see Section 11 - table 020008) CLOUD type (see Section 11 - table 020012)
-9999999.0 11887.28 BASE and TOP of CLOUD area (metres) 8 Number of points in CLOUD area 28.2 -57.0 Latitude and longitude values 28.4 -49.2 28.0 -41.4 26.0 -30.7 30.7 -25.0 33.4 -33.1 31.7 -52.6 28.2 -57.0 11 9 CLOUD distribution (see Section 11 - table 020008) CLOUD type (see Section 11 - table 020012)
7 FRONT Representation, including Convergence Zones (e.g. ITCZ) Surface fronts are depicted using standard WMO representations. If an operator of a workstation package chooses to use a colour representation then it is strongly recommended that standard colours are used, these include, red for warm fronts, blue for cold fronts and magenta for occluding fronts, see figure 7. In BUFR the line points and the frontal type is stored.
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Figure 7 – Example Frontal system
Note: The standard meteorological conventions (as defined by WMO) have been followed by the graphics software when the features have been drawn.
It is recommended that a smoothing technique such as a cubic spline technique is employed to ensure that a smooth continuous line is plotted between data points. However, care should be taken when applying smoothing techniques not to over-smooth, causing significant deviations from the depicted lines on the T4 and PNG charts.
Tropical convergence lines/zones are included in the same BUFR bulletin (JUFE00 EGRR/KKCI) as the one used for surface fronts. Tropical convergence lines/zones should be depicted by the graphics package as two parallel lines, with the letters “ITCZ” plotted above such lines occurring in tropical latitudes – see figure 8 for an example.
Figure 8 – ITCZ Depiction
7.1 FEATURE HEADER Contains the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
FRONT Type of feature 4 Number of FRONT lines in list
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7.2 FEATURE DATA 1st row = type of front. 2nd row = number of points in front, followed by four columns containing latitude, longitude, direction and speed data. One point will have the front’s velocity; the rest will be left with missing direction and speed. Speed is in ms-1 and direction in degrees. A missing direction and speed of 0.0 is used for a “SLOW” front.
2 Type of front (see Section 11 - table 008011) 5 Number of points in FRONT line 34.8 20.0 90.0 5.6 Latitude, longitude, direction and speed 30.3 17.3 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 24.4 11.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 21.9 6.3 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 22.4 4.3 -9999999.0 -9999999.0
4 Type of front (see Section 11 - table 008011) 6 Number of points in FRONT line 34.8 19.9 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 Latitude, longitude, direction and speed 35.2 16.4 -9999999.0 0.0 38.1 10.4 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 39.2 6.3 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 42.7 .9 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 45.7 -3.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0
6 Type of front (see Section 11 - table 008011) 5 Number of points in FRONT line 50.5 24.5 -9999999.0 0.0 Latitude, longitude, direction and speed 47.6 23.9 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 43.4 23.5 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 37.5 22.0 -9999999.0 -9999999.0 35.0 19.9 -9999999.0 -9999999.0
8 Type of front (see Section 11 - table 008011) 11 Number of points in FRONT line 7.400 -12.200-9999999.000 -9999999.000 Latitude, longitude, direction and speed [for 8.800 -5.100 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 this front there is no assigned speed and 8.000 .900 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 direction because the front is representing 8.200 7.700 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 the ITCZ over Africa.] 6.700 10.800 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 7.700 16.100 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 8.400 21.400 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 7.900 25.300 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 9.400 33.800 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 7.600 35.700 -9999999.000 -9999999.000 5.400 36.900 -9999999.000 -9999999.000
8 TROP Representation Three different types of TROP labels are used on SIGWX charts, Figure 9. Highs, lows and spot values. These are represented as three different types in BUFR.
It is strongly recommended to display as many of the spot values encoded in the BUFR bulletin as possible but ensuring that chart clutter does not occur.
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Figure 9 - High, low and spot value trop boxes
8.1 FEATURE HEADER Contains the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
TROP Type of feature 3 Number of types of TROP boxes in list
8.2 FEATURE DATA 1st row = type of tropopause box (e.g. low, high). 2nd row = number of trop boxes of this type, followed by three columns containing latitude, longitude and height data. Heights are in metres.
-9999999 Type of TROP box (see Section 11 - table 008023) 4 Number of TROP boxes of this type 57.6 -116.9 14020.8 Latitude and longitude location and height value 78.7 -78.1 14020.8 73.6 14.1 14020.8 45.4 36.3 14020.8
3 Type of TROP box (see Section 11 - table 008023) 1 Number of TROP boxes of this type 55.0 30.0 11582.4 Latitude and longitude location and height value
2 Type of TROP box (see Section 11 - table 008023) 1 Number of TROP boxes of this type 31.8 -13.7 13716.0 Latitude and longitude location and height value
9 VOLCANOES, TROPICAL CYCLONES and RADIATION Representation Volcanoes, tropical cyclones and radiation events are all held in one file. The symbols on the charts are shown in figure 10. The data for each feature is held in BUFR as shown below though no details of how these are to be depicted is given. The convention outlined in ICAO Annex 3 should be followed. Information contained in this BUFR bulletin is equally applicable to SWM charts and SWH charts.
Important Note: New guidance has been included under item 6 in section 3.1 of this document regarding the depiction of co-incident or partially overlapping features.
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Figure 10 - Volcano, Tropical Cyclone and radiation symbols
Please note that the applicability of this data to SWM and SWH charts is reflected in the message header of the bulletin. The flight level boundaries span the base of a SWM chart (3050 m) to the top of an SWH chart (19200 m) – see below.
93 Originating centre. 2001 01 31 00 00 DATA Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 2001 01 31 18 00 FORECAST Time - Year, month, day, hour, minute 3050 19200 Flight level boundaries (base and top)
9.1 FEATURE HEADER There are 3 possible headers in this file, each indicating the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
STORM Type of feature 1 Number of STORMS in list
VOLCANO Type of feature 1 Number of VOLCANOES in list
RADIATION Type of feature 1 Number of RADIATION incidents in list
9.2 FEATURE DATA Each feature follows a different set of data as shown below.
STORM FRED Name – ‘UNKNOWN’ used if it’s a sandstorm. 25.0 -78.0 Latitude and Longitude of storm 2 STORM type (See Section 11 - table 019001)
VOLCANO Etna Name of volcano 37.7 15.0 Latitude and longitude of volcano 2003 11 25 9 30 Eruption time (Year, month, day, hour and minute; the date and time of eruption is not routinely included in the BUFR bulletins produced by the two WAFCs. This is because the information is not normally available to the WAFC forecasters.)
RADIATION -9999999 Location of incident (Not used at present) 53.2 -24.1 Latitude and longitude of incident -9999999 -9999999 -9999999 -9999999 -9999999
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Eruption time (Year, month, day, hour and minute; Year and month aren’t used)
Note: The SIGWX BUFR encode software inserts a replication factor of 1 for each volcano. This replication factor is not explicitly displayed when the UK Met Office decoder is used.
10 Medium Level SIGWX (SWM) Data
10.1 General
WAFS SWM data is valid between FL100 and FL450. Currently data for only four regions of the world are included in the SWM bulletins: three regions are routinely included in the SWM bulletins issued by WAFC London, and a single region (NAT) is included in the SWM bulletins issued by WAFC Washington. During periods of backup data for all four regions are included in the SWM bulletins issued by the operational WAFC. Global SWM data is not provided in the SWM bulletins. The areas for which data is provided correspond to the following T.4 chart areas:- NAT, EURO, MEA and ASIA SOUTH.
SWM Area Originating WAFC WMO Header Routine: London EURO PGDE15 EGRR
Routine: London MEA PGCE15 EGRR
Routine: London ASIA SOUTH PGZE15 EGRR
NAT Routine: Washington PGNE15 KKCI
Figure 11 – SWM forecast areas, and corresponding headers of T.4 charts
The current SWM production schedule requires London to produce data for areas EURO, MEA and ASIA SOUTH, and for Washington to produce data for area NAT. This will result in London issuing BUFR data for its three areas of responsibility using bulletins of WMO format JU**** EGRR, and Washington issuing data for its single area of responsibility using bulletin headers of format JU**** KKCI. During periods of backup when one of the centres is unavailable the other centre will produce data for all four regions and include this complete data within its routine bulletins JU**** EGRR/KKCI.
It is required that the visualisation software clearly depicts, when necessary, the limited coverage areas of this data to ensure that users do not try and produce SWM charts from BUFR data over user defined regions that do not contain forecast data. It is strongly recommended that the software indicates, by way of diagonal hatching lines, all geographical areas that are not covered by forecast data. The areas for which data is included are described below.
NAT: Northern Polar Stereographic BLHC_LATITUDE = +17.2 BLHC_LONGITUDE = - 54.1 TRHC_LATITUDE = +50.7 TRHC_LONGITUDE = +60.3 VERTICAL_LONGITUDE = - 20.0
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EURO: Northern Polar Stereographic BLHC_LATITUDE = 21.4 BLHC_LONGITUDE = -21.6 TRHC_LATITUDE = 58.7 TRHC_LONGITUDE = 68.4 VERTICAL_LONGITUDE = 11.1
MEA: Mercator BLHC_LATITUDE = +10.0 BLHC_LONGITUDE = +17.0 TRHC_LATITUDE = +44.0 TRHC_LONGITUDE = +70.0
ASIA SOUTH: Mercator BLHC_LATITUDE = 0.0 BLHC_LONGITUDE = 53.0 TRHC_LATITUDE = 36.0 TRHC_LONGITUDE = 108.0
All of these four areas are used on rectangular displays. Appropriate cartographic routines will need to be employed to ensure that these defined areas remain valid when displayed on different map projections, e.g. when data for the area ASIA SOUTH is displayed on a Northern Polar Stereographic projection.
The chart areas for which data is produced at medium level will be described within the SWM bulletins.
All of the information that is required for SWM charts is contained in the following bulletins:-
BUFR FEATURES COMMON NAME WMO HEADER used WMO HEADER used by WAFC London by WAFC Washington Tropical Cyclone, Sandstorms & V_T_S JUVE00 EGRR JUVE00 KKCI Volcanoes SWM Tropopause height M-TROP JUOE00 EGRR JUOE00 KKCI SWM jet-streams M-JETS JUTE00 EGRR JUTE00 KKCI SWM fronts M-FRONTS JUJE00 EGRR JUJE00 KKCI SWM cloud, in-cloud icing and M-CLOUD JUNE00 EGRR JUNE00 KKCI turbulence SWM Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) M-CAT JUME00 EGRR JUME00 KKCI
Figure 12 – Bulletins containing SIGWX data applicable to SWM charts
Note: The bulletin that contains tropical cyclone, sandstorm and volcano information (JUVE00 EGRR and JUVE00 KKCI) is the same bulletin used for producing SWH charts. This bulletin is equally applicable to SWM and SWH charts.
10.2 SWM Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.)
All CAT information that is applicable to SWM is contained in the bulletin JUME00 EGRR/KKCI. Section 5 of this document provides an example of how this information is presented within a CAT bulletin applicable to SWH. This format is identical to the format used for SWM CAT with the only exception that the FEATURE HEADER is modified to:
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MTURB Type of feature [Medium level Clear Air Turbulence]
10.3 SWM Tropical Cyclones, Sandstorms & Volcanoes
All information relating to these types of features is contained in the same bulletin that is used to construct SWH charts (JUVE00 EGRR and JUVE00 KKCI). See section 9 of this document to review the format of how this information is presented. Please note that all of the features contained within these files are applicable to the SWM charts, i.e. the phenomena are not height dependent.
10.4 SWM Tropopause (TROP) Height
See section 8 of this document to review how tropopause height information is presented. Tropopause heights applicable to medium level charts are contained in the SWM tropopause height bulletin (JUOE00 EGRR and JUOE00 KKCI). This information should be plotted on the SWM charts using the same formats applied to the SWH tropopause heights. The only difference between the SWM and SWH TROP height bulletins is the FEATURE HEADER. The FEATURE HEADER assigned to the SWM TROP height bulletin is as follows:
MTROP Type of feature [Medium level Tropopause height]
10.5 SWM Jet-Streams
See section 4 of this document to review how jet-stream information is presented. Jet-streams applicable to medium level charts are contained in the SWM jet-stream bulletin (JUTE00 EGRR and JUTE00 KKCI). This information should be plotted on the SWM charts using the same formats applied to the SWH jet- streams.
MJET Type of feature (Medium level jet-stream)
10.6 SWM Fronts
See section 7 of this document to review how frontal (including convergence zones/lines) information is presented. Fronts applicable to medium level charts are contained in the SWM fronts bulletin (JUJE00 EGRR and JUJE00 KKCI). This information should be plotted on the SWM charts using the same formats applied to the SWH fronts. The only difference between the SWM and SWH Fronts height bulletins is the FEATURE HEADER. The FEATURE HEADER assigned to the SWM Fronts bulletin is as follows:
MFRONT Type of feature
10.7 SWM Cloud, In-Cloud Icing and Turbulence
On SWM charts, cloud, in-cloud icing and turbulence information is normally plotted together within one legend box and linked to the defined area by a call-out arrow. Sometimes a separate legend box is used to indicate the degree of CB activity, though a separate box is not a formal requirement. See figure 13 for an example.
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FIGURE 13 – Example Cloud, in-cloud icing and turbulence depiction
10.7.1 FEATURE HEADER Contains the type of data to follow and the number of features in the list.
MCLOUD Type of feature
10.7.2 FEATURE DATA 1st row = number of points in area. These rows are followed by two columns containing latitude and longitude data. The numbers in the next rows indicate information about the non-CB cloud. This is followed by information about the degree of in-cloud turbulence, then the degree of in-cloud icing, and finally information about CB activity. If in-cloud turbulence, and/or in-cloud icing and/or CB activity is not present then this is specified in the message (=0) and subsequent descriptive information about this element is not included.
9 Number of points in CLOUD area 26.7 -84.7 Latitude and longitude values 24.2 -84.2 19.0 -79.6 19.6 -74.9 23.0 -72.2 28.2 -72.2 31.7 -77.9 28.6 -85.1 26.7 -84.7 1 Number of NON-CB CLOUD distributions (see section 11 - descriptor 031001). If 0, the next row will be excluded. 3 CLOUD distribution (see Section 11 - table 020008) 3 Number of NON-CB CLOUD types (See Section 11 – descriptor 031001). If 0, the next row will be excluded. 8 3 4 NON-CB CLOUD types (code figure) (See Section 11 – table 020012) 1 TURBULENCE section (=1 if turbulence, 0 if not - in which case next 2 rows are excluded) -9999999 6097 BASE and TOP of TURBULENCE area (metres) 2 DEGREE of TURBULENCE (See Section 11 – table 011030)
1 ICING section (=1 if icing, 0 if not - in which case next 2 rows are excluded) -9999999 6097 BASE and TOP of ICING area (metres) 5 DEGREE of ICING (See Section 11 – table 020041) 0 Optional CB section (=1 if CB, 0 if not - in which case next 3 rows are
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excluded)
8 Number of points in CLOUD area 28.2 -57.0 Latitude and longitude values 28.4 -49.2 28.0 -41.4 26.0 -30.7 30.7 -25.0 33.4 -33.1 31.7 -52.6 28.2 -57.0 2 Number of NON-CB CLOUD distributions (see section 11 - descriptor 031001). If 0, the next row is not included. 7 14 CLOUD distribution (see Section 11 - table 020008) 0 Number of NON-CB CLOUD types (See Section 11 – descriptor 031001). Note that there is no following row listing types because there are no NON-CB TYPES. 1 TURBULENCE section (=1 if turbulence, 0 if not - in which case next 2 rows are excluded) -9999999 7315 BASE and TOP of TURBULENCE area (metres) 2 DEGREE of TURBULENCE (See Section 11 – table 011030)
1 ICING section (=1 if icing, 0 if not - in which case next 2 rows are excluded) 3353 6706 BASE and TOP of ICING area (metres) 5 DEGREE of ICING (See Section 11 – table 020041)
1 Optional CB section (=1 if CB, 0 if not - in which case next 3 rows are excluded) -9999999 10668 BASE and TOP of CB CLOUD (metres) 9 CLOUD distribution (see Section 11 - table 020008) 9 CLOUD type (=CB)(See Section 11 – table 020012)
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11 Relevant BUFR Tables Elements that are commonly used in SWM and/or SWH data are highlighted in red. Other items are never used or only infrequently.
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001031 ORIGINATING/GENERATING CENTRE 1 AMMC MELBOURNE 2 MELBOURNE 4 RUMS MOSCOW 5 MOSCOW 7 KWBC WASHINGTON WAFC 8 KWXX US W/SERVICE (NWSTG) 10 HECA CAIRO RMC 11 CAIRO RMC 12 GOOY DAKAR RMC 13 DAKAR RMC 14 HKNA NAIROBI RMC 15 NAIROBI RMC 16 FMMD ANTANANARIVO (not in Manual) 17 ANTANANARIVO (not in Manual) 18 DTTV TUNIS-CASABLANCA 19 TUNIS-CASABLANCA 20 SPLP LAS PALMAS 21 DAMM ALGIERS 22 LPLG LAGOS RMS (not in Manual) 23 LAGOS RMS (not in Manual) 24 FAPR PRETORIA 25 FME LA REUNION 26 RUKH KHABAROVSK 27 KHABAROVSK 28 DEMS NEW DELHI 29 NEW DELHI 30 UNNN NOVOSIBIRSK 31 NOVOSIBIRSK 32 RUTK TASHKENT 33 JEDDAH 34 RJTD TOKYO 35 TOKYO RMC 36 VTBB BANGKOK 37 MNUB ULAN BATOR 38 BABJ BEIJING 39 BEIJING 40 RKSL SEOUL 41 SABM BUENOS AIRES 42 BUENOS AIRES 43 SBBR BRASILIA 44 BRASILIA 45 SCSC SANTIAGO 46 BRAZILIAN SA - INPE 51 KMIA MIAMI 52 MIAMI HURRICANE CENTRE 53 CWAO MONTREAL RMC 54 MONTREAL RMC 55 KSFO SANFRANCISCO 57 KARS US AIR FORCE (ARGOS COMMUNICATIONS CENTRE, LANDOVER, MD) 58 KMRY US NAVY, MONTEREY 59 KBOU BOULDER (NOAA FORECAST LAB) 60 NCAR 61 Service ARGOS (Landover) 62 US Naval Oceanographic Office 64 PHNL HONOLULU 65 ADRM DARWIN 66 DARWIN 67 AMMC MELBOURNE 69 NZKL WELLINGTON 70 WELLINGTON 71 NFFN NADI (FIJI) 74 EGRR UK MET OFFICE 75 UK MET OFFICE 76 MOSCOW 78 EDZW OFFENBACH 79 OFFENBACH 80 LIIB ROME RMC 81 ROME RMC 82 BGSF SONDRE/STROMFJORD GREENLAND ??? (Manual says Norrkoping) 83 ESWI NORRKOPING RMC 84 Toulouse 85 LFPW TOULOUSE 99
86 EFKL HELSINKI 87 LYMB BELGRADE 88 ENMI OSLO 89 LKPR PRAGUE 90 LCRO EPISKOPI 91 LTAA ANKARA 92 EDDZ FRANKFURT/MAIN 93 EGRR LONDON WAFC 94 EKCH COPENHAGEN 95 LERT ROTA 96 LGAT ATHENS 97 EESA ESA 98 ECMF ECMWF 99 EHDB DE BILT 110 VHHH HONG KONG 160 NOAA/NESDIS 210 FRASCATI (ESA/ESRIN) 211 LFRO LANNION 212 LPPT LISBOA 213 BIRK REYKJAVIK 214 MADRID 215 LSZH ZURICH 216 ARGOS (Toulouse) 217 LZIB BRATISLAVA 218 LHBP BUDAPEST 219 LJLJ LJUBLJANA 220 EPWA WARSAW 221 LDZA ZAGREB 254 EUMETSAT
008001 VERTICAL SOUNDING SIGNIFICANCE (7-BIT FLAG TABLE) 1 SURFACE 2 STANDARD 3 TROPOPAUSE 4 MAX WIND 5 SIG TEMP 6 SIG WIND
008005 METEOROLOGICAL ATTRIBUTE SIGNIFICANCE 0 Automatic 1 STORM CENTRE 2 STORM EDGE OR OUTER LIMIT 3 MAXIMUM WIND
008007 DIMENSIONAL SIGNIFICANCE 0 POINT 1 LINE 2 AREA 3 VOLUME
008021 TIME SIGNIFICANCE 0 1 TIME SERIES 2 TIME AVERAGE 3 ACCUMULATED 4 FORECAST 5 F/C TIME SER 6 F/C TIME AVE 7 F/C ACCUM 8 ENSEMBLE MEAN 9 9-15 ARE AS 1-7 FOR ENSEMBLE MEAN 10 11 12 13
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14 15 16 ANALYSED 17 START OF PHENOMENON 18 SONDE LAUNCH 19 ORBIT START 20 ORBIT END 21 ASC NODE 22 WIND SHIFT 23 Monitoring period 24 Agreed limit for report reception 25 Nominal reporting time 26 Last known position time 27 FIRST GUESS 28 START OF SCAN 29 END OF SCAN
008040 CBS Flight Level Significance
0 High resolution data sample 1 Within 20hPa of surface 2 <10hPa 3 Base pressure level for stability index 4 Begin T,ht doubtful 5 Begin missing data (all elements) 6 Begin RH missing 7 Begin T missing 8 Highest level reached before balloon descent 9 End T,ht doubtful 10 End missing data (all elements) 11 End RH missing 12 End T missing 13 0C crossing for RADAT 14 Std pressure 15 Operator added level 16 Operator deleted level 17 Balloon reascended beyond previous highest level 18 Sig RH 19 No more RH 20 Surface 21 Sig T 22 Mandatory T 23 Flight termination 24 Tropopause 25 Aircraft report 26 Interpolated level 27 Mandatory wind 28 Sig wind 29 Max wind 30 Increm wind 31 Increm height 32 Wind termination 33 100-110hPa 40 Inversion 41 Sig RH (NCDC criteria) 42 Sig T (NCDC) 60 80kt FL above jet (flight level of 80-knot isotach) 61 80kt FL below jet (flight level of 80-knot isotach)
011030 – EXTENDED DEGREE OF TURBULENCE
Code figure 0 Nil 1 Light in cloud 2 Moderate 3 Severe 4 Nil 5 Light in clear air 6 Moderate 7 Severe 101
8 Nil 9 Light cloud/clear not specified 10 Moderate 11 Severe 12 Extreme, in clear air 13 Extreme, in cloud 14 Extreme, cloud/clear air not specified 15 Light ISOL MOD 16 Light OCNL MOD 17 Light FRQ MOD 18 MOD ISOL SEV 19 MOD OCNL SEV 20 MOD FRQ SEV 21 SEV ISOL EXTREME 22 SEV OCNL EXTREME 23 SEV FRQ EXTREME 24-62 Reserved 63 Missing value
020008 CLOUD DISTRIBUTION FOR AVIATION
0 SKY CLEAR 1 FEW 2 SCATTERED 3 BROKEN 4 OVERCAST 5 6 SCT/BKN scattered/broken 7 BKN/OVC broken/overcast 8 ISOLATED 9 ISOL/EMBED isolated/embedded 10 OCCASIONAL 11 OCNL/EMBED occasional/embedded 12 FREQUENT 13 DENSE 14 LAYERS
020012 CLOUD TYPE
0 CI 1 CC 2 CS 3 AC 4 AS 5 NS 6 SC 7 ST 8 CU 9 CB … … 40 CH
020090 SPECIAL CLOUDS
0 1 NACREOUS 2 NOCTILUCENT 3 WATERFALL 4 FIRE CLOUDS 5 VOLCANIC
023002 ACTIVITY OR FACILITY INVOLVED IN INCIDENT
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0 1 GROUND REACTOR 2 SEA REACTOR 3 SPACE REACTOR 4 NUC.FUEL FAC 5 RAD.WASTE 6 WASTE TRANSP 7 WASTE STORAG 8 MANUF.ISOTOP 9 ISOTOPE USE 10 ISO STORAGE 11 ISO DISPOSAL 12 ISO TRANSPRT 13 ISO POWERGEN
031001 is described as DELAYED DESCRIPTOR REPLICATION FACTOR This is a numeric value indicating how many times a feature is replicated and is NOT a BUFR table.
008011 METEOROLOGICAL FEATURE
0 QSTAT FRONT 1 QFRONT ALOFT 2 WARM FRONT 3 WFRONTALOFT 4 COLD FRONT 5 CFRONT ALOFT 6 OCCLUSION 7 INSTAB LINE 8 TROPIC FRONT (ITCZ) 9 CONVERG LINE 10 JET STREAM 11 CLOUD CLEAR 12 CLOUD 13 TURBULENCE 14 STORM 15 AIRFRANE ICING 16 PHENOMENON 17 VOLCANO 18 ATMOSPHERICS 19 20 SPECIAL CLOUDS
008023 SIGNIFICANCE OF FOLLOWING VALUE (FIRST ORDER STATISTICS)
0 1 2 MAXIMUM 3 MINIMUM 4 MEAN 5 MEDIAN 6 MODAL 7 MEAN ABS ERROR 8 9 STD DEV (N-1) BEST ESTIMATE 10 STD DEV (N) 11 HARMONIC MEAN 12 RMS VECTOR ERROR 13 ROOT MEAN SQUARE 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 103
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 VECTOR MEAN
019001 TYPE OF SYNOPTIC FEATURE
0 DEPRESSION 1 TROP DEPRESS 2 TROPIC STORM 3 SEVERE STORM 4 TYPHOON 5 6 7 8 9 10 DUST/SANDSTORM
020041 AIRFRAME ICING 0 NONE 1 LIGHT 2 LIGHT (CLOUD 3 LIGHT (PRECP 4 MOD 5 MOD (CLOUD) 6 MOD (PRECIP) 7 SEV 8 SEV (CLOUD) 9 SEV (PRECIP) 10 TRACE 11 TRACE (CLOUD) 12 TRACE (PRECIPITATION)
11 Contact Details
WAFC London can provide a consultancy service to assist individual clients or States in the construction of WAFS visualisation software that is fully compliant with ICAO Annex 3 and the software criteria that have been constructed by the ICAO SADIS Operations Group. Please contact WAFC London via the contact details below for further information.
WAFC London
Richard Orrell Met Office Fitzroy Road Exeter Devon EX1 3PB United Kingdom Tel: +44(0)1392 884892 Fax: +44(0)870 900 5050 Mobile: +44(0)775 388 0143 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.metoffice.gov.uk
WAFC Washington
Clinton E. Wallace Chief, Aviation Support Branch Aviation Weather Center (NOAA/NWS/NCEP)
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7220 NW 101st Terrace, Room 101 Phone: 816.584.7248 Fax: 816.880.0650 Email: [email protected]
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Annex 1 - Symbols for Significant Weather (Extract from Appendix 1 to ICAO Annex 3)
Important Note: Not all of the elements included in this Annex are utilised on WAFS SIGWX charts.(See section 3.1 point 9 for a list of those symbols that are used.)
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3. PERFORMANCE OF THE VSAT & HUB
3.1 VSATS
The list of users having authorised access to the SADIS service is provided in Annex 1 to Chapter 3. It may be noted that six approved users have selected to receive their data via the SADIS FTP service as their preferred source of data. A new indicator has been introduced to the document that lists the approved SADIS users identifying this set of users.
3.1.1 Installation Procedures
Installation of VSAT hardware can be arranged directly through one of the SADIS integrators, L-Teq and Paradigm Communications, or through one of the workstation vendors. A number of technical, logistical and administrative considerations need to be made prior to installation. It is strongly recommended that all installations are discussed with the suppliers prior to any hardware being shipped on-site.
3.1.2 Returned VSAT Hardware
It is no longer recommended to users that malfunctioning SADIS 1G hardware should be returned to the UK for repair and then brought back into operational service. It is considered to be more financially prudent to invest in new SADIS 2G hardware rather than spend capital on maintaining an obsolete technology, particularly when the cost of a new 2G receiver and megapac is compared with the average cost of repair. Therefore WAFC London has decided to cease reporting about failed SADIS 1G hardware.
MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure) figures applicable to SADIS 2G receiving hardware are provided below.
Comtech EFD SDM300A modem - 311,847 hours Radyne Comstream DD-2401L - 302,000 hours Satelcom MegaPAC 2000 - 42,486 hours (approximately 5 years)
During the past twelve months a small number of SADIS 2G users have had to return SADIS 2G hardware (receiver and/or MegaPAC) to their supplier as a result of incorrect equipment configuration. It is regrettable that these returns have had to take place at such an early stage in the SADIS 2G programme but it is expected that once the supply process becomes more established such problems will be eliminated. It may be noted that these returns were not as a result of failed hardware, rather hardware that was shipped with incorrect configurations, and in one case, an incorrect receiver being shipped. The SADIS provider has been working with the integrators in an attempt to reduce the risk of further occurrences.
3.1.3 SADIS 2G MegaPAC Configurations
The SADIS 2G hardware can be supplied to users in three different data presentation configurations.
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• UDP multicast; • TCP sockets (‘spoofed’); • X.25 PVCs (‘spoofed’).
It is possible for the user to change from one output presentation to another by using a utility called the ‘Configurator’ which is supplied with the MegaPAC units.
Regrettably the SADIS provider does report some difficulties with the implementation of the TCP/IP ‘sockets’ and UDP configurations within some of the client MegaPACs. The difficulties manifested themselves by the MegaPAC clearing connections on an erratic basis, leading to occasional loss of data. This important issue is associated with integration and interfacing between the client MegaPAC and end system (e.g. workstation or message switch). Vados Systems are working with the users concerned to ensure that a complete and robust solution is found. The SADIS provider would like to express its appreciation to the workstation vendors and users that have been affected by this issue and their constructive assistance in finding a satisfactory solution.
A report has been prepared that summarises the work that has been undertaken to isolate this issue and is provided in Annex 2 to this chapter of the management report. At the time of completing this report, work is still on-going to provide the users affected by this issue with a complete solution.
3.2 Service Interruptions a) Planned - During the past twelve months there have been 7 planned outages of short duration lasting for between five minutes and 20 minutes. These outages were scheduled primarily to allow the testing of the ISDN facility between Washington (NWSTG) and Whitehill and did not affect all three services simultaneously. These outages were brought to the attention of users prior to the event by the issuance of a SADIS administrative message (AHL: NOUK10 EGRR). b) Unplanned – There have been three unplanned interruptions to the services during the past twelve months.
• The first interruption occurred (26 October 2005) as a result of a small fire which affected the UPS which feeds computer hall 2 at the Met Office. Redundancy across the two computer halls at Exeter ensured that the interruption was limited to WAFC product creation (WAFC backup procedures were implemented); the three SADIS services stayed in operation. • The second interruption (6 December 2005) was due to human error which resulted in a temporary power down of computer hall 1. This event had an impact on all three SADIS services which were affected for up to several hours. When the individual services were brought back in to operation one-by-one, routine operation was re-established.
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• The third interruption (3 January 2006) affected just the SADIS 2G service when one of the communication routers ‘locked-up’. The outage was restricted to approximately 1 hour.
In addition to these three unplanned interruptions there were several occurrences towards the end of 2005 when OPMET and GRIB data was not correctly uploading onto the SADIS FTP service. Regrettably all of these occurrences were knock-on affects of earlier changes to the service primarily related to adding new products (e.g. KWBC BUFR data), and knock-on effects to the power down in IT hall 1 (6 December 2005).
The SADIS provider takes outages extremely seriously, particularly unplanned ones that have a direct effect on users. The three unplanned outages detailed above resulted in action and change from the highest levels within the Met Office. In particular the following events have subsequently occurred with a view to mitigating similar occurrences:-
• A contractual relationship has been modified; • Further separation of systems and circuits between the two computer halls has been implemented; • Additional automatic system monitoring has been implemented; • Additional training of helpdesk operators has been carried out; • Internal guidance material has been reviewed and enhanced.
The SADIS provider regrets any negative impacts on user operations that may have occurred as a result of any of these outages and will continue to enhance service resilience during the next 12 months.
3.3 SIGNAL LOSS
3.3.1 Sun/Satellite Conflicts
All stations will experience a temporary signal degradation or outage for a few minutes a day in two defined periods a year due to the sun and the satellite being in line. With the aid of a software program the helpdesk facility is able to confirm the date and time of occurrence of signal degradation if the exact Latitude and Longitude are provided.
Administrative messages alerting users of the probable window of conflict can be issued, but the helpdesk can confirm the period more accurately if they are given the exact latitude and longitude.
3.3.2 Data losses and re-sends
Occasionally SADIS users contact the Met Office helpdesk to request the re-send of various SADIS products. SADIS is a point to multi-point distribution service, which means that if a product is re-transmitted because a customer fails to receive it, the product
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is re-transmitted to all SADIS users. This can cause confusion. It is the policy of the helpdesk to only agree to data re-sends if it can be demonstrated that the primary broadcast of the product(s) failed, and thus a product(s) failed to be received by all SADIS users. This is straightforward to ascertain because the Helpdesk staff has access to SADIS workstations that are fed with live SADIS data from the 1G and 2G broadcasts.
The increasing number of users having access to the SADIS FTP service is helping to eliminate the need for data re-sends, unless the primary broadcast fails when they will be initiated as routine.
Data packet losses over the sky from the broadcasts continue to be extremely low. Data losses are normally associated with problems with end user hardware or software, or interfacing between the two. In section 3.1.3 of this report information is provided about the erratic loss of data from the SADIS 2G service operating in TCP configuration. This problem is the exception rather than the norm, and the SADIS services continue to provide robust performance.
Misalignment of the antenna (perhaps caused by exceptionally strong winds) has caused problems to a small number of users during the past few years.
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Annex 1 – Status of Implementation of SADIS, as of 23 January 2006
Note. — Non-operational users are indicated in italics. X = VSAT; or VSAT and FTP service; F = FTP service only
No. ICAO Contracting State User Location Operational 1. Afghanistan National Meteorological Service Kabul Airport X 2. Algeria National Meteorological Service Dar-El-Beida X
3. Armenia Hydromet Yerevan Airport X
4. Austria Austro Control Vienna X
5. Azerbaijan Air Navigation Service Baku Airport X
6. Bahrain Civil Aviation Authority Bahrain International Airport X
7. Bangladesh National Meteorological Service Dhaka Airport X
8. Belgium Belgocontrol Brussels Airport X
Belgium Eurocontrol Brussels X
9. Benin National Meteorological Service Cotonou International X Airport
10. Botswana National Meteorological Service Gaborone Airport X
11. Bulgaria Air traffic services Sofia Airport X
12. Burkina Faso National Meteorological Service Ouagadougou Airport X
Burundi National Meteorological Service
13. Cameroon National Meteorological Service Douala Airport X
Central African Republic National Meteorological Service
14. Chad National Meteorological Service N’Djamena Airport X
15. China CAAC Beijing Airport X
China CAAC Guangzhou Airport X
China Observatory Kowloon X
China Observatory Kowloon X
China Civil Aviation Authority Macau Airport X
16. Congo National Meteorological Service Brazzaville Airport X
17. Côte d'Ivoire National Meteorological Service Abidjan Airport X
18. Croatia Croatia Control Ltd. Zagreb Airport X
19. Cyprus National Meteorological Service Nicosia X
20. Czech Republic HydroMet Prague X
21. Democratic People’s Civil Aviation Authority Pyongyang Airport X Republic of Korea
22. Democratic Republic of the National Meteorological Service Kinshasa Airport X Congo
23. Denmark Meteorological Institute Copenhagen X
Denmark SAS Airline Copenhagen X Denmark Air Support A/S Billund F
24. Egypt National Meteorological Service Cairo Airport X
25. Equatorial Guinea National Meteorological Service Malabo Airport X
Eritrea National Meteorological Service
26. Estonia Air Navigation Service Tallinn Airport X
Estonia National Meteorological Service Tallinn X
27. Ethiopia National Meteorological Service Addis Ababa Airport X
Ethiopia Ethiopian Airlines Addis Ababa Airport X
28. Finland Air Navigation Services Helsinki-Vantaa Airport X (Civil Aviation Administration)
Finland Air Navigation Services Tampere ACC X (Civil Aviation Administration)
No. ICAO Contracting State User Location Operational 29. Gabon National Meteorological Service Libreville Airport X
30. Gambia National Meteorological Service Banjul Airport X
31. Georgia National Meteorological Service Tbilisi Airport X
32. Germany EuroWings Dortmund Airport X
Germany Lufthansa Frankfurt Airport X
Germany UKW Baiersdorf X
33. Ghana National Meteorological Service Accra Airport X
34. Greece National Meteorological Service Piraeus Airport X
Greece National Meteorological Service New Athens International X and Civil Aviation Authority Airport
35. Guinea National Meteorological Service Conakry Airport X
36. Hungary National Meteorological Service Budapest X Hungary Hungaro Control Ferihegi Airport X
37. Iceland IMO Reykjavik F
38. India National Meteorological Service New Delhi X
Iran (Islamic Republic of) National Meteorological Service 39. Ireland MET Eireann Dublin F
40. Italy Air traffic services Milan Malpensa Airport X
Italy Ingegnaria Software Industriale Latina X
Italy Air traffic services Rome Fiumicino Airport X
41. Jordan National Meteorological Service Queen Alia Airport X
Kazakhstan Kazaviamet
42. Kenya National Meteorological Service Nairobi Airport X
Kenya National Meteorological Service Mombasa Airport X
43. Kuwait National Meteorological Service Kuwait X
44. Lao People’s Democratic Hydromet Unit Laos Airport X Republic
45. Lebanon National Meteorological Service Beirut Airport X Libyan Arab Jamahiriya National Meteorological Service Tripoli
46. Madagascar National Meteorological Service Antananarivo/Ivato Airport X
Malawi National Meteorological Service
47. Malaysia National Meteorological Service Kuala Lumpur Airport X
48. Maldives National Meteorological Service Male Airport X Mali National Meteorological Service
49. Malta National Meteorological Service Luqa Airport X
Mauritania National Meteorological Service Nouakchott Airport
50. Mauritius National Meteorological Service Vacoas X
Mongolia Civil Aviation Authority Ulan Bator Airport
51. Mozambique National Meteorological Service Maputo X
52. Nepal National Meteorological Service Kathmandu Airport X
53. Netherlands National Meteorological Service De Bilt X
Netherlands SIGMEX Culemborg X Netherlands Casses Ltd. Amsterdam F
54. Niger National Meteorological Service Niamey Airport X
Niger National Meteorological Service EAMAC Training School X
55. Nigeria National Meteorological Service Lagos Muhammed Airport X
56. Oman National Meteorological Service Salalah Airport X
Oman National Meteorological Service Seeb Airport X 57. Pakistan NMS Karachi X 58. Poland Lufthansa Gdansk X
59. Portugal Air Force Alfragide X
Portugal National Meteorological Service Lisbon Airport X 60. Qatar Civil Aviation Authority Doha Airport X
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No. ICAO Contracting State User Location Operational 61. Republic of Korea National Meteorological Service Incheon Airport X
62. Republic of Moldova Air traffic services Chisinau Airport X
63. Romania Air traffic services Bucharest X 64. Russian Federation NMS Domodedovo Airport X Russian Federation NMS Sheremetyevo Airprt X Russian Federation NMS Vnukovo Airport X
65. Rwanda National Meteorological Service Kigali X
Sao Tome and Principe Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia
66. Saudi Arabia Saudi Airlines Jeddah Airport X Saudi Arabia Meteorological and Environment Jeddah Airport X Protection Agency (MEPA)
Saudi Arabia Presidency of Meteorology and Jeddah Airport X Environemnt (PME)
67. Senegal National Meteorological Service Dakar Airport X
Senegal ASECNA Headquarters, Dakar X
68. Serbia and Montenegro National Meteorological Service Belgrade X
Serbia and Montenegro Air traffic services Belgrade Airport X
69. Seychelles National Meteorological Service Victoria Airport X
Sierra Leone National Meteorological Service
70. South Africa Weather Bureau Pretoria X
South Africa Netsys Pretoria X
71. Sri Lanka National Meteorological Service Colombo Airport X
72. Swaziland National Meteorological Service Mbabane X
73. Sweden LFV Group – Airports and AN Arlanda Airport X Services
Sweden LFV Group – Airports and AN Sundsvall Airport X Services Sweden Flygprestanda Malmö X Sweden European Aeronautical Group Stockholm X Sweden Carmenta Göteborg F
74. Switzerland National Meteorological Service Zurich X
Switzerland National Meteorological Service Zurich X
75. Syrian Arab Republic National Meteorological Service Damascus Airport X
Syrian Arab Republic National Meteorological Service Aleppo Airport X
76. Thailand Thai Int. Airways Bangkok Airport X Thailand National Meteorological Service Suvarnabhumi Airport X
77. The former Yugoslav National Meteorological Service Skopje X Republic of Macedonia
78. Togo National Meteorological Service - Lomé X ASECNA
Tunisia National Meteorological Service Tunis Airport
79. Turkey National Meteorological Service Ankara Airport X
80. Uganda National Meteorological Service Entebbe Airport X
81. Air traffic services Kyiv X Ukraine 82.8 United Arab Emirates National Meteorological Service Abu Dhabi Airport X 2 United Arab Emirates Civil Aviation Authority Abu Dhabi Airport X
United Arab Emirates Civil Aviation Authority Abu Dhabi Airport X
United Arab Emirates Civil Aviation Authority Dubai Airport X United Arab Emirates Civil Aviation Authority Headquarters, Abu Dhabi X
83. United Kingdom British Midland Air East Midlands Airport X
United Kingdom UKMO Exeter X
United Kingdom Aviation Briefing Bristol X
United Kingdom Bytron East Midlands Airport X
United Kingdom WSI Malvern X
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No. ICAO Contracting State User Location Operational United Kingdom National Meteorological Service Benson X
United Kingdom Bradford University Bradford X United Kingdom Averist Manchester F United Kingdom Paradigm Communications Alton, Hampshire X United Kingdom Weathernews International Aberdeen X
84. United Republic of Tanzania National Meteorological Service Dar Es Salaam X
85. Viet Nam Civil Aviation Authority Hanoi X
Viet Nam National Meteorological Service Ho Chi Min City X
86. Yemen Civil Aviation Authority Sanaa Airport X
87. Zambia National Meteorological Service Lusaka X 88. Zimbabwe National Meteorological Service Harare International Airport X
— — — — — — — —
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Annex 2 – Report on Data loss from SADIS 2G user MegaPAC (dated 03 March 2006)
Data Loss Reported by Users of the SADIS 2G Service
Background Information
SADIS 2G was implemented operationally by the SADIS provider during November 2004. Implementation followed a period of testing within the UK and at a site in Zurich, Switzerland. This initial testing confirmed the stability and reliability of the service and enabled the SADISOPSG to declare the service operational.
SADIS users are provided with their hardware via the following supply chain.
This supply model was implemented so that users and workstation manufacturers could liaise directly with the experts in RF (Radio Frequency) communications as opposed to the manufacturers whose expertise lie in more discrete aspects of the service and may not have the end-to-end knowledge required to assist the users.
The SADIS 2G service requires the use of a receiver and ‘MegaPAC’ at the user locations. The ‘MegaPAC’ can be configured to present data to the user end system in one of three different formats/protocols: “spoofed” TCP/IP (WMO ‘sockets’), UDP multicast, or “spoofed” X.25 PVCs. It is possible to “toggle” between these different configurations by use of a utility called the ‘Configurator’ which has been prepared by the manufacturer of the ‘MegaPACs’.
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Problem Notification
During the latter part of 2005 the SADIS provider and Vados Systems were notified by one of the workstation vendors of intermittent data loss from a number of their site installations. At this stage the SADIS provider left the issue to Vados Systems to resolve directly with the vendor because the suspected cause of the loss was with the user MegaPAC configuration.
On 10 January 2006 the SADIS provider was contacted directly by the vendor concerned and presented with clear evidence that loss was still being experienced at a number of sites: Brussels Airport, South African Weather Service, Netsys (Pretoria, South Africa) and at a site in Romania. The symptoms of the detected loss were very similar at all sites, and some loss was detected under TCP/IP and UDP user configurations.
On 20 January 2006 the SADIS provider was contacted by the Chairman of the SADISOPSG requesting that action was taken to isolate the cause of the loss and recommend a solution. In addition the SADIS provider was requested to post information relating to MegaPAC version management on the SADIS web site.
Investigation and results
During weeks commencing 23 and 30 January 2006 the SADIS provider carried out further testing of the service. This involved ingesting data as received in Exeter from SADIS 2G into a message switch and checking for missing channel sequence numbers (CSNs). During this two week period only an extremely small number of CSNs associated with OPMET bulletins were missed. There was no loss of any GRIB or T4/PNG products. These missing CSNs could be accounted for by reasons unique to the Exeter site including temporary reductions in the RF signal.
During this 2 week period we were also provided with reception statistics from a site in Belgium and a second site in South Africa. Sporadic losses at both of these sites were not re-produced in Exeter. Log files are available from the SADIS provider to support this work.
Following this initial testing the following conclusions were drawn:
Conclusion 1: The SADIS 2G service ‘over-the-sky’ is intact and proven.
Conclusion 2: There is a proven and loss free (within acceptable tolerances) service in Exeter, UK. The reception platform used was a message switch running software provided by the vendor Corobor.
Conclusion 3: Sporadic loss detected at the remote sites continues and is not replicated at Exeter.
Conclusion 4: There is something unique to the Exeter site that is ensuring that a ‘clean’ service is being monitored.
In an attempt to further isolate this problem the SADIS provider contacted the vendor that was reporting these difficulties and requested access to their software which was identifying the data loss. This application was provided on 2 February 2006. This application was installed on a server running Linux Redhat Enterprise V3 and the live data service was re-directed to this server.
7-days of testing then commenced (6-13 February 2006). During this period there was no detected loss of any GRIB bulletins (~ 65,900 in total), or T4/PNG products (~ 900 in total). However a very small number (12) of OPMET bulletins were missed out of approximately 210,000 transmitted. This gives an OPMET data loss (at bulletin level ) of ~ 0.0057% at the Exeter site which the SADIS provider believes is way inside tolerance (and can almost certainly be explained for other reasons peculiar to our site and for general satellite communications issues).
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This additional week of testing verified all of the conclusions stated above (1-4) and enables some additional ones to be formulated.
Conclusion 5: The application that is logging data loss at the remote sites does not report loss when it receives data from the site in Exeter. Important note: the configuration of the Exeter MegaPAC is a modified version of an earlier configuration and this MegaPAC makes use of firmware version F12A.
Conclusion 6: The application interfaces to the Exeter MegaPAC without issue.
Conclusion 7: The main difference between the Exeter based configuration and the configurations used at the remote sites is within the reception MegaPACs.
To “drill down” further and attempt to isolate the cause on 13 February 2006 the Exeter based MegaPAC was replaced with a similar MegaPAC that was preinstalled with firmware version F12M (a modified version of F12A) and had a configuration loaded by an application called the ‘Configurator’ which had also been used by the vendor at the remote sites. This was believed to replicate the setup used at the remote sites that were reporting loss.
During week commencing 13 February 2006 further testing with this configuration commenced. Data loss was identified and logged by the application within 4 hours of the test commencing. A sample log file indicating loss is included in Annex A. The losses were almost exactly mirrored at one of the remote sites. This provided convincing evidence that the cause of the loss was an element common to both sites.The controlled environment in which the testing was carried out enabled the SADIS provider to isolate the cause of the loss and for two further conclusions to be formulated.
Conclusion 8: The TCP/IP client configuration installed via the ‘Configurator’ application is the cause of the loss for end systems configured to this protocol.
Conclusion 9: We have isolated the cause of the loss using TCP/IP. We have a proven TCP/IP configuration. It should be a relatively straightforward matter to ensure that the proven TCP/IP configuration is installed at all the remote sites that are reporting loss.
On the 14 February 2006 the SADIS provider made formal contact with the supplier of the ‘Configurator’ application and requested that a complete review of its specification was carried out. It was also requested that action was taken to ensure that working versions of the configuration were installed at all of the remote sites that have identified loss.
On 16 February 2006 we were informed by Vados Systems that after further testing they were now detecting some loss using the UDP client configuration. The required fix necessitated a change to the configuration of the firmware running in the uplink MegaPACs located in Exeter (PACs ‘01’ and ‘02’). No change was required to the client MegaPAC configurations. Even though appreciable effort was expended to implement this change on 16 February, there was insufficient time during normal hours and was implemented early the following week.
On 21 February 2006 engineers from Vados Systems came on-site in Exeter and implemented a number of changes to the configuration of the uplink infrastructure. These changes were implemented as a result of the loss using the UDP client configuration identified the previous week. After completion of this work testing continued and involved the participation of one of the workstation vendors.
During the morning of 22 February 2006 we received a report from the vendor that loss using UDP client configuration had not been identified from either the 220000 or 220600 model GRIB runs, and the T4/PNG formatted charts and OPMET data were also being received without loss. Unfortunately these
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initial encouraging results were proved to be not part of a trend and further results obtained on 27 February and 1 March 2006 indicated that loss using UDP was persisting.
During week commencing 27 February 2006 further testing was carried out by engineers from Vados Systems. Data breaks were detected and captured. These data samples were taken back to their laboratory for further analysis. At the time of submission of the SADIS Management report this is the current situation. A further update will be provided to the SADISOPSG/11 meeting.
Richard Orrell 03 March 2006.
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Annex A – Log file highlighting loss from Exeter based configuration which mirrored the configuration at the remote sites
$ bin/showmissing.sh START opmet.log : Mon Feb 13 17:29:15 2006 540 SASN32 ESWI 131720 META Missing 541 to 541 Mon Feb 13 17:29:25 2006 542 SPCN43 CWAO 131728 SPEC ------Mon Feb 13 17:31:08 2006 592 SAUZ31 UTTT 131730 UTTT Missing 593 to 595 Mon Feb 13 17:31:37 2006 596 SAQB31 LQBK 131730 META ------Mon Feb 13 17:45:40 2006 933 FCNG32 YBBN 131700 TAF Missing 934 to 939 Mon Feb 13 17:46:00 2006 940 FCNO34 ENMI 131700 RRA ------Mon Feb 13 17:47:46 2006 989 SPCN43 CWAO 131746 SPEC Missing 990 to 991 Mon Feb 13 17:48:06 2006 992 SAEG31 HECA 131700 META ------Mon Feb 13 18:20:03 2006 958 SALT33 EYVI 131820 META Missing 959 to 960 Mon Feb 13 18:20:14 2006 961 FCNL31 EHDB 131800 TAF ------Mon Feb 13 18:22:04 2006 983 SPCN49 CWAO 131820 SPEC Missing 984 to 987 Mon Feb 13 18:22:14 2006 988 SASA42 KWBC 131800 RRB ------Mon Feb 13 19:59:32 2006 960 SAUK34 EGGY 131950 RRA Missing 961 to 962 Mon Feb 13 20:00:02 2006 963 SPCN52 CWAO 131958 SPEC ------Mon Feb 13 20:01:32 2006 028 SACN49 CWAO 132000 META Missing 29 to 30 Mon Feb 13 20:01:42 2006 031 SPCN52 CWAO 131959 SPEC ------Mon Feb 13 20:22:48 2006 745 SASG20 GOOY 132030 META Missing 746 to 999 Mon Feb 13 20:22:58 2006 ------Mon Feb 13 20:22:58 2006 Missing 1 to 747 Mon Feb 13 20:23:08 2006 748 FTPA31 KWBC 132020 AAA ------Mon Feb 13 20:24:56 2006 801 SAVN41 KWBC 132000 Missing 802 to 802 Mon Feb 13 20:25:05 2006 803 SPCN47 CWAO 132023 SPEC ------Tue Feb 14 04:24:10 2006 439 SAUK35 EGGY 140420 META Missing 440 to 442 Tue Feb 14 04:24:29 2006 443 FTUS44 KWBC 140418 AAA ------Tue Feb 14 04:26:10 2006 487 SASA85 EGRR 140400 RRA Missing 488 to 488 Tue Feb 14 04:26:20 2006 489 SASA85 EGRR 140400 RRB ------Tue Feb 14 04:43:01 2006 765 SPCN52 CWAO 140441 SPEC Missing 766 to 766 Tue Feb 14 04:43:51 2006 767 SPCN42 CWAO 140442 SPEC ------Tue Feb 14 04:45:12 2006 786 SASN33 ESWI 140420 META Missing 787 to 790 Tue Feb 14 04:45:41 2006 791 FTNG31 YBBN 140400 TAF ------
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Tue Feb 14 04:45:52 2006 797 SATU31 LTAA 140420 RRC Missing 798 to 801 Tue Feb 14 04:46:31 2006 802 FCCN48 CWAO 140400 AAA ------Tue Feb 14 04:47:42 2006 812 SAKN20 HKNC 140400 RRA Missing 813 to 813 Tue Feb 14 04:48:12 2006 814 SAEG32 HECA 140400 META ------Tue Feb 14 04:50:55 2006 860 SALT32 EYVI 140450 META Missing 861 to 861 Tue Feb 14 04:51:05 2006 862 SASN35 ESWI 140420 RRA ------Tue Feb 14 04:52:55 2006 887 SAMX41 KWBC 140445 META Missing 888 to 888 Tue Feb 14 04:53:05 2006 889 SAEU31 BKPR 140500 META ------Tue Feb 14 04:56:57 2006 004 SABZ24 SBCT 140500 META Missing 5 to 5 Tue Feb 14 04:57:07 2006 006 SABZ20 SBSL 140500 META ------Tue Feb 14 04:58:57 2006 046 SACH10 SCSC 140500 META Missing 47 to 47 Tue Feb 14 04:59:07 2006 048 SAUK37 EGGY 140450 META ------Tue Feb 14 04:59:57 2006 073 SABZ20 SBSN 140500 META Missing 74 to 74 Tue Feb 14 05:00:07 2006 075 FTEE31 LOWM 140400 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:01:59 2006 191 SACN44 CWAO 140500 META Missing 192 to 208 Tue Feb 14 05:02:19 2006 209 FCSR31 WSSS 140500 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:06:27 2006 462 SAHK31 VHHH 140500 META Missing 463 to 463 Tue Feb 14 05:06:37 2006 464 FTBZ31 KWBC 140459 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:06:37 2006 468 SAEW33 LEMM 140500 META Missing 469 to 476 Tue Feb 14 05:06:56 2006 477 FCIY40 LIIB 140500 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:08:38 2006 517 FTMX65 MMMX 140500 TAF Missing 518 to 519 Tue Feb 14 05:08:48 2006 520 SAAG41 SAZM 140500 META ------Tue Feb 14 05:13:23 2006 672 SPCN46 CWAO 140511 SPEC Missing 673 to 673 Tue Feb 14 05:13:33 2006 674 SAUS57 EGGY 140500 RRA ------Tue Feb 14 05:15:03 2006 696 SASA41 EGGY 140500 META Missing 697 to 703 Tue Feb 14 05:15:23 2006 704 SARA33 RUMS 140500 UIAA ------Tue Feb 14 05:17:04 2006 746 SACG21 FCBB 140500 META Missing 747 to 751 Tue Feb 14 05:17:24 2006 752 FTMX42 KWBC 140514 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:31:36 2006 038 FTUS80 KWBC 140528 RRE Missing 39 to 43 Tue Feb 14 05:31:56 2006 044 SPCN43 CWAO 140528 SPEC ------Tue Feb 14 05:33:37 2006 080 SAIE31 EIDB 140530 META Missing 81 to 82 Tue Feb 14 05:33:47 2006 083 SAEG31 HECA 140530 HECA ------Tue Feb 14 05:45:13 2006 345 SAQB31 LQSM 140530 META
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Missing 346 to 346 Tue Feb 14 05:45:24 2006 347 FCDN33 EKCH 140500 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:46:28 2006 368 SAAS31 VTBB 140530 RRB Missing 369 to 369 Tue Feb 14 05:47:06 2006 370 FTUS53 KWBC 140545 TAF ------Tue Feb 14 05:48:17 2006 394 SPCN44 CWAO 140547 SPEC Missing 395 to 395 Tue Feb 14 05:49:07 2006 396 SPUS43 KWBC 140546 SPEC ------START t4.log : Mon Feb 13 16:31:47 2006 54847 PGCE15 EGRR 130600 DF Missing 54848 to 54848 Mon Feb 13 16:32:17 2006 54849 PGDE15 EGRR 130600 DF ------Mon Feb 13 16:36:43 2006 54871 JUOE00 EGRR 130600 BU Missing 54872 to 54872 Mon Feb 13 21:47:21 2006 54873 JUNE00 KKCI 131200 BU ------Tue Feb 14 04:06:55 2006 54944 PGDE29 KKCI 131800 P Missing 54945 to 54945 Tue Feb 14 04:30:54 2006 54946 JUBE99 EGRR 131800 BU ------START grib.log : Mon Feb 13 15:32:15 2006 274 HHLG97 EGRR 131200 GRIB Missing 275 to 275 Mon Feb 13 20:15:30 2006 276 HHNB85 EGRR 131800 GRIB ------Mon Feb 13 20:22:58 2006 880 HVJC25 EGRR 131800 GRIB Missing 881 to 884 Mon Feb 13 20:23:01 2006 885 HVOC20 EGRR 131800 GRIB ------Mon Feb 13 20:24:57 2006 034 HHLC25 EGRR 131800 GRIB Missing 35 to 38 Mon Feb 13 20:25:01 2006 039 HHIC20 EGRR 131800 GRIB ------$
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4. DATA AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS & SOURCE
4.1 Data Availability
4.1.1 Summary of Administrative Messages issued between April 2005 and March 2006.
The number of SADIS administrative messages issued between April 2005 and March 2006 totalled 51 . This is an increase of 34 on the number issued during the same period last year. This significant increase can largely be attributed to the planned and unplanned outages which occurred during the year and the relatively large number of changes to the broadcast products which have occurred during the same period.
Administrative messages issued under headings NOUK10, 11, 13, 31 and NOBX99 are summarised below.
Admin Messages issued between April 2005 and March 2006 by message type
SADIS USER GUIDE 0 New charts and products 15 Planned Outages 21 Unplanned Outages 11 Backup Test Notification 5 Misc 0
Admin Messages issued between April 2004 and March 2005 by message type
SADIS USER GUIDE 0 New charts and products 8 Planned Outages 2 Unplanned Outages 0 Backup Test Notification 6 Misc 2
The approved ADMIN message headers automatically routed to SADIS included:
NOUK10 EGRR – generally used to advise on model or product difficulties. This is the preferred bulletin header for general administration messages. NOUK 11 EGRR – general advice messages (engineering outages etc). NOUK13 EGRR - SADIS user Guide Updates (ICAO can only authorise these messages). NOUK31 EGGY - NATS Advisory messages NOBX99 EBBR - European OPMET DATA bank Catalogue UPDATES.
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4.1.2 Administrative Messages Issued by SADIS Gateway
One of the important functionalities of the SADIS Gateway is to notify SADIS users when OPMET reports from a configurable list of aerodromes are not available to the SADIS provider for uplink onto the satellite. These notifications are made by the automatic issuance of SADIS Gateway administrative messages which have a header NOUK32 EGGY.
Additional bulletins are issued by operators of the SADIS Gateway as necessary to request the re-send of missing bulletins and to inform users of ad-hoc problems. These bulletins and the headers assigned to them are summarised below.
NOUK32 NATS advisory messages, Automatic SADIS Monitor EGGY Messages (see below)
NOUK33 NATS advisory messages, Manually generated by EGGY SADIS Gateway Operators for SADIS users informing them of the nature of a problem
NOUK34 NATS advisory messages, Manually generated by EGGY SADIS Gateway Operators for data providers and communications centres requesting information on missing data.
In order to make it easier for SADIS users to identify if a particular aerodrome or bulletin is missing, the bulletins and aerodromes are ordered alphabetically in the notifying administrative message.
A LAST RECEIVED AT time is provided for each aerodrome or bulletin that is the subject of an alarm in an administrative message.
Examples are shown below.
Example 1 Bulletin Message NOUK32 EGGY 231233 SADIS GATEWAY MONITOR BULLETINS NOT RECEIVED
FCHJ20 FAPR LAST RECEIVED AT 231000Z FCJH32 ESSA LAST RECEIVED AT 231000Z
FTHJ20 FAPR LAST RECEIVED AT 231000Z FTJH32 ESSA LAST RECEIVED AT 231000Z
SAKL23 EGLL LAST RECEIVED AT 231050Z SAOS31 EGLL LAST RECEIVED AT 231110Z END OF MESSAGE
Example 2 Aerodrome Message
NOUK32 EGGY 231233 SADIS GATEWAY MONITOR AERODROME DATA NOT RECEIVED
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EGNT SA LAST RECEIVED AT 231950Z FAPR SA LAST RECEIVED AT 231000Z FAPR FC LAST RECEIVED AT 231000Z KJFK FT LAST RECEIVED AT 230930Z END OF MESSAGE
Example 3 Advisory Messages for SADIS Users
NOUK33 EGGY 231233 SADIS GATEWAY MONITOR FOLLOWING AN INVESTIGATION THE STATION/S BELOW IS/ARE UNAVAILABLE DUE TO PROBLEMS AT THE REPORTING STATION/S KJFK END OF MESSAGE
NOUK33 EGGY 231233 SADIS GATEWAY MONITOR FOLLOWING AN INVESTIGATION THE STATION/BULLETIN BELOW IS UNAVAILABLE DUE TO PROBLEMS AT THE BULLETIN COMPILING CENTRE. LIMM END OF MESSAGE
NOUK33 EGGY 231233 SADIS GATEWAY MONITOR FOLLOWING AN INVESTIGATION, THE IS A COMMS FAILURE BETWEEN EGGY AND WSSS THIS WILL AFFECT ALL BULLETINS FROM ASIA/PAC REGION. END OF MESSAGE
Example 4 Advisory Message for Data Providers/Comms Centres
NOUK34 EGGY 231233 SADIS GATEWAY MONITOR WE HAVE NOTICED THE FOLLOWING STATIONS ARE NOT AVAILABLE PLEASE INVESTIGATE AND REPORT BACK TO EGGY (Address to be confirmed). RKSS END OF MESSAGE
4.1.3 SIGWX Chart Areas
i. High-level WAFS SIGWX (SWH) (FL250 – 630) chart areas: B,C, D, E, G, H and K are produced by WAFC London. Examples of WAFS SIGWX charts generated by WAFC London are shown in the Annex to Chapter 4.
ii. Medium-level WAFS SIGWX (SWM) (FL100 to FL450) SIGWX charts produced by WAFC London: EUR, MEA, ASIA SOUTH., and produced by WAFC Washington: NAT.
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iii. High-level WAFS SIGWX chart areas A (Americas), H (NAT), I (North Pacific), J (South Polar), M (North Pacific) and F (South Pacific) are produced by WAFC Washington. Examples of these are shown in the annex.
All T.4 and PNG SIGWX charts are distributed on SADIS as soon as they are made available to the Met Office message switch – FROST – from the two WAFC production centres.
4.1.4 WAFS GRIB-1 Data
The figures included in the table below apply to the message switch that feeds data to SADIS, and indicates that the 90% and 95% availability for the T+24 maximum wind field (used as a control) is almost always available before 0410/1610 UTC. Figures for the dissemination of 0600 and 1800 UTC model GRIB are not available.
FROST 0000 1200 UTC UTC 0000+1200
< < > < < > < < > HH+ HH+ HH+ 04:05 04:10 04:09 16:05 16:10 16:09 04:05 04:10 04:09 MMM 90% 95% 90% 95% 90% 95% 2005 MAR 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 APR 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 MAY 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 JUN 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 JUL 100 100 0 97 97 3 98 98 2 AUG 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 SEP 99 99 1 100 100 0 99 99 1 OCT 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 NOV 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 DEC 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 2006 JAN 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0 FEB 100 100 0 100 100 0 100 100 0
4.1.5 Sources of OPMET Data
The SADIS Gateway has been the provider of OPMET data for SADIS throughout the year. The Gateway sources its data via the AFTN and from the Met Office message switch, FROST. FROST is an integral part of the GTS and connected via a number of bilateral links with other national meteorological services (NMSs).
4.2 BUFR Encoded SIGWX Products
The structure and encoding sequence of the WAFS BUFR encoded bulletins has remained stable and consistent following the full implementation of BUFR encoded SWM data. As part of the software evaluations there have been discussions with vendors about modifying some aspects of the encoding structures but this possibility is not considered desirable unless other more significant changes approved by the SADISOPSG and/or WAFSOPSG are introduced at the same time. This is to ensure that users are not inconvenienced unnecessarily. Any changes to the BUFR structure or encoding sequence necessitate downstream changes to user software.
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The modification to the depiction of jet depth information referred to in section 2.3.2.8 does not require a modification to the BUFR encoding sequence. This ensures that user BUFR decoding software does not need to be modified, however BUFR visualisation software will need to change to ensure that the depth is displayed correctly. Guidance material has been prepared and is available in V2.8 of the document “Representing WAFS Significant Weather (SIGWX) Data in BUFR”.
Future changes to the BUFR encoded bulletins will be communicated to users via the WAFS Change Notice Board which has been established at http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/WAFS%20change%20notice%20board.pdf.
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Annex 1 to Chapter 4
Examples of SWH WAFS Charts 4-1 to 4-7
WAFS Charts: Area K (SIO), Area D (ASIA), Area E (INDOC), Area G (MID), Area H (NAT), Area C (AFI), Area B (EURSAM) (Produced by WAFC London)
Examples of SWM/SWH Charts (FL100 to FL450) 4-8 to 4-11
Charts: EUR, MEA, ASIA SOUTH, NAT (Produced by WAFC London, except the NAT chart)
Examples of SWH WAFS Charts 4-12 to 4-17
Charts covering ICAO regions Area A (The Americas), Area I (North Pacific), Area F (South Pacific), Area M (North Pacific), Area J (South Polar), and Area H (NAT). (Produced by WAFC Washington)
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4 - 1 ICAO Region K – SIO (Chart AHL: PGKE06 EGRR)
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4 - 2 ICAO Region D – Asia (Chart AHL: PGZE06 EGRR)
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4 - 3 ICAO Region E – INDOC (Chart AHL: PGGE06 EGRR)
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4 - 4 ICAO Region G – MID (Chart AHL: PGCE06 EGRR)
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4 - 5 ICAO Region H – NAT (Chart AHL: PGAE06 EGRR)
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4 - 6 ICAO Region C – AFI (Chart AHL: PGRE06 EGRR)
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4 - 7 ICAO Region B - EUR/SAM (Chart AHL: PGSE06 EGRR)
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4 - 8 ICAO Area EURO (Chart AHL: PGDE15 EGRR)
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4 - 9 ICAO Area MEA (Chart AHL: PGCE15 EGRR)
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4 - 10 ICAO Area Asia South (Chart AHL: PGZE15 EGRR)
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4-11 ICAO Area H (NAT) (Chart AHL: PGNE15 KKCI; PGNE14 KKCI PNG variant)
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4 -12 ICAO Region A - The Americas (Chart AHL: PGEE07 KKCI; PGEE05 KKCI PNG variant)
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4-13 ICAO Region I - North Pacific (Chart AHL: PGBE07 KKCI; PGBE05 KKCI PNG variant)
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4-14 ICAO Area F – South Pacific (Chart AHL: PGGE07 KKCI; PGGE05 KKCI PNG )
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4-15 ICAO Area M – North Pacific (Chart AHL: PGDE30 KKCI; PGDE29 KKCI PNG variant)
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4-16 ICAO Area J – South Polar (Chart AHL: PGJE07 KKCI; PGJE05 KKCI PNG variant)
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4-17 ICAO Area H – NAT (Chart AHL: PGAE07 KKCI; PGAE05 KKCI PNG variant)
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5. USER SERVICES
5.1 Help Desk
5.1.1 Met Office Help Desk
A 24 hour help desk facility is available at WAFC London, and remains the initial point of contact for SADIS customer queries. A Service Provision Agreement (SPA) at the Met Office defines the service available. Users should note that this facility can be accessed via telephone - +00 44 (0)1344 856666, via fax +00 44 (0)1344 854412, and via e-mail [email protected] This agreement is defined at Annex 1 to Chapter 5.
A new web based query submission process has been introduced. This facility is available from http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/sadis_query_form.html User are requested to provide as much information related to the query as possible during any submission. In particular when queries relate to missing or sporadic OPMET data please can the originator include specific details related to the missing bulletin including date/time and bulletin headers. Posting a query through this facility sends the request directly to the Met Officer helpdesk operators.
5.1.2 SADIS Gateway Help Desk
Whilst the Met Office help desk is the first point of contact for all queries related to SADIS, questions related to OPMET data may be referred to the SADIS Gateway help desk which is provided by National Air Traffic Services Ltd.
5.2 Hardware Returns Procedure
Users experiencing difficulties with the 1G hardware are strongly advised to consider purchasing new SADIS 2G reception hardware rather than continuing to invest in legacy hardware. It is unlikely that EADS Astrium and BURS Ltd. will support legacy hardware.
Users experiencing any difficulties with 2G hardware shipped by either L-Teq or Paradigm Communications are advised to contact them directly with regards to arranging for units to be returned to the UK for replacement or repair.
Vados Systems MegaPAC hardware can be remotely interrogated by the supplier. This facility enables remote diagnostics to be carried out and if necessary the installation of new MegaPAC software directly by the supplier.
Average MTTR (mean-time-to-repair) figure for the client 2G MegPAC is 42,486 hours (approximately 5 years).
At the time of writing this report no SADIS 2G hardware has been retuned for repair as a result of failure. However a number of units have been replaced as a result of incorrect configuration settings.
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5.3 SADIS FTP Service
The SADIS FTP service is available to all approved SADIS or ISCS recipients. This service provides users with an alternative, internet based mechanism for receiving WAFS and OPMET data.
Approximately 100 accounts have been established on the service, and 40 of these are used on a regular basis. Even though the majority of users access data via this service as their backup or secondary data source, it is being used increasingly as a primary source of operational data.
A significant number of enhancements to the FTP service are planned over the next few years, subject to the approval by the SADISOPSG/11. These enhancements build on the high levels of IT security and resilience currently available to users and also address the issue of non-repudiation, i.e. proof that data distributed has originated from WAFC London. If these enhancements are implemented users can expect to receive additional information over the next few years about what they will mean to them and what extra opportunities will become available.
Further detailed information about the SADIS FTP Service is provided in Annex 1.
5.4 SADIS User Guide
Edition 3 of the SADIS User Guide (officially published by ICAO in June 2004) is available for viewing direct from the ICAO web site at URL:
http://www.icao.int/ANB/SADISOPSG/sug/
The SADIS User Guide is available in English, French, Russian, Arabic and Spanish.
Annex 1 of the SADIS User Guide is available for viewing from the ICAO web site.
http://www.icao.int/ANB/SADISOPSG/sug/sug_annex1.pdf
Annexes 2 and 3 of the SADIS User Guide are available for viewing from the ICAO web site at URL:
http://www.icao.int/ANB/SADISOPSG/sug/sug_annex2.pdf
http://www.icao.int/ANB/SADISOPSG/sug/sug_annex3.pdf
Annex 2 of the SADIS User Guide identifies for each aerodrome, the relevant SA, FC, and FT bulletins in which the stations report are listed. The current Annex 3 of the SADIS User Guide identifies the bulletins and the aerodromes contained within each bulletin for each ICAO Region.
Annexes 2 and 3 of the SADIS User Guide contain those bulletins that are automatically routed to the broadcast and have been seen at the SADIS Gateway. If designated bulletins are received at the SADIS Gateway, then they will be automatically routed and broadcast on SADIS. Bulletins (that may contain reports for aerodromes listed in SADIS User Guide Annex 1) which are never received by the Gateway will obviously be unable to be broadcast on SADIS.
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5.5 SADIS Web Page
The SADIS web page is available from URL:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis
There have been no significant changes to the web page during the past twelve months but a number of updates to information have been made. These include:-
• Updates to vendor contact information - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/about/manufacturers.html and http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/about/manufacturers_full.html
• Results from the latest software evaluation - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/software/index.html
• A new web based query submission form has been added - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/sadis_query_form.html
• Operational administrative messages (NOUK10 EGRR) have been updated - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/news/index.html
In addition a number of important user notification documents have been added to the ICAO web site. These documents are updated on a regular basis.
• WAFS Change Notice Board (used to inform users of pending changes to SADIS and WAFS) - http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/WAFS%20change%20notice%20board.pdf
• Details of forthcoming WAFC backup tests - http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/Forthcoming%20WAFC%20Backup%20Tests.pdf
• Results from recent WAFC backup tests - http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/Recent%20Chronology%20of%20WAFC%20Backup%20Tests .pdf
• Representing Significant Weather (SIGWX) data in BUFR V2.8 (User BUFR Guidelines document) – http://www.icao.int/anb/wafsopsg/WAFS%20SIGWX%20BUFR-V2-8.pdf
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Annex 1 - SADIS FTP Service Technical Information Document
The SADIS FTP Service
Version 3.1
December 2005
World Area Forecast Centre (WAFC) London
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Table of Contents
Section Page Number
1. Introduction 5
2. User Access 5
3. General Service Information 5
4. Customer Login Process 6
5. File Formats 6
6. SADIS FTP Service Directory Structure 8
6.1 AIRMET 8 6.2 BUFR 9 6.3 GAMET 10 6.4 GRIB1 Encoded Data 11 6.5 OPMET 11 6.6 OPMET_last_5mins 11 6.7 OPMET_set_of_5min_files 11 6.8 OPMET_last_hour 12 6.9 OPMET_daily_hourly_files 12 6.10 SADIS_Administrative Messages 12 6.11 SIGWX_PNG 12 6.12 Special_AIREP 12 6.13 T4_Charts 13 6.14 T4_chart-amends 14 6.15 Tropical_Cyclone_Advisories 14 6.16 Volcanic_Ash_Advisory_Statements 14 6.17 Volcanic_Ash_Dispersion_Graphics 14 6.18 last_18_hours_data 15 7. Contact Information 15
8. Users wishing to access the service with no/poor internet 15 connectivity
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DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION SHEET
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION
Document title: Representing The SADIS FTP Service
Document Reference Number Issue : Version 3.1
Date Of Issue : 05/12/2005
Abstract
This document provides detailed information about accessing WAFS and OPMET data from the SADIS FTP Service.
Keywords: WAFS SADIS FTP
Disk Reference/ File Name : P:\Electronic Files\M-ca-\10 - ICAO\M-CA-10-7 SADIS OPS G\General SADIS Documents and Files
Tel: E-mail: Contact : R Orrell (WAFC London) +44 (0)1392 884892 [email protected]
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DOCUMENT APPROVAL
Action Responsibility Name Signature Date
Author WAFC London Richard Orrell
Accepted
Document Change Record
ISSUE DATE REASON FOR CHANGE SECTION PAGES AFFECTED 2.8 14/07/05 First issue which includes formal change All control. 2.9 04/08/05 Modification to text Section 6.9 3.0 18/10/05 Statement that WAFC Washington PNG Section 6.11 formatted SIGWX charts are now available from server. 3.1 05/12/05 Include information about new KWBC Sections 6.2 and 6.4 GRIB data and KKCI BUFR data availability.
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The SADIS FTP Service
1. Introduction
The SADIS FTP Service is provided by the Met Office as a high quality internet source of WAFS and OPMET data. This facility is available to all approved SADIS or ISCS recipients. The SADIS FTP Service is an ICAO approved distribution system and an integral part of the SADIS service.
The service is provided by server hardware which is part of a high performance cluster which ensures redundancy. Data is transmitted to the server directly from the Met Office message switch - FROST. The data is transmitted in real time and is placed on the server at the same time as it is transmitted on the live SADIS broadcasts, thus making the SADIS FTP Service a truly real time system.
2. User Access
Any approved SADIS (see http://www.icao.int/ANB/SADISOPSG/status%20of%20implementation.pdf) or ISCS recipient is entitled to access the service. Any user who is not currently authorised to access the SADIS broadcast and is not a user of ISCS service will need to receive authority from their State Meteorological Authority before access is provided.
A request to activate an account on the service should be directed to Richard Orrell at WAFC London (Email: [email protected] or Telephone: +44 (0)1392 88 4892).
3. General Service Information
The SADIS FTP Service is a real-time data library. The service does not include visualisation software or the ability to construct products "on-the-fly". Visualisation of products extracted from the service will require additional software. Many commercial suppliers of such software are available, (see http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/sadis/about/manufacturers_full.html)
Data formats on the SADIS FTP Service are of the same type as the same products obtained via SADIS, namely:
OPMET, AIRMETs, GAMETs – Text format SIGWX Charts – T.4 facsimile format BUFR encoded high level SIGWX information – BUFR; FM 94 BUFR (Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data GRIB encoded wind, temperature and humidity information – GRIB1 format; WMO code FM 92 -IX Ext., and is described in full detail in "WMO Manual on Codes, Volume I, Part B (WMO No. 306). Volcanic ash trajectory/dispersion charts – T.4 facsimile format Volcanic ash and tropical cyclone advisory statements - Text format
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Customer usage of the service will be monitored. Files will be created logging which products users download. If a customer appears to be abusing the service then their access may be barred.
A guaranteed bandwidth of 2Mbits/s (bursting to 4Mbits/s) is allocated to this service between the server and the Met Office ISPs. Delivery of products beyond the Met Office ISPs (i.e. over the internet between the user and the Met Office ISPs) is outside of the control of the Met Office.
For security reasons the list of UNIX commands that are permissible when accessing the service are limited to “dir”, “get” and “ls”.
4. Customer Login Process
Individual customer accounts will be established on the server. These will be accessed via a unique set of login information: a username, and a password. The Met Office will provide this information to each user on an individual basis when requested.
Workstation software needs to be constructed in such a way as to automate the login process. The software needs to be able to store the customer’s login details and send these directly to the server when required. FTP sessions need to be established by the user. The service does not provide a "push" facility, i.e. the user has to collect ("pull") data by initiating FTP sessions rather than expected rather to be sent automatically.
General login information for the service:
IP Address: 151.170.240.63 Server name: sadis.metoffice.gov.uk Domain name: metoffice.gov.uk FTP address: ftp sadis Access via web browser: ftp://[username]:[password]@sadis.metoffice.gov.uk
5. File formats
All files on the SADIS FTP Service follow the WMO FTP 00 standard.
All concatenated files follow this format:
^CMessage Length Bulletin Number Bulletin Header Actual Data
Explicitly this means that the first line of each concatenation begins with a ^C character except the very first line in a concatenated file which does not have the ^C character but follows the rest of the format detailed above. The example below contains the very first three concatenated files from an OPMET file. 0000053600^A^M^M [There is no ^C character, but the digits give the message length] 387^M^M [This is the bulletin number] 153
SAFR41 LFPW 181300^M^M [This is the standard WMO bulletin header (AHL)] LFBG 181300Z 17004KT CAVOK 08/02 Q1024=^M^M LFBI 181300Z 20005KT 9999 SCT040 BKN050 07/04 Q1023 NOSIG=^M^M LFBL 181300Z 13003KT 9999 SCT016 BKN043 05/02 Q1023 NOSIG=^M^M LFKC 181300Z 33006KT 9999 FEW036 12/03 Q1020 NOSIG=^M^M LFKF 181300Z 25013KT 230V300 9999 SCT037 13/04 Q1020 NOSIG=^M^M LFLB 181300Z 35002KT 8000 FEW026 04/M02 Q1024 NOSIG=^M^M LFLD 181300Z 23005KT 3500 BR BKN004 05/05 Q1023=^M^M LFLV 181300Z 17005KT 130V210 9999 OVC026 05/00 Q1023=^M^M LFTH 181300Z 12004KT 080V170 9999 FEW030 13/05 Q1020 NOSIG=^M^M ^C0000029700^A^M^M [^C character, followed by the message length] 388^M^M [This is the bulletin number] SABN31 OBBI 181300^M^M [This is the standard WMO bulletin header (AHL)] OBBI 181300Z 33022KT 9999 FEW025 17/10 Q1020 NOSIG= ^M^M OEDF 181300Z 32016KT CAVOK 17/M04 Q1020 NOSIG= ^M^M OEDR 181300Z 30012KT CAVOK 16/05 Q1019 NOSIG=^M^M OTBD 181300Z 32014KT 260V360 9999 FEW025 18/09 Q1019 NOSIG=^M^M OKBK 181300Z 32014KT CAVOK 17/00 Q1022 NOSIG=^M^M ^C0000013500^A^M^M [^C character, followed by the message length] 389^M^M [This is the bulletin number] SACN31 CWAO 181300^M^M [This is the standard WMO bulletin header (AHL)] METAR CYJT 181300Z 07005KT 15SM -SHSN SCT025 BKN038 M06/M08 A2976 RMK^M^M SC4SC3 VSBY LWR N-NE SLP078=^M^M [etc..etc..]
All non-concatenated files (BUFR, T4 products, advisories, GAMETs, AIRMETs) follow the same format but do not contain the ^C character at the start of the file.
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6. SADIS FTP Service Directory Structure
Top Level Directory Structure of the SADIS Standard Service
AIRMET BUFR GAMET GRIB OPMET OPMET_daily_hourly_files OPMET_last_5mins OPMET_last_hour OPMET_set_of_5min_files SADIS_Administrative_Messages Special_AIREP T4_Charts T4_chart_amends Tropical_Cyclone_Advisories Volcanic_Ash_Advisory_Statements Volcanic_Ash_Dispersion_Graphics last_18hours_data
6.1 AIRMET
(Available for just the European Region, in line with SADISOPSG Conclusion 7/8)
Within this directory are 4 files.
All AIRMET bulletins received between: 0000UTC and 0559UTC are written to file AIRMETs_00_to_06 0600UTC and 1159UTC are written to AIRMETs_06_to_12 1200UTC and 1759UTC are written to AIRMETs_12_to_18 1800UTC and 2359UTC are written to AIRMETs_18_to_00
All files are kept for 24 hours and then deleted to make way for new sets of data: 00_to_06 files are deleted at 2355 06_to_12 files are deleted at 0555 12_to_18 files are deleted at 1155 18_to_00 files are deleted at 1755
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6.2 BUFR
Please Note: All files contained within directory BUFR are in binary.
Sub-directories CAT, Embedded_CB, Fronts, JETS and TROP contain data valid for high level WAFS SIGWX (SWH) charts (FL250 to FL630). Sub-directories M_CAT, M_CLOUD, M_FRONTS, M_JETS and M_TROP contain data valid for medium level WAFS SIGWX (SWM) charts (FL100 to FL450). Sub-directory Other_Parameters contains data which is common to both SWH and SWM charts.
Sub-directory KKCI contains eleven further sub-directories:
H_CAT H_Embedded_CB H_Fronts H_JETS H_TROP M_CAT M_CLOUD M_FRONTS M_JETS M_TROP Other_Parameters
These sub-directories contain data valid for SWH and SWM charts which is produced by WAFC Washington. For SWM this routinely includes data to cover SWM area NAT.
All of these directories are populated by files that contain the raw BUFR bulletins. 36 hours worth of BUFR data files is stored in each directory. File names are of the format JU*E**_EGRR_ddTTtt.
The sub directories are:
CAT Embedded_CB Fronts JETS KKCI M_CAT M_CLOUD M_FRONTS M_JETS M_TROP Other_Parameters TROP
BUFR charts based on 0000 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 10:00 and 11:00 (Nominal issue time is 10:30)
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BUFR charts based on 0600 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 16:00 and 17:00 (Nominal issue time is 16:30)
BUFR charts based on 1200 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 22:00 and 23:00 (Nominal issue time is 22:30)
BUFR charts based on 1800 UTC model run - T+24 issued between 04:00 and 05:00 (Nominal issue time is 04:30)
BUFR FEATURES COMMON NAME WMO HEADER WMO HEADER used used by WAFC by WAFC London Washington Jet-streams JETS JUWE96 EGRR JUWE96 KKCI Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) CAT JUCE00 EGRR JUCE00 KKCI Embedded Cumulo-nimbus CLOUD JUBE99 EGRR JUBE99 KKCI Tropopause height TROP JUTE97 EGRR JUTE97 KKCI Frontal Systems FRONTS JUFE00 EGRR JUFE00 KKCI Tropical Cyclone, Sandstorms & V_T_S or JUVE00 EGRR JUVE00 KKCI Volcanoes Other_Parameters SWM Tropopause height M-TROP JUOE00 EGRR JUOE00 KKCI SWM jet-streams M-JETS JUTE00 EGRR JUTE00 KKCI SWM fronts M-FRONTS JUJE00 EGRR JUJE00 KKCI SWM cloud, in-cloud icing and M-CLOUD JUNE00 EGRR JUNE00 KKCI turbulence SWM Clear Air Turbulence (C.A.T.) M-CAT JUME00 EGRR JUME00 KKCI
6.3 GAMETs
(Available for just the European Region, in line with SADISOPSG Conclusion 7/8)
Within this directory are 4 files.
All GAMET bulletins received between: 0000UTC and 0559UTC are written to GAMETs_00_to_06 0060UTC and 1159UTC are written to GAMETs_06_to_12 1200UTC and 1759UTC are written to GAMETs_12_to_18 1800UTC and 2359UTC are written to GAMETs_18_to_00
All files are kept for 24 hours and then deleted to make way for a new set of data: 00_to_06 files will be deleted at 2355 06_to_12 files will be deleted at 0555 12_to_18 files will be deleted at 1155 18_to_00 files will be deleted at 1755
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6.4 GRIB1 Encoded Data
Please Note: All files contained within directory GRIB are in binary.
The sub-directories of GRIB are a breakdown to the following directories:
KWBC_GRIB T+12 T+18 T+24 T+30 T+36 T+6
The first sub-directory (KWBC_GRIB) contains (via further sub-directories) downloadable concatenated files which provide WAFC Washington thinned GRIB data. The information below is equally applicable to these files.
Within each of the other 6 directories are a number of downloadable files of name format T+XX_TTtt. 24 hours worth of data is stored in each of these directories, 4 files should be present because there are 4 GRIB runs per day.
Each file is a concatenation of all individual GRIB bulletins that are valid for each GRIB validity period. For example file T+12_0000 will contain all WAFS GRIB files (including all parameters) which were produced from the midnight model run and are valid for T+12.
End user software will need to extract individual bulletins from each concatenated file. Each concatenated file is approximately 1.6MB in size.
6.5 OPMET
OPMET data is stored on the SADIS FTP Service in a variety of different ways. Directory OPMET is one such way and contains a list of 24 files of name format TTZ, which contain 60 minutes worth of OPMET data. For example file named 00Z will contain a concatenation of all OPMET bulletins between 00:00Z and 00:59Z. All 24 files are held on the server, and simply updated each time a new file is created.
6.6 OPMET_last_5mins
This file is populated and updated every 5 minutes. It contains a concatenation of the last 5 minutes of OPMET bulletins. This is the file that needs to be regularly downloaded if a user wishes to have permanent access to the very latest OPMET data.
6.7 OPMET_set_of_5min_files
This directory contains 11 files of name format OPMET_TTtt. These 11 files are created every hour (TT).
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In the array below the numbers in quotes correspond to the file extensions (tt) for the set of 5- min files that are updated at the times stated. New data (from file OPMET_last_5mins) gets appended to the relevant files every five minutes.
@ 5 mins past each hour: ("05","10","15","20","25","30","35","40","45","50","55"); @ 10 mins past each hour: ("10","15","20","25","30","35","40","45","50","55"); @ 15 mins past each hour: ("15","20","25","30","35","40","45","50","55"); @ 20 mins past each hour: ("20","25","30","35","40","45","50","55"); @ 25 mins past each hour: ("25","30","35","40","45","50","55"); @ 30 mins past each hour: ("30","35","40","45","50","55"); @ 35 mins past each hour: ("35","40","45","50","55"); @ 40 mins past each hour: ("40","45","50","55"); @ 45 mins past each hour: ("45","50","55"); @ 50 mins past each hour: ("50","55"); @ 55 mins past each hour: ("55");
Thus if a user logs on at 37 minutes past the hour (TT) if they download file OPMET_TT35 they will obtain a file which contains all of the OPMET which has been received by the server from 00 minutes past the hour to 35 minutes past the hour.
6.8 OPMET_last_hour
The file OPMET_last_hour is continuously updated during the hour as bulletins arrive. The file is accessible to the user in its interim state throughout the hour. At 1 minute past the each hour, the contents are then copied to the relevant OPMET_hourly_data_btwn_xxZ_and_yyZ to make way for the construction of a new OPMET_last_hour file.
6.9 OPMET_daily_hourly_files
The 24 files that are contained within this directory have the name format: “OPMET_hourly_data_hh00”. Each file is updated once every 24 hours and is a copy of the file “OPMET_last_hour”. Each file is created on the hour. Therefore all 24 files contained within the directory should contain data, and are updated when the constituting “OPMET_last_hour” file is created.
6.10 SADIS_Administrative_Messages
SADIS administrative messages have AHLs of NOUK10 EGRR and NOUK11 EGRR. Any recent messages are stored as individual files in the SADIS_Administrative_Messages directory. These messages are automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
6.11 SIGWX_PNG
PNG formatted WAFS SIGWX charts are available from this sub-directory. Copies of all medium and high level charts produced by WAFCs London and Washington are included.
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These products are provided for trial and evaluation. We would very much welcome your feedback regarding the utility of these experimental charts.
6.12 Special_AIREP
Special AIREP bulletins of AHL format UA**** CCCC are placed as single files within this directory. These messages are automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
6.13 T4_Charts
This important directory contains two sub directories – SIGWX and Wind_n_Temperature. These important sub-directories contain all of the WAFS SIGWX chart and the WAFS wind and temperature charts.
Important Note: Sub-directory Wind_n_Temperature will be removed from the server at the end of July 2005.
SIGWX sub-directory
This sub-directory is further broken down into the following directories:
AMERICAS (containing PGEE07_KKCI_TTttii 4*daily) ASIA (containing PGGE07_KKCI_TTttii 4*daily) Asia_South (containing PGZE06_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily, and PGZE15_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) EUR (containing PGDE15_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) EURAFI (containing PGRE06_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) EURASIA (containing PGHE32_HKNC_TT1200 1*daily, PGHE36_HKNC_TTttii 1*daily, PGHE38_HKNC_TTttii 1*daily, and PGHE98_HKNC_TTttii 1*daily) Removed from service 19-06-2002. Currently empty. EURSAM (containing PGSE06_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) INDOC (containing PGGE06_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) MEA (containing PGCE06_EGRR_TTttii 4* daily) MID (containing PGCE15_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) NAT (containing PGAE06_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily and PGAE07_KKCI_TTttii 4*daily)) PACIF (containing PGBE07_KKCI_TTttii 4*daily) SIO (containing PGKE06_EGRR_TTttii 4*daily) Area_J (containing PGJE07 KKCI_TTttii 4*daily) New product added 3/7/02 Area_M (containing PGDE30 KKCI_TTttii 4*daily) New product added 3/7/02
Files are stored for at least 24 hours. These files are automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
Wind_n_Temperature sub-directory
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Important Note: Sub-directory Wind_n_Temperature will be removed from the server at the end of July 2005.
This directory is broken down into the following sub-directories:
ASIA EUR EURAFI EURSAM_B EURSAM_B1 INDOC MID NAT PACIF SAM
The names of these sub-directories correspond to the different ICAO regions. The charts contained in each sub-directory, and stored as individual files, are valid for the ICAO region whose name is assigned to the sub-directory. File names are identical to the AHLs of the same bulletins broadcast via SADIS.
As before, files are stored for at least 24 hours, and the files are automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
6.14 T4_chart_amends
These products are simple, generally short, text files and are available from the T4_chart_amends directory. Files are stored for at least 24 hours, and are automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
File names:
FXUK65_EGRR_TTttii FXUK66_EGRR_TTttii
6.15 Tropical_Cyclone_Advisories
Files placed in this directory are text files and are stored for at least 24 hours, automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
6.16 Volcanic_Ash_Advisory_Statements
Files placed in this directory are text files and are stored for at least 24 hours, then automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
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6.17 Volcanic_Ash_Dispersion_Graphics
Files placed in this directory are in T.4 facsimile format and are stored for at least 24 hours, automatically deleted at 23:55 each day if they have resided on the server for greater than 24 hours.
At the current time (July 2005) these products are not produced by all the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centres (VAAC) in a format which is acceptable for SADIS broadcast.
6.18 last_18hours_data
This extremely large file is a concatenation of the last 18 hours worth of SADIS data in one file. As a result a complete mixture of different formats is contained in the file.
7. Contact Information
The initial point of contact within the Met Office for operational issues should be the Helpdesk, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)1392 886666
Other issues, including requests from users wishing to access the service, and general feedback should be directed to Richard Orrell at WAFC London.
E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: +44(0)1392 884892 Fax: +44(0)1392 885681
8. Users wishing to access the service but with no/poor Internet connectivity
The Met Office has been investigating various solutions to enable users who currently do not have Internet access, or whose access is unreliable or slow, access to a reliable high-speed connection. Even though it is not envisaged that the Met Office will specifically recommend a technology to any one user, we are happy to point an interested customer in the direction of a few companies who may be able to provide a cost effective Internet service via satellite anywhere in the world. Please contact Richard Orrell for further information about this option.
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Annex 2 - Met Office Help Desk Facility: Service Provision Agreement
UK HELP DESK FACILITY
Support Cover Time
The Met Office Operations Centre shall provide support on a 24 hour per day, 365 days per year basis for all the agreed services.
The Services
1. Call logging
Information to be logged:
Caller details – name, location and telephone contact number Incident details – two field categorisation plus free text information Date and time of logging Logging Operator i/d
Method of call logging: Telephone (ex 6666) E-mail ([email protected]) Fax (ex 4412)
Call logging Targets
Telephone -80% of all calls to be answered within 20 seconds
-100% of all calls to be answered within 5 minutes e-mail requests -80% logged within 15 minutes of receipt -100% logged within 1 hour of receipt Fax -80% logged within 15 minutes of receipt -100% logged within 1 hour of receipt
All incidents logged will have a unique reference assigned to them (an INC number) – this reference number should be quoted if any follow up action is required
2. Level One Support
The first phase of level one support is immediate telephone support and shall be undertaken following the call logging process using information that is readily available and quickly deliverable; requests for repeat data shall normally be handled in this stage. It should be noted though that data re-sends are not normally initiated unless a product has failed to be broadcast to all recipients. The helpdesk operators have access to a bulletin monitoring program that clearly indicates whether a product has been successfully transmitted and received (in Exeter) via
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SADIS. This approach is taken to prevent confusion to users when multiple broadcasts of a product occur.
Targets -provide the first phase of support in less than 5 minutes -to log all actions taken
The second phase of level one support shall be undertaken to cover any issues that are contained in the user guide or deal with data supply problems.
Targets -to be completed within 30 minutes -to log all actions taken
System Monitoring Provide system monitoring and action specific events as agreed with the SADIS support team.
3. Level Two Support
Provide support within the scope of training delivered and documentation provided, this shall include: communication links to Whitehill - fault identification and rectification, management of rectification by carrier suppliers as required; communication equipment (Megapac), faults identification and rectification using third parties as required; equipment at Whitehill, switching from chain A to B; assistance with technical problems at Whitehill; investigation of data content with referral to the product production or product routing teams as required.
Targets -to be completed within 30 minutes to 4 hours dependent on other operational priorities or to escalate at agreed times to third parties. -to log all actions taken
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