NWSM 10-1401, Rawinsonde Observations
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Department of Commerce $ National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration $ National Weather Service NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MANUAL 10-1401 June 2, 2010 Operations and Services Upper Air Program NWSPD 10-14 Rawinsonde Observations NOTICE: This publication is available at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/directives/. OPR: OS7 (S. Marsh) Certified by: W/OS7 (K. Schrab) Type of Issuance: Routine SUMMARY OF REVISIONS: This manual supersedes NWSM 10-1401, “Rawinsonde Operations,” dated May 23, 2007. Changes include: 1. Updated references to RRS Workstation User Guide version of January, 2009. 2. Appendix A. Changed references to Chapter 13 of RRS User’s Guide, to Chapter 11. 3. Appendix B. Updated portions of Section 1 to reflect RRS deployments. 4. Appendix C. References to High Modulus Balloons were deleted. 5. Appendix D. Added sentence about reporting defective parachutes to WSH in Section 2.3. 6. Appendix E. Updated Surface Observation at release time; Surface Observation equipment failure; pre-release, in-flight, and after flight tables for RRS; GPS Radiosonde Launches. 7. Appendix F. Changed time on Table-1 from H+2 hours 30 minutes, to read H+2 hours. Corrected description and examples for dd and fff (page F-12). 8. Appendix H. Updated instructions for contacting SDM. 9. Appendix I. Corrected WS Forms 10-1304-1 to WS Forms 10-13-1. Added upper air website link for submitting forms. Updated instructions for second and third releases, and for missed and special observations. 10. Appendix J. Updated references to WS Form B-33, NWS Instructions, RRS User Guide, and WS Form 10-13-1. New instruction for required software at station; minimum supplies; handling of rejected radiosondes, balloons, and parachutes.. 11. Appendix K. Page K-1, changed the reference to Section VII of WS Form B-48, to read Sections III and IV. In Section 4.1.2.h added sentence about not rolling, storing or dragging cylinders. 12. Appendix L. Web address for EHB#9 was updated. 13. Appendix M. Administrative responsibilities and timetables updated. 14. Appendix O. Deleted outdated Table O-1. __Signed 05/19/10 David B. Caldwell Date Director, Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services 2 NWSM 10-1401 JUNE 2, 2010 RAWINSONDE OBSERVATIONS Table of Contents: Page 1. Purpose and Scope .....................................................................................................................4 2. Documentation of Station Upper-Air Program and Facilities ...................................................4 3. Observational Procedures..........................................................................................................4 3.1 Times of Observations ......................................................................................................4 3.2 Transmission of Observation ............................................................................................5 3.3 Recording and Preserving Observations...........................................................................5 4. Official National Weather Service (NWS) Stations ..................................................................5 5. Unforeseen Requirements..........................................................................................................5 6. Certification of Observers..........................................................................................................5 7. Office Responsibilities...............................................................................................................5 7.1 Upper-Air Station.............................................................................................................5 7.2 Regional Headquarters......................................................................................................5 7.3 Weather Service Headquarters......................................................................................... 6 Appendices A. Radiosonde Familiarization ........................................................................................ A-1 B Tracking Systems Familiarization.................................................................................B-1 C. Balloon Familiarization ................................................................................................C-1 D. Pre-Observation Preparations .......................................................................................D-1 E. Launching Procedures...................................................................................................E-1 F. Observation Procedures and Data Transmission ..........................................................F-1 G. Terminating and Archiving the Observation ................................................................G-1 H. Quality Control of Data ................................................................................................H-1 I. Completion of Documentation (Forms).........................................................................I-1 J. Station Management ......................................................................................................J-1 K. Station Safety................................................................................................................K-1 L. Radiosonde Surface Observing Instrument System (RSOIS).......................................L-1 M. Special Observations................................................................................................... M-1 N. Radiosonde Preparation................................................................................................N-1 O. Rules for Disposal of Radiosonde Battery Activation in Water...................................O-1 P. Acronyms and Abbreviations ....................................................................................... P-1 3 NWSM 10-1401 JUNE 2, 2010 1. Purpose and Scope. Since the late 1930's the National Weather Service (NWS) has measured vertical profiles of pressure, temperature, relative humidity, and wind velocity through the use of balloon-borne radiosondes. This manual defines upper-air operational requirements and procedures applicable to all NWS stations. These instructions cover those sites engaged in taking and reporting atmospheric observations with Vaisala Automatic Radio-Theodolite (ART) Radiosondes and the MicroART computer system as well as those sites using Global Positioning System (GPS) radiosondes with the Radiosonde Replacement System (RRS) tracking system. All aspects of the rawinsonde observation are covered from preparing the radiosonde and balloon train to processing and disseminating upper-air data. Also provided are procedures for completing upper-air data forms and maintaining station upper-air equipment. Since operations at each upper-air station can vary, appendices to this manual have been included that may or may not pertain to each office. Within the appendices, paragraphs and sections may address the ART and RRS systems together. This manual does not provide detailed procedures for taking upper-air observations with other Navigational Aid (NAVAID) rawinsondes or with Radio-Direction Finding (RDF) equipment other than the Ground Meteorological Device (GMD) or Weather Bureau Radiotheodolite (WBRT). Observers using other equipment should follow the manufacturers operating instructions. 2. Documentation of Station Upper-Air Program and Facilities. Each upper-air station is responsible for maintaining accurate information files pertaining to its upper-air program. The procedures and responsibilities for documentation of equipment, instrumentation, and observing programs are found in NDS 10-13. 3. Observational Procedures. The procedures and operational requirements defined in this manual apply to all NWS upper-air stations. These procedures have been written to ensure NWS compliance with the observational standards defined in Federal Meteorological Handbook 3 and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Code Manual 306 Volume I and II. 3.1 Times of Observations. Standard observations from all network stations will be made twice daily, at 0000 and 1200 Universal Time Code (UTC), unless extenuating and justifiable circumstances prevent it. Actual release times for the 00 and 12 UTC standard scheduled upper air observations should be as close as possible to H-60 minutes, where H is one of the standard times. The release time for a synoptic observation should not fall outside the period known as the release windows for RRS and ART. These time ranges are: a. RRS window is from H-60 to H+29. b. MicroART window is H-60 to H+59. For all non-standard observation times, the release window, in regard to the record time of the observation, is from 30 minutes before to 29 minutes after the hour of the assigned observation time. Any release beyond the window will have the next synoptic hour assigned to it. 4 NWSM 10-1401 JUNE 2, 2010 3.2 Transmission of Observation. The coded message containing data from the observation will be provided to the telecommunication system for dissemination to government agencies and other data users in as timely a manner as possible. The deadlines for transmitting the coded messages are provided in Appendix F, Table F-1. 3.3 Recording and Preserving Observations. An archive record of all synoptic rawinsonde observations will be made for submission to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). An archive record will also be made of unscheduled observations that are transmitted over telecommunications for use by the government or other