c department OF Q transportation j ccl JUN 1 4 1974 .a LiosjrU-UiY MARINE WEATHER DISSEMINATION SYSTEMS STUDY VOLUME II SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION Prepared for UNITED STATES COAST GUARD 400 7th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20591 16 AUGUST 1971 COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION 6565 Arlington Boulevard Falls Church, Virginia 22046 Major Offices and Facilities Throughout the World .1 A TECHNICAL REPORT STANDARD TITLE PAGE 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient's Catalog No. DOT-CG-0 05 79A-1 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date Marine Weather Dissemination 16 August 1971 Systems Study 6. Performing Organization Code Volume 2 - Systems Characterization 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. 3. J. Crowe,- E. Holliman DOT-CG-0 0 5 79A-1 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. Computer Sciences Corporation 6565 Arlington Boulevard 11. Contract or Grant No. Falls Church, VA 22046 DOT-CG-00 5 79 13. Type of Report and Period Covered 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Final Report, Volume 2 U. S. Coast Guard August 1970-August 1971 400 7th Street, S.W. 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Washington, DC 20591 15. Supplementary Notes 16. Abstract Systems for disseminating weather information to marine users are described in detail. Coast Guard and National Weather Service trans- mitting facilities are listed, giving location, name, call sign, trans- mitting power, mode and frequency, and antenna height. Coastal display stations and telephone facilities are also listed. Facilities serving off-shore and high-seas areas are described. Operating policies and procedures for all systems are documented. The work described was performed in the first phase of a study aimed at improving the dissemination of weather information to marine users and at establishing guidelines for future Coast Guard research and develop- ment efforts in this field. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement WEATHER DISSEMINATION/ BOATING SAFETY/ Unlimited SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION/ RADIO BROADCAST/VISUAL DISPLAY/ RADIO TELEPHONE/ RADIO TELE GRAPE / FACSIMILE 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages Unclassified Unclassified 180 22. Price FOREWORD This is the first of four reports prepared by Computer Sciences Corporation for the U.S. Coast Guard during the course of a Study of How Best to Utilize Coast Guard Communication Facilities for Weather Dissemination to Marine Users. The study was performed under Contract DOT-CG-OO , 579-A, which was awarded to CSC on August 31, 1970 and completed August 16, 1971. The study was divided into four phases: • Task 1 - Familiarization of the study team with existing marine weather dissemination systems , and the character- ization of these systems in terms of their facilities, policies and procedures. • Task 2 - Measurement of effectiveness of existing and planned weather dissemination systems, following the development of standards and criteria against which to measure this effectiveness. • Task 3 - Formulation of recommendations for changes in the facilities, policies and procedures of the U.S. Coast Guard and other government and nongovernment agencies considered necessary to improve the dissemination of weather information to marine users. « Task 4 - Generation of guidelines for future USCG research and development effort in the area of weather dissemina- tion and alerting techniques in terms of operational con- straints, performance requirements and cost data. CSC wishes to acknowledge the assistance of CDR B. F. Hollingsworth, USCG, as Technical Representative to this study and also of LCDR E. Jones and CWO R. J. Williams in making data available for the study. li TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page FOREWORD ii 1 THE ENVIRONMENT 1-1 1.1 Growth 1-1 1.2 Change 1-1 1.3 Division of Authority 1-2 2 COASTAL SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION 2-1 2.1 National Weather Service VHF Weather 2.2 Transmission System 2-1 2.1.1 Introduction 2-1 2.1.2 Policies 2-2 2.1.3 Facilities 2-3 2.1.4 Procedures 2-4 2.3 Marine Weather Dissemination by Commercial AM/FM Radio 2-10 2.2.1 Introduction 2-10 2.2.2 Policies 2-10 2.2.3 Facilities 2-11 2.2.4 Procedures 2-11 Coast Guard Weather Dissemination by Radio 2-25 2.3.1 Introduction 2-25 2.3.2 Policies 2-25 2.3.3 Facilities 2-26 2.3.4 Procedures 2-27 2.4 Public Coast Stations VHF/FM-MF/AM 2-35 2.4.1 Introduction 2-35 2.4.2 Policies 2-35 2.4.3 Facilities 2-36 2.4.4 Procedures 2-37 2.5 Coastal Warning Display System 2-51 2.5.1 Introduction 2-51 2.5.2 Policies 2-51 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Section Page 2.5.3 Facilities 2-52 2.5.4 Procedures 2-52 2.6 Weather Information by Telephone 2-55 2.6.1 Introduction 2-55 2.6.2 Policies 2-55 2.6.3 Facilities 2-57 2.6.4 Procedures 2-58 3 OFF-SHORE SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION 3-1 3.1 General 3-1 3.2 Medium Frequency Radio Telegraph Transmissions 3-1 3.2.1 Introduction 3-1 3.2.2 Policies 3-2 3.2.3 Facilities 3-2 3.2.4 Procedures 3-7 3.3 Weather Dissemination by Medium Frequency Radio Telephone 3-8 3.3.1 Introduction 3-8 3.3.2 Policies 3-8 3.3.3 Facilities 3-9 3.3.4 Procedures 3-10 4 HIGH SEAS SYSTEMS CHARACTERIZATION 4-1 4.1 General 4-1 4.2 High Seas Radio Telegraph Broadcasts 4-5 4.2.1 Introduction 4-5 4.2.2 Policies 4-5 4.2.3 Facilities 4-6 4.2.4 Procedures 4-8 4.3 High Seas Telephone Broadcasts 4-11 4.3.1 Introduction 4-11 4.3.2 Policies 4-11 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued) Section Page 4.3.3 Facilities 4-12 4.3.4 Procedures 4-14 4.4 Radio Teleprinter Weather Broadcasts 4-17 4.4.1 Introduction 4-17 4.4.2 Policies 4-17 4.4.3 Facilities 4-18 4.4.4 Procedures 4-18 4.5 High Seas Weather Broadcasts by Radio Facsimile 4-19 4.5.1 Introduction 4-19 4.5.2 Policies 4-19 4.5.3 Facilities 4-20 4.5.4 Procedures 4-23 Appendix A FCC RULE CHANGES A-l B COASTAL WARNING DISPLAY STATIONS LISTING B-l C COMMANDANT INSTRUCTION 3140.2 C-l D REQUIREMENT FOR MARINE METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES, FINAL REPORT, W.M.O... D-l E REFERENCES E-l V LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 3- Figure4- Page 3-1 Atlantic Coast Daytime Telegraph Coverage .... 3-4 3-2 Gulf of Mexico Daytime Telegraph Coverage .... 3-5 3 Pacific Coast Daytime Telegraph Coverage .... 3-6 1 Hours of Service Recommendations for Single Radio Operator Vessels (Source: Reference 6) . 4-3 4-2 Areas of United States Responsibilities for Shipping Forecasts and Warning Under International Agreements 4-4 4-3 Time Distribution of Daily Radio Telegraph Weather Broadcasts, Atlantic Area (High Frequencies) 4-9 4-4 Time Distribution of Scheduled Weather Broadcasts By Radio Telegraph, Eastern and Central Pacific (HF) 4-10 4-5 Daily Voice Broadcasts for the Atlantic 4-15 4-6 Daily Voice Broadcasts for the Pacific 4-16 4-7 Optimum Coverage Areas as Determined by Technical Antenna Pattern Characteristics (Brentwood as provided by National Weather Service) 4-22 4-8 Example of Surface Chart Printed Characteristics Being Too Small for Proper Resolution (Source: Surface Weather Chart Transmitted over Brentwood) 4-25 4-9 Chart Improvement With Larger Print (Source: National Weather Service, monitored copy of Brentwood, 22 January 1971, segment of trans- mission at actual copy scale) 4-26 4-10 Examples of National Weather Service Surface Wind and Sea Analysis Charts (Copied by Station NMH 8502 kHz, 1730 GMT, 5 June 1971) 4-27 U VI LIST OF TABLES Table Page 2-1 National Weather Service VHF/FM Transmitters in Operation (January 1971) 2-7 2-2 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Eastport, Me. to Montauk Pt. , N.Y.) 2-13 2-3 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Montauk Pt. , N.Y. to Manasquan, N. J. ) 2-14 2-4 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Manasquan, N.J. to Cape Hatteras, N.C.) 2-15 2-5 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Cape Hatteras, N.C. to Savannah, Ga . ) 2-16 2-6 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Savannah, Ga . to Apalachicola, Fla.) 2-17 2-7 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Apalachicola, Fla. to Morgan City, La.) 2-18 2-8 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Morgan City, La. to Brownsville, Tex. ) 2-19 2-9 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Mexican Border to Pt. Conception, Cal.) 2-20 2-10 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Pt. Conception, Cal. to Eureka, Cal.) 2-21 2-11 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Eureka, Cal. to Canadian Border) ... 2-22 2-12 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Great Lakes: Michigan & Superior) . 2-23 2-13 Commercial Stations Broadcasting Marine Weather Information (Great Lakes: Huron, Erie & Superior) 2-24 2-14 Coast Guard Radio Stations Making Scheduled Weather Broadcasts on 2670 kHz (January 1971) ... 2-28 2-15 Coast Guard VHF-FM Transmitting Facilities 2-30 2-16 Public Coast Stations Operating in the 2 MHz Band 2-38 vii LIST OF TABLES (Continued) Table Page 2-17 Locations of Public Coast Stations Operating in the VHF Band (156-162 MHz) 2-39 2-18 Ninth Coast Guard District Survey: Telephone Requests for Weather Information During August 1970 2-60 4-1 High Seas Radio Telegraph Weather Broadcasts (U.S.