| ISCS/WAFS disseminates products prepared by two centers
of the National Weather Service (NWS) National
Centers For Environmental Prediction (NCEP),
(1) the Aviation
Weather Center (AWC), and (2) the Environmental
Modeling Center (EMC). ISCS/ WAFS products
are also produced at over 115 NWS Offices nationwide.
There are three types of products:
(1) Gridded Binary (GRIB)
Coded Data (produced at EMC), containing forecasts for up
to 9 standard flight levels of upper wind and temperature
data, tropopause height and temperature, and maximum wind
(height, speed, direction), using WMO
Code FM-92-IX Ext - GRIB, and a 1.25 x 1.25 degree
global grid for flight planning.
(2) Charts (T4 coded facsimile charts) providing upper-air
wind and temperature forecasts at selected flight levels
(produced at EMC), and significant weather (SIGWX)
forecasts (produced at AWC). Volcanic ash dispersion
advisories are included when available.
(3) Operational Meteorology (OPMET) alphanumeric messages,
consisting of (a) routine aviation weather reports (METARs),
produced by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contract
observers at airports, (b) special reports (SPECIs) which
are METARs issued on a non-routine basis, also produced
by FAA observers at airports, (c) terminal aerodrome forecasts
(TAFs),
produced at NWS Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) by NWS forecasters,
(d) en-route hazardous weather warnings of significant meteorological
information (SIGMETs),
produced by Meteorological
Watch Offices at the AWC, Alaska
Aviation Weather Unit, and WFO's Honolulu
and Guam,
(e) volcanic ash advisory messages (from Volcanic Ash advisory
Centers Anchorage
and Washington),
and (f) tropical cyclone advisory messages (from Tropical
Cyclone Advisory Centers Miami
and Honolulu).
Administrative messages are also broadcast as OPMET.
For more info about WAFS products click here
(under Search by WMO programs, see Aeronautical Meteorology
program).
ISCS/RMTN, as part of the Global
Telecommunications System (GTS), disseminates a
wide variety of meteorological data products, the vast majority
originating at the National Weather Service Telecommunications
Gateway (NWSTG) in Silver Spring, MD. It also receives
meteorological data from individual RMTN network sites for
re-broadcast to all network sites through the NWSTG.
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