-------- Original Message --------
274
NOUS41 KWBC 132051
PNSWSH
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...COMMENT REQUEST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
400 PM EST WED FEB 13 2008
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:
-FAMILY OF SERVICES
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK
-NOAAPORT
OTHER USERS...PARTNERS AND NWS EMPLOYEES
FROM: KENNETH E GRAHAM
OFFICE OF CLIMATE...WATER...AND WEATHER SERVICES
METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES DIVISION CHIEF
SUBJECT: SOLICITING COMMENTS THROUGH MARCH 7 2008 FOR
CHANGE IN ALL NWS WATCH...WARNING... ADVISORY...
AND STATEMENT TEXT PRODUCTS
BEGINNING WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 13 2008 AND CONTINUING THROUGH
MARCH 7 2008...NWS IS SEEKING FEEDBACK ON A PROPOSAL TO
DELINEATE THE CALL TO ACTION /CTA/ FIELD IN ALL NWS
WATCH...WARNING...ADVISORY AND FOLLOW-UP WMO-FORMATTED TEXT
PRODUCTS /ABBREVIATED AS W/W/A/S IN THIS NOTICE/ BY
INSERTING INSTRUCTION FIELD MARKERS AROUND THE CTA
STATEMENTS. COLLABORATION AND COORDINATION HAS BEEN ONGOING
SINCE SEPTEMBER 2007. THE SHORTER REVIEW AND COMMENT
TIMEFRAME IS DUE TO OUR DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE.
TO AGGRESSIVELY RESPOND TO THE URGENT NEED FOR A SEPARATE
SUITE OF STANDARDIZED COMMON ALERTING PROTOCOL /CAP/
MESSAGES...NWS IS PROPOSING TO ADD CTA OR INSTRUCTION FIELD
MARKERS INTO ALL NWS TEXT W/W/A/S PRODUCTS. THIS MARKER
WOULD PROVIDE A RELIABLE WAY TO PARSE THE CTA INFORMATION
FROM EXISTING W/W/A/S TEXT PRODUCTS TO ENABLE POPULATING THE
INSTRUCTION ELEMENT IN A SEPARATE CAP MESSAGE. CURRENTLY
NWS WEATHER FORECAST OFFICES /WFO/ ISSUE W/W/A/S WITH AN
UNFORMATTED /FREE-TEXT/ CTA SENTENCE OR PARAGRAPH THAT
PROVIDES APPROPRIATE ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN CORRESPONDING TO
THE EVENT MENTIONED IN THE TEXT PRODUCT.
THE INSTRUCTION FIELD MARKERS WILL BE INSERTED INTO THE
W/W/A/S TEXT PRODUCTS AUTOMATICALLY BY AWIPS PRODUCT
GENERATION SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS. THE INSTRUCTION FIELD
MARKERS WILL BE LEFT JUSTIFIED WITH NO OTHER PRINTABLE
CHARACTERS ON THE SAME LINE AS THE MARKERS. EXAMPLES OF THIS
CHANGE ARE POSTED ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/NOTIFICATION/RESOURCES/CTA.P
DF
THE ADDITION OF THE CTA MARKERS IS A TEMPORARY CHANGE UNTIL
CAP-FORMATTED MESSAGES CAN BE DIRECTLY GENERATED FROM THE
NEXT GENERATION WARNING TOOL IN 2012. THIS PROPOSAL IS THE
ONLY CHANGE NWS EXPECTS TO MAKE IN EXISTING TEXT PRODUCTS TO
ENABLE DOWNSTREAM CAP MESSAGE PRODUCTION.
AS A FIRST STEP...THE EXPERIMENTAL MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE
/MWW/ TEXT PRODUCT HAS BEEN USING THE PROPOSED CTA MARKERS
SINCE EARLY OCTOBER 2007. PLEASE NOTE: MODERN BROWSERS DO
NOT DISPLAY THE ACTUAL CTA MARKERS BUT THE MARKERS CAN BE
SEEN WHEN THE SOURCE CODE IS VIEWED. A STATIC EXAMPLE OF THE
EXPERIMENTAL MWW IS POSTED ONLINE NEAR THE END OF WEBPAGE AT
/USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/OS/MWW
USERS OF ALL W/W/A/S ARE ENCOURAGED TO PROVIDE FEEDBACK ON
THE PROPOSED INCLUSION OF CTA OR INSTRUCTION FIELD MARKERS
IN ALL NWS TEXT W/W/A/S PRODUCTS BY USING THE BRIEF SURVEY
AND COMMENT FORM AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE
LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SURVEY/NWS-SURVEY.PHP?CODE=CTA
FOR QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS PROPOSED CHANGE...CONTACT:
HERB WHITE
NWS AWARENESS BRANCH
1325 EAST-WEST HIGHWAY
SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910
PHONE: 301-713-0090 X 146
EMAIL: HERBERT.WHITE@xxxxxxxx
NWS NATIONAL PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS ARE ONLINE AT
/USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM
$$
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