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NOUS41 KWBC 231323
PNSWSH
Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC
923 AM EDT Fri Sep 23 2011
To: Subscribers
- Family of Services
- NOAA Weather Wire Service
- Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
- NOAAPORT
Other NWS partners and NWS employees
From: Joseph Facundo
Chief, NWS Observing Systems Branch
Subject: Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) for
Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS)
Software version 3.05 (v3.05)
Note: The following changes have no direct impact on
NOAA Weather Wire Service subscribers
The ASOS product improvement program will begin an OT&E on ASOS
software v3.05 on or about October 3, 2011. The new v3.05
software load provides some 58 new functionalities to ASOS and
includes 23 operational fixes to the current operational
baseline v2.79D. The new capabilities will do the following:
- Help ASOS to meet the encoding requirements for METAR/SPECI
reports as outlined in the Federal Meteorological Handbook
No. 1 (FMH-1)
- Improve quality control logic for automated data, improve
information provided in log files
- Add the reporting of ice accretion amounts
- Add the Ice Free Wind (IFW) sensor quality control algorithm
- Provide support for the Federal Aviation and Administrations
(FAA) Weather Sensor Processor (WSP) program.
- Add an Ice Accretion Remark on the 1-minute page and in the
METAR and SPECI observations. The amount of ice accreting on
a flat surface (planar icing), as estimated by the data from
the freezing rain sensor, will be included in the remarks
section of the METAR/ SPECI reports. The remark will have the
format of "Ihnnn," where "h" is the hourly time period, i.e.,
1, 3 or 6 hours. The value "nnn" is the ice thickness
accumulated to the nearest 0.01 inch. A toggle for the ice
accretion remark to be included in the METAR/SPECI reports is
on the PHYSICALS page (REVUE-SITE-PHYS).
The OT&E will be conducted in two phases. Phase 1 is scheduled
to take place at 16 FAA service level D and O sites starting on
or about October 3, 2011. Phase 2 is scheduled to take place at
26 FAA service level A, B, and C sites starting in the winter of
2011-2012. Phase 2 will start once the FAA trains the Contract
Weather Observers (CWOs) on the changes in v3.05.
The duration of the OT&E will be approximately 6 months, running
through the winter months of 2011-2012. The OT&E will conclude
sometime during the spring of 2012. More detailed information on
v3.05 software can be found at:
http://www.weather.gov/ops2/ops24/documents/asos_v3.htm
Phase 1: installation of ASOS v3.05 software at the following
16 sites beginning on or about 10/03/2011:
BFD - Bradford, PA
RME - Rome, NY
TAN - Taunton, MA
POR - Portage, AK
ANJ - Sault Ste. Marie, MI
WAL - Wallops Island, VA
GIF - Winter Haven, FL
ATT - Austin, TX
LOL - Lovelock, NV
OLS - Nogales, AZ
CLM - Port Angles, WA
U.S. Navy Sites:
KNAK - Annapolis, MD
KNGU - Norfolk NAS, VA
KNKT - Cherry Point MCAS, NC
KNBC - Beaufort MCAS, SC
KNIP - Jacksonville NAS, FL
Phase 2 (26 Sites) beginning sometime during the winter of 2011-
2012:
HIO - Portland, OR
GKN - Gulkana, AK
JNU - Juneau, AK
FAI - Fairbanks, AK
DSM - Des Moines, IA
GRB - Green Bay, WI
PIA - Peoria, IL
SGF - Springfield, MO
TOP - Topeka, KS
BIS - Bismark, ND
COU - Columbia, MO
ACY - Atlantic City, NJ
CLE - Cleveland, OH
ORH - Worcestor, MA
PWM - Portland, ME
ITO - Hilo, HI
LIH - Lihue, HI
TRI - Bristol, TN
DFW - Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
TUL - Tulsa, OK
P68 - Eureka, NV
PDT - Pendelton, OR
SLC - Salt Lake City, UT
TUS - Tucson, AZ
BFI - Boeing Field, MT
BIL - Billings, MT
For more information, please contact:
Joseph Facundo
NWS Observing Systems Branch
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Joseph.Facundo@xxxxxxxx
301-713-2093 ext.101
Public Information Statements are online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
$$