Upper air stations that will be upgraded this year to new equipment

TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICE 07-16
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEADQUARTERS WASHINGTON DC
152 PM EST WED MAR 7 2007

TO: FAMILY OF SERVICES /FOS/ SUBSCRIBERS...NOAA WEATHER
WIRE SERVICE /NWWS/ SUBSCRIBERS...EMERGENCY MANAGERS
WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK /EMWIN/ SUBSCRIBERS...
NOAAPORT SUBSCRIBERS...OTHER NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
/NWS/ CUSTOMERS AND PARTNERS...NWS EMPLOYEES

FROM: JIM O’SULLIVAN
ACTING CHIEF... OBSERVING SERVICES DIVISION
OFFICE OF CLIMATE, WATER, AND WEATHER SERVICES

SUBJECT: FY 2007 SCHEDULE OF RADIOSONDE REPLACEMENT SYSTEM
/RRS/ IMPLEMENTATION WITH TERMINATION OF OPERATIONS OF
RADIOTHEODOLITE TRACKING /ART/ AND RADIO DIRECTION
FINDING RADIOSONDES

THIS FISCAL YEAR NWS WILL TERMINATE UPPER AIR OBSERVATIONS FROM RADIO DIRECTION FINDING RADIOSONDES AND AUTOMATED RADIOTHEODOLITE TRACKING AT 13 SITES LISTED BELOW ON OR ABOUT THE DATES INDICATED.

SID STATION NAME OUTAGE DATE

72210 TAMPA BAY FL 12 MAR 2007
72426 WILMINGTON OH 26 MAR 2007
72202 MIAMI FL 23 APR 2007
72327 NASHVILLE TN 07 MAY 2007
74389 TUCSON AZ 22 MAY 2007
72582 ELKO NV 04 JUN 2007
72694 SALEM OR 18 JUN 2007

SID STATION NAME OUTAGE DATE

72768 GLASGOW MT 02 JUL 2007
74560 LINCOLN IL 16 JUL 2007
72440 SPRINGFIELD MO 30 JUL 2007
72634 GAYLORD MI 13 AUG 2007
72562 NORTH PLATTE NE 28 AUG 2007
72558 VALLEY NE 08 SEP 2007

NWS UPPER AIR OBSERVATIONS WILL RESUME APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS LATER. NWS WILL USE THE RRS WITH GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM /GPS/ RADIOSONDES. EACH OF THESE SITES WILL BE OUT OF SERVICE FOR UP TO 2 WEEKS. WHEN RESTORED PARTS OF THE UPPER AIR CODED MESSAGES WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER.

NWS HAS COORDINATED WITH ITS PARTNERS ON THE LONGER LENGTH OF THESE MESSAGES.

THE FORMAT OF THE MESSAGES WILL BE THE SAME WMO FORMAT FOR CODED UPPER AIR MESSAGES IN USE WITH THE MICROART LEGACY SYSTEM. THE NUMBER OF LEVELS IN THE CODED MESSAGES WILL BE TWO TO THREE TIMES GREATER FOR THE TTBB AND TTDD. AS A RESULT TWO CATEGORIES OF AWIPS TEXT PRODUCTS WILL INCREASE IN SIZE: SGL AND ABV. THE NUMBER OF LEVELS IN THE TTAA...TTCC...PPBB AND PPDD PARTS WILL BE RELATIVELY UNCHANGED. THESE CHANGES REFLECT UPDATED CODING PRACTICES AND HIGHER RESOLUTION LEVEL SELECTION CRITERIA. THE MAXIMUM SIZE LIMITS OF THE PARTS OF THE CODED MESSAGES ARE AS
FOLLOWS:

TTAA: 15 LEVELS
TTCC: 10 LEVELS
TTBB: 135 LEVELS
TTDD: 40 LEVELS
PPBB: 40 LEVELS
PPDD: 40 LEVELS

IN ADDITION THE 31313 MESSAGE INDICATOR ASSOCIATED WITH VARIOUS PARTS OF THE MESSAGE WILL BE INCLUDED WITH EACH PART OF THE THERMODYNAMIC MESSAGE PARTS. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE MESSAGE REQUIREMENTS...REFERENCE WMO 306...MANUAL ON CODES...
INTERNATIONAL CODES...VOLUME 1.1 PART A-ALPHANUMERIC CODES...
AND WMO 306...MANUAL ON CODES...REGIONAL CODES AND NATIONAL CODING PRACTICES...VOLUME II. USERS CAN FIND INFORMATION ON THE LEVELS SELECTION CRITERIA USED IN NWS CODING SOFTWARE ONLINE AT /USE LOWERCASE LETTERS/:

HTTP://WWW.UA.NWS.NOAA.GOV

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR FEEDBACK...PLEASE CONTACT:

DOMINIC BOSCO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE / OPS11
1325 EAST WEST HIGHWAY
SILVER SPRING MARYLAND 20910
PHONE: 301-713-1841 EXT. 123
E-MAIL: DOMINIC.BOSCO@NOAA.GOV

THIS AND OTHER NWS TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION NOTICES ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT /USE LOWER CASE LETTERS/:

HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/OM/NOTIF.HTM