Global Change Master Directory (GCMD)

Data Sets

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Ancillary Descriptions

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World Area Forecast System (WAFS) (DSI-9939)

Entry ID: gov.noaa.ncdc.C00543

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Summary

Abstract: World Area Forecast System (WAFS) is digital data set DSI-9939, archived at the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). WAFS is a system for the world wide broadcast of aviation related weather information via satellite. It is a joint effort of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), NOAA/National Weather Service (NWS), with additional ... contributions from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Kingdom, Finland, Canada, and others. The WAFS global satellite broadcasts have been operational since 1996. NCDC has data available since 2002.The WAFS communications are through commercial satellites--NOAA uses INTELSAT VI, the communications satellite that the Space Shuttle astronauts rescued in order to provide it with the rocket motor required to reach geostationary orbit, to broadcast to the Americas; and INTELSAT V over the Pacific and eastern Asia. The United Kingdom uses a satellite over the Indian Ocean, to reach Europe, Africa, and the rest of Asia. NOAA is also cooperating with the WMO to provide satellite communications of meteorological observations and forecasts from the members of the southern part of WMO Region IV (the Caribbean and Central America). This system is called the Region IV Meteorological Telecommunication Network (RMTN). The RMTN uses the Intelsat VI satellite, and is managed by MCI/WorldCom, Inc. for NOAA. NOAA's set of satellite communications services includes the WAFS and the RMTN, which are known collectively as the International Satellite Communication System (ISCS).The U.S. system being implemented in the respective countries comprises a Very Small Aperture (Antenna) Terminal (VSAT), which consists of a dish antenna of 2.4 meters diameter, and a computer work station. The NOAA/National Weather Service is managing the contracts for the purchase of the equipment and services, and has donated the equipment for over 40 sites in the Americas, Pacific, and eastern Asia. The recurring costs of the broadcast through the satellite are being paid by the U.S. FAA.NOAA's World Data Center Washington collects aviation-related observations, forecasts, and other messages from the WMO's Global Telecommunication System (GTS), and adds charts and computer forecasts of temperature, winds, humidity, and other elements over the entire globe. These products are transferred as soon as they are available to MCI/WorldCom, Inc. (the communications contractor), who puts them into the WAFS satellite broadcast stream immediately.The alphanumeric data that could be delivered to a meteorological station via the old communications system in an hour can now be received in less than a minute. In addition, the WAFS system provides, in a couple of hours, special digital data files for world-wide aviation forecasts that would take days to deliver on the old system.

Purpose: To make a wide range of climatic data available to researchers and the public.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: data set

CURRENTNESS REFERENCE: Ground Condition

Related URL

Link: VIEW EXTENDED METADATA

Description: View Source Metadata document from the Metadata Manager and Repository (NMMR).

Link: VIEW RELATED INFORMATION

Geographic Coverage

(Click for Interactive Map)

Spatial coordinates

N: 90.0

S: -90.0

E: 180.0

W: -180.0

Data Set Citation

Dataset Originator/Creator: National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce

Dataset Title: World Area Forecast System (WAFS) (DSI-9939)

Dataset Release Date: Unknown

Data Presentation Form: tabular digital data

Online Resource: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov http://www.nws.noaa.gov/tdl/iwt/grib2/doc....

Temporal Coverage

Start Date: 2002-06-18

Location Keywords

CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > CANADA

CONTINENT > NORTH AMERICA > CANADA > Alberta

Science Keywords

BIOSPHERE > VEGETATION > VEGETATION COVER

BIOSPHERE > VEGETATION > VEGETATION SPECIES

HUMAN DIMENSIONS > ECONOMIC RESOURCES > AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION

LAND SURFACE > LAND USE/LAND COVER > LAND USE CLASSES

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA

ECONOMY

Access Constraints Public acquisition of digital data products is subject to the conditions
outlined in the Resource Data Branch ?License Agreement for Digital Data?.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is available, with the exception of data exceeding
reasonable size limits or when corporate restrictions have been implemented in
which the data will be delivered ...

Use Constraints It should be noted that after the inventory was completed in 1956, no attempts
were made to keep the information current.The user agrees that the information
and each part thereof, any formatting or presentation thereof, any storage
media on which it is provided, and any communication of any kind, incidental or
in relation thereto, is provided to the ...

Ancillary Keywords

Vegetation Class

Data Set Progress

COMPLETE

Data Center

Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Alberta Government, Canada

Data Center URL: http://environment.alberta.ca

Data Center Personnel
Name: SRD RESOURCE DATA BRANCH Phone: +01-780-427-7374 Fax: +01-780-422-0973 Email: SRD.Data at gov.ab.ca Contact Address: 9820 - 106 Street NW City: Edmonton Province or State: Alberta Postal Code: T5K 2J6 Country: Canada