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 > UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Science Keywords

AGRICULTURE > SOILS > SOIL CLASSIFICATION

AGRICULTURE > SOILS > SOIL MOISTURE/WATER CONTENT

ISO Topic Category

BIOTA

ENVIRONMENT

OCEANS

Quality The latitudes and longitudes provided in spatial coverage are approximate only.

See the word document in the download file for more information.

Access Constraints The data are currently not publicly available.

Use Constraints This data set conforms to the PICCCBY Attribution License
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

Please follow instructions listed in the citation reference provided at http://data.aad.gov.au/aadc/metadata/citation.cfm?entry_id=ASAC_2691 when using these data.

Ancillary Keywords

contaminants

marine sediments

environment

Data Set Progress

IN WORK

Data Center

Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia

Data Center URL: http://data.aad.gov.au

Data Center Personnel
Name: DATA OFFICER AADC Phone: +61 3 6232 3244 Fax: +61 3 6232 3351 Email: metadata at aad.gov.au Contact Address: Australian Antarctic Division 203 Channel Highway City: Kingston Province or State: Tasmania Postal Code: 7050 Country: Australia

Distribution

Distribution Media: HTTP

Distribution Size: 90 kb

Distribution Format: Excel, Word

Fees: Free

Personnel

EMMA JOHNSTON

Role: INVESTIGATOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Phone: +61 2 9385 1825

Email: e.johnston at unsw.edu.au

Contact Address:

School Of Biological Sciences

University Of New South Wales

City: Sydney

Province or State: NSW

Postal Code: 2052

Country: Australia

NICOLE HILL

Role: INVESTIGATOR

Role: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Phone: +61 3 6227 7289

Fax: +61 3 6227 8035

Email: Nicole.Hill at utas.edu.au

Contact Address:

Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute (TAFI)

University of Tasmania

Private Bag 49

City: Hobart

Province or State: Tasmania

Postal Code: 7001

Country: Australia

DAVE CONNELL

Role: DIF AUTHOR

Phone: +61 3 6232 3244

Fax: +61 3 6232 3351

Email: dave.connell at aad.gov.au

Contact Address:

Australian Antarctic Division

203 Channel Highway

City: Kingston

Province or State: Tasmania

Postal Code: 7050

Country: Australia

Publications/References

Hill, N.A., King, C.K., Perrett, L.A. and Johnston, E.L. (2009), Contaminated suspended sediments toxic to an Antarctic filter feeder: Aqueous and particulate-phase effects, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 28, 2, 409-417

Creation and Review Dates

DIF Creation Date: 2006-07-27

Last DIF Revision Date: 2012-03-02

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