NCEP's Central Operations has upgraded their Eta FOUS bulletin maker. This code interpolates model output from a grid to selected sites and then formats that data into character bulletins for transmission.
The current system uses the NGM-look-alike file from the Eta Model which is on a polar-stereographic grid with a fairly coarse 83 km resolution covering North America (GRIB grid #104).
The upgraded system will use GRIB grid #221 which is a Lambert conic-conformal grid with 32 km resolution covering the North American domain of the Eta Model, nearly a perfect match of both domain and resolution.
The output bulletins will have the identical appearance and format but will have been generated with much less interpolation distortion. Seattle's elevation as perceived by the new Eta FOUS will be 110.90 m as compared to 388.96 m in the old Eta FOUS. This code change will also effect the FRH - freezing level and RH FOUS40 messages as well.
NCEP does not see any downside to this upgrade and would like to make this change as soon as possible. If you are aware of any reason why NCEP should not proceed, let Jeff DiMego know as soon as possible (Geoff.Dimego@noaa.gov).
In the near future, NCEP would like to add FOUS output from the off-time runs of the Eta-32 as well. This will be submitted through the Data Review Group since it represents additional transmissions. With these new transmissions, NCEP has the opportunity to consider extracting information from the Eta forecast every 3-hours instead of the current 6-hours. This will expand the size of the bulletin. We are aware of some Family of Services customers (airlines) who have requested additional FOUS of this type and FOUS from the RUC-2 as well. NCEP would appreciate any feedback you have on these possible future directions. In a perfect world, more and better model information at specific sites can be obtained from our growing number of BUFR sites and all our users would move away from depending on FOUS. Unfortunately, AWIPS and its satellite broadcast (NOAAPORT) will not immediately have all the BUFR and they will not replace the NWS Family of Services feed for many external users in the near future.
Old and new site elevations are listed in the accompanying ASCII text file.
NCEP has started testing the tiling and splitting options for the full resolution output of the Eta-32 model runs. A full description of the tiled output including a descriptive map and downloadable files are accessible at http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov:8000/research/tiles.221.html.
Expanded meteogram support from the 32 km Eta Model including information on obtaining and unpacking hourly model forecasts in BUFR resides at http://ftp.ncep.noaa.gov:8000/research/meteo2.html.
For those of you who receive GOES Variable (GVAR) Imager and Sounder data, this is an excellent opportunity to test your system for Y2K compliance.
A third GOES Y2K test is scheduled in two parts for March 22-26 and April 5-8, 1999. The test will be similar to the previous GOES Y2K tests. GOES GVAR data from the GOES-8 spacecraft will be re-broadcast via GOES-7, time-tagged with a future date and year for Y2K testing. The year crossover for year 1999 to 2000 and year 2000 to 2001 will be simulated, as well as, February 29, 2000, September 9, 1999, and October 9, 1999. This test is another unique opportunity for all GOES users to validate their systems for year 2000 problems. GOES-7 will not be available after April 1999.
The following is a schedule for that third rebroadcast of GOES-8 GVAR imagery with future dates, for the purpose of Year 2000 compliance testing. During these periods, GOES-8 GVAR data will be rebroadcast via GOES-7. The time-of-day, (hours, minutes, seconds) in the rebroadcast GVAR data will be the current UTC time at the time of the rebroadcast. The day-of-year (DOY) and year within the GVAR data, rebroadcast from GOES-7, however will be the simulated DOY and year. The products sent will be those which GOES-8 is sending at the time of the rebroadcast.
This test will have no effect on the products sent by GOES-8 or any other operational spacecraft.
Caveats:
The simulations require the use of backup equipment critical to the mission of the Office of Satellite Operations. If this equipment is needed to support normal operations the simulation may cease without notice.
During the scheduled times of these simulations, both GOES-8, which is providing the source of the GVAR, and GOES-7 will be in eclipse during parts of the simulation. During those times GVAR will not be rebroadcast. These times are now expected to be approximately 0400 - 0800 UTC, however, these may change due to spacecraft maneuvers.
GVAR may be broadcast from GOES-7 prior to, and after the scheduled times for the purpose of equipment configuration and check-out. The simulated time and other content of this data will not correspond to any planned simulation. The location of GOES-7, and more detailed schedule information will be made available at a later date.
Simulated Dates/Times:
Begin: February 28, 2000, 2200 hours UTC
End: March 1, 2000, 0100 hours UTC
Actual Dates/Times:
Begin: March 22, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: March 24, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Duration: 27 hours
Simulated Dates/Times:
Begin: September 08, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: September 10, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Actual Dates/Times:
Begin: March 24, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: March 26, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Duration: 27 hours
Simulated Dates/Times:
Begin: October 08, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: October 10, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Actual Dates/Times:
Begin: April 05, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: April 07, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Duration: 27 hours
Simulated Dates/Times:
Begin: December 31, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: January 01, 2000, 0100 hours UTC
Actual Dates/Times:
Begin: April 07, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: April 08, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Duration: 3 hours
Simulated Dates/Times:
Begin: December 31, 2000, 2200 hours UTC
End: January 01, 2001, 0100 hours UTC
Actual Dates/Times:
Begin: April 08, 1999, 2200 hours UTC
End: April 09, 1999, 0100 hours UTC
Duration: 3 hours
Last week's IM Update included a summary of the FOS Annual Meeting. We've now completed the conversion of the speaker graphics and hand-outs to Adobe® Acrobat® PDF format. The files are as follows:
| Meeting Agenda and List of Attendees | Agenda |
| Update on International Data Services (IDS) IDS II-A/IDS II-B/ Server Access Service Family of Services Fees NOAAPORT Administrative/General Messages |
Enclosure 3 |
| Future of DIFAX | Enclosure 4 |
| NOAA Weather Wire Service Recompetition | Enclosure 5 |
| Results of the NOAAPORT Operational Readiness Demonstration | Enclosure 6 |
| New Satellite Products for AWIPS Build 5.0 | Enclosure 7 |
| NOAA Future GOES Observational Requirements | Enclosure 8 |
| NCEP Update | Enclosure 9 |
| Y2K Update | Enclosure 10 |
In addition to the above, the references to enclosures in last week's IM Update are now "live" links to the referenced PDF files.
The free Adobe® Acrobat® reader/printer is available from http://www.adobe.com.
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