B-43 Instructions

1. To Regional Headquarters

Enter Region (e.g. CRH Kansas City)

2. Class Of Proposed Station

Stations that support the gridded climatology program are in the "a" network and show a sponsor of S&E (Salary & Expenses).

Stations that support Meteorology programs are placed in the "c" network and show a sponsor of S&E(P) (Salary & Expenses (Public Service)).

A station may support more than one network if the observations and services at the stations support more than one of the above networks. Only possible entries for class of proposed station are:

a Climatology

b Hydrology

c Meteorology

ab Climatology and Hydrology

ac Climatology and Meteorology

bc Hydrology and Meteorology

abc Climatology, Hydrology, Meteorology

3. From

All WS Forms B-43 must be signed by the MIC of the NWS office that has warning responsibility for the area where the station is located. No exceptions! Note: The office with warning responsibility may not be the same as the office that has CPM responsibility.

4. Reason For Report

There are four choices. Place and "X" in the box preceding the explanation of why you are submitting the request.

A. Establishment: Check this choice when you are requesting a station be established where there has never been a station before. You not only need to check the exact location where you want the station, but also check to see if a station previously existed within compatible limits (usually 100 feet in elevation and 5 miles in distance).

B. Re-establishment: Check this choice if you want to establish a station where a station previously existed. In other words, within compatible limits (100 feet and 5 miles) there was a station at one time.

D. Change: Check this choice if you want to change anything at an existing station. This includes observations, reporting services, equipment, observer pay, move the station outside of compatible limits, etc.

If this section does not provide enough space to specify the desired changes, enter "see remarks", and explain the details on a separate attachment.

5. Name Of Proposed Station

Enter the name of the proposed station. Generally stations are named for the city in which they are located. If the station is not located in a city, a secondary name is: 1) the direct airline miles from the city to the station and 2) the direction to true north. Example: What Cheer 2 NW.

Station names can also be locally accepted names that are not city names. This is generally only done when it does not make sense to use the distance and direction from the closest city. Detailed instructions about naming stations are contained in the National Weather Service Observing Handbook No. 6, Cooperative Program Operations (September 1993 edition), Chapter 5.

6. Supervising Office

Enter the name of the National Weather Service Office that has warning responsibility for the area where the proposed station is located. This may not be the same as the office that is assigned CPM maintenance responsibility.

7. Date

Enter the date when the request is signed by the MIC.

8. Post Office

Enter the name of the city with a Post Office closest to the station, the zip code, and state abbreviation.

9. Approx. Lat.

This version of the B-43 was printed before the use of G.P.S. units. It is no longer acceptable to enter the approximate latitude of a station. The latitude of the proposed station must be entered in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

10. Approx. Long

Enter the longitude of the proposed station in degrees, minutes, and seconds.

11. Approx. Elev.

Enter the approximate elevation (MSL) of the proposed station to the nearest 10 feet unless a more accurate elevation is known.

12. Type Of Proposed Station

Enter in plain language the type of proposed station or action. Use the following examples:

TMP for maximum and minimum temperatures

TPN for temperature and precipitation

PCN for precipitation

REC PCN for recording precipitation

EVP for evaporation

WND for wind direction and speed

SOT for soil temperatures (specify depths)

RIV for river stage observations

RES for reservoir or lake level

SOM for soil moisture

SOL for solar radiation

SNO for snow depth

SND for snow density

DEW for dew measurement

DPT for dew point

If the observed element is to be telemetered, precede the above element abbreviation with TEL and precede TEL with the type of telemetry (radio, GOES, telephone, etc.).

Examples could include: GOES TEL PCN

TELEPHONE TEL TPN

ALERT TEL WND

If the observed element is to be reported, precede the above element abbreviation with REP.

If the observer is paid for the service, precede the above entries with a dollar sign ($).

Examples could include: $REP PCN; $REC PCN

Follow the observed element with the abbreviation of the sponsor of the observation. Sponsors are listed in code table 10 of the CSSA Users Manual. Some examples of sponsors are as follows:

S&E for climate network

S&E(H) for hydrology

S&E(P) for public service

S&E(A) for agricultural

FC-1 for recording precipitation (old recording network that was once paid for by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

FC-xx In Western Region, the xx is either 05, 17, 46, 50 and represents a station that is paid for by the Corps of Engineers. Other codes apply to other regions.

IRPN-x In Western Region, the x is either 1, 2, 4, 6 and represents a station that is paid for by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Other codes apply to other regions.

BPA-1 for Bonneville Power Administration

The following are several examples of complete entries in block 8 of the B-43.

TPN S&E

PCN S&E(H)

$REC PCN FC-1

$REP PCN BPA-1

TELEPHONE TEL TPN S&E(H) S&E(P)

(The above example shows that a telephone telemetered temperature and precipitation station is desired, and that the observed data will support both the hydrology and meteorology programs at the office.)

13. Effective Date Of Proposed Action

Enter the month and year that you are proposing the action take place. (For example, you would enter 8/98 for August 1998).

14. Service Designation Of Any Existing Station At Proposed Location

Use the same entry format as shown in item 12 above.

15. Monthly Rate January To December, Inclusive

Only enter information in Section II, 11a if the existing pay rate or the proposed pay rate is for services that will be or are performed 12 months of the year.

Enter the type of service that is being paid for to the right of "inclusive".

(For example: REC PCN or RIV REP).

Enter the current and proposed monthly rate of pay and the sponsor of the proposed or current service.

16. Monthly Rate Other Than "a", Specify

If the observer is being paid on a basis other than a 12 month basis (For example, only reports March - June), enter the time period for which payment is being made or proposed, and the service that the observer is being paid for. If the pay is for another service that is being paid for 12 months, enter "12 months" and the service for which the observer is being paid. (For example: 12 months PCN REP; MAR-JUN RIV REP).

Enter the current and proposed monthly pay rate and the entity sponsoring the proposed or current service.

17. Monthly Rate Other Than "b", Specify

Follow the same instruction for item 16 above.

18. Each Report During Period Of Monthly Wages

This column is no longer used. Observers are not paid on a per report basis.

19 Conditions Under Which Reports Are Telephoned Or Telegraphed

Obviously reports are no longer telegraphed! Enter the observed element, the observation time, and the means by which the office receives the telephoned report.

Examples could include: TPN 0800 PHONE 800 NUMBER DAILY

PCN AND RIV 0800 PHONE ROSA DAILY

RIV WHEN STAGE ABOVE 5 FT PHONE 800 NUMBER DAILY

TPN 0800 AND 1600 PHONE 800 NUMBER DAILY

20 How Message Is To Be Routed

Enter how the message is received at the WFO, and from there, where it is sent.

Examples could include:

ROSA TO AFOS (AFOS PRODUCT IDENTIFIER)

VOICE PHONE TO AFOS (AFOS PRODUCT IDENTIFIER)

VOICE RADIO NO FURTHER DISTRIBUTION

ALERT TO HYDROMET COMPUTER TO AFOS (PRODUCT IDENTIFIER)

21. Estimated Number Of Reports Per Annum

Enter the number of reports you expect to receive each year. If you are receiving reports from more than one service, enter "see attached" and explain on a separate attachment sheet.

Examples could include: RIV REP 120

PCN REP 365

TMP REP 365

22. Estimated Toll Charge

With the widespread use of incoming 800 numbers, it is not likely that an entry other than "0.00" will be needed. However, if the observers are calling collect to a non-800 number, enter the estimated annual cost for the collect calls.

23. Estimated Annual Payment, "a" Present

This is simply a summary of information entered in items 15, 16, and 17 above.

Enter the total current payment to the observer. Break down the cost in NWS funds (S&E) and reimbursable funds. The same should be done for communications costs.

If a share of the annual cost for the 800 number is paid for by a reimbursable, enter that cost under the column labeled "Reimb. Funds (dollars)".

24. Estimated Annual Payment, "b" Proposed

Use the instructions described in section 23 above. Enter the proposed costs in this section instead of the current costs that were entered in the above section.

25. What Equipment, If Any, Do You Propose To Furnish?

Equipment entries seem to cause the most confusion. In order for Regional Headquarters to make a decision, you must state what equipment will be used for the proposal and how much it will cost the affected region. Be specific when making both entries. There are basically only three ways to obtain observing equipment.

1) When the equipment is on hand from another station that was closed. In this case identify from which station the equipment was removed.

2) When it is ordered from NLSC or a replacement is ordered. Either way, the region has to pay for the equipment.

3) When equipment is purchased using a CD-404 or other fiscal process.

NOTE: NEVER USE EQUIPMENT IDENTIFIED AS A SPARE FOR NEW INSTALLATIONS!!!

For all non-NLSC purchases, specify the manufacturer, and the name and model number of the equipment you intend to purchase. Be specific. In addition, be sure that all required accessories are included (i.e. batteries, solar cells, antennas, masts, etc.).

If you have been dealing with a particular sales person, include in the remarks area of the B-43, the name of the company and the name and number of the sales person.

26. Justification And Remarks

There is minimal space provided for the remarks and justification section, therefore it may be necessary to use a separate attachment sheet.

For all new stations, or change in program at existing stations, specify what program(s) the data is going to support and how the data will be used. Again, be specific. The more information you relay, the better informed WRH decisions will be.

If the request is to close a station or reduce services, indicate why the data is no longer needed. In many cases, Regional Headquarters will get requests to remove telemetry because another agency (usually USGS) has also installed telemetry at a station. It is useful to state what the maintenance policies of the other agency are. Many times the other agency does not have the same need for the data as the NWS, which means repairs can be neglected for long periods of time.

Regional Headquarters also receive requests to remove telemetered precipitation gages because the U.S. Forest Service or other land use agency has installed a RAWS station. Again, the maintenance issue comes into play. In addition, most RAWS stations use tipping bucket type gages, which are not as accurate as other types of rain gages, and do not provide reports of frozen events.

When describing why new services are needed, be specific. Do not use general terms such as, "Data to be used for water supply forecasts" or "Temperature and precipitation reports to be used to support forecasts and warnings". Use more descriptive remarks such as, "Precipitation data to be used for water supply forecasts for the upper Jones River Basin" or "Temperature and precipitation reports will be used for forecast and warning support for the cities of xxx or the county of xxx, and will also be included in the State Temperature/Precipitation bulletin.

In most cases, it is not necessary to go into what problems the station or proposal may solve. However, when money is tight or resources are limited, it is helpful to know that lack of data from the proposed area/station caused problems with forecasts or warnings. In this case, explain how the new station (data) will help to mitigate the problem.

27. Offices That Should Be Informed Of Action

Enter the 3 or 5 character identifier of all offices that should receive a copy of the letter of approval/denial.

28. For Use Of Regional Headquarters (Block)

When Regional Headquarters receive a B-43, the information is generally verified by the Regional Cooperative Systems Program Manager. If there are problems with the B-43 submitted, the requesting office may then be contacted to try to resolve the problem. The request is then taken to the appropriate Regional Headquarters division (MSD or HSD) for review and approval/disapproval. If the request is approved and no new expenditures are involved, then a letter is signed by the SOD Chief, and the proposal can proceed with implementation. If new expenditures are involved, then final approval must come from the Regional Director or Deputy Regional Director.

If anywhere in the process the request is denied, a letter will be sent to the requesting office from the SOD Chief.

29. Signature Of Authorizing Official

The authorizing official is either the MSD or the HSD Division Chief, the Regional Director or Deputy Regional Director, and in some instances the Regional Cooperative Systems Program Manager.