NOUS41 KWBC 021805

PNSWSH

 

Public Information Notice

National Weather Service Headquarters Washington DC

106 PM EST Fri Dec 2 2011

 

TO:       Users of the International Satellite Communications

          System (ISCS) and Other NWS users

 

FROM:     Craig Hodan

          Chief, NWS Dissemination Systems Branch

 

SUBJECT:  Soliciting Comments Until December 31, 2011, on

          ISCS Broadcast Ending and Being replaced by proposed

          GTS Internet File Service (GIFS) and Geonetcast

          Americas Satellite Broadcast

 

NWS is accepting comments until December 31, 2011, on plans to

replace the ISCS satellite broadcast service, which provides

meteorological and aviation weather products to WFO regional

association IV members and participating states, with the global

telecommunication system (GTS) internet file service (GIFS)

 

ISCS will  end June 30, 2012, when the FAA ISCS contract expires.

GIFS will make the ISCS broadcast products available for download

via https over the public internet as a data pull service. GIFS

will allow the current set of ISCS users to access products

through the NWS issuance of authorized usernames and passwords.

The new system will be available for preliminary use and

assessment by April 1, 2012. All ISCS users will need to

transition from ISCS to GIFS by June 30, 2012.

 

A sub-channel on the NESDIS GeoNetCast-Americas (GNC-A) satellite

broadcast service is proposed for product dissemination in FY13

to provide a point-to-multipoint data push of meteorological products

to the current set of ISCS users.

 

This service will complement the GIFS capability while employing

a diverse, independent service. This complimentary service will

provide service to the more remote or underdeveloped regions and

improve service availability to locations where both GIFS and

GNC-A are accessible.  Users must  purchase, install, operate, and

maintain the required satellite ground receiver equipment.

 

Please submit comments to the following contact. When commenting

by email, please include "ISCS-CMT:" at the beginning of email

subject line.

 

Robert Gillespie, PMP

National weather service

Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

United States of America

301-713-9478 ext 140

robert.gillespie@noaa.gov

 

National Public Information Notices are online at:

 

    http://nws.noaa.gov/os/notif.htm

 

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