NOUS41 KWBC 091554
Public Information Statement,
Comment Request
National
Weather Service Headquarters,
1054 AM
EST Wed Nov 9 2011
To: Subscribers:
-Family of Services
-NOAA Weather Wire Service
-Emergency Managers Weather
Information Network
-NOAAPORT
Other NWS Partners, Users and Employees
From: Geoff DiMego
Chief, Mesoscale Modeling Branch
NCEP/Environmental Modeling Center
Subject:
Soliciting Public Comments through December 12, 2011,
on the removal of some obsolete RUC
model output
The
National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) will be replacing the
Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) model with the Rapid Refresh (RAP) in early 2012. Please see NWS TIN 11-36 announcing the
intent to make this change. Based on NCEP’s current knowledge of RUC user
requirements, NCEP is trying to continue providing all pertinent output
products from the RAP now produced from the RUC. In the interest of making the
best use of resources across the enterprise, NWS is proposing to remove several
obsolete RUC products when the transition to the RAP occurs. Details are given
below about the products slated for removal. NWS is seeking comments on this
proposed change through December 12, 2011.
The
RUC and subsequent RAP models have a native resolution of 13km. RUC output is produced on 13, 20, and 40 km
output grids that cover the domain slightly larger than the CONUS. The RAP
covers a much larger domain; a new 32 km full-domain and 11 km Alaska regional
grids will be generated in addition to all of the current grids generated in
the RUC with the exceptions listed in the next section.
The
products NCEP is proposing to remove are the following:
A. 80 km
output grids: 80 km grids represent an inferior grid resolution; output is only
available for a small fraction of the cycles and forecast hours for which the RUC
and RAP are run. These products are available
on NOAAPORT under the WMO headers Y*Q*** KWBG and Z*Q*** KWBG, where the *
digits of the header varies depending on the element and time for which the
grid is valid. The 80 km grids are available
in aggregated files at the following locations:
NWS
FTP server: ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/MT.ruc_CY.hh/RD.YYYYMMDD/PT.grid_DF.gr2/fh.xxxx_tl.press_gr.us80km
where
hh is the model cycle, YYYYMMDD is the date, and xxxx is the forecast
projection.
NCEP
server:
ftp://ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/data/nccf/com/ruc/prod/ruc2a.YYYYMMDD/ruc2.tccz.grb2fxx.grib2
where
YYYYMMDD is the date, cc the model cycle, and xx the forecast projection.
B. Surface
"sgrb" files: These surface files
were originally created to contain a small subset of RUC output fields. All of
the fields in the sgrb files are available in the 13, 20, and 40 km pgrb files
for users to obtain, duplicating output. The sgrb files are currently available
in aggregated files at the following locations:
NWS
FTP server:
ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/SL.us008001/ST.opnl/MT.ruc_CY.hh/RD.YYYYMMDD/PT.grid_DF.gr2/
where
hh is the model cycle and YYYYMMDD is the date. The filenames are fh.xxxx_tl.press_gr.sgrib for the 40 km grid and
fh.xxxx_tl.press_gr.sgrib20 for the 20 km grid, where xxxx is the forecast
projection.
NCEP
server:
ftp://ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/data/nccf/com/ruc/prod/ruc2a.YYYYMMDD
where
YYYYMMDD is the date. The filenames are
ruc2.tccz.sgrbfxx.grib2 for the 40 km grid and ruc2.tccz.sgrb20fxx.grib2 for
the 20 km grid, where cc is the model cycle, and xx the forecast projection.
The
sgrb files are also available on NCEP’s NOMADS system through the grib filter application
at: http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/filter_ruc.pl
C. 40
km “bgrb” output grids containing output on the native
levels: Most users use model output on
pressure levels; the RUC/RAP output on native levels will continue to be
available at finer resolutions than 40 km. The 40 km "bgrb" files
are available in aggregated files at the
following locations:
NWS
FTP server:
where
hh is the model cycle, YYYYMMDD is the date, and xxxx is the forecast
projection.
NCEP
server:
ftp://ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/pub/data/nccf/com/ruc/prod/ruc2a.YYYYMMDD/ruc2.tccz.bgrbfxx.grib2
where
YYYYMMDD is the date, cc the model cycle, and xx the forecast projection.
NWS
will evaluate all comments to determine whether to proceed with this change as
part of the RUC to RAP transition. NCEP will issue another TIN if the decision
is made to terminate any or all of these products.
Send
comments on this proposal to:
Geoff Manikin
NWS/NCEP Environmental
Camp Springs,
or
Rebecca Cosgrove
NWS/NCEP Central Operations
National
Public Information Statements are online at:
http://www.weather.gov/os/notif.htm
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