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             1.  Purpose.............................................................................................................................................. 1

             2.  Background........................................................................................................................................ 1

             3.  Description......................................................................................................................................... 1

             4.  Organizational Responsibility............................................................................................................... 2

1.             Purpose.  This Chapter describes the Family of Services (FOS) and its primary function of providing external users such as value-added weather distributors, the academic community, and   Federal agencies with access to near real-time weather information.  These services are available through a collection of data services, which are accessed via dedicated telecommunications access lines
in the Washington, D.C., area.

2.             Background.  The FOS was established to help fulfill the National Weather Service (NWS) mission of making weather information available to the private sector.  NWS watches, warnings, and advisories are disseminated immediately on the NOAA Weather Radio and the NOAA Weather Wire Service.  These are the primary sources of weather information for the media and the general public.  NWS watches, warnings, and advisories, as well as hydrological, climatological, agricultural, and miscellaneous forecasts/products, are then relayed on the NWS FOS as appropriate.  Other products disseminated over the FOS include observations and various aviation, marine, and gridded data.

3.             Description.  The individual FOS data services may be obtained from the NWS upon payment of a one-time connection charge and a recurring annual user fee.  Several private companies subscribe to the FOS, then resell the FOS data as received and/or provide value-added information services to
their customers.  The FOS includes the following data services:

      a.         Public Product Service (PPS)--carries all public watches; warnings; advisories; and various hydrologic, agricultural, and miscellaneous forecasts and products;

      b.         Domestic Data Service (DDS)--carries basic observations and various aviation, marine, and miscellaneous products;

      c.         International Data Service (IDS)--carries world-wide surface and upper air observations and miscellaneous products;

      d.         Numerical Products Service (NPS)--carries global model-derived forecasts out to 7 days and weather analyses, most of which are in a gridded-binary format;

      e.         High Resolution Data Service (HRS)--carries the same products as the NPS, as well as gridded-model data, and serves users who have a requirement for error-controlled NPS data.  This FOS offering is different from the other services
in that users connect directly to a port in the NWS Telecom- munication Gateway computer facility located in Silver Spring, Maryland;

      f.         Automation of Field Operations and Services (AFOS) Graphics Service (AGS)--carries centrally produced weather products ("charts") in the vector graphic format utilized in the NWS AFOS system;

      g.         Digital Facsimile Service (DIFAX)--carries weather analysis and prognosis products related primarily to aviation; and

      h.         Climate Analysis Center Climate Dial-up Service (CACCDUS)--provides climate data to users who access a computer data base via dial-in access.  Unlike the other FOS services, user fees are assessed on a usage basis.

4.             Organizational Responsibility.  The Telecommunications and Dissemination Branch of the Systems Integration Division, Office of Systems Operations, has responsibility for the following:

      a.  overall management of the FOS Telecommunications Program, including the circuits and equipment provided by telecommunications carriers;

      b.  management of all FOS subscriber agreements;

      c.  establishment and collection of all FOS user fees;

      d.  coordination of all FOS matters with the FOS subscriber community; and

      e.  management of FOS-related data product catalogs.

The Operations Plans and Change Management Branch has the responsibility for processing FOS Baseline Request for Change items.

The Central Communications Control Branch of the Systems Operations Center is responsible for operating the FOS circuits, including real-time technical and operational coordination with FOS users and the telecommunications common carriers.  The Central Communications Software Branch of the Systems Operations Center has the responsibility for adding, deleting, or changing products on FOS circuits upon request from the FOS Program
Leader and for investigating and correcting software-related transmission problems.

The NWS Data Review Group has the responsibility for reviewing FOS Data Request for Change items that result in additions, deletions, or changes to FOS data requirements.