Figure 51. The 404-MHz profiler at the Lower Colorado River
Authority's Natural Science Laboratory in Ledbetter, Texas.
(Photo courtesy of Brian Phillips, SRG, Inc.)
The 449-MHz profiler at Vandenberg Air Force Base was relocated to Platteville, Colorado, and will be used as an operational testbed for the conversion of the
404-MHz systems to 449-MHz. The Platteville profiler (Figure 52) is a hybrid system consisting of Vaisala and Lockheed Martin components.
Figure 52. The 449-MHz profiler at Platteville, Colorado, planned
as a testbed site for a national 449-MHz profiler network.
(Photo courtesy of Brian Koonsvitsky, SRG Inc.)
The grounding systems at 30 profiler sites were tested and upgraded to meet current electrical specifications. To ensure that each site is more reliable during
severe weather events, lightning and current surge protection devices were installed to protect the electronics and communications equipment.
Eleven data processors were acquired and installed at profiler sites to replace obsolete ones that can no longer be purchased or repaired.
Projections
An all-digital surface meteorological sensor package, the Profiler Surface Observing System (PSOS-II), will be installed to replace the GSOS and PSOS units
operating at some profiler sites. A 10-meter mast with an anemometer and rain gauge will be added to sites currently without surface wind measuring capability.
This will bring equipment availability at the 35 profiler sites into uniformity and provide additional meteorological data.
New signal processing techniques will be tested at the Platteville profiler to determine the best method for acquiring quality data. The new techniques will help
alleviate the problems associated with ground and sea clutter and bird contamination.
The Engineering and Field Support Branch will provide operations and maintenance support to the 10 quarter-scale profilers to be installed for the Air Force
Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS).
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Software Development and Web Services Branch
Alan E. Pihlak, Chief
Objectives
The responsibilities of the Software Development and Web Services Branch are to provide software support for existing systems, develop new software and
database systems as needed, provide Web support for the division’s extensive Web activities, and design software to support a national deployment of profilers.
To help improve short-term warning and forecast services, up-to-the-minute profiler data are provided on the NOAA Profiler Network (NPN)
Website, http://profiler.noaa.gov the first place to go for wind profiler data. The Profiler Website provides
historical archives of wind, temperature, and other profiler information beneficial to researchers for forecasting and modeling both long-term and short-term
climate change. A constant goal is to improve the timeliness of profiler data delivery and distribution through work on existing software systems and
development of new software.
Branch resources are used in the operation of the Cooperative Agency Profiler (CAP) network, a non-NPN network of profiler sites. FSL, in cooperation with
other agencies, ingests profiler data in near real time from different sources ranging from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Japanese Meteorological
Agency. Unlike the radars used in the NPN, the CAP sites are operated in many different ways, are owned by about 30 different agencies, and are optimized
for different applications. FSL acquires these data, applies its own quality control algorithms to the data, and makes the value-added data available on the
Web and to the National Weather Service (NWS). The data from these profilers, distributed primarily via the Profiler Website, contribute significantly to
NWS forecasts in areas where the NPN does not operate tropospheric profilers.
Accomplishments
In 2002, this branch began delivery of single-station, single-time-period messages to the National Weather Service Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG).
The message format is a simplified subset of the COST-76 standard BUFR format for profiler data. These changes are steps toward future use of alternate
communications solutions. FSL’s Modernization Division received a grant for modifying the AWIPS workstation to accept and process data in these new
formats, which allow data to be processed closer to their time of arrival. These data now arrive at the NWSTG an average of 6 minutes faster every hour.
Before changing the formats, data would occasionally arrive too late to be used in the NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) numerical
weather models. Also, GPS precipitable water vapor measurements are now delivered to the NWSTG twice each hour.
The number of profilers in the CAP project more than doubled during the last two years, from approximately 50 in 2001 to over 100 currently. Division resources
were shifted to accommodate this explosive growth. Data from CAP are routinely used by NWS forecasters from California to Virginia.
Work on other subsystems required to eliminate the aging NPN Hub is estimated to be 50% complete. Progress on this goal was affected by the growth of the
CAP network.
The Wind Profiler Processing Platform (WPPP) is progressing, with decisions made regarding the standard hardware and software configuration.
Low-level, reusable software components based on a station-instrument model have been completed. In this model, station objects own instrument objects
capable of producing different types of meteorological data in various composites. Now every station, whether CAP or NPN, can be treated in a similar fashion
without writing new software every time a new station is added, removed, or relocated. These components can reside on any Java-enabled processor on the
system, as long as it is connected to the Internet, regardless of operating system. Many of these components are currently in use in the production environment.
New, reusable graphics software for displaying winds, temperatures, and moments from the Web and local or remote datasets was completed and is being
used on the Demonstration Division Website.
Projections
As we enter the third generation of wireless technology, organizations have been sponsored by the National Science Foundation to create, demonstrate, and
evaluate a noncommercial prototype high-performance wide-area wireless network for research and education. Wireless technology is in daily use by millions
of consumers, and an evolution in observing systems communications must progress in the same direction. It is expected that at least four NPN sites will be
converted to use satellite Internet in place of direct phone line connections in 2003. Staff will explore the results of last year’s COMET project grant for
JINI/TINI technology using packet radio communications, as well as other technologies such as cellular and point-to-multipoint IP.
In 2003, completion of the Phase 1 transition will include retirement of the obsolete NPN Hub and supporting 1980s era peripherals, and completion of a
general-purpose serial data client-server component, the basis for several subsystems such as a new Web-based PMT control system.
Improvements and updates will be made to the Demonstration Division Website.
Final work will be completed related to the National Climatic Data Center's (NCDC) profiler data archive. These data, covering the last 11 years, have been
reprocessed into a modern storage format and will be sent back to NCDC within the year.
Archived NPN and CAP data will be placed online (http://profiler.noaa.gov) and available for downloading or viewing.
At least one year of data will be available online, and requests for older historical data will be processed as received.
Return to Top of Demonstration Division Section
GPS-Met Observing Systems Branch
Seth I. Gutman, Chief
Objectives
The GPS-Met Observing Systems Branch was formed in response to the need for improved moisture observations to support weather forecasting, climate
monitoring, and research within NOAA. The activities of the branch primarily support NOAA’s environmental assessment and prediction mission. It creates
and disseminates reliable assessments of weather, climate, the space environment and geodetic phenomena using a new upper-air observing system technique
in support of advance short-term warning and forecast services. The data and techniques developed and implemented by the branch also support seasonal to
interannual climate forecasts as well as the prediction and assessment of decadal to centennial climate change. Due to a largely unanticipated synergy between
the requirements for atmospheric remote sensing and the more traditional applications of the Global Positioning System (i.e., positioning, navigation, and time
transfer), the branch’s activities also promote safe navigation by providing GPS and other observations to the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) Continuously
Operating Reference Station (CORS) network, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), and other GPS users in the public
and private sectors.
The primary objectives of the GPS-Met Observing Systems Branch are to define and demonstrate the major aspects of an operational ground-based Global
Positioning System (GPS) integrated precipitable water vapor (IPWV) monitoring system, facilitate assessments of the impact of GPS meteorological data on
weather forecasts, assist in the transition of GPS-Met data acquisition and data processing techniques to operational use, and encourage the use of GPS in
atmospheric research and other applications. The work utilizes the resources and infrastructure established to operate and maintain the NOAA Profiler
Network (NPN) in achieving these objectives at low cost and risk. The branch collaborates with other FSL divisions (especially the Forecast Research Division,
Aviation Division, International Division, Systems Development Division, and the Director’s Office which includes the Information and Technology Services
group) to achieve objectives of mutual interest and benefit the laboratory, its customers and partners.
This work represents an investment in scientific research, the development of new technologies to improve current operations, and assistance in helping
NOAA prepare for the future. The branch has successfully demonstrated all major elements of a reliable, low-cost continuous upper-air observing system that
complements other operational and future ground- and space-based observing systems. Newly adapted information network tools and techniques acquire and
process GPS and surface meteorological data from NOAA and other public, private, and international partnerships. This capability has permitted rapid
expansion of GPS-Met coverage at extremely low cost. The branch has been heavily involved in developing and implementing environmental expertise and
technologies to improve NOAA’s ability to serve its customers and forge stronger ties with its partners, especially the National Weather Service (NWS), DOT,
and Department of Defense (DOD).
Accomplishments
The focus of the GPS-Met project during 2002 was on expanding the demonstration network to facilitate assessment of these observations on weather forecast
accuracy, investigating other uses for GPS data and meteorological models assimilating GPS observations, and making NOAA and other agencies more aware
of these research and development activities. In this regard, the branch completed its second technical review
(available at