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NOAA's NWS Focus
August
18, 2003 |
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| NOAA
Corps pilot LT Gregory Glover (left) answers
questions on the Aircraft Operations Center's
snow survey for visitors at the EAA AirVenture 2003 in Oshkosh,
WI, one of the largest aviation gathering
in
the world. Standing at the right is LTJG Steve
Kroening. Read more about EAA AirVenture 2003 by
clicking here.
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| Director's
Dialog: Time and Attendance Software
We're still using a DOS mode Time and Attendance program
for our field payroll system in the National Weather Service.
DOS is a legacy application that Microsoft seems to want
to drop support for in upcoming version of the Windows operating
system.
Are there any plans to rewrite the DOS Time and Attendance
program as a 32-bit Windows application using current programming
techniques?
--Gar Nelson, Electronic Technician, ITSO,
WFO Glasgow, MT
Thanks for your question. The Department of Commerce (DOC)
has purchased a web-based time and attendance application
for all DOC employees. Barry West, our Chief Information
Officer,
tells me that the application is a vast improvement over
the DOS system we are currently using. DOC has piloted
the system
with 235 users for approximately 2 years. NOAA's Office of
Finance and Administration (NFA) has also recently piloted
the system with 65 users and is requesting approval to
proceed
with the deployment of the application, beginning with NFA
this fall and phasing the rest of the Line Offices in as
soon
as possible. DOC still must decide where the application
will be hosted. Delays in making this decision will impact
the
schedule.
--Jack Kelly, NWS Director
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| NWS
Exhibits at Huge Airshow, Celebrates 100 Years of Powered
Flight
The Experimental
Aircraft Association's (EAA) AirVenture
in Oshkosh, WI, held July 29- August 4, 2003, is one of
the largest aviation gatherings in the world. Estimated
attendance
this year was 770,000. The Oshkosh Airshow was particularly
large this year because it focused on the 100-year anniversary
of the Wright Flyer. The NWS, NOAA Corps, and NOAA's Search
and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT) office
all participated this year, reaching over 10,000 visitors
per day.
"The Oshkosh Fly-In is an annual 'Woodstock' for pilots
and the aviation industry. No other airshow or convention
compares," said Ken Rizzo, Meteorologist-In-Charge of the
Milwaukee/Sullivan Weather Forecast Office (WFO). "Ultralight
to jumbo jet pilots attend. This is the best event for
the
NWS
to interact
with
its aviation customer base."
NWS employees from the Aviation
Weather Center (AWC), Weather Forecast Offices (WFO)
(Milwaukee/Sullivan, Green Bay, Chanhassen), the National
Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC),
and NWS Headquarters helped staff the booth in the Federal
Pavilion.
A NOAA Shrike Commander snow survey aircraft from the
Aircraft Operations Center
was also on display outside the Federal Pavilion. NOAA Corps
pilots were on hand to answer questions about the snow survey
plane and the NOAA Corps. The NOHRSC was also on hand to
explain the NWS role in airborne snow surveys, flood forecasting,
and water supply forecasting.
WFO Green Bay also staffed a NWS booth at EAA's KidVenture.
KidVenture provided the opportunity for kids of all ages
to experience hands-on activities related to aviation and
meet aviation legends.
Click here to see photographs
from EAA's AirVenture and KidVenture.
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| 10,000
Observing Sites and Growing ...
The Hydrometeorological
Automated Data System (HADS), operated by the NWS Office
of Hydrologic Development, reached a milestone in early
August 2003 when the ten-thousandth observing site was added.
In existence since 1991, HADS pumps more than one and
a quarter million data values from more than 31,000 sensors
each day into river forecast operations nationwide. HADS
is the life blood of the NWS Hydrologic Services Program,
supporting the Nation's flood, flash flood, and meteorological
forecast programs.
Known primarily for hydrologic data, HADS also provides
large volumes of weather data. For example, it supplies
data from 2,300 temperature sites to NCEP. HADS contributes
valuable information to several other NWS program areas,
including fire weather support services, local and national
analysis of precipitation events, and the verification
of
NEXRAD precipitation estimates.
HADS acquires and translates raw, non-standard messages
in three minute cycles into NWS standard data products.
Each product is uniquely tailored and delivered to each
Weather Forecast Office and River Forecast Center as well
as NCEP's Climate Prediction and Environmental Modeling
Centers, NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory, and the National
Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center. HADS messages
are also delivered publicly via NOAAPORT.
"HADS is a great story of interagency cooperation," said
HADS Program Manager Larry Cedrone. "Most sites are owned
and operated by more than a
dozen other agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey,
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Forest Service.
The sites and their meta-data change regularly. Our staff
talks to them on a daily basis. We coordinate changes and
add new sites when they come online."
For more details on the actual data processed and a variety
of system performance and network statistics, visit the
HADS web pages at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ohd/hads/.
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| Help
Wanted to Identify Women In Weather Bureau for World War
II Tribute
The NWS Communications
Office would like to recognize women
who worked for the Weather Bureau during World War II.
Can you help us identify those in your community who served
diligently during World War II in forecast offices across
the country performing observing and forecasting duties?
NOAA's NWS Focus is planning a tribute during
Women's History month next year (March 2004) to recognize
all of these women whose hard work and 'can-do' spirit contributed
greatly to the war effort abroad and stateside. We know
that by 1945 over 900 women were working as Weather Bureau
observers and forecasters. Many of these women were in their
early 20s when they entered the Weather Bureau. As more
than 50 years have elapsed since World War II, we have lost
touch with many who served so diligently during that era.
We need your help.
Please e-mail us at NWS.Focus@noaa.gov
with information on women you know were part of the Weather
Bureau during World War II.
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| New
Aviation Course on Stratus and Fog
The NWS recently
began offering a course that provides a comprehensive examination
of the physical mechanisms, synoptic patterns, and mesoscale
features involved in the generation and dissipation of fog
and low stratus.
Distance Learning Aviation Course 1 (DLAC1): Forecasting
Fog and Stratus gives forecasters a comprehensive understanding
of the dynamics involved in fog/stratus generation and dissipation
and covers the latest forecast tools used to predict these
events. The course also focuses on aviation customer needs
and how to write a better terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF)
to meet those needs.
"Ceiling and visibility forecasts significantly impact
NWS customers and are among the most challenging aviation
services forecasters provide," said Liz Page, who offers
the DLAC1 tele-training sessions through the Cooperative
Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training.
The course, approximately 25 hours of instruction, combines
tele-training and self-paced web modules.
For the course overview, go to http://www.meted.ucar.edu/dlac/website/index.htm.
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| Also
On the Web...NWS CIO Makes Government Computer News
NWS Chief Information
Officer Barry West recently appeared in Government Computer
News magazine. The article highlighted the use of the Linux
computer operating system in NWS mission critical applications.
Read the story by
clicking here.
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| Take
a look at other NWS news, as submitted for the NOAA
Weekly Report
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Click
here to take a look at NOAA-wide employee news, as posted
in the latest issue of AccessNOAA
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| Have news you'd like to spread using
NOAA's NWS Focus? Have feedback on how we can improve NOAA's NWS Focus and employee communications? We want to hear from
you! E-mail us at NWS.Focus@noaa.gov. |
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| Send
questions and comments to NWS.Communications.Office@noaa.gov
or mail to:
National Weather
Service
Communications Office
ATTN: W/COM
1325 East West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3283
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