National Weather Digest

AFOSTHE AFOS WORKING ENVIRONMENT*

James L. Lehmann

National Weather ServiceSilver Spring, Maryland

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We are all pretty much aware of how data iscollected and transmitted and of how products areformulated and disseminated by National WeatherServices offices today. We use a mixture ofteletypewriter and facsimile circuits and a lot ofmanual intervention to accomplish these ends.Our offices contain communication areas dedi­cated to the used and maintenance of noisy,paper-producing mechanical equipment. Littleautomated assistance is available to field person­nel under this sytem. Data-gathering operationscan be generally characterized by the tearing,sorting, and filing of paper. These paper-orientedactivities are also used in product formulation,delivery and archival. This is the working envir­onment, as it used to be.

What is the new AFOS working environment like?How does it differ from the old? How will aforecaster generate a product in this newenvironment?

To produce a forecast, the forecaster proceedsmuch as he used to with hard-copy data, exceptthat this data is now displayed on the AFOSconsole screens. In AFOS, the graphic productsthat are available over the facsimile circuits arebroken down by fields. The height, temperature,vorticity fields, etc., are available as separateproducts over associated map backgrounds. Thesegraphic fields are retrieved by using the three­character AFOS identifier, and can be displayedon any graphic console screen. An overlaycapability of three fields allows the forecaster togenerate charts similar to those viewed onfacsimile circuits. Any fields with compatiblemap backgrounds may be overlaid, so new analyti­cal capabilities are available to the forecaster.For example, the 500-millibar heights can beoverlaid on a surface chart. Or a previouslyproduced prognostic chart can be overlaid on acurrent analysis for verification purposes.

The overlay capability of the graphic screens isenhanced by a series of controls. The forecastercan individUally select the overlay fields toappear as solid, dashed, or dotted lines. A separ­ate control of the intensity of the overlays is alsoavailable.

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Today's Weather Service Office

Teletype Machine

*Presented at the AWS NWS Conference onWeather Forecasting and Analysis and AviationMeteorology, Silver Spring, Maryland, October 16­19, 1978.

Reanalysis of graphic products can be accomplish­ed by drawing on a hard copy of the selecteddispaly.

The Zoom control, with discrete settings of 1:1,4:1, 9:1, 16:1, and 25:1 is available with all thegraphic display screens. As the zoom is in­creased, a successively smaller area will fill theentire seventeen-inch display screen. The zoomwill be especially valuable in viewing plottedsurface data. As the map background is enlarged,more data will be plotted within the zoomed area.At the higher zoom ratios, more surface stationscan be plotted than are currently available onfacsimile.

The message composition capability of the AFOSconsoles will be the biggest time-saver for theforecaster.

To create a message, the forecaster first types ininformation identifying the product, the date andtime, and instructions designating over which cir­cuits it will be sent. Currently, the forecastermust be familiar with all the various headers forthose circuits over which his product is to betransmitted. In AFOS he needs only to know theAFOS message header since the software takescare of inserting the proper header if the messageis to go out on other circuits.

The forecaster has the choice in message compo­sition either to use free text, or to use a pre­formatted text and just fill in the blanks. Pre­formatted texts can be especially useful in casesrequiring a quickly issued product such as tornadowarning. The forecaster also has the capability ofcreating his own preformats and storing them inthe system.

AFOS also allows for simple and rapid editing ofmessages similar to the KCRT system now used insome forecast offices. The message being com­posed or, a pre-existing text, can be edited. Thisallows a forecaster to display a previously issuedproduct, to edit it, and to issue it as a newproduct rather than starting from scratch. Theforecaster can add or delete lines to the text,insert or delets characters, or erase and rewriteportions of the text.

There are some added capabilities under AFOSthat most forecasters will choose to use, such asthe procedure capability. A software rou tineallows each forecaster to store a set sequence ofalphanumerics and graphics to appear on screen.The foreaster can designate which screens theproducts will appear on, which fields will appearas overlays, and the order of display. When aforecaster comes on shift, he can call up his ownprocedure and brief himself by paging through thedata. The forecaster can display those productshe wants to appear rather than having to search

VoL 4, No. 1, February 197'1

through data sequences. After the self-briefingthe forecaster might call up products that hefeels are pertinent to the weather situation thatwere not designated to appear in the generalizedprocedure routine. If the forecaster has decidedon a tentative forecast before issue time, he maychoose to store the forecast locally. Then, whenit's time for the product to be sent out, he can, ifno changes are to be made, just transmit it out ofthe data base. Or, if some changes are to bemade, he can call up the product, edit it, and thentransmit it. Another option would be for aforecaster to retain one screen as a "scratchsheet" in the forecast formulation stage. Hecould then type his final copy on an adjacentscreen while referring to the "scratch sheet."Regardless of the procedure used by the fore­caster to arrive at his forecast, he will have alonger period of time in which to formulate it.Due to the extensive editing capabilities inmessage composition and the speed of communi­cations, the forecaster will be able to start typinghis forecast just minutes before it is required fordissemination.

Once the message is completed the forecastersimply strikes the proper keys and the message isstored in the local data base, sent over theNDC/SDC and transmitted over any other desig­nated circuits.

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AFOS Console:Alpha Numeric DisplayGraphic DisplayPrinter/Plotter

Data entry into AFOS is similarly assisted by theuse of preformats and editing. Several pre­formats are available for data entry, includingsurface aviation and synoptic preformats andothers for radar observations. The observerretrieves the preformat, enters the requiredheader information, fills out the preformat andthen enters the observation for storage and trans­mission. AFOS automates most of the paper­oriented activities in the creation, delivery andarchival of observational data, just as it does inthe forecast area.

This is a quick overview of the AFOS workingenvironment, when AFOS is fUlly implemented.What is the work environment like today inoffices that have recently received AFOS equip­ment? Field installation of AFOS equipmentstarted last May. Since then, these AFOS siteshave been operating in a mixed-mode environ-

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AFOS Console:Alpha Numeric DisplayGraphic Display

ment. The capabilities these first sites receivedare not complete in that all the capabilitiesneeded for a true operational status are not there.The AFOS system has therefore, to this time,been used mostly as a learning and developmenttool.

As a result, the present situation at AFOS sites isa mixture of old and new. Data, in both alpha­numeric and graphic formats, has started flowingthrough the NDC/SDC. At present, the timelinessand completeness of data is not at optimum level.Action is being taken to improve this situation.

Most of the techniques necessary for forecastcomposition have been provided. This includesthe message composition capabilities, editingfunctions and sequencing capability mentionedearlier. Products can now also be transmittedover the NDC/SDC.

The most useful - and most used - AFOS featureto date has been composition of products. Whileteletypewriter and facsimile circuits are used forprimary data collection, almost all AFOS officesregularly use message composition, editing andsequencing procedures in forecast formulationtoday. With the aid of a tape punch drivel! by theAFOS computer, a paper tape is obtained fordisseminating products over existing teletype­writer circui ts.

With the installation of AFOS Version 1, thecapabilities of the system will be expanded toapproximate those necessary to support total field

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VoL 4, No. 1, February 1979operations. The criteria to meet this objective oftotal field support by AFOS have been identifiedand a series of tests arre being designed. Thesecomprehensive tests will be conducted at selectedfield sites. Test sites will include Weather ServiceForecast Offices, Weather Service Offices,Regional Headquarters and at least one RiverForecast Center. The results of these tests willenable an evaluation to be made of how well thegoal of providing capabilities for data and fore­cast formulation, composition, and disseminationhas been met under a total AFOS workingenvironment.

SELS PRODUCTS Ilc AFOS ALARM/ALERT*

James I.. Lehmann

National Weather ServiceSilver Spring, Maryland

I will divide this presentation into two parts: thefirst and main part will describe the handling ofSELS Watches/Warnings when AFOS is fUllyimplemented; the second will deal briefly with thehandling of Watches/Warnings during the interimperiod when AFOS is not fUlly implemented.

Each NWS product has an AFOS identifier -whichis a group of 7 to 9 alphanumeric characters. Thefirst three identify the issuing forecast officearea; the second group of three identifies theproduct category; and the last one to three char­acters are a product designator - usually a loca­tion identifier. For example, a State Forecastissued by Topeka for Kansas would be identified

as TOPSFPKS.

Four NSSFC products fall into the AFOS productcategory SEL (Severe Local Storm). These are:

1. AWW (Alert Weather Watch)2. Watch (Severe Thunderstorm or Tornado)3. Status Report4. Cancellation

The reason for having all four products under oneAFOS product category - SEL - is to make re­trieval of all related severe weather products

*Presented at the Severe Local Storm Conference;Omaha, Nebraska; September 27-28, 1978.

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