Exploring AWIPS capabilities and methods at Center
Weather Service Units (59)
David Tomalak, NWS
Boulder/Denver, Boulder, CO
Abstract:
The National Weather Service
(NWS) Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) meteorologists provide support for the
Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA's) air traffic management by relaying
critical meteorological information for airports and airspace in the control
center's area of responsibility. The CWSUs were formed as an indirect response
to the devastating crash of Southern Airways flight 242 within a thunderstorm
near Atlanta, Georgia in 1978. Since they were established, CWSU NWS
meteorologists have directly supported aviation customers by providing detailed
weather information 16 hours a day, 7 days a week from 21 offices nationwide.
The CWSU mission is to provide the most accurate and dependable weather
information to their FAA customers, both inside the control center and in the
air, thereby supporting the safest and most efficient use of our nation's
National Airspace System.
In a typical day, CWSU
meteorologists perform many functions, but arguably none are more important
than face-to-face briefings to air traffic controllers. These face-to-face
briefings let the meteorologist convey a variety of tailored weather information
to air traffic controllers using science, experience and a number of forecast
tools. This is vital in helping FAA personnel safely and efficiently route
traffic. Other functions of CWSU meteorologist's include producing and
disseminating Center Weather Advisories (CWAs) and Meteorological Impact
Statements (MISs).
One of the cornerstone tools
CWSUs use for meteorological analysis and impact decision support services is
the Common AWIPS Visualization Environment, or CAVE. Each CWSU has one AWIPS
Remote Display (ARD) workstation on-site that runs a thin client version of
CAVE. The Thin Client CAVE version of AWIPS is an extension of the same CAVE
software that runs at the local weather forecast office (WFO), but is optimized
to run on low bandwidth networks typical at a CWSU.
Over the past five years, the
role of AWIPS Thin Client (ARD) has increased significantly at the CWSU.
Additional capabilities and performance have allowed CWSU forecasters to expand
and collaborate on new briefing techniques and tools to help optimize their
services. These capabilities extend over a diverse air space over the
continental United States, as well as Alaska, Hawaii, and even Pago Pago,
American Samoa. This presentation will highlight a number of collaborative
successes and explore new methods and capabilities that have significantly
impacted the effectiveness of their mission. A few enhancements discussed
include increased situational awareness, improved collaboration and decision
support services, significantly improved network services, and performance
enhancements.