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Federal Meteorological Handbook-FMH-11 Release Announcement
- Subject: Federal Meteorological Handbook-FMH-11 Release Announcement
- Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 08:21:54 -0700
All,
The following information was received for broad distribution from Tim
Crum, NWS ROC. Please contact Tim if you have questions.
Happy Holidays!
Linda
______________________________________________________________
Federal Meteorological Handbook Number 11 (FMH-11) Updates
Prepared By: Tim Crum Les Lemon
NOAA/NWS RSIS/BCI
Norman, OK Kansas City, MO
The Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) agencies (Departments of
Commerce,
Defense, and Transportation) are updating the Federal Meteorological
Handbook
No. 11 (FMH-11). The FMH-11 provides standards and procedures to facilitate
the efficient collection, sharing, and use of meteorological information by
agencies of the federal government and industry. The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of the Federal Coordinator for
Meteorology (OFCM) published FMH-11 parts A - D during 1990 to 1992 as the
NEXRAD Program was beginning to deploy the network of Weather Surveillance
Radar - 1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) systems. Earlier FMH handbooks governed radar
operation and use of weather radar data of pre-WSR-88D radars.
The four parts of FMH-11 include:
o Part A: System concepts, responsibilities, and procedures
o Part B: Doppler radar theory and meteorology
o Part C: WSR-88D products and algorithms
o Part D: WSR-88D unit description and operational applications
The FMH-11 handbooks require updating to reflect the new technology,
software,
and products added to the WSR-88D since the handbooks were published. The
FMH-11 Part A was updated in June 2003 and is available for viewing and
download at: http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh11/fmh11.htm. Parts C and D will be
updated next using the WSR-88D Radar Product Generator software Build 6 as
the
baseline. The target completion of these updates is early 2005. Part B will
be updated to include the Open Radar Data Acquisition deployment baseline.
The target completion of Part B is spring 2005.
The NEXRAD agencies plan to update the FMH-11 documents more frequently than
in the past. The updates will be a part of the 6-month WSR-88D software
release cycle. The more frequent updates will be easier due to the planned
use of internet posting of the electronic version of FMH-11 documents on the
OFCM webpage (http://www.ofcm.gov). This will make FMH-11 a dynamic,
informative, and useable document. The documents will also serve as training
and reference material for the NEXRAD agency operators and users of WSR-88D.
Additionally, the updates will help the growing number of non-government
WSR-
88D users of products and digital base-data (archive Level II) in real time
better understand the products and data.
Questions and suggestions for the updates should be addressed to
address@hidden. This project is supported by the authors of this note
and a contract with RS Information Systems, Inc. (RSIS), Basic Commerce and
Industries, Inc. (BCI).
__________________________________________
Linda Miller - address@hidden
External Liaison, Unidata
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307-3000
303-497-8646 fax: 303-497-8690