19990714: NIDS data

>From: "Molenar, Deb" <address@hidden>
>Organization: CSU/CIRA
>Keywords: 199907142137.PAA04798 NIDS WSI Corporation

Deb,

>We're interested in contracting for Tier I and Tier V NIDS data.  Do we
>contract through Unidata, or directly from WSI?

You contact WSI directly.

>If through Unidata:
>
>1)  What format is the data in (i.e. is it AWIPS compatible?)

Aren't all AWIPS images in netCDF?  If so, then the answer is no.  I
thought, however, that COMET had their AWIPS working with WSI level
III radar.  I would contact someone there to make sure.

>2)  What is the contract length, and if desired, is it possible to upgrade
>the services in the middle of an existing contract

You will have to discuss this with WSI.

>3)  What is the approximate data volume for Tier 1 and Tier V?

As a ballpark figure to work with, I did the following:  I found out
the sum of size of BASE reflectivity files for a single station
reporting in storm mode (once every five minutes) for a single hour:
135000 bytes;  multiply this by 24 hours per day; and you get about 3
MB per day per product.  Multiply this by 32 products per station and
you get about 96 MB per day.  This is the upper limit for Tier I data
volume since not all NEXRADs will be operating in storm mode all of the
time, and not all products are this large.

To get Tier V values, simply multiply by 3.

>else
>
>please direct me to the proper WSI contact.

Maria Pirone of WSI is a good place to start:

                Name  Maria Pirone
            Position  Manager 
         Institution  WSI
          Department  Technical Development Group
   Street Address #1  4 Federal Street
City, State, Zip, Co  Billerica  MA 01821 
              Phone:  978 670-5149  Fax: 978-670-5100
       Email Address   address@hidden

>p.s.  Thanks for the help with process start at boot--you're suggestions
>worked.

I will pass this along.

Tom Yoksas