20030610: top level IDD relays needed for NEXRAD Level II data

>From: Unidata User Support <address@hidden>
>Organization: Unidata Program Center/UCAR
>Keywords:  IDD NEXRAD Level II CRAFT

Hi,

As you may know, the NWS will soon begin collecting and distributing
NEXRAD Level II using the Unidata LDM-6.  The NWS effort is the
outgrowth of the CRAFT experiment that has and continues to be run by
the University of Oklahoma (Droegemeier, et. al.).

Part of the agreement between the NWS and the UPC allows for the
redistribution of all of the Level II data to interested universities,
but this distribution will need to be done by the UPC and cooperating
universities through the IDD.

Currently, the Level II volume scan data for between 55 to 61 NEXRADs
is available through the CRAFT IDD feed.  Time series plots of the
data volume for this feed can be seen in the CRAFT link located in the
real time statistics page for thelma.ucar.edu:

http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/staff/chiz/rtstats/siteindex.shtml?thelma.ucar.edu

As you will see when you visit the above web page, the volume of data
currently peaks at around 140 MB per hour.  When the full complement of
NEXRAD Level II data is incorporated into the NWS stream (which we will
still refer to as CRAFT for IDD purposes), the total volume will climb
to at least two to four times what is currently available.  Moreover,
the data volume will likely increase by an additional factor of four to
eight in the future.  For comparison, the full CONDUIT IDD stream peaks
at between 1.8 and 2.0 GB per hour.

Since most of you have expressed an interest in the Level II data, and
since a number of you have indicated some level of interest in playing
an active role in relaying some or all of the data, we are soliciting
your help in establishing top level nodes for the NEXRAD Level II
redistribution.

Are you willing to help?  Please let us know!

Thanks in advance...

Tom Yoksas