AWH 2-2

Chapter 2, Aviation Weather Service Program 2-2 2.2 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) NOAA is an agency of the Department of Commerce (DOC). NOAA conducts research and gathers data about the global oceans, atmosphere, space, and Sun, and applies this knowledge to science and service, which touches the lives of all Americans. Among its six major divisions are the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) and the NWS. 2.2.1 National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) NESDIS manages the U.S. civil operational remote-sensing satellite systems, as well as other global information for meteorology, oceanography, solid-earth geophysics, and solar-terrestrial sciences. NESDIS provides this data to NWS meteorologists and a wide range of other users for operational weather forecasting. 2.2.1.1 Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) NESDIS’ Satellite Analysis Branch (SAB) serves as the operational focal point for real-time imagery products and multidisciplinary environmental analyses. The SAB’s primary mission is to support disaster mitigation and warning services for the U.S. Federal agencies and the international community. Routine environmental analyses are provided to forecasters and other environmental users and are used in the numerical models of the NWS. The SAB schedules and distributes real-time satellite imagery products from global geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites to environmental users. The SAB coordinates the satellite and other information for the NOAA Volcanic Hazards Alert Program, under an agreement with the FAA, and works with the NWS as part of the Washington, DC, Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC). The Washington, DC, VAAC area of responsibility stretches from 40° W to 130° E and includes the areas of the contiguous United States (CONUS), New York and Oakland Oceanic flight information regions (FIR), and southward through Central America and the Caribbean to 10° S in South America. 2.2.2 National Weather Service (NWS) The NWS provides weather data, forecasts, and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure that can be used by other government agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community. The following sections provide a description of NWS offices associated with aviation weather. 2.2.2.1 National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) The National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) is where virtually all global meteorological data is collected and analyzed for the United States. The NCEP then provides a wide variety of national and international weather guidance products to NWS field offices, government agencies, emergency managers, and private sector meteorologists. The NCEP is a critical resource in national and global weather prediction and is the starting point for nearly all-weather forecasts in the United States. The NCEP is comprised of nine distinct centers and the Office of the Director. Each center has its own specific mission. The following NCEP centers provide aviation weather products and services. 2.2.2.1.1 NCEP Central Operations (NCO) The NCEP Central Operations (NCO) in College Park, MD, sustains and executes the operational suite of the numerical analysis and forecast models and prepares NCEP products for dissemination. It also links all nine of the national centers together via computer and communications-related services.