Upgrades to the World Area Forecast System Internet File Service

In order to meet the need for aviation weather information worldwide, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) developed requirements for the operation of two World Area Forecast Centers (WAFCs), one operated by the National Weather Service (WAFC Washington) and one by the UK Met Office (WAFC London). Along with NWS Central Operations (NCO), the NWS Aviation Weather Center serves this role, on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration, the US aviation meteorological authority.

WAFC’s each operate Internet data services to make data available for flight operations, the UK's Secure Aviation Data Information System (SADIS) and the US World Area Forecast System (WAFS) Internet File Service (WIFS). The WAFCs are currently developing the next generation replacement services, transitioning from offering data files toward consistent Application Programming Interface (API) services that will allow tailoring of pull requests and subscriptions to a constant flow of data. The horizontal resolution of WAFC global gridded forecasts are set to greatly increase and observations are moving to ICAO Meteorological Information Exchange Model (IWXXM), and more advanced data retrieval services are designed to make the volume of data more manageable for downstream users. The APIs conform to several emerging machine-to-machine international standards including Systemwide Information Management (SWIM) and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGR) Environmental Data Retrieval (EDR) specifications. This presentation will provide an overview of the service evolution, new technologies and standards employed, international collaboration, and other related developments.