S-412, A Weather Overlay Product Specification for Marine Navigation Systems

The International Maritime Organization has established the e-Navigation initiative to enhance marine navigation and support safety of life at sea. This initiative focuses on the digitalization and harmonization of data collection, integration, exchange, presentation and analysis of information between ship and shore based systems. As this and marine activities continue to grow and diversify, navigation systems will need to integrate and display standardized datasets in order for mariners to make navigation decisions quickly and effectively. The International Hydrographic Organization has developed a framework for standardization of marine data products (the S-100 Universal Hydrographic Data Model) which serves as an umbrella structure for other data products to follow - a “standard for standards”.

This presentation seeks to highlight the S-412 Weather Overlay product specification, which aims to standardize weather information for marine navigation systems, including warning and hazard information, marine weather observations, and marine weather environmental conditions. This development effort, lead by the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center is supported and reviewed by the Joint World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) Technical Commission for Oceanography and Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) Worldwide Met-Ocean Information and Warning Service (WWMIWS).