4.2
Critical Weather Monitoring at the NCF
PAPER WITHDRAWN
Matt Kensey, Northrop Grumman Information Technology, McLean, VA; and B. Scalio
When severe weather is imminent or occurring, it is imperative that the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) at a National Weather Service (NWS) weather forecast office (WFO) is operating properly. The AWIPS Network Control Facility (NCF) monitors the products issued by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in order to determine where severe weather may occur. When a tornado or severe thunderstorm watch is issued by SPC, the NCF places the affected WFO(s) into critical weather monitoring. The NCF has a script-driven checklist that is performed at each affected WFO. These scripts perform various system checks, delete old log files, and obtain a general status of the AWIPS. The NCF engineer also executes various commands that check the status of the Informix database, check for hung processes, or check for processes that are taking up excessive CPU, etc. The NCF engineer can restart processes if necessary. After the checklist is completed, the NCF engineer may contact site personnel to update them on the status of their AWIPS, which may include a list of any actions performed, or may simply consist of a courtesy call to inform the site personnel that their AWIPS is operating nominally. During the severe weather event, the NCF does not take any intrusive action unless directed by site personnel. The NCF continues to monitor the WFO until the expiration or cancellation of the severe weather watch.
Session 4, AWIPS (ROOM 613/614)
Monday, 12 January 2004, 1:30 PM-4:45 PM, Room 613/614
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