Revolutionizing Weather Data Delivery within the FAA using Open Geospatial Consortium Standards

Weather data dissemination within the FAA is about to be revolutionized with the next generation of the Weather Information Network Service (WINS). Weather data provides a critical input for Traffic Flow Managers and Air Traffic Controllers within the FAA. Accurate and timely weather data leads to reduced flight times and cost, as well as increased flight comfort and safety. The new software architecture adopts modern system design principles allowing for a transition from legacy interfaces to standards based interfaces. Data delivery services embrace open geospatial consortium objectives to allow interactions between complex systems in a standards based geographical context. Building upon the success of the FAA and NWS funded research, the WINS utilizes government developed Web Coverage and Web Feature Services for data dissemination throughout the NAS. The WINS software architecture is built in accordance with modern service oriented methodologies providing reliability and agility for future growth. Underlying many software components used in this design is a foundation of free and open source software which aids in reducing the license burden for the FAA. This Service Oriented Architecture and adoption of open source solutions allow for ease of integration of legacy data providers and consumers. In order to smooth the transition process from legacy to standards based interfaces, special attention has been given to the creation of consumer specific service adaptors to allow legacy data to be processed according to the modern OGC standard interface. Collectively, the next generation WINS produces a revolutionary path forward for the FAA to embrace new weather data dissemination technologies in the service oriented world.