GISC Washington

The WMO has recently declared operational the WMO Information System (WIS). Core to WIS are 15 Global Information System Centres (GISC). Representing WMO Region IV is GISC Washington. GISC Washington provides a mechanism for delivering all data, products and metadata intended for global distribution to authorized end-users and to other GISCs. The paper presents the major functionalities of a GISC: 1) Collecting/delivering observed data and products for global distribution, 2) Maintaining a 24 hour data cache, 3) Implementing a DAR (Discovery, Access and Retrieval) catalogue, 4) Exchanging its DAR catalogue with other GISCs, 5) Providing web interface tools (Admin portal and User Portal) for the management and access to data.

The paper provides an overview, objective and the current status of the GISC network. It will also describe the NWS DAR Architecture, how it's integrated into RTH Washington functions of the NWS Telecommunications Gateway, and the features of the Admin Portal and the User Portal in addition to how data is made available to the end user via the DAR capabilities.