The U.S. Department of Agriculture's AWIPS Link to NOAAPORT

The National Weather Service (NWS) is in the final stages of a technology upgrade. The keystone of the modernization effort is the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), a powerful and sophisticated data collection and processing network. By June 30, 1999, nearly 150 NWS sites were linked, allowing meteorologists and hydrologists to respond to rapidly changing weather conditions and prepare increasingly accurate forecasts.

AWIPS communications networks distribute data and graphical products from a central point, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), to Weather Forecast Offices and River Forecast Centers, where they are used in forecast guidance. A satellite broadcast network (SBN) and a terrestrial wide-area network (WAN) ensure reliable distribution of products. The NOAAPORT information service uses the SBN to provide a wide range of products to subscribers, including non-AWIPS users such as the Department of Defense, the Federal Aviation Administration, commercial weather services, broadcast meteorologists, emergency management agencies, universities, and others outside the NWS.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of the Chief Economist (USDA/OCE) has chosen a means of receiving NOAAPORT products that incorporates AWIPS technology. USDA/OCE has installed a NOAAPORT downlink at USDA's National Information Technology Center (NITC) in Kansas City, Mo. Software developed by PRC Inc., a subsidiary of Litton Industries, Inc., allows for selected weather products to be forwarded to other USDA locations via an automated distribution list. In this way, various products are delivered to different USDA offices through terrestrial land lines utilizing a single satellite downlink. USDA/OCE meteorologists view and decode graphical and textual products on personal computers, rather than workstations. Nearly all of the AWIPS functionality is retained in the desktop environment, a configuration that allows multiple simultaneous users and a significant reduction in hardware.

NWS forecasters are responsible for "[providing] weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States...for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy." USDA's mission is to "enhance the quality of life...by supporting production of agriculture." OCE supports USDA's mission by analyzing weather-related crop impacts and alerting agency officials to possible effects on crop yield and productivity. Therefore, AWIPS is an indispensable forecast and warning system for the NWS, and an integral analysis tool for USDA/OCE.