INTERMET, Inc.

7732 Castleisland Drive

Sarasota, FL 34240

USA

Phone + 941 378 1313

Phone/ Fax + 941 379 3536

<Infotiempo@comcast.net>

**To:** Mr. Oscar Arango B

WMO Sub Regional Office for the Americas

San Jose, Costa Rica

**Subject:** The following report describes the activities,
recommendations and accomplishments of the Contractor for the period
June 4 thru September 28, 2004.

**In General:**

The Contractor has accomplished all the activities proposed for the
first period of the Proposal and Terms of Reference.

Missions have been carried out to GSN and GUAN sites. Missions to the 9
Mexican Sites and San Andres Island will be performed when funds are
made available to the Contractor

The Contractor has completed technical files on all the sites visited
and will mail them to the Sub Regional Office in San Jose

The files are constructed such that any future maintenance contractor or
technical expert will be able to use them for their purposes

The Contractor has provided instruments to sites.

The Contractor has purchased instrument standards for comparisons at the
sites. The details of the instruments will be provided to the Sub
Regional Office. The instruments will be retained by Intermet, Inc until
the contract terminates. The Instruments will then be turned over to the
Sub Regional Office.

The contractor has used Spanish speaking experts from countries in the
region to assist other countries.

The contractor will review the needs of the sites with the Sub Regional
Office to determine priorities for procurements and expenditure of funds

Training plans for the sites will be reviewed with the Sub Regional
Office and GCOS authorities to identify priorities and timing.

Danny L. Foster\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ September 28,
2004

Intermet, Inc.

**Cc: Richard Thigpen, GCOS Officer**

GCOS TECHNICAL SUPPORT PROJECT

FOR THE

CARIBBEAN, CENTRAL AMERICA AND MEXICO

1^ST^ Quarterly Report

September 28, 2004

INTERMET, Inc

7732 Castleisland Drive

Sarasota, FL 34240

USA

**CLIMAT and CLIMAT TEMP Reports**

**Situation:**

None of 6 GUAN sites do CLIMAT TEMP reports

Only about 60% of expected CLIMAT reports were received at NCDC during
Jan-July2004

4 of 17 GSN sites reported 100% of the time

9 of 17 GSN sites reported roughly 70% of the time

4 of 17 GSN sites were silent

Only 4 sites report all 4 CLIMAT groups, 111,222,333, and 444

**See CLIMAT TEMP and CLIMAT Summaries below**.

There are several years of upper air data and surface data available at
each site that could be put into CLIMAT TEMP or CLIMAT format.

**Why ?:**

GCOS is not a high priority at the sites

Sites are not familiar with GCOS program

No exchange of information or rapport between the Sites and the
monitoring centres

Staffs are not trained in data assimilation and coding the report

The existing training tool, CLIREP CD is cumbersome and not user
friendlyl

Telecommunications paths and responsibilities are not fully understood
by all participants including the RTHs and GCOS Centers.

**CLIMAT AND CLIMATE TEMP REPORT SUMMARIES**

Discussions with the staffs at 5 of the 6 sites, namely Barbados,
Belize, Bogota, Kingston and San Jose indicate **they do not prepare or
submit CLIMAT TEMP reports**.

**Barbados 78954**

**Kingston 78397**

The Directors are willing to begin the CLIMAT TEMP program but request
some training for their staffs. The CLIREP program was given to Kingston
and to Barbados.

**Belize 78583**

Belize discontinued the CLIMAT TEMP program in the fall of 2003. They
are preparing to resume the program and would like some training. The
Contractor supplied them with the CLIREP program

**San Jose 78762**

San Jose discontinued the CLIMAT TEMP program in July 2001 because the
communications link with Hadley Centre failed. The Contractor worked
with both parties and resolved the issue. Hadley Centre should begin
receiving the San Jose CLIMAT TEMP reports on a regular basis in
September 2004.

**Bogota 80222**

Bogota has not reported Temps since March 2004 because of a
communications problem and the winds component of their Vaisala GPS
system failed because of local interference. The Contractor is working
with them to resume their observations without the winds and to begin
using the NOAA EDIS system for transmission of their Temp messages. The
solution to the missing winds can be solved with the provision of a
different type of Vaisala radiosonde. Training in the assembly of CLIMAT
TEMP data and the preparation of the CLIMAT TEMP should be considered
for this staff.

**Manzanillo 76654**

Hadley Centre reports that Manzanillo submitted some CLIMAT TEMP reports
in late 1999 and early 2001 and none since 2001. The observatory is
transmitting 27 to 30 Temp reports per month so they should be doing the
CLIMAT TEMP reports. The Contractor will investigate this and report
accordingly

**CONTRADICTION**

CLIMAT TEMP records from Hadley Centre indicates the sites have in fact
been submitting CLIMAT TEMP reports. Nothing on a regular basis but
still their records show the receipt of some CLIMAT TEMP reports. The
Contractor advised each of the 5 GUAN sites of Hadley Centre's records.
**Excepting San Jose, the sites were puzzled and told the Contractor
they did not do those reports and did not know who did those reports**.
Hadley Centre indicated they were reported in the same CLIMAT TEMP
bulletin as other Caribbean stations. That bulletin is CUCA01 KWBC dtg,
CLIMAT TEMP dtg. The Contractor will continue to investigate this
mystery.

The following table shows the archived CLIMAT TEMP messages at Hadley
Centre.

+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|    | Barbados Belize Kingston Bogota San Jose Manzanillo             |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 19 | > 1 12 7 2                                                      |
| 99 |                                                                 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 20 | > 7 11 8                                                        |
| 00 |                                                                 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 20 | > 11 6 11 9 7 6                                                 |
| 01 |                                                                 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 20 | > 11 7 10 9                                                     |
| 02 |                                                                 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 20 | > 3 8 5 2                                                       |
| 03 |                                                                 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| 20 | > 0 6 June 4 May                                                |
| 04 |                                                                 |
+----+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

**SUGGESTIONS**

The Contractor firmly believes that training in the compilation of data
for the CLIMAT TEMP report and the construction of the actual report
should be given to each of the 6 sites. If funding does not permit
individual on-site training then perhaps English and Spanish speaking
sessions should be considered in central locations.

There is a substantial amount of raw data at each of the GUAN sites that
has never been submitted to GCOS. The data is there and should be
researched and put into the CLIMAT TEMP format and submitted to Hadley
Centre. The Contractor is willing to lead this effort if it is
considered desirable by GCOS authorities.

The Contractor's several years of experience in overseeing the
management of the upper air sites in these locations believes the
integrity of this upper air network including the submission of the
CLIMAT TEMP and CLIMAT reports will benefit from close monitoring and
interaction with the Directors and their staff. Please bear in mind that
CLIMAT TEMP and CLIMAT reports are not at the top of the sites priority
list. Another aspect that is just as important is establishing and
maintaining interaction between the GCOS monitoring centers and the
sites themselves. I know there was some attempt made at this by
identifying a GCOS focal point at each site. That did not prove to be
valuable. To do this job properly someone has to maintain a close
vigilance on these activities and be proactive in identifying and
correcting problems.

**CLIMAT REPORTS**

The Contractor performed missions to all the assigned GSN sites
excepting those in Mexico and San Andres Island 80001. With the
exception of Acajutla, El Salvador 78650 all of the sites visited by the
Contractor are doing a very good job in preparing and submitting the
CIMAT reports. Some sites are only doing the minimum message i.e. parts
111 or maybe 222 even though they have the background data to do parts
333 and 444.

**Parts Submitted**

Bahamas Nassau 78073 111,222

Barbados Grantley 78954 111

Cayman 78384 111,222, 333, 444

Pto Limon 78767 111,222, 333, 444

Montego Bay 78388 111,222, 333, 444

Acajutla 78650 none

San Andres 80001 unknown

9 Mexico unknown

The Contractor does not see any need for training in the preparation of
the CLIMAT messages. An exception may be Acajutla, El Salvador. They
haven't been doing the CLIMAT report and will need some training. The
training should include organizing the data in preparation for the
message, message preparation, and ensuring the message gets to the
proper GCOS center on time.

There has been some confusion in the exchange of CLIMAT reports between
Grand Cayman 78384 and the centers. Grand Cayman has been using AFTN as
their primary communications link and apparently this method does not
get the CLIMAT message properly distributed to the GCOS centers. This
problem is currently being investigated by the Contractor and others.

Nearly all the instrument fields have a variety of instruments to
measure the same parameters. In addition to the standard instruments
they often have an automatic weather station with more state-of-the-art
instruments. In some cases, the observatory uses the AWS for the hourly
and synoptic temperature and at the same time they use the thermometers
in the instrument shelter for their max/min reports. The station should
specifically identify which instruments are used for the measurements
recorded in the CLIMAT message. I believe this can be resolved with
current Metadata information.

**Recommendations**

GCOS Program Establish a Better Presence at the Sites

GCOS Management needs more rapport with the NMHS Directors and Managers
through personal visits

Monitoring Centers or GCOS Management should maintain open
communications with sites. Advise the sites when they do not receive the
monthly reports by the 10^th^ of each month. Provide recognition to
sites doing good jobs.

GCOS Centers or Management should provide monthly monitoring reports to
the sites. The reports should be stylized for the sites and shows how
the sites in the region compare with each other. This is a good
management tool for the Directors and Supervisors and provides
encouragement to the staffs.

All sites are willing to begin CLIMAT TEMP program if they receive
training in data assimilation and in coding the report.

On site personal training is preferred over centralized training

Centralized training in two locations. One Spanish and one English

Standards, and procedures for quality control of the surface data used
in the CLIMAT reports should be reviewed by GCOS experts on mission to
the sites. If funding is available, centralized training courses in
quality control and CLIMAT message coding should be considered.

**Accomplishments**

Identified and helped resolve communications problems which led to the
resumption of CLIMAT and CLIMAT TEMP reports

Identified major communications problems which are being resolved to
allow GSN site to enter their Synops and Hourlies onto the GTS

Identified and helped resolve responsibilities and communications
problems between RTHs and GCOS centers that had caused loss of CLIMAT
reports.

Reviewed the CLIMAT data quality control procedures at the GSN sites and
made recommendations

**GSN Sites**

**Instrument Fields**

12 of 16 GSN sites are located on airport facilities.

Of the 6 GSN sites visited, the exposure of 4 instrument fields have
been degraded because of airport construction and traffic encroachments.

All 4 instrument fields will likely be moved to more remote locations.
None of the sites have plans to do comparison observations

**Instruments**

In some cases, the current temperature and humidity measurements were
taken from the instruments mounted on their automatic weather stations
while the max and min temperatures were taken from liquid-in-glass
instruments in the instrument shelter.

Calibration or comparison standards for surface observing equipment
exists at only one GSN site. Comparisons and calibrations have not been
performed at 5 GSN sites in recent history. Some barometers are more
than 30 years old and have never been compared to a standard or been
calibrated.

Some sites are periodically replacing sensors instead having a
maintenance and calibration program. They claim the replacement option
is less costly in terms of funds and personnel. This practice is
contrary to the "GCOS Best Practices for GSN Stations"

The Contractor is working with NCDC to get more specific requirements
for metadata NCDC does not have metadata for any of the GCOS sites.

**Recommendations**

GCOS initiate near real-time monitoring of the flow of surface
observations and keep sites aware of missing reports. This will promote
enthusiasm and cooperation with the sites.

A high precision portable barometer should be purchased and taken to
each site for comparison readings with the station official barometer

One set of RM Young wind system calibration tools and equipment should
be purchased and kept at a central location for use at different sites.

Contractor should be proactive in working with sites that have locations
for their new instrument field. This may require purchasing some
instruments for comparison observations.

Contractor should establish a project to assist all the sites in
producing accurate metadata and providing that data to the Centers

**Accomplishments**

Contractor identified all the above problems and is in the process of
assisting the sites to overcome them or reduce their effect

The Contractor identified communications problems at GSN sites and
established replacement communications using internet

The Contractor raised the level of interest and enthusiasm in the GCOS
program at the sites.

**GUAN SITES**

The Contractor has performed missions to 5 of the six GUAN sites.
Manzanillo has not been visited.

The attached individual site reports describes the operation and
problems the staffs are encountering along with site specific
recommendations by the Contractor

**In General**

The sites have too much dependence on the manufacturer for
trouble-shooting, maintenance, replacement parts and repair of the
system. This is true for both the IMS 1500C and Vaisala systems.

The observers and electonics technicians at the IMS 1500C sites have
never been properly trained. The observers do not know how to make
adjustments, corrections, or to manage out-of-the-ordinary events during
the soundings. This inability leads to early terminations of soundings
because of the loss of the signal.

In earlier years when the sounding was reduced and coded manually the
observations were carefully inspected by Asheville and error reports
were sent to the sites for their information and to correct any faulty
procedures. In today's world the automatic systems are not supposed to
make mistakes. However they do make mistakes and upper air observations
are frequently rejected by the models. The observatories are not
informed of these errors or rejections as they occur and are unaware
that they or their equipment are not functioning properly. An excellent
example is the wind bias problem at Barbados. The Contractor discovered
the problem by mistake in conversation with NCEP authorities. Barbados
did not know they had this problem.

NOAA/NWS is installing the IMS 2000 system in their upper air network.
InterMet Systems focus and support will be towards the IMS2000 and not
the IMS 1500C. The NWS parts and supply depot will be tailored for the
IMS2000. The IMS 1500C will rapidly become the stepchild for support
from InterMet Systems and NOAA depot. The Contractor
[thinks]{.underline} the conversion from the 1500C to the 2000 series is
not that difficult although it has to be done at the factory. The
Contractor does not have solid information on this conversion.

Excepting Mexico, the sites using the expensive Vaisala GPS sondes will
never be independent of external funding.

The Vaisala sites use 300 gram balloons. The 300 gram balloon bursts
much lower than the 600 gram balloon. None of the GUAN sites exceed the
5 millibar level and only those using the 600 gram balloon ever exceed
10 millibars.

The automatic and direct transfer of the Temp message from the iMetOS
Compaq computer to the Corobor or the MetLab system does not work.

This past summer proved the weak link in the GUAN network remains the
production of hydrogen gas. The 3 GUAN sites that use the Proton
Generator were inoperative at times because of internal power supply
failures. Two of the three sites had 2 or more failures within a 3
months period.

**Recommendations**

**IMS 1500C Sites**

Centralized or on site training by the manufacturers for both the
electronics technicians and the observers. On site training is preferred
because more staff can be trained at each location and they will use
their own equipment and the software that is resident in their system.
Centralized training is less costly but accommodates fewer students.
However Centralized training allows for the exchange of information and
experiences among the students.

At this time, the Contractor cannot recommend the provision of spares,
specialized tools or test equipment for this system.

The practice of using Target Antennas for direction checks before each
flight should be reinstated and emphasized at the site. The Contractor
will help the sites build and mount the target antennas.

**Vaisala Sites**

GCOS should create 2 or 3 day workshop in San Jose, Costa for observers
and electronics technicians from Bogota and from Mexico. A Vaisala
representative should provide some training and be an active
participant. The Contractor can develop the agenda.

**PROTON HYDROGEN GENERATOR**

Training on this generator is needed at the sites. This may be done on
site or centralized with the IMS 1500C training.

Spare master and slave power supply units should be provided to each
site.

Extra water filters for the Hydrogen Generator and the Aqua solutions
system should be provided to each site.

UPS systems or some type of power surge suppressors must be used to
protect the generators.

Proton Calibration kits and instructions should be provided to each site
as recommended by the manufacturer

**BALLOONS**

The Contractor recommends the sites using 300 gram balloons convert to
600 gram balloons to attain better height averages. Also the Contractor
believes the use of 800 gram balloons will provide better chance for
getting above the 5 Millibar level. This was a successful strategy used
during the IGY years.

**INDIVIDUAL GSN SITE REPORTS FOLLOW**

**NASSAU BAHAMAS 78073**

**Number and types of Surface Observations and CLIMAT reports**

Nassau Airport is providing approximately 650 hourlies and usually over
200 synops per month. NOAA/NCDC records indicate Nassau routinely
submits the monthly CLIMAT reports. Nassau uses the NOAA Email Input
Data System for its communication with Washington DC.

The May 2004 CLIMAT message follows:

CLIMAT 05004 78073

111 10185 20193 30253010 402930218 5244 60030104 7819114 8000000 9000000

Note that groups 222,333,and 444 are not reported.

**Instrument Field**

During the past several years the airport has grown significantly and
sadly enough it has grown around the instrument field. The screened area
of the grass covered field is within a plot of ground about 100 feet
square. However black paved roads surround the field on all four sides
with black paved parking lots on 3 sides. See the diagram in the Bahamas
Technical File. The influence of the pavement and auto traffic likely
introduces additional heat the instrument field but this has never been
thoroughly examined. The staff feels the temperatures measured in this
field is usually 4 or 5 degrees higher than the temperature taken at the
nearby radiosonde station.

Specifications for all the instruments used for the GCOS CLIMAT message
and program are included in the Bahamas Technical File.

Apparently the Airport Authorities want to move the instrument field to
make room for a more profitable parking lot.

**Instruments and Methods of Observations:**

The accuracy of the surface instruments that are used for the CLIMAT
report can only be judged by comparison with a certified standard. The
thermometers were compared with the handheld Lufft E200 Stand V1 high
precision thermometer. The differences were usually less than two tenths
of a degree and were dictated more by the error of parallax.

A standard 8 inch rain gage is the official instrument for the measure
of rainfall. There is very little chance for error in using this rain
gage. The placement of the gage is in a good location and away from high
buildings or structures that may influence the catch. The station also
uses a tipping bucket to record the rate of rainfall.

The station uses a Bendix-Friez wind velocity and recorder system. The
Transmitter is a model 120, the Indicator is a model 135, and the
Recorder is a model 141-1. The vane is located in Center Field on a 30
foot tower approximately 2700 feet from the office. The last calibration
was performed in November, 2003. The station calibration equipment for
this system is inoperative.

The sunshine recorder is the typical Glass Ball, Casella Model 7630
mounted 4 feet above the surface in the instrument field.

A Negretti Aviation aneroid barometer, Model MK-2 Type 2236 is used as
the official station pressure. The height of the barometer is reported
to be 23 feet above mean sea level. There is no calibration sheet for
this barometer. A comparison with a barometer standard should be
conducted.

**Metadata**

Metadata for Nassau is not on file at NOAA/NCDC

**Historical Record:**

The contractor was advised that they have historical records dating back
to the 1930s. However there are gaps and missing data until about 1963
when the site was established at its present location. The contractor is
trying to get more specific information on the historical records. The
site meets the Minimum Requirements related to temperature and
precipitation which calls for monthly for the past 20 years. The recent
records are homogeneous is terms of continuity without missing months.
See GCOS-73 paragraph 3.6

**Suggestions:**

If the instrument field is going to be relocated then a program of
comparative readings should begin as soon as possible or as soon as the
new location is identified. See Manual on the Global Observing System,
WMO-No.544, 2.10.3.17.

The Bendix wind system needs to be routinely calibrated. Provide needed
equipment to site. Another GSN site in the region has the required
calibration equipment. Perhaps a loan of this equipment can be arranged.

The station barometer should be compared with a standard for accuracy.

The station should update their Metadata information and provide a copy
to the NOAA/NCDC

Temperature in Instrument Field needs further investigation.

**BARBADOS GSN 78954 (does not include the GUAN report)**

**Number and types of Surface Observations and CLIMAT reports**

NOAA/NCDC statistics for the past 4 years indicates Barbados is
providing a large number of surface observations to the GTS. They are
averaging approximately 675 hourlies and 200 synoptics monthly and
routinely submits the CLIMAT message to NOAA/NCDC.

The following is a sample CLIMAT for the month of July 2004.

CSBR01 TBPB

CLIMAT 07004

CLIMAT 111 10086 20151 30278013 403020250 5332 61270417 7233059

Please note that sections 222, 333, and 444 are not reported.

**INSTRUMENT FIELD**

The current instrument field is large in comparison to other
observatories. The field is grass covered, with ample spacing for all
the instruments and is enclosed by a high fence. The instrument field
was originally located near the old airport terminal which is about a
half mile from its present location at the new terminal. The instrument
field was moved to its present location in 1979. During January 2004,
the airport authorities at Grantley Adams constructed a huge aircraft
hangar within a few yards of the existing instrument field. The Director
of the Barbados Meteorlogical Service was not consulted about the
location or design of this hangar and his concerns were ignored. This
hangar obstructs the entire northeast quadrant of the observing field.
All observed winds from 360 to 090 degrees are considered to be
erroneous. Also there are several instances when the accuracy of the
collection of rainfall is questionable because the hangar stops the flow
of the wind causing "deadspots" over the gages.

Currently (2004), the airport is undergoing major renovation and
expansion which is causing the authorities to once again move the
instrument field. The new instrument field will be 1 kilometer due east
of the existing field and at nearly the same height above sea level. The
new site is 100 square feet in area, grass covered and is near the east
end of the runway and roughly one half mile from the ocean. The
authorities have indicated that this area will not be developed and the
surrounding area will be kept free of buildings, traffic, and pavement.
While electricity will be available at the instrument field it will be
vulnerable to power outages. Some type of backup power such as a UPS
should be installed at the field.

**INSTRUMENTS AND OBSERVING PRACTICES**

A Casella Automatic Weather Station (s/n M103159) system is located near
the center of the instrument field. The AWS is composed of a Casella
wind system mounted atop the ten meter tower with a combined
temperature/humidity sensor located further down the structure. Also a
precision barometer is located inside the AWS electronics box. The AWS
also includes a rain gage tipping bucket which is not used for the
official CLIMAT or Synoptic reports.

A standard 8" rain gage is the official instrument for the site. The
gage is read during the standard synoptic observations and the data is
recorded accordingly.

A Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder is also located in the field.
Standard procedures are used for recording and reporting the duration of
sunshine.

A standard Evaporation Pan with a wire mesh protective covering and wind
counter is located in the field. These observations are performed in
accordance with standard procedures.

An instrument shelter or Simpson Screen is properly mounted and located
in the field. The shelter houses ventilated Casella psychrometeres and
Casella Max/Min thermometers. The maximum and minimum temperatures for
the CLIMAT report and Synoptic reports are taken from these thermometers
and not from the Casella AWS.

The observer uses the temperature, humidity and wind velocity
measurements from the Casella AWS for the hourly reports. The official
barometer is a Negretta Precision Barometer Mark II ref. Met20005, s/n
8483/83 located in the observers office. The barometer is 166 feet above
sea level while The airport runway ranges between 152 and 159 feet above
sea level. The reports are inserted onto the GTS via the Corabor VSAT
system. Comparisons with a Standard Barometer should be made to ensure
the accuracy of this Negretta Barometer.

All the observations are routinely stored and sorted in a local file
called MONFSUM.EX. This file performs some very rudimentary quality
control checks and puts the data into a format that is designed for
composing the CLIMAT message. This is a very efficient system which
promotes accuracy in a variety of ways. The station only reports the 111
groups.

**A FEW COMMENTS ON THE SURFACE OBSERVING PROGRAM**

The accuracy of the surface instruments that are used for the CLIMAT
report can only be judged by comparison with a certified standard. The
thermometers were compared with the handheld Lufft E200 Stand V1 high
precision thermometer. The differences were usually less than two tenths
of a degree and were dictated more by the error of parallax.

The contractor did not have a portable air pressure standard to make
comparisons with the official station barometer. However, it appears the
station barometer is within acceptable limits when it is compared with
the barometer on the AWS and the aneroid barometer at the radiosonde
office.

As indicated above, the collection of rainfall may be compromised by the
nearby location of the airplane hangar.

The official wind system is a Casella 3 cup anemometer with a
pointer/tail direction configuration and is approximately 2 years old.
The cup model is 032340 and the direction is model 032336. Casella
claims the system is accurate, doesn't need maintenance and never needs
calibration. The station instrument expert agrees with this claim and
indicated that Casella does not provide test or calibration equipment
for this system. The wind velocity at the GSN compares favorably with
the winds observed by an RM Young system at the radiosonde office a few
miles away. However, northeasterly wind measurements at the GSN must be
viewed with skepticism as indicted above.

**Historical Record**

The official records for the old instrument field date back to 1942.
Some of the records were lost during a hurricane in 1955. Users of these
records should note that during 1971-1972 the instruments were
temporarily placed on the roof of a building which resulted in spurious
temperature readings. The instruments were removed from the roof and put
back in their original location near the old terminal.

**Metadata**

Metadata for this site is not on file at NOAA/NCDC. The observatory is
currently taking steps to update the Metadata and send the information
to NCDC, et.al..

**Suggestions**

A program should be initiated to begin comparing the surface
observations in the new instrument field with the existing instrument
field. See Manual on the Global Observing System, WMO-No.544, 2.10.3.17

Comparisons of winds and air pressure measurements should be made with
official standards.

Metadata needs to be updated and the information sent to NOAA/NCDC.

GCOS authorities should advise Barbados if they want them to begin
including 222, 333, and 444 groups in their CLIMAT message

GCOS centers should note the suspect temperatures measurements during
1971 -1972 and the suspect wind velocity and rainfall data beginning
January 2004 to present times.

GCOS authorities should note that current temperature and humidity
reported in hourlies and synops use the AWS instruments while the
synoptic reported max/min temperatures are taken from the
liquid-in-glass instruments in the instrument shelter.

**Grand Cayman 78384, Owen Roberts Airport**

**Number and types of Surface Observations and CLIMAT reports**

Grand Cayman is open from 6:00AM till 10:00PM and is listed in Volume A
as taking all synops except 06Z, and 09Z . They should be averaging 6
synops per day or 180 per month. They averaged between 85 and 90 synops
and 500 hourlies per month. The NOAA/NCEP report
<http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/gcos/GSN_sum_200101_200406.txt>
indicates they haven't submitted a CLIMAT report for the entire 4 years
covered in their report. Director F. Sambula assured me they were
reliably doing the CLIMAT report and sending them via AFTN to KWBCYMYX
with the header CSGC01 MWCR.  The observational data is entered into the
station CLICOM system which generates the CLIMAT message. Basic quality
control is exercised within the CLICOM software.

Please note that Grand Cayman is one of the few GSN sites that include
333 and 444 groups in their reports. Below is a copy of the CLIMAT
message for July.\
\
CLIMAT 07  4\
78384\
111  1//// 20150 30295007 403260252 5315  60224/13    7//////\
8310000     9000231

333 03131 31307 40701 9010131

444  0030806 1028315 2033811 3022814 4083114 5//////\
608//   711806

**Instrument Field\
**

The instrument field has been in approximately the same location for 40
years. The instrument field is roughly a 900 square foot grassy area
with a four foot fence. There are no noticeable obstructions to the
field that may influence the instrument readings. Once again, as the
airport gets busier the competition for land space gets more intense.
For several years the airport authorities have envisioned moving the
weather office to a different location. The move may not include the
instrument field and may only apply to the upper air facility.

**Instruments and Methods of Observation**

The instrument shelter is a standard Stevenson Screen mounted over a
grassy area in the instruments field.

The station uses standard liquid-in-glass thermometers for their wet and
dry bulb as well as standard liquid-in-glass maximum/minimum
thermometers. The thermometers are not aspirated. Comparisons were made
with the Luft E-200, 5220.00 Serial 029-0404-0302.3. The comparison
indicated the liquid-in-glass thermometers were accurate within plus or
minus .3 degrees F. The error of parallax is more of a determining
factor.

The official rain gage is the standard US Weather Service Model: D-100 8
inch. The gage is favorably located within the instrument field and is
not influenced by an surrounding structures.

The barometer is a Vaisala DD-50 located in the air control tower.

The aerovane is a Bendix Corporation Model 120 mounted on a 20 ft tower
and not a ten meter tower. The aerovane is located at the Northwest end
of the runway. The wind recorder is a Belfort Instrument Co. model 141-1
and the Wind speed and direction indicator is a Bendix Friez Model 135.
The station does have the required calibration equipment for this
system. ON July 13, 2004 , the contractor checked the accuracy and
calibrated the system. The system was found to be within the limits of
the specifications. See the technical report for details on all the
instruments and calibration tables.

**Historical Record**

Apparently there were weather records dating back to 1936 as well as
weather observations performed by the US Navy during 1942-45. These
records may have been lost during moves and construction at the airport.
A more organized weather observation program began during the IGY year
in 1956-57 at a location about 5 miles from the current location at the
airport. In the early 1960s the USA began full support to the surface
and upper air observatory in Cayman which more or less continues today.
The site meets the Minimum Requirements related to temperature and
precipitation which calls for monthly for the past 20 years. The recent
records are homogeneous is terms of continuity without missing months.
See GCOS-73 paragraph 3.2.

**Metadata**

There is no Metadata on record at NCDC

**Comments on the distribution of the Grand Cayman 78384 CLIMAT
message**

Problem:

Apparently the use of AFTN to send their CLIMAT reports to a center to
be inserted onto the GTS does not work. NCDC, DWD, JMA, and U of East
Anglia indicate they do not receive the Grand Cayman 78384 CLIMAT
reports. However, NOAA Data Management Division indicates they receive
the CLIMAT reports and routes them to NCDC. NOAA needs to resolve this
internal problem.

The AFTN is successfully used by several countries to transmit their
observations and products to the GTS. The replacement systems for the
STAR4 do not satisfy the needs of the Latin America sites for the
transmission of data and several use the AFTN in which they have more
confidence. The use of the NOAA EDIS system is gaining popularity
because of its simplicity and everyone has internet. Grand Cayman
successfully uses the AFTN for the following messages successfully:

All messages are sent to KWBCYMYX and SBBRYZYX

**Message Type Header**

TAF's FTCA1 MWCR

METARs SAGC31 MWCR

SYNOPS SMGC01 MWCR

UPPER AIR UMGC01 MWCG

The CLIMAT message is sent to KWBCYMYX with the header CSGC01 MWCR

Grand Cayman does have full access to internet at their weather service
and we are trying to arrange for them to send their CIMAT message to
NCDC using the (NOAA) Email Data Input System (EDIS). It appears that
using the EDIS system is efficient in inserting the data they receive
onto the GTS. Other GCOS GUAN and GSN sites use the EDIS system and
their observations routinely appear on the GTS. The Contractor has been
working with NOAA to get the Grand Cayman CLIMAT message onto the EDIS
system. On September 3^rd^, 2004 the Contractor was advised that NOAA
Data Management will work with Cayman to get the EDIS implemented in
Cayman. After this is implemented the Contractor will try to monitor the
flow of the data from Cayman to the other Centers. **This will not be
easy unless the Contractor gets some support and timely response from
the NOAA Data Management Offices.**

At this particular time, the Contractor cannot locate anyone that knows
of the observatory in Grand Cayman listed in WMO Volume A as 78383 at
lat. 19 15 N and lomg. 81 25 W. The contractor suspects this was the
"Cuban Observatory" that used to operate 5 or 6 miles from the airport
during the 1950s that was subsequently abandoned. This cannot be
verified until the Contractor can contact authorities in Grand Cayman.

**PLEASE NOTE: HURRICANE IVAN DEVASTED THE ISLAND OF GRAND CAYMAN. THEY
HAVE NOT TAKEN A WEATHER OBSERVATION SINCE SEPTEMBER 11, 2004. THE
ISLAND IS WITHOUT ELECTRICITY, FRESH WATER, AND TELEPHONES. THE AIRPORT
IS CLOSED EXCEPT FOR EMERGENCY AID FLIGHTS. IT WILL BE QUITE A LONG TIME
BEFORE THE PROBLEMS ADDRESSED IN THIS DOCUMENT CAN BE ADDRESSED BY THE
NMHS OF GRAND CAYMAN.**

**SAN ANDRES ISLAND, COLOMBIA 80001**

**Number and Types of Observations**

This airport observatory is not open for the 03Z and 06Z observations
and averages roughly 160 synoptic and over 500 hourlies per month. They
are very reliable in sending in their CLIMAT messages and have not
missed one message in the past 4 years.

The contractor has not visited this GSN site.

**Metadata**

There is not Metadata on file at NCDC

**Suggestions**

The station should update or create a Metadata file and send the
information to NCDC

**PUERTO LIMON, COSTA RICA 78767**

**Number and Types of Observations**

There are two certified observers at this small airport on the eastern
coast of Costa Rica. The office opens at 6:00AM and closes at 7:00PM
daily. They perform the 12Z, 15Z,18Z,21Z and 00Z synoptics. They provide
between 250 and 300 hourlies per month and 60-100 synops. They have only
missed 4 or 5 CLIMAT reports during the past 4 years.

The CLIMAT report is created at the headquarters climate section in San
Jose.

Typical CLIMAT report from Pto Limon follows:

111 78767 10132 20136 30250007 402850214

5266 601562214 7158097

8000000 9000000

222 07100 10128 20134 30241005

402910206 5264 6027617

7163 8000000 9000000

333 03002

31409 40600 9000000

444 0026255 1023123 2030506

3019375 4047403 60000

**Instrument Field**

The instrument field is roughly 50 yards from the airport terminal and
has excellent exposure. The field is only about 15 yards from the actual
Caribbean Sea and provides an excellent sampling point for a maritime
tropical air masses (mT). There are no obstructions or artificial
influences on the field. The field about 20 feet on a side and is grass
covered with a fence. All of the instruments used for the observations
are located in this field. The instrument field has been in this
location for at least 30 years. Instruments have been changed and
replaced over the years but there is not definitive record of these
changes.

**Instruments and Methods of Observation**

A wooden white Simpson Screen instrument shelter is located in the
instrument field. They use Lambrecht wet and dry bulb thermometers with
a wind-up fan aspirator. The Maximum and Minimum thermometers are
Lambrecht 2742/92 and 5579/02 respectively. These were compared with the
contractors temperature standard handheld Lufft E200 Stand V1 high
precision thermometer. All thermometers compared favorably.

They use a standard mercurial fixed-cistern barometer for their official
station pressure. There is some confusion over the height of the
barometer. The height was determined to be 3 meters above sea level in
1991. An earthquake occurred and it is believed the barometer is now
about 5 meters above sea level. This height estimate is only a guess.
The barometer has been in the same location for 30 years. The staff
cannot recall any maintenance ever being performed on the barometer
(like cleaning the mercury) nor has there ever been any official
comparisons made with a standard. However, the staff does closely
monitor the pressure recorded by a precision barograph with the
mercurial barometer. If some difference occurs they will notify their
authorities.

The wind system is an R.M. Young propeller-type anemometer with fuselage
and tail wind vane (type 05106). The vane is mounted on what appears to
be a ten meter mast and is part of a Campbell Scientific automatic
weather station.

They have 3 rain gages in the instrument field. The official gage is a
200mm mouth catcher. The other automatic recording gages are not used in
the CLIMAT report.

They use a standard Campbell-Stokes glass ball for the sunshine
observations.

**NOTE**

The observations are telephoned to the NMC in San Jose where they are
entered onto the GTS. This is not a good practice and does promote the
chances for error. The contractor worked with the Director to provide
internet capability at the site so they could email their observations
to the NMC in San Jose. The Contractor used \$500 GCOS funds for a 10
month contract. This is more efficient and less prone to errors. They
are currently evaluating this email method for 10 months and will then
determine if it is worthwhile to make this a permanent procedure.

**Historical Record**

The historical records date back to 1941 and are continuous. This
satisfies part of the\
GCOS qualifications for a Target Requirements site.

**Metadata**

There is no Metadata information on file at NOAA/NCDC

**Suggestions**

Other than the need to provide Metadata to NOA/NCDC there are no
pressing actions needed for this site.

If funding becomes available it would wise to acquire RM Young Aerovane
calibration equipment for the site. Barometric comparisons with a very
good standard should be performed..

The NMHS should plan funding for the permanent internet capability at
Pto Limon.

**MONTEGO BAY, JAMAICA 78388**

**Number and Types of Observations**

This airport observatory is open 24 hours per day and is expected to
transmit 8 synoptics per day. Hourly observations range between 600 and
750 per month. They average over 220 synoptic observations monthly.
During the past 4 years they have been perfect in submitting their
CLIMAT messages on time to NCDC. Please note that Montego Bay submits
all groups 111 thru 444.

CLIMAT 07004 78388

111 10142 20143 30287/// 403290246

5307 60077/09 7272021 8000000 9000000

222 05180 403130235 6005307 7257

8////00 9//0000

333 03131 10000 20000 30906

40400 50000 8010000 9000001

444 0029520 1027301 2033117 3024515

4017022 54///09 61600=

Their synoptic, metars and CLIMAT messages are sent via AFTN to Kingston
AFTN and then onto Washington via AFTN. Sometimes this fails and the
synops have to be sent via voice telephone to the forecast office in
Kingston for furtherance onto the GTS.

**Comments**

The observatory is fully staffed for 24 hours a day with 4 certified
observers and the station Official in Charge (OIC). The OIC has over 30
years experience at this observatory and is well qualified in all
aspects of managing and operating this observatory. The OIC pays close
attention to the requirements of the CLIMAT reports and ensures her
staff observes and records the meteorological parameters in a very
professional manner. The OIC routinely performs quality controls on all
entries and calculations needed for climatological records. This is an
excellent GSN site.

**Instrument Field**

As with most airport observatories, the airport infrastructure grown
around the instrument field. The grass covered instrument field is
probably 500 square feet and is enclosed by a 6 foot high fence. A paved
road butts against one side of the field and small structures surround
two of the other sides. The activity of auto and machinery traffic may
have some effect on the temperature. The rain gages are well located and
are not affected by the surrounding infrastructure. The wind vane is
located in the middle of the runway on a ten meter tower. The contractor
believes the instrument field has been in roughly the same location
since 1951.

**Instruments and Methods of Observation**

This observatory uses a Casella Automatic Weather Station (AWS) M103107A
located in the grassy area between the runway and taxi-way at Sangster
Airport. This AWS is used for the hourly observations including
temperature, humidity, air pressure, and wind velocity.

For the synops, the observers go to the instrument field and records the
liquid-in-glass Casella Max and Min thermometer readings and measures
the accumulated rainfall at a standard 8 inch rain gage. The current
temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and barometric pressure are taken
from the AWS. The wind velocity is the standard 10 minute average.

NOTE: The CLIMAT Max and Min temperatures are taken from glass
thermometers in the instrument field and the hourlies & synops use the
AWS in the runway area for all current temps and humidities. The
contractor was not able to go to the AWS site to make comparative
temperature readings between the AWS and the instrument field.

The sensors of interest on the Casella AWS are the following types:

The wind velocity sensor is a 3 cup rotor anemometer using the infrared
light and interrupter. The wind vane is the typical pointer and tail
type. The temperature sensor is a platinum resistance type and the
humidity uses the capacitive system. Both are mounted in a standard
radiation screen. The barometer is mounted 3 feet above sea level on the
tower and is a Monolithic Silicon transducer with accuracy of .3 Mb. For
details on these sensors please see the contractor's Technical Report.

The hours of sunshine are measured with a standard Campbell-Stokes glass
ball type instrument and is located in the instrument field.

**Historical Record**

Montego Bay satisfies the high level **Target Requirements** outlined in
para 3.6 of GCOS-73 . The continuous records date back to 1951 and
include all the parameters identified in the 111, 222, 333, and 444
groups. This is the only GSN station in the Central America and the
Caribbean with these credentials.

**Metadata**

There are no Metadata records for Montego Bay at NOAA/NCDC

**Suggestions**

The AWS in Montego Bay is the same as the AWS used to support the GUAN
site in Kingston. The contractor is working with Casella to identify
ways and means of ensuring the accuracy of these instruments. If
available, a set of instruments needed for AWS calibration should be
provided to Kingston. The technician at Kingston makes monthly
maintenance trips to Montego Bay.

Metadata should be completed for Montego Bay and the information
provided to NOAA/NCDC

GCOS management should consider using the OIC as an instructor to those
sites that are lacking in their CLIMAT program.

The communications system(AFTN) thru Kingston AFTN to Washington DC is
fragile. An alternative system such as the NOAA Email Data Input System
(EDIS) should be considered for this site. Internet/Email is not being
used at the weather office.

During the passage of Hurricane Ivan the electricity failed at the
observatory which turned off the AWS. Therefore there is no history of
the wind velocity during the passage of Hurricane Ivan. The tower and
instruments were not damaged but sadly enough the maximum wind was not
measured or recorded. The Contractor does not know if this loss is
important to the GCOS program, if so, then some back-up power or other
recording devices should be considered.

**ACAJUTLA, EL SALVADOR 78650**

**Servicio Nacional De Estudios Territoriales (SNET)**

**Number and Types of Observations**

This site is not located at an airport. WMO Volume A indicates this
observatory performs a full suite of observations including aviation,
sea, and hourlies 24 hours per day along with 8 synops. In reality they
are open from 6AM till 9PM and miss the 06Z and 09Z synops. The
reception of weather observations at Washington DC for the past 4 years
varies considerably. The data in the following table is taken directly
from the NOAA/NESDIS web page
<http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/gcos/GSN_sum_200101_200406.txt>. The
averages are approximate. The staff advised me they have not done a
CLIMAT report for at least 10 years.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| > **Year/Month Hourlies Synops CLIMAT**                               |
| >                                                                     |
| > **Monthly Monthly Reports**                                         |
| >                                                                     |
| > **Average Average**                                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| > 2001 Jan-Sept 0 0 0                                                 |
| >                                                                     |
| > 2001 Oct-Dec 250 0 0                                                |
| >                                                                     |
| > 2002 Jan -- 2004 February 400 90-170 0                              |
| >                                                                     |
| > 2004 Feb- July 20 1 or 2 0                                          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

**Instrument Field**

The instrument field is approximately 50 foot square. Grass covered and
surrounded by a high fence. The field is located in sight of the shore,
loading docks and piers. The field is on a hill and is probably 30 to 50
feet higher that sea level. The field is surrounded by large trees and a
road/footpath that is heavily traveled. The wind measurements may be
affected by the trees. There are several instruments in the field that
have been donated to El Salvador over the years including the Sutron
Automatic weather station. It is believed this was donated and installed
by the USA/USGS as a result of Hurricane Mitch.

The wind system is a RM Young 3 cup anemometer Model 06201 s/n WT 09233.
The wind system has not been calibrated in recent memory. El Salvador
does not have the proper calibration equipment for this system. It is
believed that they normally use a anemocinemografo recording wind system
but it is currently damaged.

The official rain gage is a standard Lambrecht 3400 Gottingen Plastic
bottle type that the observers visits daily at 7AM and takes a
measurement. This measurement is used for the synoptic reports. They
also have a Sutron rain gage Model 5600-0425 -- 2 serial 000596 that is
used for local purposes. They have a standard cotton-region type
instrument screen housing the psychrometers and max/min thermometers.
The psychrometers are Lambrecht Wet 4575/94 and Dry 4629/94. The max is
a Fuess 7393-03 and the min is a Fuess 7295. The synoptic reports use
the current temperature and humidity from the Sutron AWS. Sutron
designates their sensors as the AT/RH High Accuracy 5600-0311. The max
and min temperatures reported in the synoptic messages come from the
Fuess liquid-in-glass max and min thermometers in the instrument
shelter. This mix of instruments may create some confusion with
researchers.

The official barometer used for the hourly and synoptic reports is a
standard Fortin-type mercurial. The barometer is located in the
observer's office on the 3^rd^ floor of a building near the instrument
field. The staff indicated the height of the barometer is 25 meters
above msl. WMO Volume A indicates the height is 15 meters above msl. The
Contractor recommends the height be reevaluated by a professional
surveyor. Also the Contractor suggests comparisons with a precision
standard barometer be made to see if there are major differences. The
mercury in the barometer has never been cleaned and that may or may not
affect the accuracy.

They use a standard Stokes-Campbell glass ball type sunshine recorder.

**Communications**

The observer transmits the observation to San Salvador via radio
(telephone) to the Central Office S.S. (Snet/Cpm) where it is sent to
Washington DC via Metlab (satellite).

**PLEASE NOTE: During 2004 the receipt of observations of any type at
Washington DC has dropped to nearly zero. The Director believes this to
be a problem with the GST WAFS/MetLab. The Director has asked GST to
investigate the problem.**

The Sutron AWS automatically sends an observation every 3 hours. The
Contractor thinks this report is only used by the USGS but this cannot
be confirmed.

**Suggestions**

GCOS must work with the SNET staff to establish a reliable and accurate
CLIMAT program. This should include setting up office procedures for
recording data, assimilating and cataloging data and the actual creation
of the CLIMAT message. The Contractor recommends GCOS provide on site
support and training.

GCOS should consider whether the use of one set of instruments for the
synoptic current temperature/humidity and the use of different
instruments for the reported max/ min temperatures is a problem for
researchers.

The RM Young wind system should be calibrated. This is one of three RM
Young that are used in the 3 CAC sites.

Barometer comparisons with precision standards should be performed.

**Mexico 9 GSN Sites**

**MEXICO GSN SITE PERFORMANCE 2001 THRU JUNE 2004**

The following is based on information obtained from the NOAA site;

<http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/gcos/GSN_sum_200101_200406.txt>

2001 thru 2003 Jan --June 2004

MESSAGES RECEIVED MESSAGES RECEIVED

Site Daily Hourlies Synoptics CLIMAT Hourlies Synoptics CLIMAT

Synops Monthly Monthly Received Monthly Monthly Received

Expect'd Average Average Average Average

Choix Sin 76311 7 100 100 15 100 100 4

Monterrey 76393 8 200 200 31 150 150 3

LaPaz 76405 8 175 175 35 140 140 6

Colonia J. 76458 8 170 170 25 150 150 4

Guanajto 76577 8 175 175 31 200 200 6

Merida 76644 8 850 100-200 21 850 160 3

Manzan' 76654 8 175 175 31 160 160 5

Mex City 76680 8 50 50 17 40 40 1

S.Cruz 76833 8 0 0 0 0 0 0

The number of hourlies taken can vary considerably depending on whether
the site is an airport and if they are open 24 hours per day.

The number of synoptics received monthly should average between 210 and
248 depending on hours of operation

The number of CLIMAT reports should be 12 per year or 36 for the period
2001 -2003.

The monthly averages are estimated and not done arithmetically.

**Strategy and Estimated Budget for Mexico**

There are 9 GSN sites scattered over Mexico and 1 GUAN site in
Manzanillo which is also one of the 9 GSN sites.

Intermet, Inc. feels it is of primary importance to meet with senior
officials of the Mexican Meteorological Service to explain the purpose
of the GCOS maintenance project and how the project can benefit Mexico
as well as the overall GCOS program in North America. Intermet, Inc.
recommends the a WMO Representative at the Subregional Office in San
Jose, CR accompany Intermet, Inc. to Mexico City MMS Headquarters and
take part in the discussions. It is envisioned that one full work day in
Mexico City will be sufficient for this task.

A purpose of this meeting is to explore ideas for providing support to
their GCOS GUAN/GSN sites. Obviously it will be very expensive to
dispatch experts from other surrounding countries to provide this
support and assistance. And the MMS may not be feel comfortable having
experts from other countries investigating and reporting on their
activities. MMS has the technical expertise to maintain or improve the
integrity of the GCOS sites in Mexico. However the GCOS high
expectations in terms of reliability and quality may cause undue strains
on the MMS budget. These additional costs include increased expert
travel, replacement parts, test equipment and spares, training, overtime
salary as well as other unforeseen costs. Intermet, Inc. proposes
exploring the idea of providing funds directly to the MMS to offset the
costs of the GCOS efforts in Mexico. Intermet, Inc. feels this will be
significantly less expensive than other alternatives and will allow more
funds for equipment replacement, spares, test equipment and other items
of need. Intermet, Inc will work very close with WMO Subregional Office
CAC and with MMS to manage this effort. Intermet, Inc. will also
consider contracting directly with experts in Mexico to perform the
required activities. However, this idea will probably not be as
attractive to the MMS.

In an effort to conserve funds, the Intermet, Inc. Representative will
travel to the GUAN/GSN observatory in Manzanillo and perform the initial
mission. The Intermet Rep will also perform the Mexico City GSN initial
mission at this time.

Mission Costs Intermet Rep. \$4500.00

WMO Rep. [1700.00]{.underline}

Total \$6200.00

The following costs assume the missions begin in Mexico City and the
experts are provided by the MMS. Also the missions are for single
locations because flying or finding transport from one Mexico GSN site
to another GSN site is not practical and is very expensive. Also the
costs assumes the expert will spend two full working days on site and
one day in travel.

**GSN site Airfare Perdiem Misc. Total**

76393 Monterrey 300 630 100 1030

76405 LaPaz 500 567 100 1167

76458 C.J.Carras Mazatlan 425 558 100 1083

76577 Guanajuato (Leon) 250 501 200 951\*

76644 Merida 400 504 100 1004

76833 Salina Cruz (Huatalco) 400 645 300 1345\*\*

76311 Choix Sin ? 300 300 600\*\*\*

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Total \$7180.00

> \* Cost of transport from Leon to Guanjato is unclear
>
> \*\* Cost of transport from Huatalco is unclear. 2 ½ hours drive
>
> \*\*\* At this time it is unclear how to travel to Choix Sin

**The total costs for the above :** **\$13380.00**

**Individual GUAN Site Reports Follow**

**BARBADOS GUAN SITE 78954**

The upper air observatory has been in the same location at Grantley
Adams airport for more than 40 years. The site performs the 12Z
observation during the entire year. In addition they do the 00Z
observation during the Hurricane Season.

Originally the station used a SCR-658 "bedsprings" system which was
replaced by the GMD1A and then the ART-1 system. The current IMS 1500c
was installed on April 27, 2003. Two or three modifications to the basic
software was been used to overcome some difficulties. The current system
configuration is MetOS ver. 1.12 , Version 6000049-0112.

The observation is transmitted in two parts: first is the TTAA, TTBB,
and PPBB or up to the 100 millibar level. The remainder of the
observation is transmitted subsequent to the termination of the flight.
The messages are emailed from the radiosonde office to the NMC where it
is put on the Corabor system for insertion onto the GTS. They system was
designed for the messages to go directly from the upper air system to
the Corabor but it doesn't work. This does not present a problem or
cause any type of delays unless the telephone connection or internet is
not functioning.

This observatory is very reliable and seldom misses an observation. They
are using 600 gram balloons and Sippican B-2 radiosondes. The 12Z
flights usually terminates above 50 millibars and about half of the
monthly flights get higher than 10 millibars. The GCOS goal of 5
millibars is very seldom attained. The contractor recommends the GCOS
program use larger balloons (800 gram or larger) to routinely attain
heights above 5 millibars.

The IMS 1500 was designed and constructed to be maintenance free and
repair effected by replacement parts. The station technician indicated
there is no need for tools, test equipment or spares for the system.
Apparently NOAA has some type of maintenance contract with the vendor
for this system. However the Barbados Met. Service has not been advised
if there is a contract and what the contract includes and how long it
will be in effect. The Director of the Barbados Meteorological Service
should be consulted on the terms of the contract and be fully informed
on the content of the contract. It is very difficult for the Director to
plan the budget and to justify unexpected costs without knowing the full
content of the maintenance contract for his equipment. The contractor
does not recommend spares, tools and test equipment for this system.

The Proton Hydrogen Generator Model 4X100 1058 is functioning reliably
and is a welcome relief to the old Stuart generator. Early on the
generator caused problems which were corrected and now the generator is
functioning satisfactorily. Barbados has the same power supply problem
that other Proton Generator sites are experiencing. It appears the power
supply units are sensitive to power surges and are easily damages during
lightning storms or main power fluctions such as when the airports
switch to the backup power generators. There is a master and a slave
power supply for the generator. The Contractor recommends the station be
provided with a spare slave power supply (180) which costs approximately
\$3000.00 US. Reconditioned 180s may be available for around \$1500. If
the funding exists a spare master power supply (176) should be provided
at about the same cost. The Proton maintenance manual calls for a
calibration every 6 months. However the calibration kit was not provided
with the system. The contractor recommends the calibration gas-kit
(\$314.00) and a clamp-on current meter D.C. amps, multimeter (\$545.00)
be provided at each site.

This upper air facility does have a target antenna which should used to
check the elevation and azimuth angle prior to and subsequent to the
flight. These target antennas are leftovers from the old days of the GMD
and ART systems and need conversion to the proper frequencies for the
IMS1500C system. The GCOS references on good observing practices and
procedures indicate the elevation and azimuth angles should be checked
for accuracy prior to and subsequent to every flight. Target antennas
should be provided to the other sites and routine elevation and azimuth
angle checks should be performed just before each flight.

The surface observation taken at release does not use the same
instrument field or instruments as the GSN observations. The instruments
used for the radiosonde observation are located across the runway from
the GSN instrument field. A Simpson Screen and 13foot wind mast is
located beside the radiosonde office. The observers get their wet and
dry bulb temperatures from Casella liquid-in-glass thermometers in the
Simpson Screen. The wind system is a RM Young 3 cup anemometer Model
06201 s/n WT 09233 with dial displays in the radiosonde office. The wind
system has not been calibrated in recent memory. The aneroid barometer
is located in the office and is an old Weather Bureau Model CAT No.G122,
s/n 7.67. It is doubtful if this barometer has ever been calibrated or
compared to a high precision barometer. This should be done !!

The base electric power for the upper air facility is always at risk at
the present location. This is because of the distance of the observatory
from the power mains at the main airport and because of the continual
construction at the airport. The Director has requested support to
purchase a portable power generator to act a as backup power for the
radiosonde facility.

**CLIMAT TEMP MESSAGE**

Barbados does not generate or transmit a CLIMAT TEMP message. This was
discussed with the Director and remedies to this shortfall were
discussed. The Contractor believes the staffs at sites that have never
done the CLIMAT TEMP report should have some training in organizing the
raw data needed to construct the CLIMAT TEMP message as well as detailed
instruction in actually creating the message. Two or three
meteorological technicians at each site should be trained. A good
practice would be to have the students create CIMAT TEMP messages for
the past year. These messages may be of value to the GCOS and other
climate centers.

**CONCERNS AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR UPPER AIR OBSERVATIONS**

**Items 1-7 below are problems with the Imetos program that range in
importance from bothersome to very important. The Contractor has sent
this information to certain other sites to see if they are experiencing
the same problems. At this time, the Contractor is reluctant to contact
InterMet Systems about these problems without knowing if the other sites
are having these problems.**

1\. Occasionally the Imetos program shuts down (crashes) during the
flight. This is an intermittent problem and does not seem to occur with
any particular set of circumstances. This leads to an even more serious
problem with the system. The observer will have to rework the sounding
to get a message for however high they got before the crash. The results
of the rework are very different than the data and message in the
original calculations. I have attached a sample of a flights original
data and coded message along with a rework of the exact same flight. The
differences are obvious and extreme. This should be brought to the
attention of Intermet Systems or whoever is responsible for this
program.

2\. Occasionally negative RH values will be displayed during the flight.
However the coded message doesn't seem to be effected by this display
and codes the RH correctly. This intermittent event does concern the
observer and gives rise to doubting the accuracy of the observation.
However there is no software function for the observer to check these
data. Again this should be brought to the attention of the person or
company that is responsible for this program.

3\. Occasionally the tropopause level is not in the coded message but it
is displayed in the standard level report. The observer must be alert to
this omission and manually insert the tropopause date into the coded
message. The solution is the same.

4\. Occasionally the maximum wind level is not in the coded message but
it is displayed in the standard level report. The observer must stay
alert to this omission and manually insert the maximum wind level in the
coded message.

5\. Occasionally after the balloon has burst and is falling but still
transmitting data, the incoming data will replace the existing data for
the maximum wind. Once again the observer must stay alert to this
problem and make the necessary corrections.

6\. The actual time and date for the 00Z observation (YYGG) can be
misleading. An example is that if the observers are performing the April
15^th^ 0000Z observation and release the balloon on April 14^th^ at 2315
Z then the YYGG is coded as 6523 which indicates an observation on the
15^TH^ at 2300z. Hopefully the computers recognize this error.

7\. A most disturbing problem with the program is that height errors
sometimes occur for certain mandatory levels. Once again this is an
intermittent problem that doesn't seem to be related to any particular
set of circumstances. The contractor has attached the actual coded
messages for the 12Z flights beginning April 15 thru April 22, 2004. The
mandatory levels that show significant departures from expected heights
are the 925, 850 and 700 millibar levels.

The following table presents a summary of the heights and temperatures
for those 8 consecutive days. Note the radical differences in heights on
the 19^th^ and 20^th^ while the temperature seems to be consistent with
previous soundings.

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| > Date 12Z 925 Millibars 850 Millibars 700 Millibars                  |
| >                                                                     |
| > Height Temp Height Temp Height Temp                                 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| > April 15, 2004 823 m 20.4c 1556m 16.8c 3182m 7.4c                   |
| >                                                                     |
| > April 16, 2004 837 20.6 1546 16.8 3175 7.8                          |
| >                                                                     |
| > April 17, 2004 832 19.8 1553 16.0 3186 8.2                          |
| >                                                                     |
| > April 18, 2004 844 21.6 1565 16.4 3198 8.6                          |
| >                                                                     |
| > **April 19, 2004 876 20.2 1636 15.6 3269 9.2**                      |
| >                                                                     |
| > **April 20, 2004 791 20.0 1529 16.0 3164 9.6**                      |
| >                                                                     |
| > April 21, 2004 810 21.0 1538 16.4 3174 8.8                          |
| >                                                                     |
| > April 22, 2004 817 20.0 1549 17.8 3188 10.0                         |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

The contractor will attempt to determine if this same intermittent
problem occurs at other sites using the same system and software. If so,
the manufacturer should be alerted to the problem and asked to make the
appropriate corrections to the system and World Centers should be
advised of the errors in past observations.

8\. NCEP and ECMWF have indicated that the upper air winds reported by
Barbados have a wind bias of approximately 15 degrees. The contractor
will work with Barbados to determine the cause of this bias and attempt
corrective measures. Earlier this past year the Dominican Republic and
St Maartens had the same type of wind bias in their reports which was
corrected. The Director advised the Contractor that a surveyor will
determine true north at the upper air facility and the electronics
technician will work with the Manufacturer to correct the alignment. The
Director indicated he will alert all the centers to the correction.

9**.** The Vector Group v~b~v~b~v~a~v~a~ is not clearly understood by
many of the observatories and is often not calculated or included in the
messages.

**BELIZE GUAN SITE 78583**

When the upper air observatory at Isle de Cisne (Swan Island) was
decommissioned in 1980 the NOAA/NWS moved the equipment to Belize. The
GMD1A and supporting equipment was installed at Phllip Goldston Airport
and the Belize 78583 GUAN site was established. The GMD1A System was
replaced with the ART1 system in the mid-1980s. The IMS 1500C was
installed and began operation March 19, 2003. The Proton generator was
installed in roughly the same period time.

The staff routinely records the performance of each flight using the old
WS-Form B-29. (see attachment) This is an excellent record that GCOS
should promote for use at all the GUAN sites.

The average heights attained at Belize are about the best in the CAC.
During the past year or so they have been getting higher than 10
millibars 15 to 20 times per month. However they never exceed the 5
millibar level.

**Receiver and Pedestal in Dome**

The Chief Electronics Technician at the observatory reports that the
IMS1500C receiver and pedestal in the dome works very well and is
reliable. He also indicates there is very little need for special tools
and spares as the system works low voltage. He reports that keeping
spares on site will not be cost effective but that training in the full
system operation would definitely be a positive. Their full knowledge of
the equipment is what they read in the manuals. He has indicated that
the true test of their ability to correct problems will be when they
have a failure, which is not the correct time to learn.

**NOTE: The above was reported before the system failure on September 2,
2004**

**The best description of the IMS 1500C failure as well as the
shortcomings of maintenance support was written by the Belize Senior
Technician and is attached to this document. The staff is not sure if
NOAA has a maintenance contract to support their IMS 1500C or the Proton
Generator.**

**iMetOS Compaq System**

The iMetOS system will not automatically transfer the Temp message to
the MetLab system for transmission to the GTS. The observer has to print
out each of the Temp messages and then hand type them into the MetLab
for further transmission and insertion onto the GTS. Obviously this
method promotes a lot of errors. They have tried "cut and paste" and
other ideas to make this a more automatic and less prone to errors
operation. They notified GST about this problem several months ago and
were advised that a new CD was being mailed that will solve the problem.
As of this writing they have not received the CD.

Belize's iMetOS, has from its delivery had some issues that were evident
with relation to the message time generated in message report with
respect to launch time. It could not recognize 00Z or 12Z transmission
times if launch time was 30 minutes either side of the official flight
time. The messages were manually edited to reflect the correct flight
time.

Old operating procedures governing launch times gives a larger window
for official flight time acceptance, and maybe with the advent of the
newer automated operation of upper air observation, we need to
officially adjust our launch time. It was suggested to our staff and
most observers have adjusted to these smaller windows with no adverse
effect. It does however make a second release tight.

Also, on occasions, the staff has observed negative RH in the raw data,
but it was not reported in the message. Also there are occasional
glitches that make the RH go to 1%, and then it works its way back to
more accurate values.

It has happen on a few occasions where if the operator was not present,
balloon burst were not detected and the balloon would be tracked to
ground and the descending data used for message coding. This however can
be accurately recovered.

Locking up of the operator interface has occurred on a few occasions but
rework has always brought back the original data. We did eventually
reload the distributed OS and solved that problem.

We have not had any reports from our forecasters that our reported
heights have been anything other than acceptable, but we have had
occasions where the flight clock starts before actual launch and it was
noticed before launch, and a reset could have been performed. I am not
sure if this may cause erroneous calculations because of timing.

As indicated in other site reports, the staff does not have complete
confidence in the MetLab satellite system. In addition to sending the
Temp messages over the MetLab they also send it via AFTN to the regional
center in Honduras (COCESNA) where it is sent to Washington DC. They
have confirmed the AFTN route to be the more reliable of the two
systems.

**Proton Hydrogen Generator**

The generator works well and has been reliable for the short time it has
been in operation at Belize. The generator seems to be easily affected
by lightning and they have begun the practice of isolating the system by
turning it off when thunderstorms are in the area and during the night
when staff is short at the office. The system is only in use during the
day hours. This practice is bothersome to the staff but it seems to
work. The Contractor is working to find a replacement brass regulator
valve Victor Equipment HG48915. The storage tank is usually at 200psi
and has enough gas for roughly 8 \@600 gram balloons.

The electronic technician reports the water filter list below for both
systems can keep them operating for a year with one of each item. The
quality of the water supply does not warrant more frequent change than
yearly.

[HOGEN 4**0**]{.underline}

1.  F210 40µ Stack Inlet Filter Pall/Gelman PCF1Y100N04

2.  F506 10µ DI Water Post Filter Element Pall/Gelman PCF1Y100N04

3.  GB208 Guard Bed Polishing Cartridge MSC Liquid Filtration MR-1A-208

[Aqua Solution H40]{.underline}

1.  10" 2µ Activated Carbon Prefilter Cartridge CC1050

2.  High Capacity DI Module 2613PT

These items for the Aqua Solution may be had as a purification kit part
number, 2613H40.

The Proton Generator and the Aqua Solution system were delivered with
replacement filters but no provisions were made for further support.
They are not sure if they will get support from NOAA Kansas City Support
Center.

The staff is hesitant to say the system is very reliable until they have
more operational experience.

**Expendable Supplies**

Belize is routinely supplied with sondes and balloons by NOAA NWS. As of
June 30^th^ they had 151 sondes and 194 600 gram balloons in stock. The
Balloons are Kaysam 600 gram with nozzle lift of 2000 grams. The sondes
are Sippicon 1492-540.

The staff indicated a need for a supply of "severe weather balloons".
These are fast rise balloons made of a stronger material that are easier
to handle in high winds. They burst before they reach the 100 Millibar
level.

**Instrument Field and Instruments Supporting the Upper Air
Observation**

The entire NMHS, administrative offices, upper air facilities and the
instrument field are located on the airport grounds but well enough away
to avoid any particular influence of airport activities. The instrument
field is grass covered and the instruments are ideally situated in the
field.

The wind system is an old Casella W1400 combined wind vane and 3 cup
anemometer that has never been calibrated or compared to any standard.
They use a Casella Directional dial 5231. The staff does not know if a
correction is needed but they do routinely perform normal maintenance
i.e. replacing bearings etc etc.

They us a Vaisala Digital PA11A triple barometer that seems to be
reliable but it has never been compared to a standard or calibrated. The
station uses 5 meters as its height above msl.

The psychrometers and max/min thermometers are in a standard white
Simpson Screen type instrument shelter. The Casella dry/wet bulbs are
model M106001 and the Max is M106202 and Min 106204.

The Official rain gage is a standard splayed base Casella 114003.

**CLIMAT TEMP REPORT**

Belize has not done the CIMAT TEMP report since the Fall of 2003 because
they lost the person responsible for report. They are willing to resume
this report but need training. The Contractor gave them the CLIREP CD
which they decided was not adequate to train their staff.

Each month the staff sends the raw data (FTP) from each sounding to NCDC
Attention Stuart Hinson. The Contractor is trying to determine if this
is how the mysterious CLIMAT TEMP reports are generated and circulated.

**Additional Notes and Recommendations**

The Director is requesting support to procure and install a complete
automatic weather station to replace the above instruments. Their
preference is the Vaisala Milos 500 systems.

The Contractor will attempt to get GTS to supply the needed CD for the
transfer of information from the iMetOS to the MetLab system.

The Contractor strongly recommends that NOAA fully informs all the GUAN
sites of the extent, scope and terms of any warranties and of the terms
of any maintenance contract they have covering the IMS 1500Cs and the
Proton Generators.

Training in the creation of the CLIMAT TEMP message is needed.

Attachment

**Belize Rawinsonde Workstation**

Belize Upper Air station was upgraded with the new InterMet IMS-1500C
Radiotheodolite on 19 March, 2003. This system replaced the ART-1
upgrade from the GMD system**.**

The IMS-1500C with its more modern Pentium 4 computing system brought a
more familiar windows atmosphere to the operators of the system. From an
operator's point of view, this was a great improvement in the one man
operation of the Rawinsonde flight. The training of the operators to
handle the equipment and new interface were done with great ease and the
transition was flawless.

From the technician end of things, it presented a completely different
approach to our support of the system. There were no specific
maintenance information transferred to the technicians, and it was said
that basically the system would need no preventative maintenance.
Keeping it clean and obstruction free were basically the extent of what
local technicians were expected to do. No troubleshooting and fault
recognition training were ever carried out. This I see as a big flaw in
the scheme of things.

My greatest fears were realized when our system froze during the 12Z
flight of 2 September, 2004. Checking the log for Rawinsonde flights, it
was discovered that both on 24 and 28 August, two releases were made due
to antenna locking up during the first release that did not make it to a
successful altitude.

Hoping that it might be something simple in the antenna pedestal that
could solve the problem, we first did a software reload of the
controlling computer interface to rule out operator software problems,
as I can remember that earlier in the breaking in period of the system,
a reload had cleared up some glitches that were in the operator
software. (The exact date of that reload was not noted.)

That did not have the desired effect of solving our problems, so it was
concluded that it must be a hardware failure of some sort and since it
manifested itself only in the elevation portion of the antenna, we
focused on the associated connectors and did continuity test to the
cables hoping for a loose connection or a break in one of the cable
connecting the elevation to azimuth of the system.

We did those basics and our prayers were not answered the way we wanted,
but however they were answered by a call from InterMet, noticing that we
were off the air. Our conditions were relayed to them and the dialogue
started with InterMet to try and resolve the problem. We needed guidance
as we did not know where else to proceed.

We were instructed to initiate flight logger support software that was
delivered with the system that is to be used in these circumstances. No
documentation on this software was ever delivered with the system at the
time of installation, so the engineer had to email the available manual.
Now we had to launch that software and do logging of the system info of
system initialization and forward that log to the company as we did not
have a similar log to compare it to. The flight logger program did
however have a display terminal that indicated that System Communication
Assembly had a fault and that it failed the initialization test. This
however did not seem to be cause of the fault but more likely the
elevation motor that was overloading the system with some high current
reading on the display. It was the consensus that the motor or the servo
drivers for the motor were the likely culprits to our demise.

Now that the likely problem was identified, the solution became the next
concern as when I enquired about a replacement, I was informed that the
system were no longer covered by warranty and repair at the head office
was the only solution. No spares were available for immediate shipment
to us, and the matter of the repair cost was not ever worked out or the
proper protocols to execute these actions were not set out at this time.

We were informed later after approval for the repairs were acknowledged
by NWS in Washington DC, that we will be having a DHL pickup and we were
looking at a possible one week turn around. This I know from my years of
dealing with shippers and international transfer of equipment that it
may more likely be two to three weeks.

During this time of the year, having our system down for a month or more
is not readily acceptable to anyone and would not go down well being
prepared to deliver timely and accurate advice if we get into any
weather related emergency.

This may be an isolated event as far as system failure, but it is most
likely that this will occur again here or somewhere else. Provisions
must be made to cover these eventualities. Means to reduce down time
must be put in place if we are to fulfill our part in this global
observance of our atmosphere.

**Bogota, Colombia El Dorado Airport 80222**

**Background**

The observatory routinely performs the 1200Z observation and if funding
permits they also do the 000Z run. The NOAA/NCEP publication shows that
during the years 2001 thru 2003 the site performed very well and
averaged 25 to 30 observations per month. Their heights averaged roughly
55 millibars per month with none going above 10 millibars.

**Communications Problem and Recommended Solution**

Bogota has been considered inoperative since January 2004. The reason is
because their daily reports are not received in WashingtonDC at all or
not in time for inclusion in any model runs. The Thanks2 report does not
show any reports at all and the NCEP 3 inventories do not include Bogota
because of a lack of reports. However, they have been doing the
soundings but they have not been reliably transmitted in terms of timing
and method. A solution to this problem is to arrange for Bogota to use
the NOAA EDIS email system the same as others in the Region. The
Contractor has been working very hard to promote this solution but has
not met with success. Application to participate in the EDIS system was
made by Colombia in late July 2004. They followed the instructions found
on their Web Page <http://www.nws.noaa.gov/tg/bullguid.html>. Since that
time several attempts to get approval or even a response from NOAA have
failed. **Contractor feels that senior management in NOAA should be made
aware of this effort and asked to cooperate with this effort.**

**Equipment Problems and Possible Solutions**

An additional problem at Eldorado is the lack of winds being measured
during the sounding. As you know, the Vaisala system requires two
antennas. In simple terms, one antenna received the temperature,
humidity and pressure measurements (PTU). This works very well. The
other antenna is the GPS antenna and is used to locate the instrument
allowing the observers to measure the wind velocity. This antenna (GPS)
is ineffective because of its location. There is too much local
interference which does not allow the antenna to function properly.
Vaisala representatives have visited the location twice and have
indicated the large numbers of automobiles, trucks, buildings and other
iron bearing structures are causing the interference. Bogota even
brought the system from Rio Hache to El Dorado and did some tests and
that system had the same interference

problems. As a note: Vaisala said they are having the same problem in
Chile and Brazil. There are two obvious solutions. The first is to
relocate the antenna or entire observing site which is impractical and
probably too costly. The other is to use the RS-92 radiosondes that do
not seem to be affected by the interference and have been tested
successfully at El Dorado. The Contractor was advised that Colombia
still has the modification needed to convert the system to using the
RS-92s. If the communications problem can be solve, the Contractor will
petition GCOS authorities to provide RS-92 sondes for the site.

**Expendables**

For many years Colombia has been willing and able to operate their upper
air sites without much external support. They currently operate and fund
the upper air observatories at Leticia, Gaviotos, Tumaco, Rio Hache and
Bogota. They also operate the upper air observatory on San Andres Island
in cooperation with NOAA. Their funds are spread rather thinly over
these sites and they do not have much financial operating room. There
are new administration changes on the horizon and they expect some
rather severe budget cuts. On June 28^th^ 2004 they had enough RS-80
sondes to last them until early 2005.

The RS-80s cost Colombia about \$175 @ and the RS-80s 165. They are
using Totex 350 gram balloons at a cost of \$22.00 apiece.

The good news is they buy bottled helium. They rest of their
observatories used hydrogen generators. They are spending about \$10K
annually on helium which is about 120 cylinders. They claim they can
fill 3 balloons (350 gm) with each cylinder.

**Surface Observations in Support of the GUAN Operations**

The use a Sutron Modelo 8200 AWS for their observations at release of
the balloon. This is a standard Sutron that uses Radio UHL to send the
observation to the upper air office. None of the instruments have ever
been calibrated or compared with any standard. The barometer mounted on
the tower is a Sutron 5600-0120-2, s/n 968424.

**Monitoring**

The Contractor showed the upper air staff how to monitor the real-time
receipt of the Temp message at Washington DC by introducing them to the
THANKS2 page. Please note the THANKS2 page is not very clear and
difficult for a Spanish speaking person to understand. The Contractor
had the page translated into Spanish and gave all the Spanish speaking
countries a copy of the page. See attached. The contractor also advised
the observatory how important their observations are to the rest of the
meteorological community and showed them where to find the various
centers monitoring reports and products, including the NOAA Inventories.

The Contractor also suggested they release the balloon as early as
allowable which is 45 minutes before 00Z or 12Z. This will give them
more time to get the first transmission to the Centers on time for the
early model runs.

Attachment

# Reporte actualizado \"Thanks 2\" de las Observaciones de radiosondeo 

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Observaciones de radiosondeo recibidas en el Centro Nacional de
Predicción del medio ambiente (NCEP, siglas en inglés), válidas para el
día 30 de junio del 2004 a las 14:00:01 TMG.

Esta página es actualizada cada 15 minutos entre las 0:45 y las 02:00 y
entre las 12:00 y las 14:00.

76151 76225 THKS 76256 ABc 76394 THKS 76405 THKS 76458 THKS

76526 ABc 76595 a 76612 a 76644 THKS 76654 THKS 76679 THKS

76692 THKS 76723 THKS 76805 AB 78016 THKS 78073 THKS 78355

78367 78384 THKS 78397 ABc 78486 THKS 78526 THKS 78583

78641 78720 78730 78762 THKS 78808 78866 THKS

78897 A 78954 THKS 78970 78988 80001 A 80035

80222 80241 80398 80413 80447 80462

80476

"A" significa que se recibieron los datos del grupo A (TTAA) completos.
"B" que se recibieron completos los grupos TTBB y PPBB. La "C" que se
recibieron completos los grupos TTCC, TTDD y PPDD. "THKS" significa que
se recibió el mensaje completo, con datos en todos sus grupos, para esa
hora específica.

A, B o C minúscula significan que se recibieron los datos pero están
incompletos para ese grupo específico.

Espacio en blanco significa que no se recibieron los datos para esa
estación en particular.

Este mensaje refleja los datos recibidos en el NCEP y el total de los
datos procesados por el sistema para esa hora.

Por favor retransmita los mensajes no recibidos. REENVÍELOS UNA SOLA
VEZ, NO REALICE RETRANSMISIONES REPETITIVAS.

Revise SDM y el administrador de mensajes Gateway cuando sospeche que
existen problemas de comunicación.

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NCEP Grupo de Soporte al Usuario/ última modificación: 30 de junio, 2004

**San Jose Costa Rica GUAN Site Juan Santa Maria Airpot 78762**

**Background**

The upper air observatory at Juan Santa Maria Airport was established in
1972. Their original equipment was the GMD using the VIZ 1680 sondes.
NOAA provided considerable VCP support to the observatory in terms of
expendables and technical expertise. NOAA had an electronics technician
stationed in San Jose to support the observatory as well as other
observatories in Central America. In 1992 they changed from the GMD
system to the Vaisala MW11 using RS80 GPS sondes. The GPS sondes were
too expensive for NOAA to continue support on any regular basis. Funding
and procurement problems led to long periods of time without sondes
which means they did not perform the observations. The Director has
indicated that the internal bureaucratic procedures associated with
procurement are the primary reasons for their inability to acquire the
expendables.

WMO Volume A indicates San Jose 78762 is to perform one observation per
day at 12Z. The NCEP monitoring report shows the station was silent from
October 2001 thru May 2003. It was silent because they did not have
sondes and they were having problems funding personnel to perform the
observations. A brief summary of their performance follows:

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| > **Rough Rough**                                                     |
| >                                                                     |
| > **Average Average**                                                 |
| >                                                                     |
| > **Soundings Heights Above Above**                                   |
| >                                                                     |
| > **Years Per Month Per Month 10 Mbs 5 Mbs**                          |
| >                                                                     |
| > 1995-2000 15 to 25 25-75 Mbs seldom none                            |
| >                                                                     |
| > Mid 2000-2001 25 to 30 65 Mbs none none                             |
| >                                                                     |
| > Late 2001-mid 2003 0 0 0 0                                          |
| >                                                                     |
| > Mid-2003 -- current mid 20s\` 45 -- 100 Mbs 0 0                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

It is obvious that their average monthly heights are terrible. They
should be averaging 10 to 15 Millibars per month. However the use of 300
gram balloons keep the heights lower. The contractor did check the
station records which shows that nearly all the terminations were due to
balloon burst. Stations that use a 600 gram balloon routinely have
higher averages with more flights exceeding 10 Millibars. Key West
averages 10 to 20 millibars per sounding and nearly always exceeds 10
Millibars. Barbados averages in the low 30 millibars and gets above 10
Millibars more than ten times per month. GCOS should consider providing
600 gram balloons to some of the Vaisala sites.

**Hydrogen Generator**

They have the newer model Stuart Generator with 5 Cells. The keep the
system in A-1 condition and it operates very reliably. The have two
large hydrogen storage tanks that allow for multiple releases in case of
problems. The older electrolyser is still in the inflation shelter and
can be used if the new generator fails. They will be participating in a
experiment with NASA where they will be doing 4 flights per day which
will really test the endurance of the generator. The Contractor advised
them to acquire a few spares for the generator particularly spare
compressors and extra water filters. They use 300 gram balloons.

**Expendable Supplies**

In July 2004 they had a stock of 353 RS80-15G sondes and roughly 350
300gm balloons. As indicated above they will begin and experiment with
NASA during the Summer of 2005 where they will perform 4 soundings per
day. During this past July thru September 2004 they did practice
soundings in anticipation of the next Summer's experiment. NASA is
paying for the expendables which are RS-92s. Therefore a modification
had to be made to the Vaisalla MW11 to accomodate the RS92 sondes.
Apparently this modification is not very difficult install or remove
from the system. San Jose will be using RS80s from September till the
experiment begins in the Summer of 2005. The Director did advise the
Contractor that the modified MW11 can use either RS80 or RS92 sondes.

**Communications**

They send the Temp to Washington DC via the NOAA EDIS system. The do not
have full internet capability at the radiosonde office and are often
without communications to Washington DC. The Contractor worked with the
Director and the local WMO office to provide funds for full time
internet-email capability at the radiosonde office. The Contractor
provided \$540 of GCOS funds for 18 months full internet capability.

**CLIMAT TEMP Message**

San Jose discontinued the CLIMAT TEMP program in July 2001 because the
communications link with Hadley Centre failed. The Contractor worked
with both parties and resolved the issue. Hadley Center should begin
receiving CLIMAT TEMP reports from San Jose in October 2004. The
Contractor has asked the climate staff to create CLIMAT TEMP reports for
all the months they missed since July 2001.

**Surface Instruments Supporting the Upper Air Observation**

The observatory uses a Campbell Scientific CR-10X Automatic Weather
Station located approximately .6 miles from the balloon release area.
The instruments are mounted on a tower and the tower is several meters
above the level of the radiosonde office where the pressure comparisons
with the sonde are made. There is always a substantial difference which
may lead to a linear error in heights particularly when extrapolating
down to the 900 and 1000 millibar level. Remember the height of the
observatory is considered to be 921 meters above msl. The Contractor
discussed this with the staff and with the Director and concluded they
needed a precision barometer at the radiosonde office for exact
comparisons with the sonde. The Contractor purchased a Honeywell
Precision HPB200F2DA-A and shipped it to San Jose for their use at the
office. The total cost of the Barometer and shipment to Costa Rica was
\$932.

The AWS has Vaisala CS-500 temperature and humidity sensors which are
considered to be disposable and are changed periodically according to
manufacturer specifications. This is considered to be cheaper than a
calibration scheme. The barometer mounted on the tower PTD-101B.

The wind system is a RM Young 05103 which is the same as the observatory
at Pto Limon. The manufacturer recommends a service interval of every
two years which includes basic inspection and verification of signal
outputs. Other organizations like NRC Canada require these instruments
to be calibrated every six months. RM Young has quoted a price of
\$1134.00 for the equipment and instruments needed for calibration.

.

**Kingston, Jamaica GUAN Site 78397**

**Background**

During the IGY years 1957-58, a GMD system was installed at Norman
Manley Airport and the USA began providing support for this observatory.
During the late 1990s the GMD was replaced by a Loran C system which was
replaced on May 14, 2003 by an IMS 1500C along with the new Proton
Hydrogen generator. The facility has been in approximately this same
location for nearly 40 years.

Kingston performs the 12Z sounding year around and the 00Z observation
during the Hurricane Season. Prior to the installation of the IMS 1500C
their average monthly heights were in the 20 to 30 millibar range with
10 to 20 above 10 Millibars but seldom above 5 Millibars. During the 12
months following the installation of the IMS 1500C their average monthly
heights dropped significantly to between 220 and 120 Millibars and only
exceeded 10 Millibars twice during that period. The Contractor believes
the lack of experience and training in the system was responsible for
the poor performance. Since April 2004 the heights have increased to
averaging 45 Millibars per month.

**CLIMAT TEMP Reports**

They do not prepare or submit a CLIMAT TEMP report. The Director has
indicated a willingness to begin this program if her staff can be
properly trained in the assimilation of the data and creating the CLIMAT
TEMP code. Hadley Center in the UK advised the Contractor they received
CLIMAT TEMP reports from Jamaica 78397 over the past 4 years as follows:
11 in 2001, 10 in 2002, 5 in 2003, and 4 so far in 2004. The Director is
completely unaware of these reports and would like to know who is doing
them and why she hasn't been informed.

**IMS 1500C**

**Receiver and Pedestal in Dome**

The station has experienced a lot of problems with loss of signal which
ususlly causes an early termination of the sounding. If the signal gets
weak or diffused the antenna does not search for the signal in the
approximate direction of the sonde. Instead the antenna drives downward
to nearly horizontal or zero degrees elevation. The observer has to move
the antenna back to the approximate position of the airborne sonde and
try to lock on to the signal. This usually fails and the flight is
terminated. Often the observers is busy at some task that keeps them
from giving the flight 100 percent of their attention. If the signal is
lost for a few minutes during these times it is almost a sure early
termination.

The local winds aloft at Kingston tend to move the balloon directly over
the antenna during the flight. This is the primary cause for the loss of
the signal at Kingston. An example would be as follows: As the balloon
drifts from due west to directly overhead and then to due east, the
antenna has to rotate 180 degrees on the pedestal and intercept the
balloon in its easterly position. The antenna does not react properly
and instead drives to zero elevation. The Contractor has not found this
problem at other sites.

The electronics technicians are satisfied with the performance of the
IMS 1500C system. They know that NOAA has a maintenance contract to
support the system but they do not know any details of the contract or
what they can expect in the future. As with the other sites, the
technicians do not feel they know enough about the system to perform any
simple repairs or corrections or to monitor the systems performance to
identify any early signs of failures or problems. They want training for
3 technicians in the total IMS1500 C system.

They do not have a target antenna to check the elevation and azimuth
angles prior to and after the flights. The GCOS Best Practices calls for
these checks for each flight.

**iMetOS Compaq**

The iMetOS is connected to the Corobor system via a dedicated telephone
line. If the telephone connections fail then they copy the observation
to a floppy and carry it to the NMC for insertion onto the GTS. The
Contractor feels the NOAA internet/email system EDIS would be easier to
use and more reliable.

**Expendables**

Kingston is using the Sippican 1492-540 sondes and 600 gram balloons.
These are routinely provided to Kingston by NOAA/NWS.

**Hydrogen Generator**

The main and slave power supplies for the Proton Generator often fail
because of power surges caused by nearby lightning or by the airport
switching from main to emergency power sources or just an unstable power
supply. The Kingston Proton Generator was not in operation in
July/August because of power supply failures. They received new power
supplies just before the passage of Ivan and were able to resume
operations. However, during Ivan the airport had to switch to it's own
back-up generators which caused a power spike which dmamged the power
supplies once again. They have recently ordered new power supplies from
the Proton. When the generator is inoperative the NMHS has to purchase
very expensive bottled hydrogen which the Director indicated cannot
continiue. The technicians indicated they need additional micron and
carbon filters for their water filtration system including the Aqua
Solutions equipment. They cannot purchase these filters locally. The
Contractor recommends the following for the Proton Generator: Spare
Master and Slave Power Supply units, additional water filters ( 3
types), and spare internal water pumps. The technicians do not feel
comfortable in recommending spares or judging the performance of the
generator until they have more experience with the system.

**Surface Observing System Supporting the GUAN Site**

The surface observing equipment that supports the upper air observation
is an automatic station on 10 meter tower located on the grassy area
between the paved runways. The automatic station is a Casella Ltd.,
Model DAU16, Eprom version 80-120836A-09, serial number 031093. The
configuration is M103107B.

None of the sensors including air pressure, wind velocity, temperature
and humidity have been calibrated for several years. The observation is
provided to the upper air facility via telephone from the NMC. These are
the same instruments as the Montego Bay installation. This automatic
system is subject to the ocean breezes and the salt content. This does
cause considerable corrosion causing the instruments to be replaced
every few years.

**Manzanillo, Mexico GUAN/GSN Site 76654**

The Contractor has not performed the initial mission to any of the
Mexican GSN or Guan sites. The Contractor met with the MMS radiosonde
staff in March 2000 and reviewed the status of all 17 upper air
observatories in Mexico. With regard to the Manzanillo 76654 observatory
he was advised that MMS replaced the GMD1A with a Digicora on January
10, 1998. They have an older Stuart Hydrogen generator but it was
performing well at that time. The staff indicated they needed some
spares and replacement parts. They were routinely performing the 12Z
observation using 350 gram balloons. The Vaisala Digicora provides a
print-out of the upper air message which the observers re-type on a
separate computer which sends the message to the STAR4 system at MMS
Hdq.

The NCEP report indicates Manzanillo has been averaging 25 to 30
soundings per month with a very low average height ranging from 50 to
180 Millibars. They never get above 10 millibars.

Hadley Center reports that Manzanillo submitted some CLIMAT TEMP reports
in 1999 and early 2001 and none since 2001