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NOUS41 KWBC 282100
PNSWSH

Service Change Notice 24-34
National Weather Service Headquarters Silver Spring MD
500 PM EDT Thu Mar 28 2024

To:  Subscribers:
  -NOAA Weather Wire Service
  -Emergency Managers Weather Information Network
  -NOAAPort
  Other NWS Partners and NWS Employees

From:  William H. Burnett
  Acting Director, NWS Office of Observations

Subject:  NOAA-21 NUCAPS Soundings to be Added to the Satellite
Broadcast
  Network (SBN) on Near April 29, 2024

On or near April 29, 2024, NOAA-Unique Combined Atmospheric
Processing
System (NUCAPS) soundings from the NOAA-21 polar-orbiting satellite
will
be added to the Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN).

NUCAPS estimates atmospheric temperature and moisture at 100 pressure
levels between the earth`s surface and the upper atmosphere, about an
hour
after local solar noon in each location. NOAA-21 NUCAPS soundings
provide
insight into the early-afternoon pre-convective environment,
complementing
the mid-morning soundings of the Metop-C satellite.

Each NOAA-21 NUCAPS file (granule) spans about 30 seconds of time
(about
200 granules per orbit) and samples an area roughly 2100km by 200km
with a
grid of 30 x 4 = 120 atmospheric soundings. Each of these soundings
estimates the following atmospheric parameters at 100 vertical
levels:

Parameter     Units
—--------------------------  —----
Pressure     mb
Air temperature      K
Liquid water mixing ratio    g/g
Water vapor mixing ratio     g/g
Ozone mixing ratio     ppb
Sulfur dioxide mixing ratio  ppb

NOAA-21 NUCAPS soundings on SBN will amount to 1,800 files/day and
0.38
GB/day. They will be broadcast via the SBN NMC3 channel (Port 1205,
PID
105) using the following WMO header codes:

IUTN11 KNESIUTN14 KNESIUTN17 KNES
IUTN12 KNESIUTN15 KNESIUTN18 KNES
IUTN13 KNESIUTN16 KNESIUTN19 KNES



These codes are also used for NOAA-21 NUCAPS. They correspond to the
geographic regions previously detailed in SCN19-59
(https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pdf2/scn19-
59nucaps_soundings.pdf)

Additional details on NUCAPS soundings from NOAA-21 and other
satellites
are available on the NOAA VLab at
https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/towr-s/jpss-
nucaps.

Critical weather, enhanced caution, or other factors may affect the
timing
of this change.

For questions pertaining to these changes, please contact:

    NOAA/NWS Office of Observations
    Silver Spring, MD
    Email: NWS-OBS-Satellites@noaa.gov
  or
    AWIPS Network Control Facility (NCF) Help Desk
    NOAA/NWS Office of Central Processing
    Silver Spring, MD
    Phone: 888-808-8624

For questions regarding the content or distribution of the products
listed
here please contact:

    Joseph V. Fiore Jr.
    NOAA/NESDIS/OSPO/Satellite Products and Services Division
    College Park, MD
    email: joseph.fiore@noaa.gov
    Google Voice: 240-622-5819

National Service Change Notices are online at:

https://www.weather.gov/notification/


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