SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

by Erna Beckmann -
Number of replies: 5

Hi


Our SYNOP and radiosonde stations on same location are registered as one and same station in OSCAR/Surface with one WSI. I would prefer to separate the stations and assign a new WSI to the radiosonde stations. What is the best way to this? And should others be notified when national focal points make changes in WSIs in OSCAR/surface?


Kind regards 

Erna - National focal point for WIGOS and OSCAR/Surface Denmark

In reply to Erna Beckmann

Re: SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

by Zulkarnain Zulkarnain -
Dear Erna,

Thank you for your question and please see our comments, suggestions below.

The same site, i.e. observing facility, may accommodate two or more observing systems, e.g., for multiple applications/programmes, such as for weather/climate, atmospheric composition, cryosphere, etc, therefore, there is no requirement to split systems that are installed in the same site, into two, or more, "Stations/WSIs".

It is up to each Member to decide how to assign WSIs to their stations, however we'd not recommended proceeding with separating the surface from the upper-air components of your stations considering possible operational implications, for example in relation to international data exchange.

In particular, we note that the two upper-air stations listed below (extracted from OSCAR/Surface) have been operating as one station each for many years (according to the records in the former Pub.9-Vol.A), using respectively the former WMO Index-Number 06060 and 06011 for both surface and upper-air observations.



For further reference please visit our related webpage here: https://community.wmo.int/activity-areas/WIGOS/implementation-WIGOS

Thank you very much, best regards,

The WIGOS Team
In reply to Zulkarnain Zulkarnain

Re: SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

by Erna Beckmann -

Dear Zulkarnain


Thank you for the clarification. We will follow your recommendations not to separate the upper air and surface components of the stations.

I have two additonal questions about the WSIs.

1) Will there by any operational implications when adding a new WSI as the primary and how should others be notified about this change? We have made a national procedure for assigning WSIs to stations and would like to add the country code to the stations that are already registered in OSCAR e.g. 0-20000-0-06060 --> 0-208-0-06060.

2) How should we notify WMO and members when we start submitting BUFR messages with the WSI to WIS/GTS?


Kind regards

Erna


In reply to Erna Beckmann

Re: SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

by Zulkarnain Zulkarnain -

Dear Erna,

I informed my colleague who deals with WIS about your questions considering they are more on WIS/GTS side and it was suggested to send the questions directly to wis@wmo.int. I'll forward the questions via email to wis@wmo.int and copy to you.

Thank you, kind regards,

The WIGOS Team

In reply to Zulkarnain Zulkarnain

Re: SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

by Erna Beckmann -
Dear Zulkarnain

We followed your advice on the WSI's for the radiosonde stations. However, one of the radiosonde stations has a slightly different identifer then the synop station, Mittarfik Narsarsuaq 0-20000-0-04270 (Synop) and 0-20001-04270 (radiosonde). We have issued a new primary identifier for all stations with the country code for Denmark e.g. "0-208-0-04270". But since the radiosonde and synop station in Nasarsuaq are two different stations in OSCAR, I am not sure how to proceed. Do you suggest to merge these stations? The synop and the radiosonde stations have two different station owners.

Best regards
Erna
In reply to Erna Beckmann

Re: SYNOP and radiosonde share the same WSI

by Zulkarnain Zulkarnain -

Dear Erna,

Considering that the both stations have been in OSCAR/Surface for a long time and have different owners,  it seems more beneficial to keep them separate as is. On the other hand, it makes sense to merge them because the synoptic observation is collocated with the upper air observation.

Again, it's up to you to decide how you would like to assign WSIs for stations in your country. We recommend you to follow your National WSI Schema or develop one, if you don't already have it. References and examples of WSI National Schema from other Members are available on the WIGOS webpage, https://community.wmo.int/en/activity-areas/WIGOS/implementation-WIGOS 

Thank you, kind regards,

The WIGOS Team