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THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATIONS IN METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES
risasi4.gif (107 bytes)COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

risasi4.gif (107 bytes)COMMUNICATIONS LINKS

risasi4.gif (107 bytes)MESSAGE SWITCH

risasi4.gif (107 bytes)  HKNC GTS ROUTING CATALOGUE -
    ( updated on 19 August 2010)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 The role of communications for a meteorological organisation is to facilitate the flow of data and processed products to meet the World Meteorological Organisation's World Weather Watch ( WWW ) programme requirements in a timely, reliable and cost effective way ensuring that all World Meteorological Organisation ( WMO ) members have access to data in accordance with approved procedures and within the limits of agreed WWW systems.
To meet these requirements the World Meteorological Organisation ( WMO ) has an integrated Global Telecommunication System ( GTS ) comprising of the Main Telecommunication Network ( MTN ), the Regional Telecommunication Network ( RTN ) and each member state has put in place a National Telecommunication Network ( NTN ).
The Communication Centre at the Kenya Meteorological Department headquarters in Nairobi serves as a Regional Telecommunications Hub ( RTH ) and collects observational data originating from its associated National Meteorological Centres and other RTHs not on the MTN and relays such data directly into the MTN. It selectively forwards data received from other NMCs and RTHs to its associated NMCs and RTHs not situated on the MTN. It performs quality checks on data from its area of responsibility and carries out monitoring of the operations of the GTS of the WWW.
For RTH Nairobi to handle the multiple roles it has an Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS). This system called TRANSMET  is composed of 2 Motorola Computers running UNIX. Each computer has 64 Mbytes RAM and 2 X 1.2 Gbytes hard disks. The system is equipped with eight X.25 (level 3) lines and 36 asynchronous lines. It can handle up to 64 Kbps and is capable of processing both alphanumeric and binary data. It can receive, store and re-transmit Coded Digital Facsimile ( CDF ) messages.