A Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) is a

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

(NWS) unit located inside each of the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

's 22

Air Route Traffic Control Center In air traffic control, an area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between a ...

s (ARTCC).

Overview

CWSU

meteorologists A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists ...

provide support for FAA's air traffic management with pertinent

meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...

information for airports and airspace in the control center's area of responsibility. Meteorologists disseminate information to brief

air traffic control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled air ...

area managers where, when, and what is expected, when the weather arrives in the ARTCC's various sectors. Dissemination is by computer products, by incoming phone requests, and by stand up briefings. Occasionally CWSUs provide weather information and recommendations directly to

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

s. They sometimes will provide information directly to the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

s of aircraft in distress due to hazardous weather conditions. In addition to

SIGMET SIGMET, or Significant Meteorological Information (AIM 7-1-6), is a severe weather advisory that contains meteorological information concerning the safety of all aircraft. Compared to AIRMETs, SIGMETs cover more severe weather. Today, according ...

s (significant meteorological events), Convective SIGMETs (significant meteorological event associated with convection), and AIRMETs (significant meteorological events generally effecting smaller aircraft) issued by the Aviation Weather Center (AWC), CWSUs issue Center Weather Advisories (CWA) and Meteorological Impact Statements (MIS) as necessary. CWSUs are staffed by around 4 NWS meteorologists (including one manager), but their operations are eventually reimbursed by the FAA's budget under an "Interagency Agreement". Due to budget pressures, the FAA was considering closing the CWSU program up to 2006.

History

Center Weather Service Units (CWSUs) began operations on April 3, 1978 after the Southern Airways Flight 242 crash near Atlanta in 1977 where the

NTSB The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inc ...

recommended increased weather situational awareness for the

(FAA)'s

Air Traffic Controllers An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

. After this incident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and

(NWS) began a contractual Interagency Agreement (IAA) partnership that remains to this day. One (1) Meteorologist-in-Charge (MIC) and three (3) General Forecasters that comprise the Center Weather Service Unit are co-located inside each of the FAA's 21 CONUS Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs) and are structured under the

Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...

(DOC)'s

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

(NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS).

References

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External links

CWSU products

Aviation Weather Center (AWC)

VLAB CWSU History

AMS Publication CWSUs

NWS Publication CWSUs

NOAA Publication CWSUs
National Weather Service Federal Aviation Administration

Overview

History

See also

References

External links