Table 1-7.—Upper-Air Observation Types and Reporting Codes

Table 1-7.—Upper-Air Observation Types and Reporting Codes WMO CODE I D OBSERVATION DATA OB TYPE S I T E FM 32-IX-PILOT P P — Fixed Land Site Upper PIBALs FM 34-IX-PILOT MOBIL E E — Mobil Land Site W i n d FM 33-IX-PILOT-SHIP Q Q — S h i p Reports FM 35-X-TEMP T T — Fixed Land Site Upper level RAWIN-, FM 38-X-TEMP MOBIL I I — Mobil Land Site Pressure RADIO-, FM 36-X-TEMP SHIP U U — S h i p Temperature D R O P - , FM 37-X-TEMP DROP X X — Aircraft Humidity SONDEs, and Winds R A B A L s FM 39-VI-ROCOB RRXX Fixed Land Site Upper level ROCKETSONDEs FM 40-VI-ROCOB SHIP S S X X S h i p Air density Temperature W i n d s FM 41-IV-CODAR LLXX Aircraft Upper level Pressure Aircraft (manual) Temperature W i n d s FM 42-XI AMDAR n o n e Aircraft Upper level Aircraft to satellite Pressure data relay Temperature Dew point Winds NOTE: "—" indicates multi-part messages (AA, BB, CC, or DD). The observation time is coded in the third group of the first line of data in the form YYGGI_d. This is the date/time group, with YY indicating the day of the month, and GG indicating the synoptic hour of the observation. The I_d is an indicator that is different in each code and will be discussed later. On most reports received via telecommunications circuits, computers have already “read” the code identifier and date/time group and printed a message header at the top of the bulletin. A single bulletin may contain several Part A, TEMP SHIP, reports from different ships, all under a header such as UUAA 211200Z NOV. The location where the observation was conducted is identified differently in the various code forms. Ship observations and mobile land-observation sites are located by latitude, longitude, and Marsden Square coordinates, which pinpoint the location. Established land stations are located only by referencing the international block and station number (IIiii) on weather plotting charts or in the Master Weather Station Catalog. The identification groups "D. . . .D 99L_aL_aL_a Q_cL_oL_oL_oL_o MMMU_LaU_Lo" are used only by movable observation platforms to identify the observation platform and the location of the observation. All ships, mobile observation sites ashore, and aircraft use these groups. As in the Ship Synoptic code FM 13-X SHIP, discussed in module 1, the "D. . . .D" is the call sign of a ship or the call sign or communications identifier assigned to a mobile unit. The "99L_aL_aL_a Q_cL_oL_oL_oL_o" groups are the latitude 1-21