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NCEP Home > NCO Home > Systems Integration Branch > NCEP Restricted Data > Surface Ship Data

Surface Ship Data

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Surface Ship data are data received via the GTS in FM 13 SHIP format. Under international agreement, effective Dec. 1, 2007, ships which request that their callsigns be masked due to security concerns are now part of a restricted dataset. Because NCEP does not know which ships have requested callsign masking and which have not, all data tanks and dumps containing surface ship data must be restricted. These data may not be redistributed at any time to NWS or NOAA entities outside of NCEP, nor to any other U.S. government agency, any educational institution or research group, any foreign agency, or anyone in the general public.

Surface ship data are stored in the NCEP observational database as BUFR type/subtype b001/xx001 and are fully assimilated into the NCEP models.

In addition to the above database file, surface ship data are also present in model dump files containing the names sfcshp, sfmar, and ships, as well as in most PREPBUFR files.

The restriction(s):

  • Surface ship data containing unique (non-masked) callsigns and their corresponding locations may not be redistributed at any time to NWS or NOAA entities outside of NCEP, nor to any other U.S. government agency, any educational institution or research group, any foreign agency, or anyone in the general public.

Obligations of users:

  • Users of this data may not redistribute data containing unique (non-masked) callsigns and their corresponding locations to any recipients within the NWS or NOAA (outside of NCEP), any other agencies of the U.S. government, any educational institution or research group, any foreign agency/government, nor to anyone in the general public at any time. Before being granted access to this data, the user must complete the "inform and acknowledge" procedure as described on the previous page. A template is provided for this purpose which may be cut-and-pasted into an e-mail from the user.
  • In the unlikely event that a representative from a foreign center should inquire about receiving such data directly through a user at NCEP, the user should refer the inquiry to the NWS/TOC or to the head of NOAA's Volunteer Observing Ship (VOS) Program at NOAA/NDBC for assistance.


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Page last modified: Thursday, 06-Dec-2007 21:10:01 UTC