SYNOP CODE


SECTION 0
	iii iRixhVV

SECTION 1
	Nddff 1snTTT 2snTdTdTd 4PPPP 5appp 6RRRtR 7wwW1W2 8NhCLCMCH

SECTION 3
333	1snTxTxTx (at 1800 UTC) 2snTnTnTn (at 0600 UTC)	3EsnTgTg (at 0600 UTC)	
	4E'sss (at 0600 UTC) 8NsChshs 9SpSpspsp

SECTION 5
555	1V'f'/V'f''f'' 2snTwTwTw iiirrr


Interpretation

SECTION 0
iii         Station Number

iRixhVV     iR      Inclusion or omission of precipitation data (Table 1)
            ix      Inclusion or omission of weather group (Table 2)
            h       Height of base of lowest cloud (Table 3)
            VV      Horizontal visibility (Table 4)

SECTION 1
Nddff       N       Total Cloud amount (Table 5)
            dd      Wind direction in tens of degrees (Table 6)
            ff      Wind speed in knots (Table 7)

1snTTT      1       Indicator
            sn      Sign of temperature (Table 8)
            TTT     Dry-bulb temperature in tenths of a degree Celsius

2snTdTdTd   2       Indicator
            sn      Sign of temperature (Table 8)
            TdTdTd  Dew-point temperature in tenths of a degree Celsius

4PPPP       4       Indicator
            PPPP    Last four figs. of air pressure (reduced to mean sea level) in millibars 						and tenths

5appp       5       Indicator
            a       Characteristic of pressure change (Table 9)
            ppp     Pressure change over last three hours in millibars and tenths

6RRRtR      6       Indicator
            RRR     Amount of rainfall (Table 10)
            tR      Duration of period of RRR in units of six hours.  Main hours only
                    At 0001 and 1200 UTC tR=1   At 0600 and 1800 tR=2

7wwW1W2     7       Indicator
            ww      Present weather, manned station (Table 11)
            W1W2    Past weather, manned station (Table 22)

8NhCLCMCH   8       Indicator
            Nh      Amount of low cloud, or medium cloud if no low cloud present (Table 5)
            CL      Form of low cloud (Table 13)
            CM      Form of medium cloud (Table 14)
            CH      Form of high cloud (Table 15)

SECTION 3
333         Regional Indicator
1snTxTxTx   1       Indicator
            sn      Sign of temperature (Table 8)
            TxTxTx  Maximum temperature 0600-1800 UTC in tenths of a degree

2snTnTnTn   2       Indicator
            sn      Sign of temperature (Table 8)
            TnTnTn  Minimum temperature 1800-0600 UTC in tenths of a degree

3EsnTgTg    3       Indicator
            E       State of ground without snow or measurable ice cover (Table 16)
            sn      Sign of temperature (Table 8)
            TgTg    Grass minimum temperature rounded to nearest whole degree

4E'sss      4       Indicator
            E'      State of ground with snow or measurable ice cover (Table 17)
            sss     Depth of snow (Table 18)

8NsChshs    8       Indicator
            Ns      Amount of individual cloud layer (Table 5)
            C       Form of cloud(Table 19)
            hshs    Height of base of cloud layer (Table 20)

Up to four layers of significant cloud can be reported (using 8NhChshs groups).
The rules for the selection of significant cloud layers are:

	1.   The lowest layer of any amount
	2.   The next lowest layer of 3 oktas (eighths) or more.
	3.   The next lowest layer of 5 oktas or more.
	4.   Any cumulonimbus cloud not already reported under 1, 2 or 3 above,
             regardless of amount.

Clouds are reported in order of ascending height.
Cumulonimbus cloud reported under rule 4 above would be inserted between the
other groups at its correct height level - regardless of the amount of
Cumulonimbus being reported.

9SpSpspsp       9       Indicator
                        This group is included when necessary to report special phenomena.

SECTION 5
555		National indicator (This section is not sent when there are no data to report)
1V'f'/V'f''f''	1	Indicator
		V'V'	Visibility in metres (reported when visibility is less than 100 m)
		(f')f'f'	Speed in knots of the maximum gust in the past hour (>33 kts)

2snTwTwTw	2	Indicator
		sn	Sign of temperature (Table 8)
		TwTwTw  Sea temperature in tenths of a degree

CODE TABLES

Table 1:iR  Indicator for inclusion or omission of precipitation data

Code
Figure	Precipitation data are reported:	Group 6RRRtR is:
1	in Section 1	                        included
2	in Section 3	                        included
3	in none of the two Sections 1 and 3	omitted (precipitation amount =0)
4	in none of the two Sections 1 and 3	omitted (precipitation amount not available)

Note:  UK practice only, code figures 1,3 and 4 to be used


Table 2:ix  Indicator for type of station operation (manned or automatic)
            and for present and past weather
Code
figure	Type of station operation   Group 7wwW1W2 or 7wawaWa1Wa2 is:
1	manned	                    included
2	manned	                    omitted (no significant phenomena to report)
3	manned	                    omitted (not observed, data not available



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Last Updated: 09 June 1998

Dave Wheeler weatherman@zetnet.co.uk

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