Weatherfax

Weatherfax is a portmanteau word from the words "weather facsimile". The term was coined after the technology that allows the transmission and reception of weather charts (surface analysis, forecasts, and others) from a transmission site (usually the meteorological office) to a remote site (where the actual users are).

Facsmile machines were used in the 1950's to transmit weather charts across the United States via land-lines first and then internationally via HF radio. Radio transmission of weather charts, also known as Radiofax, provides an enormous amount of flexibility to marine and aviation users for they now have the latest weather information and forecasts at their fingertips to use in the planning of voyages.

Weatherfax relies on facsimile technology where printed information is scanned line by line and encoded into an electrical signal which can then be transmitted via physical line or radio waves to remote locations. Since the amount of information transmitted per unit time is directly proportional to the bandwidth available, then the speed at which a weather chart can be transmitted will vary depending on the quality of the media used for transmission.

Today weatherfax data is available via FTP downloads from sites in the Internet such as the ones hosted by the National Oceanic and Amospherics Administration, NOAA. Weatherfax transmissions are also broadcast by NOAA from multiple sites in the country at regular daily schedules. Radio weatherfax transmissions are particularly useful to shipping, where there are no facilities for accessing the Internet.

See also

* Radiofax
* Fax

External links

* [http://weather.noaa.gov/fax/marine.shtml Marine Weatherfax NOAA broadcasts]