WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION

WMO No. 47

International List of Selected,
Supplementary and Auxiliary Ships
participating in the WMO
Voluntary Observing Ships (VOS) scheme

GUIDE TO
RECORD LAYOUT
OF DATA FILES

1999-a (1st quarter) EDITION

______________________________________________

Table of Contents

1. Record Layout of File No. 1 - Master File of VOS Ships:

1.1. Data contained in each record
1.2. Sample record
1.3. Order and contents of data fields
1.4. Guide to formatting 'VOS Ships' data files

2. Record Layout of File No. 2 - Master File of Ships' Routes:

2.1. Data contained in each record
2.2. Sample record
2.3. Order and contents of data fields

______________________________________________

Record Layout of
File No. 1:

Master File of VOS Ships

1.1. SHIPS DATA: Data contained in each record

All the data for each ship is contained in one record. Each record is composed of all 56 fields, even if some fields are blank because there is no data for those fields. Each field (including blank fields) ends with a semi-colon (" ; "). Every field is identified by a code name, as follows:

cntryCode; typeCode; name; call; vsslAbbrev; lenVssl; brdVssl; frbVssl; rte; rte; rte; rte; rte; rte; rte; rte; rte; rte; barm; barm; brmH; brmH; thrm; thrm; thmE; thmE; hygr; hygr; hgrE; hgrE; sstM; sstM; sstD; sstD; barg; barg; anmH; othI; othI; othI; othI; othI; othI; phGr; phGr; prSt; prSt; prSt; prSt; prSt; fieldAbbrev; fieldAbbrev; fieldAbbrev; footID; footID; footID;

1.2. SHIPS DATA: Sample record

The code names and abbreviations used in each field are explained in the Code Tables. Each record (i.e. data for one ship) appears like the following sample record:

JP;10;TOKIWA;3EDB9;LT;316;58;19;5;10;;;;;;;;;AN;;25;;ALC;;VS;;P;;VS;;C;;18;;;;37;MAX;MIN;A;;;;T;;I;;;;;rtes;;;14;;;;

In the printed edition, this record (i.e. ship) appears as follows, in the list of Selected Ships recruited by Japan:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
name	call	vssl	dim (l,b,f)	routes	barm	brmH	thrm	thmE	hygr	hgrE	sstM	sstD	barg	anmH	othI	phGr	prSt
TOKIWA	3EDB9	LT	316,58,19	*5,10	AN	25	ALC	VS	P	VS	C	18		37	MAX, MIN, A	T	I
* Performs observations/reports mainly in the northwestern Pacific Ocean

1.3. SHIPS DATA: Order and contents of data fields

Data contained in the various fields can be found in the following forms:

in plain text (e.g. fields 3-4: ship's name and call sign);

in plain figures (e.g. fields 6-8: ship measurements; fields 21-22, 33-34, 37: height or depth of meteorological instruments and measurements);

in coded form, which can be one of the following:

· numbers (field 2: VOS type of ship; fields 9-18: route numbers; fields 54-56: footnote identification code numbers);

· letters (e.g. field 1: country codes; field 5: kind of vessel; fields for most instrument types);

· a combination of numbers and letters (fields 35-36: type of barograph).

These codes are defined in the Code Tables for Publication No. 47.

SHIPS DATA FILES: Order and contents of data fields

Type of data	Field No.	Field code name	Explanation	See Code Table No.:
Ship charac- teristics data	1	cntryCode;	Recruiting country code number	1
	2	typeCode;	Type of VOS ship/observing programme (e.g. selected, supplementary, auxiliary)	2
	3	name;	Ship name (followed by the name of the ship's country of registry, in brackets, if different from the ship's recruiting country)	3
	4	callSign;	Ship call sign	3
	5	vsslAbbrev;	Kind of vessel (e.g. ferry, liquid tanker, etc.)	3
	6	lenVssl;	Vessel dimensions - length (in whole meters)	3
	7	brdVssl;	Vessel dimensions - breadth (in whole meters)	3
	8	frbVssl;	Vessel dimensions - freeboard (in whole meters)	3
Routes data	9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18	rte;	Ship's 1st route Ship's 2nd route Ship's 3rd route Ship's 4th route Ship's 5th route Ship's 6th route Ship's 7th route Ship's 8th route Ship's 9th route Ship's 10th route	3
Equipment data	19 20	barm;	Barometer No. 1 - type Barometer No. 2 - type	4
	21 22	brmH;	Barometer No. 1 - height (meters), measured from maximum load line Barometer No. 2 - height (meters), measured from maximum load line	4
	23 24	thrm;	Thermometer No. 1 - type Thermometer No. 2 - type	4
	25 26	thmE;	Thermometer No. 1 - conditions of exposure Thermometer No. 2 - conditions of exposure	4
	27 28	hygr;	Hygrometer No. 1 - type Hygrometer No. 2 - type	4
	29 30	hgrE;	Hygrometer No. 1 - conditions of exposure Hygrometer No. 2 - conditions of exposure	4
	31 32	sstM;	Sea surface temperature measurement - Method No. 1 Sea surface temperature measurement - Method No. 2	4
	33 34	sstD;	Sea temperature measurement (depth below maximum load line) - Depth of method No. 1 - Depth of method No. 2	4
	35 36	barg;	Barograph No. 1 - type Barograph No. 2 - type	4
	37	anmH;	Anemometer - height (in meters), mesured from maximum load line	4
	38 39 40 41 42 43	othI;	Other meteorological instrument aboard - No. 1 - type Other meteorological instrument aboard - No. 2 - type Other meteorological instrument aboard - No. 3 - type Other meteorological instrument aboard - No. 4 - type Other meteorological instrument aboard - No. 5 - type Other meteorological instrument aboard - No. 6 - type	4
	44 45	phGr;	Radio-telephony and telegraphy - No. 1 - type Radio-telephony and telegraphy - No. 2 - type	5
	46 47 48 49 50	prSt;	Teleprinter and satellite - No. 1 - type Teleprinter and satellite - No. 2 - type Teleprinter and satellite - No. 3 - type Teleprinter and satellite - No. 4 - type Teleprinter and satellite - No. 5 - type	5
Footnote data	51 52 53	Field Abbrev;	Code name of the field to which 1st footnote applies Code name of the field to which 2nd footnote applies Code name of the field to which 3rd footnote applies	6
Footnote data	54 55 56	footID;	Identification number of the text of the 1st footnote to be inserted Identification number of the text of the 2nd footnote to be inserted Identification number of the text of the 3rd footnote to be inserted	6

1.4. SHIPS DATA: Guide to formatting "VOS Ships" data files

The chart below provides a summary (in order of the columns) of the layout and characteristics of the printed columns and the data fields, as well as the relationships between them. It is provided as an aid to coding a country's data files for submission to the WMO Secretariat on diskette or by e-mail.

Column No. in printed edition	Column (Field) code name	Data field No(s).	Description of field	Limits set by database ±	Maximum number allowed per ship	See Code Table No.:
-- *	cntryCode	1	Code of country which recruited the ship into the VOS programme (two-letter abbreviation)	**	1	1
-- *	typeCode	2	Type of VOS ship/observing programme (selected, supplementary, auxiliary, etc.)	**	1	2
1	name	3	Ship's name (followed by the name of the ship's country of registry, in brackets, if different from the recruiting country)	45 characters	1	3
2	call	4	Ship's call sign	7 characters; no duplicate call signs per country permitted.	1
3	vssl (vssl Abbrev)	5	Kind of vessel (e.g. ferry, liquid tanker, etc.)	**	1
4	dim l,b,f (lenVssl) (brdVssl) (frbVssl)	6 - 8	Vessel dimensions (in meters): - length - breadth - freeboard	whole meters: 3 digits 2 digits 2 digits	1 1 1
5	routes (rte)	9 - 18	Route(s) plied by the ship	++	10
6	barm	19 + 20	Type of barometer	**	2	4
7	brmH	21 + 22	Height of barometer (in meters), measured from maximum load line	whole meters	2
8	thrm	23 + 24	Type of thermometer	**	2
9	thmE	25 + 26	Conditions of exposure of thermometer	**	2
10	hygr	27 + 28	Type of hygrometer	**	2
11	hgrE	29 + 30	Conditions of exposure of hygrometer		2
12	sstM	31 + 32	Method of obtaining sea surface temperature	**	2
13	sstD	33 + 34	Depth of sea surface temperature measurement (in meters), measured from maximum load line	whole meters	2
14	barg	35 + 36	Type of barograph	**	2
15	anmH	37	Height of anemometer (in meters), measured from maximum load line	whole meters	1
16	othI	38 - 43	Other meteorological instruments	**	6
17	phGr	44 + 45	Radio-telephony and telegraphy	**	2	5
18	prSt	46 - 50	Teleprinter and satellite	**	5
-- #	Field Abbrev	51 - 53	Code name of field to which footnote applies	**	3	6
-- #	footID	54 - 56	Identification number of text to be inserted as a footnote	70 characters **	3

Notes:

± Each field contains only one element of data.

* This field is used for sorting data. Data in this field does not appear in a column in the printed edition.

** One of the pre-determined codes - given for this field in the Code Tables below - must be used.

++ Routes: See separate set of routes for each country, in Data File No. 2 "Ships' Routes".

# Footnotes are printed at the bottom of the page/country listing.

__________________________________________________________________________

Record Layout of
File No. 2:

Master File of Ships' Routes

2.1. ROUTES DATA: Data contained in each record

Each recruiting country has defined its own set of routes. All these sets of routes are compiled in the 'Routes File'. Each record contains one route of a specific country. Each record is composed of 3 fields, each field ending with a semi-colon. Each field is identified by a code name, as follows:

cntryCode; routeID; routeDef;

2.2. ROUTES DATA: Sample record

Below are two sample records which show how the information about ships' routes appears in the "Routes" data file. This example uses the records for two of Japan's routes - Nos. 5 and 10 - which are shown in the previous sample record from File No. 1 - "VOS Ships" data file (see paragraph 1.2 above).

JP;5;JAPAN - CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA;

JP;10;JAPAN - PERSIAN GULF;

In the printed edition, these two records (i.e. Japan's routes Nos. 5 and 10) appear as follows, in a separate "Routes" table at the beginning of the entry for Japan:

Route No.	Japan: Routes (Codes for Column 5: Areas or routes on which the ship is normally plying) Description
5	JAPAN - CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA
10	JAPAN - PERSIAN GULF

2.3. ROUTES DATA: Order and contents of data fields

The contents of the data fields is explained in the following table. The abbreviations used in the "Recruiting country" field are explained in the Code Tables.

ROUTES DATA: Order and contents of data fields

Type of data	Field No.	Field code name	Explanation	See Code Table No.:
Recruiting country identity data	1	cntryCode;	Recruiting country (two-letter abbreviation )	1
Routes data	2	routeID;	Route identification number, according to the set of routes defined by each recruiting country (route numbers are defined differently for each country)	-
Routes data	3	routeDef;	Description of the route (text corresponding to the route identification number, as defined specifically for that particular recruiting country)	(listed in a separate table for each country, at the beginning of that country's entry)

* Not a column in printed edition: data is used to group routes by country.