Fwd: FYI: National Weather Service policy supports XML

Please see the following from
Tom Merkle.  Interesting to see how XML is being used for NWS
data.  Elysa

 

http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid26_gci1034426,00.html?track=NL-132&ad=499375

XML DEVELOPER

National Weather Service policy
supports XML

Ed Tittel

15 Dec 2004

Rating: -4.50- (out of 5)

You know that XML really is taking over the mundane, everyday world when
it turns out that the National Weather Service starts distributing
weather and climate information, forecasts, and even alerts and warnings
using XML for public delivery. As a consequence of publishing its final
version of a document entitled "Policy on Partnerships in the
Provision of Environmental Information" on December 1, 2004 the
National Weather Service (an arm of NOAA, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric administration) and conforming to the US Government's OMB
Circular A-130 "Management of Federal Information Resources,"
all future such information will use XML markup as part for its delivery
format.

In the past, the NOAA had used poorly-documented and poorly-understood
"community-unique data formats" to distribute such information.
This made it difficult for those not already familiar with or well-versed
in these formats to build code to process them and use the data in
meaningful ways. The switch to XML will make it much easier for just
about anybody to grab and use NOAA weather data, be it for running text
bars at the bottom of a TV screen or for text-to-speech translation for
radio broadcasts.

The National Weather Service now offers forecast data that conforms to
the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD) Extensible Markup Language,
itself based on XML. This markup permits other computers to access
XML-based forecast data directly from the Internet, using SOAP (itself
another XML application) to transport the data.

The NDFD markup language is formally called the Digital Weather Markup
Language (DWML) and is defined in a formal XML Schema. The
specification
includes a copy of that schema, along with a detailed description of DWML's syntax and semantics. For those seeking ways to integrate weather forecasts into applications and systems, here's a new, standards-based ticket to success. 

Ed Tittel is a regular contributor to numerous TechTarget.com Web sites, and real markup junkie with a taste for interesting XML applications. He's also written several books on XML.

 

Regards,

 

Tom Merkle

 

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