Afghan Products Overview

INTRODUCTION

Weather and climate elements are an integral part of the international humanitarian aid/relief effort
in the Afghanistan region. Requirements range from current snow cover and weather forecasts for routing
truck convoys to long-term planning for agriculture. Consequently, we have developed a seamless suite
of information that extends from the current situation out to seasonal forecasts.

The outline below presents the basic products with the group in parentheses representing the one responsible
for maintenance of that product. Please note the wide distribution of responsibility which represents the
broad interest of the various agencies in participating in this project. Specifically, the agencies are,
in alphabetical order:

Center for Ocean Land and Atmosphere (COLA)

International Research Institute (IRI)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

National Environmental and Satellite Data Information Service (NESDIS)
- Office of Research and Applications (ORA)
- National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)
National Weather Service (NWS)
- National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)
  - Climate Prediction Center (CPC)
  - Aviation Weather Center (AWC)
Office of Atmospheric Research (OAR)
- Office of Global Programs (OGP)
- Climate Diagnostics Center (CDC)

United States Air Force (USAF)

Joint Army Air Force Weather Information Network (JAAFWIN)
Air Force Weather Agency

United States Central Intelligence Agency (USCIA)
This is a "living" document and will undergo continuing modification as improvements are made in our
capabilities and/or the requirements are redefined.

Comments and questions can be addressed to:
Alvin Miller at the e-mail address:
Alvin.Miller@noaa.gov.

AFGHANISTAN HUMANITARIAN HOME PAGE

-  LATEST SATELLITE INFRARED IMAGE WITH LINKS TO 24 HOUR ANIMATION AND TEXT EXPLANATION (CPC)

-  DAILY RAINFALL ESTIMATE OVER AFGHANISTAN AND SURROUNDING REGIONS (CPC)

-  NESDIS LINK TO WEEKLY OBSERVATIONS OF SURFACE WETNESS (NCDC)

-  NESDIS LINK TO DAILY OBSERVATIONS OF SNOWCOVER (ORA)

-  LINK TO DAILY SNOW DEPTH CONTOUR / VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGE (AFWA)

-  METARs FOR PREVIOUS 24 HOURS FOR KANDAHAR, BAGRAM, KARSHI-KHANABAD (AFWA)

-  LINKS TO SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CHARTS, UPPER LEVEL WIND AND TEMPERATURE MAPS, AND COMPOSITE
   INFRARED STILL IMAGE FOR ENTIRE REGION (AWC)

-  RECENT 24 HOURS OF TAFs FOR KANDAHAR, BAGRAM, KARSHI-KHANABAD (AFWA)

-  DAILY GRAPHICAL 1-5 DAY FORECASTS FOR EASTERN HEMISPHERE (AFWA)

-  DAILY FORECASTS 1-7 DAYS FROM MEDIUM RANGE FORECAST MODEL OF SURFACE TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION 
   AND RAIN/SNOW LINE (CPC)

-  1-16 DAY SURFACE AND UPPER ATMOSPHERE METEOGRAMS FOR SELECTED CITIES (AFWA)

-  WEEK-2 HAZARDS DIAGRAM, TEXT MESSAGE, AND THRESHOLD VALUES GUIDANCE (USAF & CPC)

-  SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION OF WEEK-2 HAZARDS DIAGRAM - WEEK-2 MEDIUM RANGE FORECAST MODEL AND ENSEMBLE 
   RUNS (AVERAGE AND 1 STANDARD DEVIATION) OF SURFACE TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION (CPC)

-  HOTLINKS TO CLIMATE INFORMATION, SEASONAL FORECASTS, AND DISCUSSION OF CONFIDENCE (IRI)

-  CLIMATOLOGY HOTLINK TO COLA FOR 25-KM SURFACE TEMPERATURE, PRECIPITATION, SNOWFALL, SNOWDEPTH - 
   DAILY AND MONTHLY (COLA) 

-  CLIMATOLOGY HOTLINK TO NCDC FOR VARIETY OF INFORMATION FROM STATION CLIMATE SUMMARIES TO SATELLITE 
   DATA (NCDC)