Weather information via AIS in Tridentnav Systems navigation software
2009-04-02 15:22
Tridentnav Systems navigation program Tridentnav ECS now gives access to live weather information via AIS. Wind force and direction, as well as force and direction of gusts can now be shown in the program. The information, in Sweden sent by the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA), comes from a number of weather stations along the Swedish coast.
AIS (Automatic Identification System) is primarily intended for ships to automatically send their position and other relevant information to other ships nearby, in order to simplify navigation and avoid collisions. Apart from the basic AIS messages for ship's position, course, speed etc. there are also AIS messages that can be used for other types of information sent by AIS base stations, for example weather information.
SMA is currently sending weather information via AIS for eleven weather stations along the Swedish coast. The source of the weather data is SMA's ViVa system. The AIS messages for weather information conform to the standard IMO SN/Circ from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
In order to access weather information via AIS using Tridentnav ECS, either an AIS receiver or an AIS transponder (class A or B) is required. The weather information is sent about once every minute, and gives average wind speed and strongest gust for the last ten minutes.
Tridentnav Systems, April 2, 2009.
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