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Polar: Time Table for Product Availability
These times of availability are approximate. Polar is not an operational
server. Please see the
NWS Web distribution disclaimer for more about what this entails.
One feature of importance to most users is that the system does
not have 24x7 support.
For operational availability of the information which is noted as
operational on
http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/mmab/products.shtml.
Notes for
best response
- Open only 1 connection at a time. Some ftp software, command line
ftp from Windows 98 and XP is known to have this problem, produces failures
if you attempt to open multiple connections. Even if this isn't the
case, there is finite bandwidth to polar, and by opening multiple connections
you slow the transfer rate to yourself.
- Retrieve data only after it can be expected to be updated -- see the
table below
for times in UTC (equivalent to GMT. Eastern Standard Time is 5
hours earlier, Eastern Daylight Time is 4 hours earlier. So 00 UTC
is 7 PM EST and 8 PM EDT.) This will prevent a need for multiple transfers.
Please note that the availability times are approximate and delays
of minutes to half an hour are not uncommon. Delays over an hour are
rare.
- Retrieve the smallest data files that serve your needs. If, for
example, you are only interested in significant wave heights for the Western
North Atlantic ocean, it is most efficient to retrieve wna.HTSGW.grb, at
2.1 Mbytes, rather than all fields for that domain, 29.4 Mb. Only you
can judge what best fills your needs.
Times in the table are approximate times of availability in UTC. Eastern
Standard Time is 5 hours earlier; Eastern Daylight Time is 4 hours earlier.
So 00 UTC is 7 PM EST and 8 PM EDT.
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Model or Analysis Cycle
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Produce Suites
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00 UTC
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06 UTC
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12 UTC
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18 UTC
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Vessel Icing Model
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5:10
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11:10
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17:10
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23:10
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Coastal Fog Model
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5:15
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XXXX
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17:15
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XXXX
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Wave Model
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5:45
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11:45
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17:45
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23:45
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Regional Ocean Model
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6:00
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XXXX
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XXXX
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XXXX
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Wind Analysis
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7:10
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11:10
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18:10
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33:10*
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Ocean Fog Model
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7:10
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XXXX
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18:10
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XXXX
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Sea Ice Drift Model
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9:45
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XXXX
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XXXX
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XXXX
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Gulf Stream Finder
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10:30
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XXXX
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XXXX
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XXXX
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Sea Ice Analysis
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14:50
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XXXX
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XXXX
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XXXX
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SST Analysis
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22:45
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XXXX
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XXXX
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XXXX
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* The 18 UTC cycle of wind analysis is available at about 9:10 UTC on
the following day.
Return to main MMAB page
Return to full product index
Last Modified 23 January 2004
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www.nws.noaa.gov 
