ISCS support for WAFS is in response to ICAO and WMO requirements. ISCS and SADIS make up the worldwide WAFS program providing vital meteorological support for flight planning and air traffic management throughout the world. The purpose of ISCS/SADIS is to provide the worldwide aviation community with operational meteorological forecasts and information about meteorological phenomena required for flight planning and safe, economic and efficient air navigation.
ISCS provides a point to multi-point service on a 24-hour basis via satellite. ISCS uplinks are situated at the three Gateways in Andover, Maine; Yacolt, Washington; and Fuchsstadt, Germany. WAFS data is provided from Washington WAFC Center in the United States and are uplinked from the hubs at Andover, ME to the INTELSAT satellite 903 located over the Atlantic Ocean and Yacolt, Washington for utilization of the INTELSAT 701, and Fuchsstadt, Germany for utilization of the INTELSAT 906 over the Pacific Ocean.
The data is delivered to the end user using Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). A computer processing system (workstation or mini-computer) must be connected to the communications port of the network interface device. This computer system is selectable by the user, but the interface of the selected computer must be prepared to utilize Hughes Network Systems = Program Director (PD) Receiver software to enable reception of IP multicast data stream. The system can be a standalone workstation as the third component of the ISCS. This component receives the data stream and stores the data for retrieval and use.