Accurate and timely weather information is critical to pilots, airline dispatchers, air traffic controllers, and weather forecasters. Now advisory forecasts of turbulence, icing, thunderstorms and other aviation weather hazards are easily available via the Aviation Digital Data Service and the Internet.

"The National Weather Service plays a major role in aviation safety. Our forecasters regularly analyze hazardous weather and provide warnings of thunderstorms, icing, wind shear, and other flight hazards that pilots and air traffic controllers need most. ADDS is a part of our commitment to use technology to make this weather information easy to use and readily available to all interested individuals at the click of a mouse," said NWS Director John J. Kelly, Jr.

Dave Sankey, the FAA's Integrated Product Team Leader added, "ADDS is the one-stop source for most official National Weather Service aviation products and the latest experimental forecast products. Through ADDS, we are getting the best advisory weather information to the users, and we are working on finalizing an Internet policy to make this information operational."

ADDS, which employs user-friendly graphics of specific routes to display forecasts based on state-of-the-art forecast models and algorithms, is being developed in partnership between the National Weather Service Aviation Weather Center, the Department of Commerce's NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory, the National Center for Atmospheric Research Research Applications Program, and the Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Weather Research Program.

Recent versions of both Netscape (4.06+) and Internet Explorer (5.0) will successfully access the ADDS website. Interactive, user designated products available on ADDS include: icing, cloud and thunderstorm forecasts; en-route advisories generated by NWS meteorologists; terminal aerodrome forecasts; winds aloft forecasts; and observations (METARs). Feedback from one commercial pilot affirmed that ADDS is "the best weather site I've found on the net."

The goals of the team that designed ADDS were twofold. The first was to make the website easy to access and use, even by those with beginning computer skills, and the second was to enable users to provide feedback on the products that the website provides. Most products require no more than two mouse clicks to access, and each page has an "fyi/help" button with explanations and symbol references. To submit feedback, users click on a mailbox icon and either fill in a standard form or compose their own message. All feedback is posted on the site and questions are usually answered by ADDS support staff within twenty-four hours.