Alaska Weather Show Goes Digital

Page

Volume 1, issue 2

As Alaska Public TV enters the world of high-definition television (HDTV), so does the Alaska Weather show.  KAKM has been broadcasting HDTV for over six months now on their separate high-definition TV channel.  Almost all the HDTV programming has come from their national feed via satellite.  However, KAKM is starting to produce some local HDTV programming, and the Alaska Weather show will be added to their HDTV programming list sometime in the near future.

 

The TV desk at the Anchorage Forecast Office and KAKM have been working hard over the last year to prepare for the transition from an analogue to a digital high-definition broadcast.  This is no small task.  An entire new suite of weather maps needed to be developed to fulfill the much higher

resolution HDTV demands.  Currently, the weather maps are the standard 720x486 pixel ratio (210,000 pixels), or what you see on an analogue broadcast.  However, for a high-definition broadcast, a 1920x1080 pixel ratio (2 million pixels) is required.  These high-definition maps have twice the color resolution and impart a picture that is six times sharper than the current analogue maps.

 

The high-definition maps are also much larger in size than the analogue maps.  High-definition maps are shown in a wide screen format or 16x9 aspect ratio.  Analogue maps are shown in a standard format or 4x3 aspect ratio. 

 

Currently, the high-definition signal reaches the greater Anchorage area, including the Wasilla/Palmer area.  There are plans to include Kenai Peninsula in this area in the future.  If

a person lives outside of this area, it is likely that they are receiving either an analogue or a digital (not high-definition) signal with a 4x3 aspect ratio.  Dish Network currently doesn’t have an agreement with KAKM to air high-definition programming.

 

By 2009, the FCC will require that all TV signals be converted from analogue to digital.  At that time, it will be up to other stations that carry the Alaska Weather show feed from KAKM to determine how they will broadcast the show.  By mandatory regulation, the show will be a digital broadcast.  However, the format may or may not be in high-definition wide screen.  It is important to note that beginning in 2009, all television broadcasts will be done digitally.  Televisions that cannot receive a digital signal will be unable to pick up any television programming.

Forecast Office (WFO).  WFO Anchorage issued ‘spot forecasts’ of winds, waves, and weather tailored to the needs of the salvage crews towing the Cougar Ace to safe harbor, where the ship could be righted and damage assessed.  These forecasts were issued twice a day by forecasters.  In addition, an internet webpage was created that contained pertinent meteorological information relating to the Cougar Ace salvage effort including forecast

disabled ship and to safety at Adak, they were supported by weather forecasts provided by the National Weather Service’s Ocean Prediction Center, based in Camp Springs, Maryland.  The removal of the Cougar Ace’s crew members from the ship on July 24 signaled the end of the rescue effort and the commencement of the salvage effort. 

As the vessel entered in Alaska waters on August 3, forecast responsibility shifted to the Anchorage Weather

graphics, local ship and buoy observations, as well as information statements on the Cougar Ace incident.  These forecasts were of vital importance to salvagers during the delicate towing operation as the ship was brought from the waters of the North Pacific in to the more sheltered waters of the Bering Sea.  Forecasts continued as the ship was brought into safer waters in Wide Bay on the north side of Unalaska Island and were terminated on August 11, once the

Analogue Image

Cougar Ace, cont’d.

Coming Soon to a TV near you…

By Jim Peronto

continued on page 5