Weather Bureau topics and personnel / United ... - Index of - NOAA

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State Department. After completion of training at AmeR they were
detailed to the Dq Moines office for a period of two weeks, with subse-
quent assignmeqt,’with one exception, to one of the following stations:
KanHaR City, Springfield, Ill., and Misnoula.
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DESIGN OF WE FORM 1109 AND WB FORM 1114
To answer questions received at the Central Ofice regarding the design
of WB Form 1109, “Radiosonde Data:’ and WR Form 1114, “Cfidrd
Pilot Balloon Data:’ a brief explanation follows :
The Weather Bureau now uses punch card tabulating machince for
adding, multiplying, clamifying, and sorting much of the information
used in making summarias of various types. This is a fast, accurate and
automatic procedure. Because of wltr needs, the use of tlirse niachines
for regular WeatKer Bureau functions has been lirnitod so far, but it is
expected that after the war thoy will be put into more general uae.
All data originally entered on WH Form 1109 and WB Form 11 14 are
tranwribecl thert:frorn to trhulating machine cards in tho form of punched
holes in predetermined positions on thr card, and un average operator
punches about 1,OOO cards a day. The automatic compilation of these
punch card record8 is accomplished electrically by the passago of the
perforatrd card under brush contacts which complete olectrical circuits
through the card at the position of the punchad hole. Tile closing of
these circuitn at definite times and from fixed positions on the card iH
the basis upon which these machincv function.
The punch cards used by the Weathrr I3urcm contain 80 coluinns
correfponding to the colurrins on W13 Form 1109 arid W13 Form 1114.
Each digit is amigned one colutnn on thc punch card. The punch card oper-
ator punches the colurnns from loft to right beginning at coluinn 1--each
obeervation being plnced on a scparutc card, and it is absolutely npcefi-
sary that the data be properly arranged and that each entry from sur-
face to rriaxirrium altitude of the obnervation contain the number of
digib indieatcJd by the small nurnbrrs at tho hoad of the levcln PO that the
operator need not stop to question the data. Freyucntly it is necessary
for an obscrver to place a zero preceding a value in order to have the
correct number of digits for R level. On some forms, thc same typo of
punch card is uaed for ttic lower and upper levels and, consequently,
some levels provide for more digits than arc ever required. In such
casea zeros are generally printed in thc appropriate columns.
The following is cited
an exarriple of the efficiency of tabulating
machines. When the Weather 13urcau publishod the present WU Form
1048 and WB Form 1043A, “Tables for Computing .Horizontal Distances
of Pilot Balloonrr~’ several months were spant in conipiling axid chocking
the data, typing and proofreading the copy for thc printcr, arid printing
the tables. Recently a request wan received for a set of horizontgl
distahce tables based on an mcensional rate different from those reyu-
Iarly used by the Bureau. With the aid of tabulating niachincs it was