All about NOAA FORECAST SYSTEMS LABORATORY at
http://www-fd.fsl.noaa.gov/ and from NOAA Magazine at
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/magazine/stories/mag115.htm
From
http://www.fsl.noaa.gov/docs/wnew/hotitems/03Oct03.html
An FSL and CWOP Collaboration Increases Weather Observations for NOAAThe Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) data stream is now being sent from the Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS) to MesoWest in Salt Lake City, which in turn forwards the data to all Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) in the Western Region of the National Weather Service (NWS). CWOP is a program of volunteer observers, organized by FSL, who supply and operate their own weather instruments and contribute the real-time weather data to NOAA as a public service. Presently there are over a thousand CWOP data contributors. Their data, along with other mesonet data collected by the FSL MADIS program, are being sent to nearly 70 NWS WFOs across the country, and also to a wide variety of other users, including the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the National Climatic Data Center. A full list of the MADIS mesonet data providers and real-time displays of the mesonet observations are available from FSL.
From
http://www.fsl.noaa.gov/docs/wnew/hotitems/03Nov07.html
CWOP Supplies Weather Data for California Wildfire SituationThe Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) supplied a significant amount of the surface weather data that NWS forecasters could access on their AWIPS workstations during the recent wildfires in Southern California. For example, on November 1, 2003, CWOP data represented 15% of the NOAA surface mesonet data within 25 miles of each of three major fires east of Los Angeles, near San Bernadino. For the fires north and south of Los Angeles, CWOP generally supplied 10-15% of the surface mesonet data for NWS forecasters.
CWOP is a volunteer program that acquires real-time surface weather data from amateur radio operators and interested citizens who supply and operate their own home weather stations. These data are collected and made available to a wide range of federal agencies and educational institutions through the FSL Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS). All of the NWS Weather Forecast Offices near the southern California fires received these real-time data throughout the duration of the fires.