Your vessel is participating in the Voluntary Observing Ship Program, at 0600 ZT on 31 January your position is LAT 00°49'S, LONG 84°27'E. You are preparing WS Form B-80 as seen in illustration D041NG below. How should you encode the first three groups after the call sign if you estimate the wind?
• YYGGi_w group on WS Form B-80 (date, UTC time, and method of measuring/estimating wind) • Conversion of Zone Time (ZT) to UTC using the longitude and zone description • Encoding latitude and longitude in the 99LaLaLa and QcLoLoLoLo groups, including hemisphere indicators and rounding
• From the ship’s longitude, what is the correct zone description, and what UTC time does 0600 ZT correspond to on 31 January? • For the i_w digit, which code table entry applies when the wind speed is estimated rather than measured by an instrument? • How are 00°49'S and 84°27'E converted into the coded 99-group and Qc-group (think about tenths of degrees, N/S and E/W indicators, and any offsets used in the first digit)?
• Be sure the YYGG part reflects UTC, not local ZT, and that the day of month does not change when you convert time zones. • Confirm from the code table which i_w digit corresponds to estimated wind before choosing between similar YYGGi_w groups. • Double-check how latitude and longitude are rounded to tenths of a degree and how the code handles south latitudes and east longitudes in the 99LaLaLa and QcLoLoLoLo groups.
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