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WWV and WWVH Digital Time Code and Broadcast Format

WWV time code

 

 

WWV broadcast format
WWVH broadcast format wheel

 

 


Time announcements

Voice announcements are made from WWV once every minute. The WWVH announcement occurs first, at about 15 s before the minute. The WWV announcement follows at about 7.5 s before the minute. The announced time is "Coordinated Universal Time" (UTC). UTC was established by international agreement in 1972, and is governed by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Paris, France. Coordination with the international UTC time scale keeps NIST time signals in close agreement with signals from other time and frequency stations throughout the world.

UTC differs from your local time by a specific number of hours. The number of hours depends on the number of time zones between your location and the location of the zero meridian (which passes through Greenwich, England). When local time changes from Daylight Saving to Standard Time, or vice versa, UTC does not change. However, the difference between UTC and local time does change-by 1 hour.

UTC is a 24-hour clock system. The hours are numbered beginning with 00 hours at midnight through 12 hours at noon to 23 hours and 59 minutes just before the next midnight.

Standard Time Intervals

The most frequent sounds heard on WWV and WWVH are the seconds pulses. These pulses are heard every second except on the 29th and 59th seconds of each minute. The first pulse of each hour is an 800 ms pulse of 1500 Hz. The first pulse of each minute is an 800 ms pulse of 1000 Hz at WWV and 1200 Hz at WWVH. The remaining seconds pulses are short audio bursts (5 ms pulses of 1000 Hz at WWV and 1200 Hz at WWVH) that sound like the ticking of a clock. 

Each seconds pulse is preceded by 10 ms of silence and followed by 25 ms of silence. The second marker for the broadcast is at the end of the 10 ms period and the start of the 5 ms period. The station's on-time marker is synchronized with the start of the 5 ms tone. The silence before and after the pulses makes it easier to identify the second pulses. As shown in the graphic below, the total zone around the second pulses lasts for 40 ms, consisting of 10 ms of silence, the 5 ms tone, and another 25 ms of silence. Then, the standard frequency audio tones resume.

 

standard time intervals

Standard Frequencies

Both WWV and WWVH broadcast standard frequency audio tones that alternate during most minutes of the hour. Most minutes feature a 500 or 600 Hz audio tone. However, a 440 Hz tone is broadcast once per hour, and some minutes do not include any audio tones at all.

The schedule for the audio tones is listed in the table, with the minutes labeled from 0 to 59.

Audio ToneStationMinutes
500 HzWWV4, 6, 12, 14, 16, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 52, 54, 56, 58
500 HzWWVH3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 35, 37, 39, 41,
43 to 45, 47 to 51, 53, 55, 57
600 HzWWV1, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 31, 33, 35, 37,
39, 41, 53, 55, 57
600 HzWWVH2, 4, 6, 12, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46,
52, 54, 56, 58
440 HzWWV2
440 HzWWVH1
NoneWWV0, 8 to 10, 18, 29 to 30, 43 to 51, 59
NoneWWVH0, 8 to 10, 14 to 19, 29 to 30

The 440-Hz tone (the musical note A above middle C) is broadcast once each hour, during minute 2 on WWV, and minute 1 on WWVH. In addition to being a musical standard, the 440-Hz tone provides an hourly marker for chart recorders and other automated devices. The 440-Hz tone is omitted, however, during the first hour of each UTC day.

UT1 Time Corrections

The UTC time scale broadcast by WWV and WWVH meets the needs of most users. UTC runs at an almost perfectly constant rate, since its rate is based on cesium atomic frequency standards. Surprisingly, some users need time that is related to the rotation of the Earth, which is less stable than UTC. Applications such as celestial navigation, satellite observations of the Earth, and some types of surveying require time referenced to the rotational position of the Earth. These users rely on the UT1 time scale. UT1 is derived by astronomers who monitor the speed of the Earth's rotation.

You can obtain UT1 from the time signals broadcast by WWV and WWVH. UT1 is available at two levels of accuracy. If you need UT1 with an uncertainty of 1 s, you can simply use UTC, since the two time scales are always kept within 0.9 s of each other. Occasional corrections of exactly 1 s are inserted into the UTC time scale to keep the two time scales in agreement. These corrections, called leap seconds, are coordinated under international agreement by the International Earth Rotation Service. Leap seconds can be either positive or negative, but so far, only positive leap seconds have been needed. A positive leap second is normally added every 1 or 2 years, usually on June 30 or December 31.

If you need UT1 with an uncertainty of 0.1 s, you can apply a correction to UTC. UT1 corrections are encoded into the broadcasts by using doubled ticks during the first 16 s of each minute. You can determine the amount of the correction (in units of 0.1 s) by counting the number of doubled ticks. The sign of the correction depends on whether the doubled ticks occur in the first 8 s of the minute or in the second 8 s. If the doubled ticks are in the first 8 s (1-8) the sign is positive. If the doubled ticks are in the second 8 s (9-16) the sign is negative. For example, if ticks 1, 2, and 3 are doubled, the correction is +0.3 s. This means that UT1 equals UTC plus 0.3 s. If UTC is 8:45:17, then UT1 is 8:45:17.3. If ticks 9, 10, 11, and 12 are doubled, the correction is -0.4 s. If UTC is 8:45:17, then UT1 is 8:45:16.6. If none of the ticks are doubled, then the current correction is 0.

BCD TimeCode

WWV and WWVH continuously broadcast a binary coded decimal (BCD) time code on a 100-Hz subcarrier. The time code presents UTC information in serial fashion at a rate of 1 pulse per second. The information carried by the time code includes the current minute, hour, and day of year. The time code also contains the 100-Hz frequency from the subcarrier. The 100-Hz frequency may be used as a standard with the same accuracy as the audio frequencies.

Geophysical Alerts

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses WWV and WWVH to broadcast geophysical alert messages that provide information about solar terrestrial conditions. Geophysical alerts are broadcast from WWV at 18 minutes after the hour and from WWVH at 45 minutes after the hour. The messages are less than 45 s in length and are updated every 3 hours (typically at 0000, 0300, 0600, 0900, 1200, 1500, 1800, and 2100 UTC). More frequent updates are made when necessary.

The geophysical alerts provide information about the current conditions for long distance HF radio communications. The alerts use a standardized format and terminology that requires some explanation. Before looking at a sample message, let's define some of the terminology:

Solar flux is a measurement of the intensity of solar radio emissions with a wavelength of 10.7 cm (a frequency of about 2800 MHz). The daily solar flux measurement is recorded at 2000 UTC by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory of the Canadian National Research Council located at Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. The value broadcast is in solar flux units that range from a theoretical minimum of about 50 to numbers larger than 300. During the early part of the 11-year sunspot cycle, the flux numbers are low; but they rise and fall as the cycle proceeds. The numbers will remain high for extended periods around sunspot maximum.

The A and K indices are a measurement of the behavior of the magnetic field in and around the earth. The K index uses a scale from 0 to 9 to measure the change in the horizontal component of the geomagnetic field. A new K index is determined and added to the broadcast every 3 hours based on magnetometer measurements made at the Table Mountain Observatory, north of Boulder, Colorado, or an alternate middle latitude observatory. The A index is a daily value on a scale from 0 to 400 to express the range of disturbance of the geomagnetic field. It is obtained by converting and averaging the eight, 3-hour K index values. An estimate of the A index is first announced at 2100 UTC, based on 7 measurements and 1 estimated value. At 0000 UTC, the announced A index consists entirely of known measurements, and the word "estimated" is dropped from the announcement.

Space Weather describes the conditions in space that affect earth and its technological systems. Space weather is a consequence of the behavior of the sun, the nature of earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, and our location in the solar system.

Space Weather storms observed and expected are characterized using the NOAA Space Weather scales. The abbreviated table below shows the levels of activity that are included in the announcements and the associated terminology. The descriptor used to identify observed or expected conditions is the maximum level reached or predicted. The NOAA Space Weather Scales are further described at the Space Environment Center's web site.

NOAA Space Weather Scales

Geomagnetic StormsSolar Radiation StormsRadio BlackoutsDescriptor
G5S5R5Extreme
G4S4R4Severe
G3S3R3Strong
G2S2R2Moderate
G1S1R1Minor

Geomagnetic storm levels are determined by the estimated 3-hourly Planetary K-indices derived in real time from a network of western hemisphere ground-based magnetometers.

Geomagnetic Storm Levels

Planetary K indicesGeomagnetic storm level
K = 5G1
K = 6G2
K = 7G3
K = 8G4
K= 9G5

Solar Radiation storms levels are determined by the proton flux measurements made by NOAA's primary Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). 

Solar Radiation Storm Levels

Flux level of > 10 MeV particlesSolar Radiation Storm level
10S1
102S2
103S3
104S4
105S5

Radio Blackout levels are determined by the x-ray level measured by the primary GOES satellite.

Radio Blackouts

Peak x-ray level and fluxRadio Blackout level
M1 and (10-5)R1
M5 and (5 x 10-5)R2
X1 and (10-4)R3
X10 and (10-3)R4
X20 and (2 x 10-3)R5

Every geophysical alert consists of three parts as shown in the two tables below. The first table describes the information contained in the geophysical alert. The second table provides example text from an actual message.

Information in Geophysical Alert Voice Message

SectionInformation in Voice Message
1The solar-terrestrial indices for the day: specifically the solar flux, the A index, and the K index.
2Space Weather storms observed during the previous 24 hours. Includes all observed geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms (proton events) and Radio blackouts (class M1 and greater flares).
3Space Weather expected during the following 24 hours.

Example Text from Actual Geophysical Alert Message

SectionExample of Actual Geophysical Alert Message
1

Solar-terrestrial indices for 08 November follow.

Solar flux 173 and Mid-Latitude A-index 14

The Mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 08 November was 3.

2

Space Weather for the past 24 hours has been severe.

Solar radiation storm(s) reaching the S4 level is in progress.

Radio blackouts(s) reaching the R2 level occurred.

Alternate section 2No Space Weather storms have been observed during the past 24 hours.
3

Space Weather for the next 24 hours is expected to be severe.

Solar radiation storms reaching the S4 level are expected to continue. Radio blackouts reaching the R2 level are expected.

Alternate section 3No Space Weather storms are expected during the next 24 hours.

The announcements include the descriptor of the largest space weather event observed (2) or expected (3) in the first line of each section. The remaining lines give the type of events and the level observed for each one. In the example above, no geomagnetic storm information is included because none was observed or is expected during the period. In the case where none of the three types of events are observed or expected, the announcement would contain section 1, plus alternate section 2 and alternate section 3.

To hear the current geophysical alert message by telephone, dial (303) 497-3235. Inquiries regarding these messages should be addressed to:

Space Weather Operations
NOAA R/SEC
325 Broadway
Boulder, CO 80305-3328
(303) 497-3171

 

Created May 28, 2015, Updated February 13, 2024