Specific Area Message Encoding

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Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) is the protocol used to encode the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and NOAAs Weather Radio (NWR) in the U.S. and Weatheradio Canada in Canada.

History

From the 1960s to the 1980s, a special feature of the NOAA Weather Radio system was the transmission of a single 1050 Hz tone prior to the broadcast of any message alerting the general public of significant weather events. This became known as the Warning Alarm Tone (WAT). Although it served NOAA Weather Radio well, there were many drawbacks. Without staff at media facilities to manually evaluate the need to rebroadcast a Weather Radio message using the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), automatic rebroadcasting of all messages preceded by just the WAT was unacceptable and impractical. Even if stations and others with the need were willing to allow for this type of automatic capture, assuming the events for activation were critical, there was no way for automated equipment at the station to know when the message was complete and restore it back to normal operation.

In 1985, the National Weather Service forecast offices began experimenting with placing special digital codes at the beginning and end of every message concerning life- or property-threatening weather conditions targeting a specific area. The intent of what became SAME was to ultimately transmit a code with the initial broadcast of all Weather Radio messages. The NWS started implementing SAME on the full NOAA Weather Radio system in 1988.

The SAME technique was later adopted by the FCC in 1997^[1] for use in the Emergency Alert System (EAS) as well as by Environment Canada ^[2] for its Weatheradio Canada service in 2004. Much like the original EBS alert tone, this produces a distinct sound which is easily recognized by most individuals due to its use in weekly and monthly broadcast tests, and in weather emergencies. During the said events, viewers and/or listeners will hear these digital codes in the form of buzzes, chirps, & clicking sounds (or what broadcast engineers affectionately call "duck farts")^[3] just before the attention signal is sent out and at the conclusion of the voice message.^[4]

Format of the digital parts

	A sample SAME transmission An example of SAME tones, with the header decoded as follows: "A Required Weekly Test has been issued for the following counties/areas: Hillsborough FL, Manatee FL, Pasco FL, Pinellas FL, and Sarasota FL at 12:15 am EDT on October 5 effective until 12:45 am EDT. Message from WTSP/TV."
Problems playing this file? See media help.

In the SAME system, messages are constructed in four parts, the first and last of which are digital and the middle two are audio. The digital sections of a SAME message are AFSK data burst, with each individual bit lasting 1920 μs (1.92 ms) each, giving a bit rate of 520⁵⁄₆ bits per second. A mark bit is four complete cycles of a sine wave, translating to a mark frequency of 2083¹⁄₃ Hz, and a space bit is three complete sine wave cycles, making the space frequency 1562.5 Hz.

The data is encoded in 7-bit ASCII but uses all 8-bits, with no parity bit and no stop bit ("8-N-0"). The least-significant bit of each byte is transmitted first, including the preamble.

The digital parts of a SAME message is transmitted three times, so that decoders can pick "best two out of three" for each byte, thereby eliminating most errors which can cause an activation to fail. However, consumer weather radio receivers often activate (unmute the audio) after hearing only one out of the three headers (with a significant delay).^{[upper-alpha 1]}

Header format

The text of the header code is a fixed format:

ZCZC-ORG-EEE-PSSCCC+TTTT-JJJHHMM-LLLLLLLL-

This is broken down as follows:

1.  A preamble of binary 10101011 (0xAB in hex) repeated sixteen times, used for "receiver calibration" (i.e., [[Synchronization in telecommunications|clock synchronization]]), then the letters <tt>ZCZC</tt> as an attention to the decoder

2.  ''ORG'' — Originator code; programmed per unit when put into operation<ref>47CFR11.31(d)</ref>

*PEP – Primary Entry Point Station
**President or other authorized national officials
*CIV – Civil authorities
**i.e. Governor, state/local emergency management, local police/fire officials
*WXR – [[National Weather Service]] (or [[Environment Canada]].)
**Any weather-related alert
*EAS – EAS Participant
**Broadcasters. Generally only used with test messages.

3.  ''EEE'' — Event code; programmed at time of event

4.  ''PSSCCC'' — Location codes (up to 31 location codes per message), each beginning with a dash character; programmed at time of event

*In the United States, the first digit (''P'') is zero if the entire county or area is included in the warning, otherwise, it is a non-zero number depending on the location of the emergency.<ref>http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2010-title47-vol1/xml/CFR-2010-title47-vol1-sec11-31.xml</ref>
*In the United States, the remaining five digits are the [[FIPS state code]] (''SS'') and [[FIPS county code]] (''CCC''). The entire state may be specified by using county number 000 (''three zeros'').
*In Canada, all six digits specify the Canadian Location Code, which corresponds to a specific [[forecast region]] as used by the [[Meteorological Service of Canada]]. All forecast region numbers are six digits with the first digit always zero.

5.  ''TTTT'' — Purge time of the alert event (from exact time of issue)

*In the format ''hhmm'', using 15 minute increments up to one hour, using 30 minute increments up to six hours, and using hourly increments beyond six hours.  Weekly and monthly tests sometimes have a 12 hour or greater purge time to assure users have an ample opportunity to verify reception of the test event messages; however; 15 minutes is more common, especially on NOAA Weather Radio's tests.
*For short term events (like a tornado) this value could be set to 0000 (''four zeros''), which will purge the warning immediately after the message has been received.  However, this is not typical, and FCC guidelines suggest a minimum of 15 minutes purge time.
*'''The purge time is not intended to coincide with the actual end of the event'''.  Longer events that may not end for days (like hurricanes) may have a purge time of only a few hours.  That an event message has been purged does not indicate or imply that the threat has passed.

6.  ''JJJHHMM'' — Exact time of issue, in [[UTC]], (''without [[time zone]] adjustments'').

*''JJJ'' is the [[Ordinal date]] (''day'') of the year, with leading zeros
*''HHMM'' is the hours and minutes (24-hour format), in [[UTC]], with leading zeros

7.  ''LLLLLLLL'' — Eight-character station callsign identification, with "/" used instead of "–" (such as the first eight letters of a cable headend's location, <tt>WABC/FM</tt> for [[WABC-FM]], or <tt>KLOX/NWS<tt> for a [[NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards|weather radio]] station programmed from Los Angeles).

Each field of the header code is terminated by a dash character, including the station ID at the end; individual ''PSCCC'' location numbers are also separated by dashes, with a plus (+) separating the last location from the purge time that follows it.

==Full message format==
An EAS message contains these elements, in this transmitted sequence:

#'''Header.'''
#'''Attention signal''' — Sent if any message is included (normally sent with all messages except RWT on broadcast radio/TV); must be at least eight seconds long.  (On Weatheradio in Canada the 1050 Hz tone is only used with three event codes: RMT, SVR & TOR.)
#*Single {{Audio|1050Hz Tone.ogg|1050 Hz}} audio tone for Weatheradio.
#*Combined {{Audio|Emergency Alert System Attention Signal 20s.ogg|853 and 960 Hz}} tones for broadcast radio/TV.
#'''Message''' — Audio, Video image or Video text.
#'''Tail''' — (Preamble) <tt>NNNN</tt> (EOM).

There is one second of blank audio between each section, and before and after each message. For those used to packet communications systems where each packet has a checksum, note that there is no checksum used in the message format. Each message is supposed to be transmitted 3 times, and the receiver is obliged to implement [[columnar parity correction]].

The combined tones date back to 1976{{cn|date=November 2013}}<!-- earlier edit said 1963 --> when they were made part of the [[Emergency Broadcast System]], the EAS' predecessor.

==Event codes==
There are roughly 80 different event codes that are currently used in EAS. These codes are defined federally by the [[FCC]] for use in the EAS system and publicly by the [[Consumer Electronics Association]] (CEA) standard<ref name="CEA">Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) Technology Standard [http://www.ce.org/Standards/Standard-Listings/R3-Audio-Systems/CEA-2009-B-(ANSI).aspx "CEA-2009-B (ANSI)"], November 2010, accessed January 11, 2014.</ref> for SAME protocol weather radio receiver decoder units. 

Originally, all but the first six of these were optional and could be programmed into encoder/decoder units at the request of the broadcaster. However, a July 12, 2007 memo by the FCC now requires mandatory participation in state and local level EAS by broadcasters. Furthermore, the creation and evolution of a voluntary standard by the CEA in December 2003 has provided participating manufacturers of weather radio receivers a single definitive reference to use when designing and programming receivers. In addition, some receiver manufacturers have added an additional layer as to whether or not an event code can be user-suppressed (I.e, a Hurricane Warning in a Midwest US State) or will never be allowed to be suppressed (i.e, Nuclear Power Plant Warning).

:'''Key for event code tables'''
:{| class="wikitable"
! colspan=2 | USA type key
! colspan=2 | CAN type key
! colspan=2 | Event level key
|-
| M || Mandatory code
| AB || Administrative bulletin
| style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV || Advisory
|-
| O1 || Original optional code
| CI || Currently implemented
| style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH || Watch
|-
| O2 || 2002 optional code<ref name="FCC">http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-02-64A1.pdf</ref><ref>http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=75127c72007aa6a3f1ce8fda8cb814e2&rgn=div5&view=text&node=47:1.0.1.1.11&idno=47#47:1.0.1.1.11.2.239.1</ref>
| RT || Required test
| style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN || Warning
|-
| NI || Not implemented
| FI || For future implementation
| style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST || Test
|-
|    ||
| TS || Testing for Implementation
|}

:'''Currently implemented event codes:'''

:The following event codes are currently implemented by agencies in the United States and/or Canada.

:{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="text-align: center"
! scope="col" width="40" | Event Code
! scope="col" width="40" | U.S. Type
! scope="col" width="40" | CAN. Type
! scope="col" width="400" | Event Description
! scope="col" width="50" | Event Level
|-
| ADR || O1 || AB || Align="Left"| Administrative Message || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| AVA || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Avalanche]] Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| AVW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| Avalanche Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| BZW || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Blizzard Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| CAE || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[AMBER Alert|Child Abduction Emergency]] || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| CDW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Civil Danger Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| CEM || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Civil Emergency Message]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| CFA || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Coastal flood|Coastal Flood]] Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| CFW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| Coastal Flood Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| DMO || O1 || AB || Align="Left"| Demonstration Message || style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST
|-
| DSW || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Dust storm warning|Dust Storm Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| EAN || M || FI || Align="Left"| [[Emergency Action Notification]] (Begins a nationwide EAS activation) (not implemented on most NWR stations.<ref name="EAN-EAT">Emergency Action Notifications (EAN) and Emergency Action Terminations (EAN) are implemented on some Pacific Northwest NWR Stations. These stations are connected to Endecs that relay national and regional alerts without NWS having to issue them. NWS Seattle has an Endec in their forecast office while other stations have Endecs connected from the EM of the county station is located in. It is being worked on with WFO Spokane to get an Endec implemented in their office for their seven NWR stations.</ref>)|| style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| EAT || M || FI || Align="Left"| Emergency Action Termination (Ends a nationwide EAS activation) (not implemented on most NWR stations.<ref name="EAN-EAT"/>)|| style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| EQW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Earthquake warning|Earthquake Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| EVI || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Evacuation Immediate]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| FFA || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Flash flood watch|Flash Flood Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| FFS || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Flash flood|Flash Flood]] Statement || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| FFW || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Flash flood warning|Flash Flood Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| FLA || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Flood watch|Flood Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| FLS || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Flood]] Statement || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| FLW || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Flood warning|Flood Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| FRW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Fire Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| FSW || NI || CI || Align="Left"| Flash Freeze Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| FZW || NI || CI || Align="Left"| Freeze Warning (in Canada, '[[Frost]] Warning' - See note below '''**''' ) || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| HLS || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Hurricane]] Local Statement || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| HMW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Hazardous materials|Hazardous Materials]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| HUA || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Tropical cyclone warnings and watches#Hurricane_Watch|Hurricane Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| HUW || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Tropical cyclone warnings and watches#Hurricane_Warning|Hurricane Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| HWA || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[High wind watch|High Wind Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| HWW || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[High wind warning|High Wind Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| LAE || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Local Area Emergency]] || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| LEW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Law Enforcement Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| NAT || NI  || AB || Align="Left"| National Audible Test || style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST
|-
| NIC || M || AB || Align="Left"| National Information Center Statement (Used to follow up an EAN) || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| NMN || O2 || AB || Align="Left"| Network Message Notification || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| NPT || M || AB || Align="Left"| National Periodic Test || style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST
|-
| NST || NI  || AB || Align="Left"| National Silent Test || style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST
|-
| NUW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Nuclear Power Plant]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| RHW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Radiological]] Hazard Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| RMT || M || RT || Align="Left"| Required Monthly Test || style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST
|-
| RWT || M || RT || Align="Left"| Required Weekly Test || style="background-color: #FFFFFF;" | TEST
|-
| SMW || O2 || TS || Align="Left"| Special Marine Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| SPS || O1 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Special weather statement|Special Weather Statement]] || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| SPW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Shelter in place|Shelter In-place Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| SVA || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Severe thunderstorm watch|Severe Thunderstorm Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| SVR || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Severe thunderstorm warning|Severe Thunderstorm Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| SVS || O1 || TS || Align="Left"| Severe Weather Statement ([[Severe weather terminology (United States)|U.S.]], [[Severe weather terminology (Canada)|CAN]]) || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| TOA || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Tornado watch|Tornado Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| TOE || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[9-1-1|911]] Telephone Outage Emergency || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| TOR || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Tornado warning|Tornado Warning]]<ref>The National Weather Service additionally uses the TOR event code to refer to an [[Extreme Wind Warning]]. See http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/vtec/pdfs/EWWInstructions.pdf</ref> || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| TRA || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Tropical cyclone warnings and watches#Tropical_Storm_Watch|Tropical Storm Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| TRW || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Tropical cyclone warnings and watches#Tropical_Storm_Warning|Tropical Storm Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| TSA || O1 || TS || Align="Left"| [[Tsunami]] Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| TSW || O1 || TS || Align="Left"| [[Tsunami warning|Tsunami Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| VOW || O2 || FI || Align="Left"| [[Volcano warning|Volcano Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| WSA || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Winter storm watch|Winter Storm Watch]] || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| WSW || O1 || CI || Align="Left"| [[Winter storm warning|Winter Storm Warning]] (Canada, see note below † ) || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| ??A || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| Unrecognized Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| ??E || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| Unrecognized Emergency || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| ??S || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| Unrecognized Statement || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| ??W || O2 || CI || Align="Left"| Unrecognized Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN

|}

:'''**''' While the CEA standard<ref name="CEA" /> lists the FZW event code as "Freeze Warning", Environment Canada refers to it<ref name="EC">Environment Canada – Weather and Meteorology – [http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=1C86C296-1 "SAME Event Codes"]</ref> as a "Frost Warning".  However, it will be displayed as a "Freeze Warning" on receivers that are compliant to the CEA standard.
:'''†''' Environment Canada additionally uses<ref name="EC" /> the WSW event code to refer to any of the following weather conditions: Blowing Snow Warning, Freezing Drizzle Warning, Freezing Rain Warning, Snowfall Warning, Snow Squall Warning

:'''Internal use only:'''

:Receiver decoders that comply to the CEA standard<ref name="CEA" /> will neither display the messages below, nor activate a warning tone if applicable.  While the message will be stored in memory, it will not be displayed to the user.  The FCC has also designated<ref name="FCC" /> these event codes as being for "internal use only", and not for display.  Environment Canada lists<ref name="EC" /> these messages as "Administrative Bulletins".

:{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="text-align: center"
! scope="col" width="40" | Event Code
! scope="col" width="40" | U.S. Type
! scope="col" width="40" | CAN. Type
! scope="col" width="400" | Event Description
! scope="col" width="50" | Event Level
|-
| TXB || O2 || AB || align="left"| Transmitter backup on || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| TXF || O2 || AB || align="left"| Transmitter carrier off || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| TXO || O2 || AB || align="left"| Transmitter carrier on || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| TXP || O2 || AB || align="left"| Transmitter primary on || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|}

:'''Future implementation:'''

:The following codes are part of the CEA standard<ref name="CEA" /> for receiver decoders, but are not listed as currently being in use by any agencies in the United States.  Environment Canada lists<ref name="EC" /> these codes as being "for future implementation".

:{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="text-align: center"
! scope="col" width="40" | Event Code
! scope="col" width="40" | U.S. Type
! scope="col" width="40" | CAN. Type
! scope="col" width="400" | Event Description
! scope="col" width="50" | Event Level
|-
| BHW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Biological Hazard]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| BWW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Boil Water Warning]] || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| CHW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Chemical hazard|Chemical Hazard]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| CWW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Contaminated water|Contaminated Water]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| DBA || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Dam]] Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| DBW || NI || FI || align="left"| Dam Break Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| DEW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Contagious disease|Contagious Disease]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| EVA || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Emergency evacuation|Evacuation]] Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| FCW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Food contamination|Food Contamination]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| IBW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Iceberg]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| IFW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Industrial fire|Industrial Fire]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| LSW || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Land slide|Land Slide]] Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|-
| POS || NI || FI || align="left"| Power Outage Statement || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | ADV
|-
| WFA || NI || FI || align="left"| [[Wildfire|Wild Fire]] Watch || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | WCH
|-
| WFW || NI || FI || align="left"| Wild Fire Warning || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | WRN
|}

The FCC established naming conventions for EAS event codes.  The third letter of the code must be one of the following.<ref name="NWS">National Weather Service [http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/eas_codes.shtml], accessed September 22, 2012.</ref>
:{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" cellpadding="2" style="text-align: center"
! scope="col" width="100" | Third Letter of Event Code
! scope="col" width="50" | Category
! scope="col" width="500" | Description
|-
| W || style="background-color: #FF9090;" | Warning || align="left"| An event that alone poses a significant threat to public safety and/or property, probability of occurrence and location is high, and the onset time is relatively short.
|-
| A || style="background-color: #FFFF90;" | Watch || align="left"| Meets the classification of a warning, but either the onset time, probability of occurrence, or location is uncertain.
|-
| E || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | Emergency || align="left"| An event that, by itself, would not kill or injure or do property damage, but indirectly may cause other things to happen that result in a hazard.
|-
| S || style="background-color: #90FF90;" | Statement || align="left"| A message containing follow up information to a warning, watch, or emergency.
|}
The exception to this convention is for "TOR" (tornado warning), "SVR" (Severe Thunderstorm Warning), "EVI" (Evacuation Immediate), the EAS national activation codes, and administrative messages.<ref name="FCC">Federal Communications Commission Report and Order adopted February 22, 2002 [http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-02-64A1.pdf] accessed September 22, 2012</ref>

==SAME on weather radio receivers==
[[File:SAMEWXRadio.jpg|An example of a SAME alert weather radio receiver.|right|thumb|200px]]

There are many [[weather radio|weather/all-hazards radio]] receivers that are equipped with the SAME alert feature. It allows users to program SAME/[[FIPS county code|FIPS]]/[[Forecast region|CLC]] codes for their designated area or areas of their interest and/or concern rather than the entire broadcast area. (Examples given: If a person were to live in [[Irving, Texas]], he or she would program a FIPS code for [[Dallas County, Texas|Dallas]] County. However, if he or she needs to be in the know of severe weather from the west and northwest ahead of time, the user would program additional FIPS codes for [[Denton County, Texas|Denton]] and [[Tarrant County, Texas|Tarrant]] Counties.) On a more specialized receiver, a user has the option to eliminate any SAME alert codes that may not apply to their area such as a '''[[Special marine warning|Special Marine Warning]]''' or a '''[[Coastal flood warning|Coastal Flood Warning]]'''. Once the SAME header is sent by NOAA/NWS and if it matches the desired code(s), the receivers then decode the event, scroll it on their display screens, and sound an alarm.

Receivers receive on one of the following National Weather Service network frequencies (in MHz): 162.400, 162.425, 162.450, 162.475, 162.500, 162.525, and 162.550.  The signals are typically receivable up to 50 miles from the transmitters.<ref>''NWR Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)'', http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrsame.htm</ref>

==SAME in popular culture==
*The SAME EOM (end of message) tone was heard in the [[movie trailer]] for ''[[Knowing (movie)|Knowing]]'' and in the series ''[[Jericho (2006_TV_series)|Jericho]]'' where its familiar emergency use and its increasing [[Cadence (music)|cadence]] create a sense of [[foreshadowing|foreboding]].<ref>[http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2330985241/ ''Knowing'' Movie Trailer #2] – ''[[Internet Movie Database]]'' (accessed July 8, 2009)</ref> It has been recently used in the movie trailer for ''Olympus Has Fallen'' and ''The Purge''.

==See also==
*[[Common Alerting Protocol]] (CAP) – A SAME-compatible digital format for multi-system warning coordination.

==Notes==
{{notelist-ua}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

*{{Citation
 |last= National Weather Service
 |title= NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) All Hazards Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)
 |url= http://www.nws.noaa.gov/directives/sym/pd01017012curr.pdf
 |publisher= National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration
 |series= National Weather Service Instruction
 |volume= 10-1712
 |date= February 12, 2007
 |doi=}}

==External links==
*[http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/nwrsame.htm NOAA Weatheradio SAME page]
*[http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/Maps/ NOAA Weatherradio SAME coverage maps]
*[http://www.ec.gc.ca/meteo-weather/default.asp?lang=En&n=919D7DE9-1 Environment Canada SAME page]
*[http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=208b070ea2092734ded791d18197a4dc;rgn=div5;view=text;node=47%3A1.0.1.1.11;idno=47;cc=ecfr Title 47, Sec. 11.31 et seq., Code of Federal Regulations, EAS Protocol (implementing SAME)]

[[Category:Encodings]]
[[Category:Emergency Alert System]]
[[Category:NOAA Weather Radio]]

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