AWIPS - Past, Present, and Future

The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) has undergone multiple architectural changes over the past 30 years. The program is standing on the precipice of another architectural change in order to meet the evolving mission of the National Weather Service. The hardware and software architecture moved from 1980 technologies to a virtual system in 2022. As we look at the future of AWIPS, the AWIPS program is faced with how to remove technological obstacles from NWS operations. With the introduction of Ken’s Ten, AWIPS takes on a new architectural challenge. How to move from an on-premise, geographically dispersed system to an architecture that allows the NWS to move to a nimble, flexible, face-to-face operational model?

The combination of the change in the operational approach of the NWS and the fact that the current AWIPS prime contract ends in 2027 is driving the program to investigate new technologies and acquisition approaches in order to deliver the required customer service to the NWS operational meteorologists and hydrologists.

The presentation will review the history of AWIPS to provide a context for current and future AWIPS architectures. The middle part of the presentation will look at the present implementation of AWIPS, including an overview of the major projects and how these major projects connect to and enable the future. The final portion of the presentation will look at the AWIPS of the future, including the vision, concept, and contract that will support NWS operations today and beyond.