Custom Nowcasting Products and Display Capabilities Developed for the Army Test and Evaluation Command Ranges

The Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) operates several ranges in different climatic regions of the United States that host a myriad of outdoor tests in support of the US Army. Many of the missions conducted at the ATEC ranges require specific weather conditions to be met and all are impacted by local weather hazards. In order to ensure successful and safe operations, each range operates a wide variety of instruments within the range to provide the necessary weather information and has a team of weather forecasters that issue range-specific forecasts and warnings.

The National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR) has supported the ATEC forecasters for many years by developing and maintaining customized model forecasts, web tools, convective nowcast tools and special data-derived products to help diagnose and nowcast lightning and flash flood threats as well as unified display systems that combine range-operated measurements and publicly available data. This presentation will focus on the nowcasting, data-derived products and custom displays developed for the ATEC forecasters. A summary of current capabilities, ongoing developments and future plans will be presented.