AWIPS II: platform of choice for next-generation satellite system-of-systems integration and operational use

The mandate, mission, and strategic goals of NOAA, NASA, and U.S. international partners are more important today than ever before. The social, political, and economic value of weather prediction and climate change monitoring is increasingly recognized. These factors will drive regional, national, and international policy and mitigation measures.

Environmental satellite data are the primary source of information for weather prediction and environmental and climate change monitoring. Upcoming NPP, METOP, and GOES-R series launches constitute a profound expansion of capability to meet this challenge. This requires unprecedented performance by people and systems to process increased data volumes, exploit new research-to-operational transition opportunities, and efficiently deliver quality imagery, products, and output to the user—whether contributing to research or decision support. To meet its operational mission support challenges in the NPP/GOES-R/Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) era requires the achievement of enterprise-level, evolutionary strategic goals.

The collective scope of R&D work for next-generation systems underway at the Short-term Prediction Research and Transition Center (SPoRT), the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites (CICS), and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) anticipates the initiation of the JPSS, a "Joint Geosynchronous Satellite System (JGSS)," and the system of systems integration of the data. These activities include the infusion of science and technology into NOAA's new open-source Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) II decision support platform. AWIPS II is based entirely on Open-Source software, now a viable alternative to the costly COTS software used to construct the first AWIPS.

AWIPS II started with a new green-field design using the latest standards, software advances, and open source components to provide NOAA with a best-value solution. One primary requirement was for a total open architecture which would quickly adapt to new scientific algorithms, new data types, and specifically required a non-commercial licensed solution. The development and implementation of the solution resulted in a “pluggable” Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) with real-time GIS visualization capabilities. This architecture includes services and visualization frameworks. The systems engineering used a combination of Raytheon funding and government funding sources. AWIPS II is undergoing operational test and evaluation prior to its January 2011 operational deployment.

What has changed with the new open-source SOA is the ability for academia, the private sector, and the government to adapt and extend the software for different uses through the development environment.

With these groups traditionally fractured in focus, the use of a common platform for development and deployment brings the diverse meteorological and sister communities closer together. This paper looks to the future, and identifies opportunities to help ensure that we as a community move in the right direction, such that the system of systems that emerges from our strategic plan provides the best value to the end users, and the maximum "first-light" capability. We present concepts for how AWIPS II may evolve now that the migration from legacy AWIPS is nearly complete; for example, an advanced climate interactive processing system, or "ACIPS." Once we start thinking and producing governance on this higher level, we finally achieve an integrated, enterprise-wide, system of systems.