Unified Forecast System Development and Operational Implementation Plans at NCEP/EMC: Effective Strategies for Community Research Transition to Operations

NCEP is implementing first version of the Finite Volume Cubed Sphere (FV3) dynamic core based Global Forecast System (FV3GFS V1.0) into operations in January 2019, replacing the current spectral model based operational GFS. This heralds a new era of operational Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) at NCEP. Accelerated development of FV3GFS was made possible with support from NOAA's Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS) Program. This is a significant milestone for NGGPS and for NOAA's National Weather Service, and signals the creation of NOAA's Unified Forecast System (UFS) centered on FV3 dynamic core for weather prediction at all spatial and temporal scales. UFS is being built as a community model from the beginning, with significant inputs from several working groups involved in the development of NOAA’s Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) to support the needs of both operations and research. Stakeholders are engaged at all stages to help drive the direction of development, resources allocations and prioritization.

UFS development and operational implementation efforts are centralized and built using community based NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS) infrastructure and Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF). A more sophisticated coupling among various earth system components is being enabled within NEMS following National Unified Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC) standards. Advancement in model physics and data assimilation are achieved through the use of Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) and Joint Effort for Data Assimilation Integration (JEDI). The R2O plans are further facilitated through the development of Common Research and Operations Workflow (CROW) and Model Evaluation Toolkit (MET). All these initiatives involve significant engagement with research community, with emphasis on research transitioning to operations (R2O).

This talk describes the strategy for enabling a robust R2O framework and support system, and procedures for accelerated transition of advanced community research into operations.