Developing Weather Processing Systems—Why a Standard Framework?

Developing Weather Processing Systems - Why a Standard Framework?

Abstract: The ability to develop mission-critical applications in an increasingly dynamic and agile environment has become standard practice for organizations of all sizes. A set of tools, concepts, and frameworks are needed to keep pace and retain system performance at levels that meet and maintain customer satisfaction. This paper describes the use of standard frameworks as a means to 1) increase productivity, 2) improve the efficiency of modernization efforts and 3) reduce operational support cost.

The development of organizational (standard) software frameworks within the National Weather Service (NWS) began with the development of the AWIPS II platform which incorporates the Apache Camel integration framework for establishing routing and mediation rules within a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). The decision by the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Program Office to incorporate an open source framework into the flagship AWIPS of the NWS has inspired other entities to follow suit, such as the NWS Integrated Dissemination Program (IDP) National Law Enforcement Telecommunication System (NLETS) and Emergency Managers Weather Information Network (EMWIN) dissemination system. While this paper does not identify an entire process for developing a standardized set of frameworks, it shows the potential benefits of adopting an enterprise-wide approach of using pre-built building blocks for developing the common functionality and concepts to support developing Weather Processing Systems.