A Cloud Environment for AWIPS Development, Testing, and Training: Update and Future Plans

The National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) Program Office (APO) has been investigating the use of a cloud environment for code development, functional testing, scientific evaluation, training, and case studies. This variety of potential uses of an AWIPS cloud environment adds complexity to the investigation. Cloud code development capabilities will benefit both NWS development teams and development partners external to the NWS. In addition, both functional and scientific testbeds will be considered within these efforts. Supporting code development and testing in a cloud platform allows new features, bug fixes, new data and new techniques to be evaluated by the users prior to inclusion in the code base. Training also needs to be considered when investigating cloud usage. The AWIPS Weather Event Simulator (WES) allows a user to analyze a case study for a scientific paper or to replay a significant weather event for training purposes. At any given time, there are multiple case studies active at multiple locations. Using a cloud environment for the cases would allow easy setup and configuration and sharing of the cases among multiple users.

This presentation will explore the steps the APO has completed to evaluate the use of the cloud environment for AWIPS and the future plans for enhancements to the usage.