Recorded presentation10B.3
Prototype deployment of the NCAR thunderstorm nowcasting system in the NWS AWIPS: description of the Texas and Florida testbeds
Rita Roberts, NCAR, Boulder, CO; and E. Nelson, D. L. Megenhardt, M. B. Ba, K. Sperow, D. Albo, S. O'Donnell, W. F. Roberts, J. Mahoney, C. Neidhart, S. Abelman, S. Smith, J. P. Tuell, and C. Miner
The NCAR short-term thunderstorm nowcasting system (Auto-Nowcaster or ANC), which uses a variety of operational datasets including NEXRAD radar and NWP output fields, has recently been transferred to the NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory for inclusion in an NWS AWIPS-ANC prototype system. This prototype system is running currently at the NWS Dallas/Ft.Worth Forecast Office (WFO) as part of the NWS Forecaster-Over-the-Loop nowcasting demonstration. During the late summer of 2009, the AWIPS-ANC system will be installed and run as part of the NWS/FAA/NASA Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) testbed demonstration in Florida. NextGen is planned to be the air transportation system of the future with a fully computerized air transportation network designed to be adaptable; enabling aircraft to immediately adjust to ever changing factors: weather, traffic congestion, flight trajectory patterns, and security issues.
This paper will describe the Texas and Florida testbeds and the AWIPS-ANC nowcasting applications that the NWS forecasters will be using at the Melbourne WFO and Central Weather Service Unit during the NextGen demonstration. Real-time verification studies will be conducted to assess value-added improvement to the short-term thunderstorm nowcasts when the forecaster is engaged in the nowcasting process. Specific weather events will be highlighted. Efforts on converting the AWIPS-ANC deterministic forecasts into probabilistic form will also be discussed.
Session 10B, Testbeds
Thursday, 8 October 2009, 8:30 AM-10:00 AM, Room 18
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