AWIPS, the integrating element of the National Weather Service modernization, is undergoing an extensive software re-architecture and conversion to a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). Raytheon Technical Services will be converting the AWIPS infrastructure to an SOA over the next year, then migrating the current baseline software and functionality to the new architecture by FY2009. Deployment of the next generation of AWIPS is expected to be complete in FY2010.

Extensive progress has been made in the last year. The new architecture has been defined and delivered in the form of the AWIPS Development Environment version 1.0. Using the ADE 1.0, Raytheon is migrating the functionality represented by more than 4.5M lines of code to the new architecture over the next 18 months At the end of this migration, the new system will deliver today's functionality with the a more modern and robust architecture. The National Weather Service plans to deliver significant new system enhancements built on this new architectural foundation.

This paper reports the current progress of the transition to the new architecture and future plans of AWIPS Evolution. This paper will also describe some of the attendant benefits of new architecture and approach.