WES2 Bridge: Training and Simulation Capabilities for the AWIPS-2 Platform

In 2001, the NOAA/NWS/Warning Decision Training Branch (WDTB) released the first version of the Weather Event Simulator (WES). Developed for the AWIPS (Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System) platform, WES provided both NWS forecasters and university partners with simulation and case review capabilities. WDTB has continued to develop updates to WES to account for functional changes of AWIPS. One consequence of the NWS' decision to migrate AWIPS to a modern service oriented architecture (commonly known as AWIPS-2) is an incompatibility with the existing WES. As part of its long range AWIPS-2 Extended plans, the NWS will incorporate training functionality into the baseline of AWIPS. To provide an interim training and simulation capability and to provide a prototype to support the final baseline solution, WDTB is developing a WES2 Bridge. An overview of the design of the WES2 Bridge, its interface with components of AWIPS-2, a discussion of release to external partners, and potential future training and collaboration benefits are presented. A vision for future benefits includes capabilities for distributed simulations and opportunities for forecasters to develop operational expertise using multi-office and multi-stakeholder collaborative decision-making exercises.