U.S. Air Force Numerical Weather Prediction Capabilities and Initiatives

The U.S. Air Force provides operational weather support to many domestic and foreign entities, including U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army forces and NATO's International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force is responsible for providing operational space weather support to all elements of the DoD. The Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) carries out this responsibility through the Air Force's center of excellence, the 16th Weather Squadron (WS), by developing, implementing, and visualizing terrestrial, atmospheric and space weather models, displaying observational data, and identifying environmental impacts on future weapons systems. In order to meet DoD's current and future requirements for weather support, the Air Force has focused efforts to modernize and upgrade its NWP capabilities by fully leveraging state-of-the-science advancements in data assimilation and modeling. This presentation will give an overview of the current NWP support structure with specific examples of simulations and applications used to provide warfighter support.