The Joint Hurricane Testbed

The mission of the Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT) is to transfer more rapidly and smoothly new technology, research results, and observational advances of the United States Weather Research Program (USWRP), its sponsoring agencies, the academic community and other groups into improved tropical cyclone analysis and prediction at operational centers. The JHT identifies new techniques, models, observing systems, etc. with potential for improving forecast guidance, via an announcement of opportunity and a proposal, review, and funding process. An infrastructure is maintained to facilitate the modification and transfer of research applications into the operational computing, communication, and display environment. The funded Principle Investigators in conjunction with Points-of-Contact at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) and the Environmental Modeling Center (EMC) complete tests of their projects in a quasi-operational environment with metrics for scientific performance, ease-of-use, and time constraints. Finally, the JHT prepares documentation, training, and performance evaluations of successfully transferred products to facilitate use and support in operations at NHC and EMC. This presentation provides a brief history of the JHT, a description of the ongoing projects, and the plan for the next round of projects for 2015-2017.