Developmental Testbed Center: Facilitating R2O for Numerical Weather Prediction

The primary mission of the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) is to facilitate the transition of research related to Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) into operations. To fulfill this mission, the DTC (i) works closely with system developers on code management and developer support and providing user support for community NWP systems, (ii) performs testing and evaluation of promising new NWP techniques, as well as the operational systems, to inform the operational implementation process, and (iii) brings together the research and operational NWP communities through workshops, tutorials and the DTC Visitor Program. Until recently, the DTC focused its activities in five task areas: mesoscale modeling, data assimilation, hurricanes, ensembles and verification. Through NOAA's Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS) initiative, the DTC is expanding its efforts to include global applications. In this presentation, we will highlight recent DTC activities, including our new focus on establishing effective mechanisms for transitioning research to operations as NCEP works towards implementing NGGPS.