NOAA’s Virtual Laboratory: Strategic Progress in Improving R2O in NOAA

NOAA’s Virtual Laboratory (VLab) has been in existence for over 4 years. It was established as a key piece of infrastructure that would enhance the quality and efficiency of R2O in the agency. In this relatively short period of time, significant progress has been made towards achieving this strategic goal. Hundreds of NOAA employees and their external partners use VLab on a daily basis to collaborate and carry out software development on a wide and diverse array of research and development (R&D) projects. VLab supports both exploratory R&D as well as core mission-driven development, such as AWIPS software development and numerical ocean, hydrologic, and weather modeling efforts (e.g. Next Generation Global Prediction System).

This paper will present basic usage and growth metrics for VLab that document its rapid adoption within NOAA. In addition, we will present some case studies that capture the creative and diverse ways that people are exploiting the VLab to vastly improve their ability to carry out NOAA’s critical R2O mission.