Sher Schranz, Ning Wang, Jebb Stewart, Evan Polster

NOAA/FSL in Cooperation with the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere Boulder, Colorado

FX-Net is a weather forecasting workstation that provides Internet access to operational National Weather Service data using an AWIPS-emulated user interface and display capability. Improved data compression techniques, along with multithreaded client-side processing and communication are used to overcome limited communication bandwidth. The FX- Net client is easily installed on a desktop or laptop PC. The FX-Net servers are modified AWIPS data and file servers.

Since the FX-Net architecture allows for the relatively easy addition of spatially related data sets, it provides researchers with a real-time environment to evaluate and modify experimental observing systems and model output. An example of related data can be demonstrated by displaying experimental air quality forecasts and observational data.

As a research tool, FX-Net is used by the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and Plymouth State University (PSU) as a part of the AIRMAP program. The system is the central teaching tool used by professors at PSU to teach air chemistry courses. Data sets added to FX-Net to customize it specifically for air quality researchers include the UNH's experimental observations, the EPA's AIRNOW observations, the CAPS profilers and the experimental WRF/Chem forecast model.

As a real-time operations tool, FX-Net is used by air quality researchers and meteorological forecasters during field experiments and by operational National Weather service forecasters as a tactical all-hazards workstation.