NEXRAD Open Systems–Progress and Plans

To meet the need for orderly system evolution under existing NEXRAD Change Management procedures, the NEXRAD Tri-agencies have established the NEXRAD Product Improvement (NPI) Program as a long term sub-activity of the overall NEXRAD Program. The NPI Program Management is led by the NWS Office of Systems Development, with individual NPI projects enlisting the participation and support of all of the NEXRAD Tri-agencies. The NPI Program is currently within its third year, now with wide participation throughout NOAA, the Air Force Weather Agency, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Significant strides have been accomplished in the organizational, management, and technical components of the NPI program. The Agencies have developed the Tri-Agency Requirements (TAR) for Operational Use of Weather Radar Data, which will guide the selection and execution of NPI projects. An acquisition strategy has been developed and approved whereby the Government will acquire and deploy the necessary components making up the Open RPG subsystem. The program, which began as an NWS funded activity, now enjoys coordinated budget planning and execution among the tri-agencies. A rewrite of the WSR-88D System Specification, which defines the technical requirements of the WSR-88D system, has been completed. The Open RPG software development, being performed by NSSL, has completed three of five software builds. The communications infrastructure has been redesigned to facilitate broader and more efficient dissemination of both product and base data, with prototype components of that infrastructure currently being integrated with the NSSL software components. Finally, the Open PUP and Open RDA technical efforts are well underway, with dedicated teams established and integrated with the Open RPG team.