NEXRAD Product Improvement:Overview of NEXRAD Open Systems 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 National Weather Service Office of Systems Development, with system engineering led by the NEXRAD Operational Support Facility. Individual NPI projects enlist the participation and support of all of the NEXRAD Tri-agencies. The first NPI Project, re-hosting current NEXRAD software to Open Systems architecture, is currently within its third year, now with wide participation throughout the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Air Force Weather Agency, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Open Systems Re-host project is guided at the high level by the Tri-Agency Requirements for Operational Use of Weather Radar Data and the NPI Program Plan. Detailed development, testing and deployment requirements and processes are contained in a formal Engineering Change Proposal and an update of the WSR-88D System Specification.

This poster presents an overview of the NPI Program, in general, and the status of the Open System Re-host project, in particular.