There's not a cloud in the sky this week at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service-the agency is celebrating the completion of a decade-long effort to modernize its weather forecasting system.
Wednesday, NOAA announced that a new high-tech network of weather forecasting and communications equipment has been installed in 152 sites across the United States and in Puerto Rico, Guam and the Marianas islands.
The new system, known as the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), collects information from weather data sources, analyzes the data, and then zaps it to NOAA work stations, where forecasters prepare weather outlooks for transmission.
For the first time, the new system integrates data from a wide array of sources including, Doppler radars, environmental satellites, surface observing systems, river gauges and more. Because all of the AWIPS sites are connected through a high-speed network, forecasters can easily share local information with one another.
"Today we celebrate the beginning of modernized operations at NOAA's National Weather Service," said Deputy Secretary of Commerce Robert Mallet.
NOAA approached the modernization program cautiously. Installation began in the fall of 1996 but the project was rolled out in stages over three years. Each deployment built on the testing and evaluation of system components in the previous roll-out, sparing the agency from discovering surprise bugs at the last minute. Hardware and software was also developed incrementally so that each new software release added capabilities to the system.
According to NOAA, the new system will allow forecasters to make faster and more accurate forecasts and warnings. "Our vision is to be America's no-surprise weather service and we are well on our way," said National Weather Service Director John Kelly.
The new AWIPS system played a critical role in detecting and warning people of a recent tornado outbreak in Oklahoma. It was also used to warn hikers of a flooding canyon in Utah's Zion National Park last summer, Kelly said.
AWIPS has been receiving accolades already. In June, the program was recognized with a Computerworld/Smithsonian award for using technology in an innovative way to benefit society.
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