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Earth Prediction Innovation Center

The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (WRFIA) instructs NOAA to prioritize improving weather data, modeling, computing, forecasting and warnings for the protection of life and property and for the enhancement of the national economy. The National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 instructs NOAA to establish the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) to accelerate community-developed scientific and technological enhancements into the operational applications for numerical weather prediction (NWP).

The WRFIA states: EPIC will advance weather modeling skill, reclaiming and maintaining international leadership in the area of Numerical Weather Prediction, and improving Research to Operations (R2O) by:

  • Leveraging the weather enterprise to provide expertise on removing barriers to improving NWP;
  • Enabling scientists and engineers to effectively collaborate in areas important for improving operational global NWP skill, including model development, data assimilation techniques, system architecture integration, and computational efficiencies;
  • Strengthening NOAA’s ability to undertake research projects in pursuit of substantial advancements in weather forecast skill;
  • Utilizing and leveraging existing resources across NOAA’s enterprise; and
  • Creating a community global weather research modeling system.

 

UFS logo

The Unified Forecast System (UFS) is a community-based, coupled, comprehensive Earth modeling system. The UFS numerical applications span local to global domains and predictive time scales from sub-hourly analyses to seasonal predictions. UFS is designed to support the Weather Enterprise and to be the source system for NOAA's operational numerical weather prediction applications.

If you have questions or ideas, please contact our team!

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PAST EVENTS 

by Leah Dubots, WPO Pathways Intern

EPIC Community Workshop Particpants

The Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) will accelerate community-developed scientific and technological advancements into the operational applications for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) by supporting a Unified Forecast System (UFS) community model. NOAA is working closely with entities in the weather enterprise (public, private, and academic) to inform the planning, development, and strategy for EPIC. To engage the community and inform the next-steps for the EPIC Program, NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO) hosted the EPIC Community Workshop at the University of Colorado, Boulder University Memorial Center from August 6-8, 2019. The objectives of the workshop were to co-create a vision for EPIC to accelerate the transition of research to operations; share the current status and future of community-based Earth System Modeling; understand NOAA’s developmental process of EPIC and create shared next steps in the development of EPIC; and identify emerging technologies for Earth System Modeling.

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OTHER NOAA PUBLICATIONS

 (Click links to download)

  • Organizing Research to Operations Transition  document was created to describe the transition of research to operations (R2O) within the context of the Unified Forecast System (UFS). For a perspective on the problem see the 2000 National Academy of Science Report, From Research to Operations in Weather Satellites and Numerical Weather Prediction.
  • NOAA Policy on Research and Development Transition establishes the process for identifying, transitioning, and coordinating R&D output to operations, applications, commercialization, and other uses. This Order outlines the roles and responsibilities of various officials, including Line Office Transition Managers (LOTMs), associated with the transition of R&D. Additionally, this Order identifies those entities with the authority to implement this policy and those who are accountable for transitioning R&D.
  • NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 216-115A: Research and Development in NOAA establishes the principles, policies, and responsibilities for planning, monitoring, evaluating, and reporting research and development (R&D) activities comprising the entire NOAA R&D enterprise. NOAA will use this Order to support strengthening the quality, relevance, and performance of NOAA's R&D portfolio.
  • Memorandum of Agreement will create a strategic relationship of mutual benefit for developing the infrastructure to enable broader community engagement in improving the Nation's weather/climate modeling capabilities for operational research applications.
  • NOAA Blue Book is created by NOAA's Budget Office (NBO). NBO has the task of formulating, producing, and tracking the NOAA Budget each fiscal year. This budget advances NOAA's goals of reducing the impacts of extreme weather and water events to save lives and protect property. Information on EPIC can be found on pages 13-16, 49, 50, 52 & 86. 

 

 

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