A GeoColor image of the U.S. NOAA's GOES-16 satellite on July 18, 2023.

Biden-Harris Administration announces up to $7 million through Investing in America agenda to improve weather predictions

Featured News, Funded Projects, In the News, WPO News

Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced a $7 million funding opportunity through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to establish a new multi-university Data Assimilation Consortium that will improve weather predictions. As the climate crisis contributes to worsening extreme weather events affecting Americans nationwide, this investment will give Americans the information and tools they need to prepare and stay safe.

UFS Weather Model Image of moving Nests

The Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS)

Funded Projects, WPO News

The last several hurricane seasons have been active with records being set for the number of tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic basin.  These record-breaking seasons underscore the importance of accurate hurricane forecasting. Imperative to increased forecasting skill for hurricanes is the development of the Hurricane Forecast Analysis System or HAFS. To accelerate improvements…

NASA Earth Observatory image by Robert Simmon, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data provided courtesy of Chris Elvidge, NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. (NASA / Earth Observatory)

JEDI: The Future of Data Assimilation

Funded Projects, WPO News

The process by which observational data is brought into models is called data assimilation (DA). The Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) is the next generation, unified DA framework under collaborative development between NOAA and cross-agency partners through the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA). JEDI will allow for a faster development and…

Forecasters in room looking at weather radar on multiple monitors

The 2023 Spring Experiment

Funded Projects

At the height of the spring severe weather season, the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed hosts multiple real-time, forecasting, and warning experiments to evaluate the operational utility of new science, technology, and products. NOAA NSSL, the NOAA National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center  and the NOAA NWS Norman Forecast Office lead the effort. The Spring Experiments are a unique opportunity…

Bill Lapenta

Researchers and Forecasters Team Up to Improve Forecasts in the New Hurricane and Ocean Testbed

Funded Projects, WPO News

After a year and a half of concerted effort between NOAA’s National Hurricane Center (NHC), Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML), and other NOAA offices, including the Weather Program Office, the Hurricane and Ocean Testbed (HOT) has been successfully re-named (from the Joint Hurricane Testbed) and re-launched in the newly designed William M. Lapenta Laboratory, named in…

2021 Saildrone Hurricane wing-3853

Saildrones Track Hurricanes to Gather Data for Forecast Improvement

Funded Projects, WPO News

In partnership with NOAA, Saildrone Inc. is deploying seven ocean drones to collect data from hurricanes during the 2022 hurricane season with the goal of improving hurricane forecasting.  For the first year, two saildrones will track hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. One of the biggest challenges to hurricane forecasting is predicting rapid intensification, when hurricane…