STMAS Analysis Hurricane Katrina
Forecast Applications Branch
Part of the Forecast Applications Branch (FAB) expertise is related to weather forecasting solutions. A particular area that this work group is responsible for is research and development of software packages that allow scientists to conduct weather analysis, modeling and verification.
FAB performs high resolution analyses and forecasts of the weather using both locally and centrally available meteorological observations.
The FAB Branch is a component of NOAA's Global Systems Division.
FAB is engaged in the following efforts:
User Workshops
2012 LAPS Workshop — Objectives
2010 LAPS Workshop — Agenda and Links to Presentations
Local Analysis and Prediction System ( LAPS ) - Incorporation of local datasets into numerical models (e.g., STMAS, MM5, RAMS, WRF) for the production of very detailed analyses of local weather conditions and short-range forecasts. LAPS is updated using variational methods and Kalman filtering techniques with new observations hourly. LAPS supports a broad clientele of government and military entities, universities and international weather agencies. View LAPS Realtime Products ←
Ensemble of Tropical Cyclone Matthew
Observationa Simulation System Experiments ( OSSE ) - Evaluation of new observation technology or siting of existing observational systems. This system has been employed to assess the potential of new satellite systems for instrument placement around eastern and western space centers of the U.S. Air Force and spaceborne wind lidar systems for NOAA. This includes the study of the Windsor Tornado event.
Satellite Products - Satellite Products involve the utilization and evaluation of raw radiances and products derived from GOES atmospheric soundings, for the purpose of developing a complete national-scale moisture analysis useful for high-resolution model initialization. The branch also participates in the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation.
Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Modeling - FAB runs various configurations of the WRF model and analyzes the results of model simulated output. Configurations of the model runs have varying vertical and horizontal resolutions, domain scales, nesting and lateral boundary conditions.
Ensemble Modeling - High-resolution local applications of ensemble modeling are currently being developed and tested, initially for evaluation during the Hydrometeorological Testbed (HMT) Program in California and applications for the Coastal Storms Initiative. Some of the 2010 ensemble imagery output is available.
HMT Precipitable Water over CaliforniaWFO-Advanced Support - Full support of an operational version of LAPS on the WFO-Advanced workstation, including both analysis and prediction. The WFO-Advanced forecaster workstation is used to demonstrate Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) functions in support of future Weather Forecast Office (WFO) operations.
Local Model Implementations and Demonstrations - Configuring and installing modeling systems that take advantage of local datasets, advancements in affordable parallel computing, and the results of weather modeling research and developments from GSD and elsewhere. Current and upcoming applications of various models on different computing platforms all take advantage of LAPS initialization. Ensembles of local models will be an increasingly useful approach to numerical weather forecasting problems and applications to a broad spectrum of uses ranging from fire weather prediction to ground transportation needs.
GPS-Met Observing Systems (GPS-Met) - The goals of the GPS-Met Observation System project are to assess the use of surface-based GPS observations to support weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and research, and to transfer this observing system technology to operational use. An operational ground-based GPS integrated precipitable water vapor (IPW) monitoring system would provides water vapor measurments at a low cost and without weather condition and time-of-day constraints.
