Welcome to the NOAA Testbed and Proving-Ground Portal


link to climate testbed Climate Testbed –  NOAA has formed the Climate Test Bed (CTB) to accelerate the transfer of research and development into improved NOAA operational climate forecasts, products, and applications. The CTB will routinely serve as a conduit between the operational, academic and research communities. This facility is located at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, MD. CTB personnel include scientists from NCEP and from other NOAA and non-NOAA organizations participating in the CTB.
link to developmental testbed center Developmental Testbed Center –  Begun in 2003 with support from USWRP and NCAR, the DTC's mission is to accelerate the improvement in weather forecasts by facilitating the transition of the most promising new NWP techniques from the research community into operations. The DTC, currently located jointly at NCAR and NOAA Earth Systems Research Laboratory, fulfills its mission by performing extensive retrospective tests of new capabilities in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) community model, as well as supporting the addition of new capabilities to the WRF code base from the academic community through its visitor program. The DTC is currently in the process of expanding its community code support and testing to include the application of WRF to hurricanes and the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) data assimilation system.
link to hmt Hydrometeorology Testbed –  HMT was established in 2003 to address scientific and practical challenges associated with extreme precipitation, including a key focus of USWRP – to improve quantitative precipitation forecasting (QPF). HMT's aim is to accelerate the development and prototyping of advanced hydrometeorological observations, models, and physical process understanding, and to foster infusion of these advances into forecasting operations of the NWS, and to support the broader user community's needs for 21st Century precipitation information. HMT addresses these requirements through innovation, demonstration and infusion. Major activities focus on QPF, QPE, snow information, hydrologic impacts, and decision support tools. HMT's regional implementations started in California, have been extended to the Pacific Northwest, and are beginning in the Southeast. HMT is led by NOAA/ESRL's Physical Sciences Division with partners across NOAA, other agencies and universities.
link to hwt Hazardous Weather Testbed–  NOAA's Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) develops, tests and evaluates techniques to improve NWS severe weather forecast and warnings. The HWT is a joint facility managed by the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), and the NWS Oklahoma City/Norman Weather Forecast Office (OUN) located at the National Weather Center in Norman, Oklahoma. The HWT facilities include a combined forecast and research area placed between the operations areas of the SPC and OUN, and the NSSL Development Lab located nearby. Researchers, forecasters and developers use these facilities to evaluate new platforms and techniques, using past data and during real-time operations. Collaboration among these diverse groups provides valuable feedback that can immediately be applied to the research and development process, streamlining technology transfer.
link to jht Joint Hurricane Testbed –  Begun in 2001 under the USWRP, the JHT is a competitive, peer-reviewed, granting process to choose the best mature research products for testing and transitioning to operations. The JHT includes modeling, data gathering, and decision support components. The majority of the testing is done at the National Hurricane Center while the modeling related projects are tested at the Environmental Modeling Center. The current round of projects (6th round) will undergo testing and evaluation during the 2012 hurricane season. The projects are usually two years in length.
link to gpg Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation –  The JCSDA mission is to accelerate and improve the quantitative use of research and operational satellite data in weather, ocean, climate and environmental analysis and prediction systems. This is a substantial undertaking given the hundred-thousand fold increase in satellite data this decade from nearly fifty new instruments. JCSDA goals include – reducing from two years to one year the average time for operational implementation of new satellite technology; increasing the uses of current satellite data in NWP models; advancing the common NWP models and data assimilation infrastructure; and, assessing the impacts of data from advanced satellite sensors on weather and climate predictions.
link to awt Aviation Weather Testbed –  The Aviation Weather Testbed, located at the NOAA Aviation Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City, MO, provides a means of testing new science and technology for the purpose of eventually producing better aviation weather products and services. The execution of the Testbed is accomplished via close collaboration between the AWC and its many partners.
link to swpt Space Weather Prediction Testbed –  The Space Weather Prediction Testbed was established in 2011 by the Space Weather Prediction Center to support the development and transition of new models, products, and services for the Space Weather Forecast Office. The SWPT infuses the benefits of new research into space weather products and services thus improving the accuracy, lead-time and value the Center's products, forecasts, alerts, watches, and warnings for its customers. The SWPT encompasses research in all of the domains from the Sun down to the atmosphere of Earth. It focuses space weather research on operational needs. It links the operational, research, and commercial space weather communities into a seamless enterprise devoted to ensuring the efficient and strategic transition of space science research into operations and the feedback of operations to research. Located in Boulder, Colorado, the SWPT includes scientists from the Space Weather Prediction Center as well as from the University of Colorado, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES).
link to gpg GOES-R Proving Ground –  The Proving Ground is a collaborative effort between the GOES-R program office, cooperative institutes, weather forecast offices, NCEP National Centers, and NOAA Testbeds across the country. The Proving Ground is a project in which simulated GOES-R products can be tested and evaluated before the GOES-R series of satellites are launched into space. The simulated GOES-R products are generated using combinations of currently available GOES data, along with higher resolution data provided by instruments on polar-orbiting satellites such as MODIS on NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites as well as model synthetic satellite data.