Local Analysis and Prediction System (LAPS) Purpose/HistoryDesign Implementation Details Dan Birkenheuer Forecast Systems Lab Boulder, CO

Purpose Forecasters were unable to review all data on a modern workstation Local data never is seen my national scale models –Doppler Radar data –Mesonet data

Project Goals Development and maintenance of a high- resolution analysis and forecasting system exploiting local data Technology transfer to outside users Produce products for special needs Visualize output Perform this task in the local forecast office

Operational Concept Data layer Standard netCDF format file interface Portable core –Sun –IBM –Linux –Dec –HP Model interface –RAMS –MM5

4DDA scheme for RSA

LAPS in AWIPS Analysis package is in every NWS forecast office. Current (4.2) implementation is fixed in domain size and position. AWIPS v5.0 will have a GUI to control size, position, plus displays of data sources, QC, etc.

LAPS in AWIPS -- local model Scalable Forecast Model -- a version of CSU/RAMS, version 3b, parallelized by FSL (SMS) SFM runs 4 times per day on a dedicated computer installed on NWS/BOU’s AWIPS system Demonstrates utility, reliability in a real- time forecasting environment Long-term goal: enable local modeling capabilities in AWIPS for all WFOs

cp1 cp2ws1 ws2 ds1 ds2 as3 firewall LDAD subnet workstation subnet any computer as1 as2 SBN Externalprovider WSR Three local model implementation options for AWIPS

Local Modeling Example: Kennedy domain Image is temperature, contour is precipitation

Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) LAPS -- History 1996: Initialization for Bosnia window (MM5 at 101x101, 10 km, NOGAPS 2.5° background and LBC) 1997: Resizable, relocatable LAPS 1998: Balance package; GOES ingest; AVN/NOGAPS 1° 1999: 4DDA; rebuilt infrastructure; QG balance studies

AFWA LAPS -- Current 9 theaters on three projections (lambert, polar stereo, mercator) 3-hr cycle New datasets: satellite soundings, cloud- drift winds, ACARS, METEOSAT 4DDA testing started March on AFWA’s SP-2 Variational quasigeostrophic balance constraint

AFWA Example over South America

AFWA Example over Europe

Where we are going...