Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System Evolution Project (AWIPS II)
One of the key strengths of the SPoRT Center has been and continues to be SPoRT’s ability to transition unique NASA Earth observing system data to our National Weather Service partners directly into the forecaster’s native display environment, AWIPS. As Figure 1 shows, SPoRT has successfully transitioned a number of products to AWIPS, from MODIS and AMSR-E, to the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array, and products from our collaborators at CIRA and NOAA NESDIS. However, the National Weather Service, in conjunction with Raytheon, is developing the next generation of AWIPS with the AWIPS Evolution Project (AWIPS II). The advantage of AWIPS II will be the ability to process data more effectively than the current AWIPS system. Several SPoRT products, particularly the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array source densities, have to be formatted to mimic more standard product types in AWIPS. The AWIPS II environment will use plug-ins to process these data sets. This makes the AWIPS II environment more flexible with respect to ingesting a wider array of observational and model data.
Figure 1. Sample of SPoRT products in
the current AWIPS environment.
The transition from AWIPS to AWIPS II is scheduled to begin in late 2009 to early 2010. Leading up to this, the SPoRT Center needs to become proficient with the new system to be able to continue sending our current suite of products to the National Weather Service without interruption. With this proficiency, new and improved methods of visualization can be developed. For instance, AWIPS II has a powerful zoom and pan feature, similar to Google Earth. Currently, SPoRT must sectorize MODIS data for each specific National Weather Service partner. New plug-ins with AWIPS II may remove this need in the future. Additionally, the North Alabama Lightning Mapping Array source density product is, by nature, a three-dimensional field. However, the current AWIPS environment limits the display to a plan view. The development of new visualization plug-ins by SPoRT may allow for cross sections of source density observations to be used in severe weather decision making.
To prepare for the eventual transition, the SPoRT Center has been receiving the new releases of AWIPS II software, starting in March 2008. With this experience, SPoRT is learning what needs to be done to transition SPoRT products from AWIPS to AWIPS II. SPoRT will also be able to compare the two environments side by side in the AWIPS II Development Lab. Currently, the most exciting work is in the development of a Man computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS) AREA file plug-in decoder for AWIPS II. This will allow numerous satellite products, often processed through McIDAS, to be quickly ingested by AWIPS II in their native format. The plug-in, developed in collaboration with SPoRT researchers and the Huntsville National Weather Service office, will limit the amount of re- mapping that occurs with these products and maintain the data’s integrity. Once developed, this plug-in will be shared with the rest of the AWIPS II development and operational community, showcasing SPoRT’s ability to transition research methodologies to the operational community.
For more information about the AWIPS II project, pleast visit the AWIPS Technology Infusiont home page, part of NOAA's Office of Science and Technology.
Additional information about the developer, Raytheon, can be found at Raytheon's AWIPS home page and Raytheon's AWIPS product page.
