# Presentation: 562688

## Introduction to

- The Hazardous Weather Testbed
- Norman, Oklahoma

## What is the Hazardous Weather Testbed?

- Mission...
*NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) accelerates the transition of promising new meteorological insights and technologies into advances in forecasting and warning for hazardous mesoscale weather events in the United States.** *

## What is the Hazardous Weather Testbed?

- NSSL and NWS collaboration
- Combines operations, research.
- Includes visiting forecaster/scientist program.
- VORTEX, IHOP, JPOL, etc.

## Collocates:

**Collocates:**
**NSSL, SPC, WFO OUN, WDTB, ROC, and Univ. of Oklahoma Meteorology Units**

***Occupancy Summer 2006***

- Norman, Oklahoma

## The NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed

*The NOAA *_*Hazardous Weather Testbed*_

**EFP:** Emphasizes diagnosis and modeling to forecast mesoscale hazards.

**EWP:** Emphasizes diagnosis and modeling to warn for storm scale hazards.

## NWC 2nd Floor

- SPC

- WFO

- DLab

- HWT

## NWC 2nd Floor Hazardous Weather Testbed Area

- Media room

- Movable wall (electronic)

- 16 work areas
- 2 plasma monitors
- 2 projectors / screens

**HWT**

**SPC**

**WFO**

## NWC 2nd Floor: research-to-operations

- SPC

- WFO

- DLab

- Stage I:
- Research at
- NSSL,
- elsewhere

- Stage II: “Alpha” Testing, proof-of-concept, warning ops simulations

- Stage III: “Beta” Testing

- HWT

## Forecasters from throughout the NWS 
 NSSL scientists and software developers
 WDTB trainers
 Researchers from other institutions
 International scientists and forecasters
Others...

-  NSSL scientists and software developers
-  WDTB trainers
-  Researchers from other institutions
-  International scientists and forecasters
- Others...

- Who will be involved?

## Why Norman?

- Can conduct forecast and warning experiments in real-time for any part of the contiguous 48 states:
-  AWIPS / NAWIPS
- Satellite, Level II radar, numerical models, obs
- “Warn-on-forecast” storm-scale models
- Warning Decision Support System – Integrated Information (WDSS-II)

## Why Norman?

- Can also expose more people to developmental platforms in real-time:
- - Phased array radar
- - Polarimetric radar
- - CASA radar
- - 3D lightning mapping array
- We have a lot of experience with experiments in Norman:
- - DOPLIGHT (1984-1987)
- - Norman Experimental Forecast Facility (1987-1993)
- - Warning Decision Support System (WDSS) (1993-1999)
- - WDSS-II (2002-present)
- - NSSL – SPC Spring Programs
- - Joint Polarization Experiment (JPOLE) (2002-2003)

## Component of the NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed
WFO-scale collaboration among forecasters, researchers and trainers
 0-2 hour hazardous weather forecast & warning projects for nation
Emphasis on convective weather
 Joint initiative of the NWS and the NSSL

- WFO-scale collaboration among forecasters, researchers and trainers
-  0-2 hour hazardous weather forecast & warning projects for *nation*
- Emphasis on convective weather
-  Joint initiative of the NWS and the NSSL

- What is the Experimental Warning Program?

## Analogous to SPC/NSSL spring program
 Forecasters can provide early feedback on latest research tools and ideas
 For ideas not yet mature enough for operational beta testing

-  Forecasters can provide _early_ feedback on latest research tools and ideas
-  For ideas not yet mature enough for operational beta testing

- What is the Experimental Warning Program?

## Goals

- Develop new warning _guidance_ tools from multiple sensors and numerical
-  Cloud-scale models (“warn-on-forecast”)
-  Develop new warning techniques (probabilistic warnings)
-  Develop improved verification techniques / climate record
-  Develop GIS-based applications
-  Develop new visualization techniques

## Early EWP Experiments

- Probabilistic warnings
-  AWIPS four-dimensional stormcell investigator (FSI)
-  WxGIS
-  High-resolution gridded hail product verification
-  New platforms: 3D lightning, dual-pol radar

## Warn-On-Forecast

- Currently issue warnings based on reports of severe events or detections of features strongly associated with severe weather
- Want to issue warnings with longer lead times based on forecast storm morphology
- Example: Current non-severe thunderstorm is strengthening and will encounter a pre-existing diffuse boundary, ingesting sufficient horizontal vorticity into the updraft to increase the tornado probability in 50-90 minutes, after which time it will move deep enough into the cold air to end the tornado threat.
- Will eventually be driven by storm-scale models
- Will test these concepts in EWP without having to interrupt real-time operations at WFOs.

## Questions?