Founded in 2002 at the National Space Science Technology Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville , AL . Focused on transitioning unique NASA and NOAA observations and research capabilities to the operational weather community to improve short - term weather forecasts on a regional and local scale . NASA directed funding ; NOAA funding from Proving Grounds ( PG ) . Demonstrate capabilities experimental products to weather applications and societal benefit to prepare forecasters for the use of data from next generation of operational satellites . Objective of this poster is to highlight SPoRT 's research to operations ( R2O ) paradigm and provide examples of work done by the team with legacy instruments relevant to GPM in order to promote collaborations with groups developing GPM products .