NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction

NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction
Name	NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction
Caption	NCWCP facility at College Park
Formation	2010
Headquarters	College Park, Maryland
Parent organization	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Contents

NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction is a consolidated research and operational complex that co-locates multiple National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration components to advance numerical modeling, forecasting, and climate analysis. Located in College Park, Maryland, the center integrates capabilities from predecessor entities to support agencies such as the National Weather Service, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, and NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service. The facility emphasizes collaboration with federal partners including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Department of Defense, and academic institutions like the University of Maryland, College Park.

History

The center opened in the context of initiatives led by Secretary of Commerce officials and senior leaders from National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to consolidate assets previously distributed across sites such as Camp Springs, Maryland, Suitland, Maryland, and the Silver Spring Complex. Planning involved input from agencies including the General Services Administration, the National Institutes of Health, and stakeholders like the American Meteorological Society and American Geophysical Union. Construction and commissioning intersected with programs such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and engaged contractors with experience on projects for the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The center supports missions of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Climatic Data Center, and operational units of the National Weather Service by hosting computational resources that support products used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States Coast Guard, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Core functions include operational forecasting for partners such as the Department of Homeland Security, seasonal climate outlooks used by the United States Department of Agriculture, and modeling support for research programs at the National Science Foundation and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

The complex includes high-performance computing facilities comparable to machines used at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, networking infrastructure compatible with ESnet and the NOAA Central Library, and secure operations centers akin to those at the Joint Numerical Testbed. The site features collaborative spaces used by teams from the National Ocean Service, Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, and the Climate Program Office. The building's siting near University of Maryland, College Park facilitates data exchange with the Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center and connections to the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory.

Research programs at the center involve partnerships with laboratories and projects such as the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, and the Global Forecast System. Operational activities provide routine analysis for systems including the Rapid Refresh and High-Resolution Rapid Refresh frameworks, data assimilation efforts tied to the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Research and collaborations with National Aeronautics and Space Administration missions like Aqua (satellite), Suomi NPP, and GOES-R Series. Scientists at the center publish and coordinate with journals and societies such as Monthly Weather Review, the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

The center maintains formal and informal ties with federal agencies including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency, and academic partners such as Florida State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Columbia University, Pennsylvania State University, and Colorado State University. International collaborations involve organizations like the World Meteorological Organization, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and operational centers such as the Met Office and Japan Meteorological Agency. Industry relationships include vendors and consortia associated with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Intel Corporation, and cloud partners referenced by federal IT modernization initiatives.

Key outputs include operational forecasts from the National Weather Service supported by the Global Forecast System, regional guidance from the North American Mesoscale Model, and research-to-operations transitions such as improvements to the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting Model and ensemble systems comparable to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ensemble. The center has contributed to satellite data assimilation for missions like Jason-3, supported model development used by the National Hurricane Center, and provided computing and science support for initiatives tied to the National Climate Assessment and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.