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NOAA's NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SYSTEMS RECOGNIZED BY SMITHSONIAN
April 12, 1999 — Two National Weather Service information technology systems were recognized as laureates in the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards program April 12 at the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C. The NWS's Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS), and the El Niño forecasting system used by the NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction were recognized along with other award program nominees. The Computerworld Smithsonian Award program honors the use of information technology to create positive social and economic change. Mary Glackin, Director of the AWIPS Program Office, and Ming Ji, a physical scientist with the Climate Prediction Center, accepted the laureate medals on behalf of NWS employees and the systems during a ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution Castle in Washington, D.C. AWIPS is providing significant improvements in weather- and flood-related services to protect life and property. The system gives NWS forecasters access to satellite imagery, Doppler radar data, automated weather observations and computer-generated numerical forecasts, all in one workstation.
Supercomputers, data storage devices and telecommunications systems were at the heart of the NWS's El Niño forecasting efforts. NOAA scientists used highly sophisticated numerical models that turn data from global observing systems such as ships, buoys and satellites to prepare climate forecasts for the coming seasons. The numerical models, improved forecast techniques and understanding of the ocean-atmosphere interaction, allowed the NWS to issue forecasts six months in advance for the record-breaking rains in California and the southeast. Case studies of the climate forecasting system and of AWIPS are now part of the permanent research collection on information technology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. Both systems are in contention for further honors in the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards Program, which will be announced in June.
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