NSSL prepares for network facelift

by Kevin Kelleher and J.T. Johnson

A multi-year effort to upgrade the NOAA/ Norman networking infrastructure is taking place with the cooperation of NSSL and our NWS partners, the Norman NWS Forecast Office (NWSFO), the WSR-88D Operational Support Facility and the SPC. The networking upgrades lay the foundation for NOAA Weather Partners to obtain a Next Generation Internet (or NGI, a.k.a., Internet II) connection through our NGI partner, the University of Oklahoma (OU) (see figure). Funding and resources for this multi-year effort have been provided by the four NOAA/Norman groups, the University of Oklahoma, and the U.S. Government's High Performance Computing and Communications Program.

One of the features of the new gigabit network will be the ability to obtain sufficient bandwidth for transmitting real-time radar data to the Oklahoma Weather Center, including NSSL and the Center for the Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS). CAPS, a NSF sponsored center, has developed an experimental, world-class mesoscale model that assimilates WSR-88D data. Real-time radar data from at least eight radars will be available for further development and testing of the CAPS model as well as the development and testing of NSSL's WDSS-II. WDSS-II will be a platform for testing future applications destined for both the WSR-88D and the NWS's AWIPS. A very notable feature of WDSS-II will be its focus on the entire CWA of a forecast office involving multiple radars rather than being single radar-centric. In addition, the network upgrade will help address some of the difficulties associated with the NOAA scientists (located on North campus) and OU weather researchers (located on the main campus) being physically separated. For example, seminars are held several times a week on both campuses. Parking problems and travel time make it inconvenient for the scientists to attend many of the seminars. OU has recently announced their plans to begin construction of a new joint 'Weather Center' facility on South Campus, but it may be several years before the four NOAA federal agencies are in a position to join them. Consequently, we are installing an IP-based video broadcast system between the OU School of Meteorology seminar room on the main campus and the NSSL conference room on the North Campus.

OU recently obtained both a 155 Mb/s vBNS (very-high-performance Backbone Network Service) connection and a 622 Mb/s Internet II connection on the same circuit. The vBNS project is partially sponsored by the State of Oklahoma, which plans to use the vBNS connection to support advanced research, education and technology transfer activities now underway at Oklahoma's three research universities. The NOAA Weather Partners have access to both the vBNS and the Internet II connection for research purposes while maintaining present Internet capabilities for all other traffic.

Oklahoma Weather Center Connectivity