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Items 2007 NSSL co-hosts NOAA Hazardous Weather Testbed Spring Experiment
More than 60 researchers and forecasters from government agencies, academia and the private sector are expected to visit the National Weather Center in Norman, OK this spring to work towards improving forecasts of severe weather.
The 2007 Spring Experiment hosted by NOAA’s Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) offers an irresistible opportunity for research scientists and operational forecasters to change roles for a week during the active spring severe weather season that affects large parts of the nation.
The exchange allows researchers to immerse themselves in the challenges of front-line forecasting while giving forecasters a chance to examine emerging scientific and technological advances. Both will walk away from the experience with increased knowledge of thunderstorm processes that will improve forecasts and vital forecasting tools.
Although it’s the seventh year for the experiment, this is the inaugural year for the new Hazardous Weather Testbed facility, strategically located in the recently built National Weather Center between the operational forecast areas of the NOAA Storm Prediction Center and the NOAA National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office (WFO-OUN). These two offices, along with the NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, are leading HWT spring experiment activities planned from mid-April through June. Several collaborators are also providing valuable research and computing resources, some of which are available for the first time, allowing for significant improvements in precision.
History: The Hazardous Weather Testbed emerged from the mutual interests of forecasters from the SPC and researchers from NSSL, and was inspired by the culture of collaboration that already existed between researchers and the WFO-OUN forecasters.
Significance: There is great potential to accelerate the precision of severe storms forecasts and warnings to protect the public by identifying and targeting issues of mutual interest for both severe weather forecasters and researchers.
2007 HWT Spring Experiment Home Page: http://hwt.nssl.noaa.gov/Spring_2007/
5/14/07