1. Community Interactions
Louisa Bogar Nance
Acknowledge all staff and extensive list of external collaborators
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

2. Outline Software Systems Community Outreach DTC Visitor Program
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

3. Software Systems
Framework for bringing together operational capabilities and research innovations to accelerate the transition of new technology into operations by facilitating carefully-controlled extensive T&E
Close collaboration between DTC & developers is critical to the success of this work!
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

4. Software system philosophy
Shared resource w/ distributed development that includes capabilities of current operational systems
On-going development maintained under mutually agreed upon software management plan
Code repository maintained under version control software
Protocols for proposing & approving modifications to the software
Testing standards
Code review committee
Additional testing standards to more thoroughly check integrity of evolving code base
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

5. Publicly-released packages
Periodic releases made available to the community that include latest developments of new capabilities & techniques
Additional testing, including multiple computing platforms and compiler options
Centralized support (in collaboration with developers)
Software downloads
Documentation
Tutorials (online and onsite)
helpdesk
Once again acknowledge all this work is done in close collaboration with developer groups
All helpdesk support transitioned to RT ticketing system for better tracking of helpdesk requests
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

6. 2016 DTC SAB meeting, 14-15 September 2016
Software
Type
Developers
Repository
DTC’s role
WRF
mesoscale model
NCAR, GSD
NCAR
Assist w/ rep maintenance & community contributions
Community support for NMME
UPP
post-processor
EMC
Community
Maintain community repository (sync & portability)
Community support
NMMB
DTC
Portability & friendly user releases
Assist w/ community contributions
Documentation
GSI & EnKF DA
EMC, NASA, ERSL, NCAR, NESDIS, JCSDA
Chair DA Review Committee
HWRF
tropical cyclone
EMC, HRD, URI, GFDL
(10 components)
Transition ops capability to component repositories
Repository maintenance
Support for system run scripts
MET
verification
Maintain repository and advance capability
Exact role of DTC wrt the code management of these systems varies depending on the package.
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

7. Community support for GSI/EnKF
Global
GFS
GEOS
Regional
Air Force mesoscale (ARW)
NAM (NMM-B)
HWRF (NMM-E)
RAP (ARW)
HRRR (ARW)
Analysis
RMTA
GFS reanalysis
Community applications
Data format conversion
Support provided for:
GSI since 2010
EnKF since 2015
Once again acknowledge all this work is done in close collaboration with developer groups
Applications/modeling systems for which staff have T&E experience
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

8. Registered users GSI/EnKF GFDL vortex tracker UPP
Single registration page – no separate tracking for EnKF
GFDL vortex tracker
Originally available from HWRF downloads page
Added standalone package in 2012
UPP
Originally available from WRF downloads page
Recently set up standalone users page and registration/download capability
MET
HWRF
GSI
GFDL tracker
UPP
NMMB
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

9. Code releases and tutorials
Software
Code releases
Onsite tutorials
WRF
1 Major - Apr
1 Minor - Aug
Bi-annual
HWRF
1 Major
Annual
GSI/EnKF
MET
1 Major – Winter
1 Minor – Summer/Fall
Skipping AOP 2016
Skipped AOP 2015, but included in AOP 2016
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

10. Inaugural EnKF tutorial
1st combined GSI and EnKF tutorial took place on August 2015
Hosted by DTC in collaboration with developers (NOAA, NASA & NCAR)
Included lectures provided by invited speakers and hands-on practical sessions
43 students from the US and international community - maximum capacity!
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

11. HWRF developer support
HWRF developer support
J. Michalakes (EMC) - WRF nest parallelization for multistorm
X. Zhang (HRD)- End-to-end multistorm implementation
X. Wang (OU) - Regional HWRF EnKF
R. Fovell and P. Bu (UCLA) - WRF physics diagnostics, testing & development
J. Otkin (CIMMS)- Synthetic satellites added to UPP
R. Yablonsky (URI) - MPIPOM-TC diagnostics & initialization in global basins
H.-S. Kim (EMC) and HFIP ocean team - Diagnostic codes distributed through DTC’s hwrf-contrib repository
G. Grell and E. Grell (ESRL) - Grell-Freitas cumulus parameterization
S. Bao (Coastal Carolina University) – diagnostic tools for evaluating HWRF using satellite brightness temperature
S. Subramanian (Purdue) – Addition of simulated landfall to idealized HWRF
Repository access
Developer website
Training: Rocoto, code management
Bi-weekly telecons
Helpdesk
Primary goal - facilitate R2O!
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

12. Work towards advancing capabilities
Contributions from visitors or supported developers
WRF
Hybrid vertical coordinate (branch available to DTC & GSD for testing)
HWRF
Idealized capability
Physics
Improvements to PBL physics to complement use of RRTMG radiation
Consistent coupling between Thompson microphysics & RRTMG radiation schemes (bonus: consistent coupling also available for ARW)
Scale-aware relative humidity based partial cloudiness scheme (on-going improvements)
Cd/Ch updates
Multi-storm configuration
Ocean-coupling for all ocean basins (MPIPOM-TC), plus alternate initialization data sets and diagnostic tools
Unified scripting and automation
Host hwrf-contrib repository for inter- developer exchange of codes
Nest parallelization modifications to improve run-time efficiency
UPP
New microphysics-specific reflectivity output fields
Synthetic satellite fields
GriB2 support
NMMB
Physics
Thompson microphysics
Consistent coupling between Thompson microphysics and RRTM radiation
RUC LSM (in progress)
Thompson aerosol-aware microphysics (in progress)
Utilities to dump, view, and convert NEMS intermediate output files to NetCDF
GSI/EnkF
Capability to assimilate satellite aerosol optical depth and particulate matter 2.5 & 10 mm
Unified multiple-platform build system for both operational and research communities
MET
Numerous – covered in Tara’s talk!
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

13. New area of software involvement
Community participation & solid support for Research to Operations (R2O) key to accelerating development to meet planned 2019 deployment
Interoperable Physics Driver (IPD): Standards that allow testing new parameterizations/suites in various dynamic cores, enabling inter-agency collaboration
Common Community Physics Package (CCPP): Engaging community to address identified priorities for development in physical parameterizations
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

14. Recent accomplishments related to IPD/CCPP concept
Requirements document and coding standards
Requirements list compiled by NUOPC physics team served as starting point.
Shared with both EMC and NUOPC physics team to collect feedback and update as necessary.
Preliminary software design that meets requirements is nearly complete.
Code management plan – will be living document that needs to be updated as code evolves.
Technical documentation for GFS physics suite – exploring new approach that will hopefully make process more effective and efficient going forward.
Prob–1 and physics-2
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

15. Doxygen-based documentation for GFS physics suite
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

16. Community Outreach
Important mechanism for bringing together research and operations to discuss how to work together to advance NWP
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

17. DTC-sponsored events 2013-2016
Mesoscale Modeling
Annual WRF Users Workshop (June )
Parameterization of Moist Processes for Next Generation Weather Prediction Models Workshop (2015)
MMET instructional session at WRF Users Workshop (June 2015, June 2016)
Hurricanes
Workshop on Numerical Prediction of Tropical Cyclones (May 2014)
HWRF instructional session at WRF Users Workshop (June 2015)
Data Assimilation
Joint DTC-EMC-JCSDA GSI Workshop (August 2013)
Ensembles
6th NCEP Ensemble User Workshop (March 2014)
7th NCEP Ensemble User Workshop (June 2016)
Verification
Instructional lecture at WRF Users Workshop - Topics in Advanced Verification Methods (June 2013)
Global
MPAS Workshop (September 2014)
The Future of Statistical Post-Processing in NOAA and the Weather Enterprise (Jan 2016)
NGGPS Community Sea Ice Model Recommendation Workshop (Feb 2016)
NGGPS Physics Workshop (Nov 2016)
Prob–1 and physics-2
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

18. Sea ice modeling workshops
Participants: 65 scientists from NOAA and broader community
Date and location: 2-4 February 2016 at NCAR, Boulder, CO
Context: Back-to-back ONR Sea State and NGGPS workshops
NGGPS workshop goal: provide recommendation on model choice
Recommendations
Possible adoption of CICE due to extensive use by the community and excellent documentation/resources (tests needed)
Address intellectual property issues to meet NGGPS goals
DTC recently co-hosted with NOAA’s Next Generation Global Prediction effort a workshop on …. Productive workshop that brought together national and international experts on model physics to share experiences and thoughts on pathways for the future. This workshop is just one example of how the DTC strives to bring together R&O to discuss path ahead for NWP development.
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

19. DTC newsletter - Transitions
Eleven issues available online!
Each issue includes info about
DTC T&E activities
DTC visitors
Important recent or upcoming events
Forum for research and operations to share information – contributions from partners and research community!
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

20. DTC Visitor Program
Framework for engaging the research community in projects directed at improving NWP, with an eye towards eventually improving operational forecasts
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

21. DTC Visitor Program
Supports visitors to work w/ the DTC to test new forecasting & verification techniques, models & model components for NWP
PI project – up to 2 months salary & travel & per diem
Graduate student project - up to 1 yr temp living per diem stipend & travel expenses for student to work w/ DTC &/or one of its partners + travel & per diem for up to 2 2-wk visits to the location of the student by project PI
Selection process
Call for proposals open year-round
Focus areas based on input from Task Leads
Task Leads encouraged to actively pursue connections with research community
Proposals reviewed by DTC staff and Science Advisory Board & approved by DTC Management Board
Select appropriate DTC staff member to serve as host for each project
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

22. DTC Visitors supported 2014-16
I. Geresdi
University of Péc
Towards Improving Representation of Convection & MCC Longevity in High-Resolution WRF & NEMS-NMMB model forecasts (2014)
D. Niyogi
(X. Liu)
Purdue
Improving WRF Weather Forecast through Enhanced Representation of Cropland-Atmosphere Interactions (2015)
J. Otkin
U of Wisconsin-Madison
Object based verification for the HRRR model using simulated and observed OES infrared brightness temperatures (2015)
G. Mullendore
(M. Starzec)
U of North Dakota
Mesoscale Model Intercomparison at Convection-Allowing Resolution using MODE (2015)
R. Yablonsky
University of Rhode Island
Developing & Supporting Global HWRF Ocean Coupling w/ Advanced Ocean Physics & Initialization Options & New Diagnostic Tools for Comprehensive Model Evaluation (2014)
S. Bao
Coastal Carolina University
Evaluation of Two HWRF Microphysics/Radiation Configurations with Remote-sensing Data (2014)
T. Galarneau
NCAR
Diagnosing tropical cyclone motion forecast errors in the 2014 HWRF Retrospective Test (2014)
H. Wang
CSU/CIRA
Estimation of Initial and Forecast Error Variances for the NCEP’s Operational Short-Range Ensemble Forecast (SREF) System (2014)
P. Roebber
U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Demonstration Project: Development of a Large Member Ensemble Forecast System for Heavy Rainfall using Evolutionary Programming (2014)
J. Bedard
U of Quebec - Montreal
Implementation and validation of a geo-statistical observation operator for the assimilation of near-surface winds in GSI (2015)
7 PI projects – 1 of which included an undergraduate student
3 graduate student projects
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

23. DTC Visitors supported 2014-16
I. Geresdi
University of Péc
Towards Improving Representation of Convection & MCC Longevity in High-Resolution WRF & NEMS-NMMB model forecasts (2014)
D. Niyogi
(X. Liu)
Purdue
Improving WRF Weather Forecast through Enhanced Representation of Cropland-Atmosphere Interactions (2015)
J. Otkin
U of Wisconsin-Madison
Object based verification for the HRRR model using simulated and observed OES infrared brightness temperatures (2015)
G. Mullendore
(M. Starzec)
U of North Dakota
Mesoscale Model Intercomparison at Convection-Allowing Resolution using MODE (2015)
R. Yablonsky
University of Rhode Island
Developing & Supporting Global HWRF Ocean Coupling w/ Advanced Ocean Physics & Initialization Options & New Diagnostic Tools for Comprehensive Model Evaluation (2014)
S. Bao
Coastal Carolina University
Evaluation of Two HWRF Microphysics/Radiation Configurations with Remote-sensing Data (2014)
T. Galarneau
NCAR
Diagnosing tropical cyclone motion forecast errors in the 2014 HWRF Retrospective Test (2014)
H. Wang
CSU/CIRA
Estimation of Initial and Forecast Error Variances for the NCEP’s Operational Short-Range Ensemble Forecast (SREF) System (2014)
P. Roebber
U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Demonstration Project: Development of a Large Member Ensemble Forecast System for Heavy Rainfall using Evolutionary Programming (2014)
J. Bedard
U of Quebec - Montreal
Implementation and validation of a geo-statistical observation operator for the assimilation of near-surface winds in GSI (2015)
Mesoscale Modeling
Verification – evaluation of mesoscale models
Hurricanes – capabilities + diagnostics
Ensembles
Data Assimilation
Graduate student project
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

24. Current DTC visitor projectsPI
Institution
Project Title
M. Iacono /
J. Henderson
Atmospheric and Environmental Research
Testing Revisions to RRTMG Cloud Radiative Transfer and Performance in HWRF
R. Fovell
SUNY-Albany
Impact of Planetary Boundary Layer Assumptions on HWRF Forecast Skill
D. Niyogi
(S.Subramanian)
Purdue
Developing Capability in Idealized HWRF for Assessing the Impact of Land Surface on Tropical Cyclone Evolution
S. Bao
Coastal Carolina University
Evaluation of the Microphysics Scheme in HWRF 2016 Version with Remote-Sensing Data
P. Skinner
U. Oklahoma
Quantifying the Value of Radar Data Assimilation in the Community Leveraged Unified Ensemble using Object-Based Verification Methods
Most of these projects are already underway and will be completed in the coming year.
Graduate student project
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

25. Visitor proposals in reviewPI
Institution
Project Title
W. Gallus
Iowa State University
Use of CLUE to examine importance of mixed physics in ensembles
P. Roebber
U. of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
An Adaptive Bayesian Model Combination (BMC) Post Processor for the HRRR-TLE Forecast System
K. Apodaca
Colorado State University
R2O transition of the GOES-R GLM lightning assimilation capability in GSI for use in the NCEP GDAS
J. Zhang / J. Feng
GSD / -
A New Measure of Ensemble Central Tendency
Most of these projects are already underway and will be completed in the coming year.
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

26. Summary Software systems Community outreach DTC Visitor Program
DTC staff are now very knowledgeable about required elements for effective and efficient, and yet flexible, framework for distributed software development.
Time required to establish software management plans is much shorter than in the past.
Spin-up time required for new software systems before DTC staff are able to provide user support.
Community outreach
Bringing together community experts to discuss important NWP issues is an important mechanism for motivating groups to work together and for defining a path forward.
Striving for newsletter to provide another pathway for bringing together research and operational communities.
DTC Visitor Program
Important mechanism for building relationships with the research community.
Effective way to bring new capabilities into the software systems or provide opportunities for T&E of existing capabilities.
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

27. Challenges: Software systems
As the operational systems evolve, need to determine most efficient and effective approach for facilitating R2O – WRF paradigm might not be the most cost-effective method
General users (>20,000)
Performance feedback (<100)
Community developers (20-30)
WRF developers (5-10)
Support for full range of users requires 4 FTEs
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016

28. 2016 DTC SAB meeting, 14-15 September 2016

29. Challenges: Community connections
DTC staff have close working relationships with our operational partners. Developing strong connections with broad research community is proving to be more challenging.
Interest in DTC Visitor Program is ramping up due to efforts of all staff to make connections with community, but could still be improved.
Steps being taken:
Exit “interviews” with current visitors to determine how to strengthen program and find avenues for advertising.
Scheduling seminars during visits.
2016 DTC SAB meeting, September 2016