MADIS data system moves to full operations

The NOAA National Weather Service and the greater meteorological community rely on high-quality observations to better understand the atmosphere, improve weather forecasts, and support warnings for hazardous weather events. GSL recently transferred the final versions of the flagship observation system, the Meteorological Assimilation and Data Ingest System (MADIS) to NOAA NWS operations on March 29, 2023. The NWS now manages all data feeds, displays, maintenance, operations, and upgrades. This is a huge success for both GSL and the NWS.

MADIS is a sophisticated system designed to collect and integrate meteorological data from multiple sources, including surface observations, radar, satellite, and profiler data. The system processes this data through a series of quality control checks, including automated error detection and correction algorithms, to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information.

The processed data is then used to create a comprehensive weather database that can be accessed by meteorologists and weather forecasters across the country. This database includes information on temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, and other critical weather parameters. MADIS processes over 40M quality-controlled observations each day.

The impact of MADIS on the field of meteorology has been significant. By providing a reliable and comprehensive database of meteorological data, the system has enabled meteorologists and weather forecasters to make more accurate and timely predictions. This, in turn, has helped emergency managers and other decision-makers to prepare for and respond to severe weather events more effectively.

Enhanced MADIS displays can be found at madis-data.ncep.noaa.gov.