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HRRR-Cast unleashes AI for regional weather forecasting
NOAA’s Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) is breaking new ground in weather prediction with the development of HRRR-Cast, NOAA’s first data-driven, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered regional forecasting system. This innovative project, a key component of NOAA’s broader Project EAGLE (Experimental Artificial intelligence Global and Limited area Ensemble) system, represents a significant...

DESI gets to know its users: GSL performs the first comprehensive evaluation of powerful analysis tool
Researchers at the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) have completed the first comprehensive evaluation of one of GSL’s flagship decision-support tools. The Dynamic Ensemble-based Scenarios for Impact-based Decision-Support Services (DESI) is a web-based application that allows meteorologists and other users to explore ensemble weather model data and extract probabilistic information...

GSL offers new storm surge alert tool
Emergency responders in central Florida navigating flooding resulting from storm surge during Hurricane Ian in 2022. Source: NOAA/NHC Hurricane Ian Tropical Cyclone Report. Image Credit: Phelan M. Ebenhack/EBENP, via Associated Press The deadliest hazard from tropical storms and hurricanes isn’t wind – it’s storm surge and the flooding that follows....
More From GSL
Weather prediction workshop and community model upgrades spotlight GSL-driven advancements

GSL’s model developers and evaluators have been hard at work testing, advancing, and planning the next generation of numerical weather prediction models. Recently, this has included taking a leading role at a recent workshop for the scientific community and making significant contributions to recent releases of two major atmospheric modeling...
Fire Weather Testbed brings local experts together for wildfire research workshop

On June 6, 2025, NOAA’s Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) hosted a workshop led by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Sensing and Computation for Environmental Decision-making Engine (NSF ASCEND Engine) in Colorado and Wyoming. The hybrid workshop, with virtual and on-site participation at the Fire Weather Testbed on NOAA’s Boulder campus,...
GSL scientists earn Outstanding Scientific Paper awards from NOAA Research

NOAA Research has announced the 2025 recipients of the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) Outstanding Scientific Paper Awards. This year, two of the eight outstanding papers included significant contributions by GSL scientists, including one landmark paper led by the lab. Annually, OAR recognizes several significant scientific publications and...
Supporting atmospheric observing networks and weather modeling across the globe

As part of its commitment to advancing meteorological observations and modeling systems, GSL has developed a new tool to process measurements taken at field sites worldwide, and delivered it to two major partners. The new algorithm, called the Tropospheric Remotely Observed Profiling via Optimal Estimation (TROPoe), derives vertical profiles of...
Experimental smoke model provides early warning of wide-reaching impacts

Experimental RRFS-Smoke model forecast for vertically-integrated smoke concentration on June 3, 2025. Days before the Midwest and Eastern regions of the U.S. were impacted by dense smoke, haze, and poor air quality, GSL’s Rapid Refresh Forecast System (RRFS) Smoke model drew forecaster attention to the potential spread of the smoke...
Latest DESI upgrade includes next-generation model data

DESI display of RRFS forecast wind speeds over North America. RRFS’s North America domain allows for high-resolution weather prediction across the entire continent and surrounding oceans. Image credit: NOAA GSL. GSL has released its latest update to the powerful Dynamic Ensemble Scenarios for Impact-Based Decision Support (DESI) tool on both...
GSL technology to support aviation safety in The Bahamas

NOAA has signed an agreement with Sky Miles Limited, a Bahamian company, for GSL to develop and install an advanced aviation forecast system. This system will improve flight safety for airlines flying to or through the island nation’s airspace, off the United States southeast coast, and the surrounding Caribbean...
GSL Partners with MSU Denver to Host Undergraduate Research Interns

GSL scientists spent part of this spring mentoring five Metropolitan State University at Denver (“MSU Denver”) undergraduate students through an internship program supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Colorado-Wyoming (CO-WY) Engine. The internship is funded by the NSF Advanced Sensing and Computation for Environmental Decision-making (ASCEND)...
Community Forecast Model Adds Fire and Smoke Prediction Capabilities

A new upgrade of the Unified Forecast System’s (UFS) Short-Range Weather (SRW) Application, which was released by the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) in April 2025, contains significant contributions from the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (GSL). The update (Version 3.0) adds new capabilities for modeling wildfire smoke and dust for weather model developers...
A new hazardous weather warning system proves its mettle during March tornado outbreaks

From March 13 to 16, 2025, a historic and deadly tornado outbreak swept across the central United States, unleashing severe weather from the Gulf Coast to central Illinois. The storm system produced more than 115 confirmed tornadoes, and resulted in $6.25 billion in damage and 23 fatalities, making it one...
GSL Releases Update to DESI Weather Analysis Tool

NOAA’s Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) has released a significant update to the Dynamic Ensemble-based Scenarios for Impact-Based Decision Support (DESI). The latest release, Version 3.3, launched in February 2025 and incorporates a host of improvements aimed at enhancing usability, visualization, and its suite of critical environmental data. Recent releases have offered...
GSL/PSL partner with AI startup to make observational data AI-ready

NOAA’s Physical Sciences Laboratory and Global Systems Laboratory and the artificial intelligence startup Brightband have entered into a two-year Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) that will optimize a vast NOAA-managed archive of observational weather data for training artificial intelligence (AI)-based weather forecasting applications. Under the CRADA, “Making NOAA Observation Data Artificial Intelligence-Ready,” NOAA will...
The Person Underneath the Umbrella

Weather touches every part of our lives–our flights, utility bills, commutes, work days, soccer games, and even our moods. For over a half century, NOAA has been studying the skies to better understand how our atmosphere works. Our efforts have led to rapid advances in weather detection and atmospheric...
Hurricane Helene tests Hazard Services

Hurricane Helene taken from GOES 16, Image from of CIRA Several NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Offices (NWS WFOs), including Charleston, SC (CHS) have been testing the latest version of Hazard Services for convective operations. The WFO issued 39 tornado warnings, 28 special marine warnings for waterspouts, and dozens of...
2024 AMS Severe Local Storms Conference

GSL scientists will present at the AMS 31st Conference on Severe Local Storms October 21-24 in Virginia Beach, VA. The conference is the premiere gathering for scientists, forecasters, educators, and communicators engaged in all aspects of work related to hazardous deep convective weather phenomena. The theme for this year...
Tenth Anniversary of the HRRR in Operations

From its inception as an experiment to improve forecasts for aviation, GSL is thrilled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the pioneering High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) weather model’s transition to NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) operations. Since September 30, 2014, GSL has delivered four major upgrades to the HRRR...
Winter and non-precip weather hazard functions go live

On October 1, 2024 Hazard Services winter weather and non-precipitation hazard functions went live in all NOAA National Weather Service Forecast Offices across the nation. GSL leads the development of Hazard Services, a multi-year, multi-phase, multi-partner effort to streamline the process to create a hazardous weather watch, warning, or...
New release of a state-of-the-art physics package for weather models

GSL and the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) have achieved a milestone with the release of the Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) v7.0.0! The Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) is a state-of-the-art infrastructure designed to facilitate community-wide development of atmospheric physics parameterizations across different host weather and climate models. The CCPP...
Investigating the Impact of Uncrewed Aircraft Observations on Weather Forecasts via Simulations

NOAA GSL and partners CIRES/CU Boulder and University of Nebraska – Lincoln have used Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) to analyze the impacts of Uncrewed Aircraft Observations on weather models and their forecasts. Many high-impact weather phenomena such as thunderstorm initiation, tornadoes, fog, wildfires and precipitation are tied to processes...
June Fire Weather Testbed Evaluations

NOAA Global Systems Laboratory hosted the first in-person evaluation in the new NOAA Fire Weather Testbed (FWT) in June. Forecasters from NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS) were paired with state forestry partners and trained on a new wildland fire detection and monitoring tool in the Next Generation Fire System (NGFS),...
Our Mission
Lead research and directed development through the transition of environmental data, models, products, tools, and services to support commerce, protect life and property, and promote a scientifically literate public.
Research Areas
Organizational Excellence, Earth System Prediction, Advanced Technologies, and Decision Support are the foundation to achieving the GSL Grand Challenge: Deliver actionable global storm-scale prediction and environmental information through advanced technologies to serve society.
Global Systems Laboratory
