Latest News

Beginning in July 2021, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) at the University of Colorado Boulder within in the Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) will begin a four-year project “Building Insights through Observation: Researching Arts-Based Methods for Teaching and Learning with Data” funded by the National Science Foundation’s Discovery...

June 21-July 3 2021: GSL experimental models will be evaluated by forecasters for their utility in assessing the excessive rainfall and flash flooding threat in the Day 1 timeframe. Flooding is one of the most dangerous weather events and has caused an increasing number of deaths in the past few...

GSL’s visualization team produced a new video that showcases GSL research and the impact it has on society. You can enjoy the video here!

The public release of the Common Community Physics Package and the Single Column Model (CCPP-SCM v5.0.0) bundle facilitates the development of physical parameterizations by the broader community, which is a cornerstone to enhance the transfer of innovations onto operational numerical weather prediction models. This package was released on March 8,...

GSL researchers virtually hosted more than a dozen participants for a Functional Forecaster Assessment Test (FFAT) of new Hazard Services capabilities in late February. They used the Amazon Web Services cloud platform to evaluate the workflow to issue marine and non-precipitation weather products, along with hydrology and winter weather products....

Data sharing will enable new innovations in numerical weather prediction science The Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) is co-leading the release of the Unified Forecast System (UFS) Short-Range Weather (SRW) application v1.0. The UFS is a community-based, coupled, comprehensive Earth modeling system with shared science components and software infrastructure. The...

SOS Team Commendation Letter.pdf January 20, 2021 Dear Members of NOAA’s Science on a Sphere Team, I am delighted to commend you for your superior performance in building NOAA’s Science On a Sphere (SOS) community. The SOS is NOAA’s most far-reaching and dynamic education and outreach tool. It is a...

GSL/CIRES scientist Eric James gave a seminar “Commercial-Aircraft-Based Weather Observations for NWP: Data Coverage, Forecast Impacts, and COVID-19.” Click here for a link to the recorded presentation. Click here for the slides. Weather observations from commercial aircraft constitute an essential component of the global observing system and have been shown...

On January 26 around half a million people in southwestern New Hampshire received their first live Winter Weather Advisory from the Hazard Services software (see attached). The GYZ (Portland/Gray, Maine) NWS office was one of a limited number that tested and evaluated new GSL Hazard Services Winter Weather Watch/Warning/Advisory (WWA)...

Scientists around the world and at GSL are working on fundamental changes to computer code to improve the computational efficiency of weather models. In early December 2020, four GSL researchers participated in intensive “hacking” sessions with mentors from NVIDIA and Lawrence Livermore National Labs to accelerate their computer code towards...

From its inception as an experiment to improve forecasts for aviation, to the transition of its final update to NOAA National Weather Service operations, the Global Systems Laboratory’s pioneering High-Resolution Rapid Refresh weather model established a remarkable resume of research accomplishments. Experimental versions of the HRRR improved the accuracy of...

GSL and the NOAA Office of Education co-hosted the 10th Science On a Sphere® (SOS) Users Collaborative Network Workshop December 1-3, 2020. This year it was held virtually for the first time with were more than 200 participants from eight countries and 68 presenters. GSL researchers hosted five sessions. The...

The NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) transitioned the final versions of GSL-developed NOAA’s flagship high-resolution weather models — Rapid Refresh (RAP) and High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) into operations. This latest RAP/HRRR version includes upgrades that make forecasts better in nearly all aspects including the upper atmosphere, surface, clouds,...

Four million acres burned in California alone this year, making 2020 a record fire season for the Western U.S. To explore this historic wildfire season, The Global Systems Laboratory’s (GSL) Science On a Sphere® (SOS) team released a new interactive educational tour about the 2020 wildfires on its free mobile...

GSL’s Curtis Alexander was awarded the 2020 OAR Employee of the Year for Leadership. The citation reads: “For excellence and leadership to develop and implement real-time hazardous weather prediction that improves the safety of U.S. citizens.” Dr. Curtis Alexander is a Supervisory Meteorologist at the NOAA Global Systems Laboratory (GSL)...

DaNa L. Carlis, Ph.D., joined GSL as the Deputy Director in September 2020. He comes to GSL from the NOAA Weather Program Office (WPO), where he established the Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC) Program. DaNa enjoys working between science, policy, and society to ensure better products and services for the...

National Weather Service says accuracy of official forecasts has not been affected Aircraft-based observations are one of the most important meteorological observation sources within the modern global observing system. Flight reductions related to the COVID-19 pandemic raised questions about whether the loss of meteorological observations from aircraft-mounted sensors could affect...

Oct 27-29: GSL researchers will virtually host more than a dozen participants for a Functional Forecaster Assessment Test (FFAT) of new Hazard Services capabilities. FAT will be Oct. 27-29, all virtual using the Amazon Web Services cloud platform and will evaluate marine and non-precipitation weather products. Because the software already...

The Global Ensemble Forecast System – Aerosols (GEFS-Aerosols) was transitioned to operations on September 23, 2020. GEFS-Aerosols is an atmospheric composition model that integrates weather and air quality using the Finite Volume Cubed Sphere (FV3) core. The Global Systems Laboratory (GSL) led the project, with contributions from the Chemical Sciences...

The National Hurricane Center has given GSL’s Tom LeFebvre the local Isaac M. Cline award for his work on the High-Seas Forecast package that includes a set of tools that forecasters use to define the wind, waves, and weather in gridded form over the High Seas Area of Responsibility. Then...