Extending Terrestrial Weather R2O/O2R to Space Weather at NASA's SPoRT Center
Abstract
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama is a recognized leader in the transition of satellite datasets and modeling capabilities to the operational terrestrial weather community. For more than 15 years, SPoRT has collaborated with operational forecasters from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Offices and National Centers to transition and evaluate experimental data products in an effort to improve weather forecasts. These collaborations have followed a vetted and successful research-to-operations/operations-to-research (R2O/O2R) paradigm that includes forecasters as part of the problem-solving process, develops applications-focused training, integrates data into forecaster decision support tools, and performs targeted product evaluations to ensure that products meet forecaster needs. This same R2O/O2R paradigm can be applied as a unique approach to transitioning experimental products to the operational space weather community. This abstract will focus on a description of the SPoRT R2O/O2R paradigm and an example of how this paradigm has been tested in an operational space weather environment through the first iteration of the transition of the MAG4 (MAGnetic forecasting) model to operational forecasters at the NOAA NWS Space Weather Prediction Center. MAG4 fills an operational need by generating full-disk solar magnetograms with whole active region parameters whose values determine forecast event rates and a 24-hour persistence forecast of those event rates for solar flares and coronal mass ejections. Additionally, we will share the outcome of a collective, collaborative experience between the research team and forecasters used to determine the optimal product representation, decision support tools, and training to enable transition success.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMPA24B..06Z
- Keywords:
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- 4327 Resilience;
- NATURAL HAZARDSDE: 4343 Preparedness and planning;
- NATURAL HAZARDSDE: 6620 Science policy;
- PUBLIC ISSUESDE: 7964 Policy;
- SPACE WEATHER