NOAA’s newest high performance computer used for research to advance weather, climate and ecosystem prediction was named number 88 among the top 500 high performance computers in the world based on computing capacity, according to Top500.org.
Forecasting hurricane track and intensity, providing decision support for wildfires, issuing warnings for harmful algal blooms: these are just a snapshot of how NOAA’s research over the past year has provided vital services to Americans every day. A newly released NOAA Science Report celebrates NOAA’s research and development, highlighting how NOAA’s research products impact the lives of all Americans.
The public is invited to help set the course for NOAA research and development for the coming years. Public comments will be welcomed until Friday, February 8, 2019. You can submit your comments by email to noaa.rdplan@noaa.gov. Please include the subject line “NOAA R&D Plan Public Comment.”
NOAA’s best severe-weather model just received an upgrade developed by NOAA researchers that will help the National Weather Service provide more accurate hazardous weather and aviation forecasts. Scientists are also using it to advance a wide array of future forecast tools.
This summer, NOAA scientists and partners are launching a number of new unmanned aircraft and water vehicles to collect weather information as part of a coordinated effort to improve hurricane forecasts.
Several of these research projects and other NOAA led efforts to improve hurricane forecasting were made possible, in part, because of the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. The act was passed by Congress and signed by the President in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. It provides $60 billion in funding to multiple agencies for disaster relief. NOAA received $309.7 million to provide technical assistance to those states with coastal and fishery impacts from Sandy, and to improve weather forecasting and weather research and predictive capability to help future preparation, response and recovery from similar events.