Historical List of Atmosphere and Ocean Models at JNWPU/NMC/NCEP

 

In compiling the list, there has been no intent to include the many changes to individual models that have occurred through the years; e.g. changes to numerics, physical processes, etc, as well as the multitude of changes that have occurred in producing initial analyses for the numerical models. There have been a number of other models, such as the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model (circa 1995), which have been run routinely, but not as part of the 'operational suite'. These are NOT included either. Here, the intent is to show, in a chronological sense, implementations of distinctively new operational models and, in some instances, dates when forecast length has been increased to satisfy other operational requirements. There is an attempt to record dates when models went out of service, generally occurring when a new model was implemented. However, there are exceptions (e.g. NGM continues to run in support of MOS)! These will be noted as they are 'discovered'! A more detailed, highly informative, companion to this list may be found in a Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society paper, co-authored by Kalnay, Lord and McPherson, entitled 'Maturity of Operational Numerical Weather Prediction', December 1998, p 2753. Additional information regarding the 'early' years may be found in NMC Office Note 72, by Shuman, 1972, entitled 'The Research and Development Program at the National Meteorological Center'.

 

Contact for information or corrections – Kenneth Campana, NCEP/EMC

Email address: kenneth.campana@noaa.gov

 

            Reference Information

                        Bonner, W.D., 1989: NMC overview: recent progress and future plans, Weather and Forecasting, 4, 275-285.

                        Kalnay, E., Lord, S.J. and R.D. McPherson, 1998: Maturity of operational numerical weather prediction: medium range, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 79, 2753-2769.

                        Shuman, F.G., 1972: The research and development program at the National Meteorological Center, NMC Office Note 72, 19 pages.

                        Shuman, F.G., 1989: History of numerical weather prediction at the National Meteorological Center, Weather and Forecasting, 4, 286-296.

                        Special Thanks to current and former members of NMC/NCEP, in alphabetical order:  Thomas Black, Lawrence Burroughs, Kenneth Campana, Geoffrey DiMego, Francis Hughes (Office Note 316), Robert Kistler, Timothy Marchok, George VanDenberghe, Yuejian Zhu.

Type -

                        H = Hemispheric

                        G = Global

                        R = Regional

                        Hu = Hurricane

                        O = Ocean

                        E = Ensembles

                        NHy = Non-Hydrostatic

            Documentation -

                        NAVAER = Numerical Weather Prediction, NAVAER 50-1P-541,

                             June 1956, published by direction of the Chief of Naval Operations

                        JNWPUB = Joint NWP Unit Bulletins (38 of them from 1955-1967),

                                    some available from NOAA Library, Silver Spring, MD.

                        NMC-TM = National Meteorological Center Technical Memorandum,

available from NOAA Central Library, 1315 East-West Highway, SSMC3, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

                        JAM = Journal of Applied Meteorology

                        NCEP Office Notes :

available from National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Office of the Director, 5200 Auth Road, Camp Springs, MD 20746, OR 

                                    see http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/officenotes

                        TPB = NWS Technical Procedures Bulletins (continuation of the JNWPU

                                    Bulletins), 1967+, available from NOAA Central Library,

Silver Spring, MD, or Office of Services, NOAA/NWS,

1325 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. 

Some available on-line, see:

            http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/tpb/indexb.htm

EMC Homepage