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NASA NTRS2019

Correlation of Full-Scale Isolated Proprotor Performance and Loads

A full-scale isolated proprotor test is currently being conducted in the USAF National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames. The test article is a 3-bladed research rotor derived from the right-hand rotor of the AW609; this rotor was manufactured by Bell Helicopter under contract to NASA. In this paper, this research rotor is referred to as "699". The test, nearly completed, is an integral part of the initial checkout test of the newly developed Tiltrotor Test Rig (TTR), whose purpose is to test advanced, full-scale proprotors in the NFAC. Figure 1 shows the TTR/699 installed in the 40- by 80-Foot test section. The TTR rotor axis is horizontal and the rig rotates in yaw on the wind tunnel turntable for conversion (transition) and helicopter mode testing. To date, a substantial amount of wind tunnel test data has already been acquired. The completed operational conditions include hover, airplane mode (cruise, wind tunnel airspeed V=61 to 267 knots), and the helicopter and conversion conditions (with a comprehensive sweep of the TTR yaw angle ranging, to date, from 90-deg yaw helicopter mode to 30-deg yaw conversion mode, at varying airspeeds). This 699 proprotor performance and loads correlation study uses these newly acquired wind tunnel test data. This paper represents the third analytical study, coming after two earlier analytical studies on the TTR/699; that is, a 2018 paper on pre-test predictions of 699 performance and loads, Ref. 1, and an upcoming January 2019 paper on aeroelastic stability analysis of the TTR/699 installed in the 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel, Ref. 2. Reference 8 will present an overview of the entire TTR/699 test program. For completeness, Ref. 3 addresses the development and initial testing of the TTR. Background information on the TTR effort at NASA Ames can be found at the Aeromechanics website: https://rotorcraft.arc.nasa.gov/Research/Facilities/ttr.html. To the authors' knowledge, the full-scale results presented in this paper are the first of their kind. A literature survey brought up several existing correlation studies, but these were either based on small-scale test data (for example, the studies performed by the University of Maryland) or full-scale aircraft flight test data (for example, flight tests conducted by Bell Helicopter). Separately, the 2009 NASA study involving the JVX rotor is relevant (see Ref.4). The JVX is closely similar to the 699 in size and aerodynamics, and is accordingly a good reference for performance calculations. In Ref. 1 (as mentioned above), pre-test reality checks of the current analytical model were made by comparing JVX and 699 predictions in hover and forward flight (airplane mode).

Isolated Proprotor Performance↗
NASA NTRS2004

Website of the Systems and Analysis Branch Supported Projects and Graph Analysis

Throughout the past few weeks I have learned a great amount of information about many interesting aspects that go on here at NASA Glenn Research Center Branch 7820. Branch 7820 is the Systems and Analysis Branch. The people involved in this Branch deal with in a nutshell the analysis of propulsion systems for Earth to orbit and space transportation systems. The first project that I had worked on was helping my mentor learn more about lunar geography and the most recommended way to maintain communication for our future lunar missions. During this time I studied the craters of the moon, especially the South Pole, to provide her with information so that she can make decisions. I also researched to provide her with contact information on those people who are specialized in lunar geography so that she may talk to them to find out more in depth information. Most of my time spent here has been helping to develop a comprehensive explanation and background of the different projects our Branch has supported. When I first came to NASA Glenn and started working with the 7820 Branch there website had many holes that needed to be filled in. I have spent numerous weeks researching information about topics such as Project Prometheus itself and one of its components Jupiter s Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO). I have also done a large amount of research on propulsion systems and how different kinds work. I have learned many facts about Nuclear Electric Propulsion (NEP) all the way to Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) systems. I will continue to do this until all the holes are filled and find out about Global Integrated Design Environment (GLIDE) and Next Generation Launch technology (NGLT). Since most of my job was providing information to go onto a website I has to learn how to put my information into a HTML format. I had no previous knowledge on how to do that kind of task and had to study how to do it and am now able to create a document in HTML format. There has been reorganizing done here at NASA Glenn and our Branch was moved to another building. Therefore, our library had to be moved with us. I spent time helping to put together the boxes, pack the library, and label them accordingly. This was not an easy task but was an experience in itself. I was able to see old posters that NASA had produced about different space missions and look at Russian map of the US and books on space missions. I was also about to see what was in the library in terms of reference material helped because now I can make use of the information for my research on the website. Throughout my internship my mentor will provide me with graphs to analyze and recreate so that she may use them to her advantage. I will learn from every piece of data that comes my way. Later, I will study and analysis gravity-loss for Earth departure trajectories. Since I haven't done that yet I cannot really describe what 1 will learn or what exactly the project entails. The whole experience has been great and I have no doubt that it will exceed every expectation previously thought.

Kellerman, Corinne↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA DEVELOP’s Communication Strategy for Sharing Applied Science Outcomes

NASA’s DEVELOP Program conducts rapid feasibility projects that enable the future workforce and current decision makers to collaborate and build capacity to use Earth science data to enhance environmental management. The program communicates its results and applications to a broad audience through multiple methods: social media, website blog posts, print materials, short project videos, an “Ambassador Corps,” scientific and policy conference presentations, community engagement activities, end-of-project presentations, project “hand-offs,” traditional publications (both gray literature and peer-reviewed), and a project archive gallery. This presentation will describe the various methods employed by DEVELOP to communicate the program’s scientific outputs, target audiences, general statistics, community response, and lessons learned.

Capacity Building↗
NASA NTRS2005

Self port scanning tool : providing a more secure computing Environment through the use of proactive port scanning

Secure computing is a necessity in the hostile environment that the internet has become. Protection from nefarious individuals and organizations requires a solution that is more a methodology than a one time fix. One aspect of this methodology is having the knowledge of which network ports a computer has open to the world, These network ports are essentially the doorways from the internet into the computer. An assessment method which uses the nmap software to scan ports has been developed to aid System Administrators (SAs) with analysis of open ports on their system(s). Additionally, baselines for several operating systems have been developed so that SAs can compare their open ports to a baseline for a given operating system. Further, the tool is deployed on a website where SAs and Users can request a port scan of their computer. The results are then emailed to the requestor. This tool aids Users, SAs, and security professionals by providing an overall picture of what services are running, what ports are open, potential trojan programs or backdoors, and what ports can be closed.

nMap↗
NASA NTRS2007

Comparison of TWP-ICE Satellite and Field Campaign Aircraft Derived Cloud Properties

Cloud and radiation products derived from the MTSAT-1R satellite have been developed for TWP-ICE. These include pixel-level, gridded, and ground site and aircraft matched. These products are available from the Langley website and the ARM data center. As shown in Figs 2, and 4-6, these products compare favorably with in-situ ground and aircraft based measurements. With additional quantitative validation these products can provide valuable information about tropical convection and its impact on the radiation budget and climate. As new algorithm improvements, such as multi-layer cloud detection, are implemented these products will be reprocessed and updated.

Ayers, J. K.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Individualized Communications

IntelliWeb and IntelliPrint, products from MicroMass Communications, utilize C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS), a development and delivery expert systems tool developed at Johnson Space Center. IntelliWeb delivers personalized messages by dynamically creating single web pages or entire web sites based on information provided by each website visitor. IntelliPrint is a product designed to create tailored, individualized messages via printed media. The software uses proprietary technology to generate printed messages that are personally relevant and tailored to meet each individual's needs. Intelliprint is in use in many operations including Brystol-Myers Squibb's personalized newsletter, "Living at Your Best," geared to each recipient based on a health and lifestyle survey taken earlier; and SmithKline Beecham's "Nicorette Committed Quitters Program," in which customized motivational materials support participants in their attempt to quit smoking.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group Management Office: Developing Solutions in an Agile, Open Science Environment

Every two years, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) leads an assessment of U.S. Federal civilian agency Earth observation needs submitted through the Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) survey. In four survey cycles beginning in 2016, nearly 400 high-priority satellite needs have been identified, spanning Earth Science and representing a wide variety of potential applications for Earth observation data. During each assessment cycle, new data products and services (i.e., solutions) that meet the needs of multiple agencies are identified and proposed for funding. The majority of solutions being developed or currently operational are global in scope, including harmonized land surface reflectance data from Landsat and Sentinel-2; composites of cloud properties derived from MODIS, VIIRS, and five geostationary satellites; dynamic surface water extent and land surface disturbance products derived from multiple optical and radar missions; a suite of low-latency products from the ICESat-2 mission; and a soil moisture product derived from the upcoming NISAR mission. The SNWG Management Office, within the Earth Action element of NASA’s Earth Science Division, manages both the biennial SNWG survey assessment and the development of solutions starting at full capacity with the 2020 cycle. Each solution project is required to align with NASA’s open science policy, including developing source code in an open code repository, having an open-source software license, and making all data freely available via NASA’s Earthdata website. The presentation will include an overview of the SNWG process, its emphasis on open science, and highlight several operational solutions freely available to the global research and applications communities.

Katrina Virts↗
NASA NTRS2014

More Than A SketchUp

This 2014 summer internship assignment at John F. Kennedy Space Center (K.S.C) was conducted with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Engineering and Technology (NE) group in support of the Control and Data Systems Division (NE-C) within the Test, Operations & Support Software Engineering Branch (NE-C2). The primary focus of this project was to assist Branch Chief Laurie B. Griffin, to support NASA's Small Payload Launch Integrated Testing Services (SPLITS) mission, by mastering the capabilities of 3-D modeling software called SketchUp. I used SketchUp to create a virtual environment for different laboratories of the NE-00 Division. My mission was to have these models uploaded into a K.S.C Partnerships Website and be used as a visual aid to viewers who browsed the site. The leads of this project were Kay L. Craig, Business and Industry Specialist (AD-A) and Steven E. Cain, (FA-C). I teamed with fellow intern Tait Sorenson of the Flight Structures and Thermal Protection Systems Branch (NE-M5) and met with many K.S.C lab managers willing to display their lab's structure and capabilities. The information collected during these lab tours was vital to the building of the K.S.C Partnerships Website. To accomplish this goal Sorenson and I later teamed with fellow Marketing intern Marlee Pereda-Ramos, of the Spaceport Planning Office In Center Planning And Development (AD-A) Along with Ramos, Tait and I toured an array of laboratories and got first hand exposure to their functions and capabilities.

Trimble Corporation↗
NASA NTRS2006

Precipitation links (PrecipLinks) - a prototype directory for precipitation information

This poster describes a web directory of research oriented precipitation links. In this era of sophisticated search engines and web agents, it might seem counterproductive to establish such a directory of links. However, entering precipitation into a search engine like google will yield over one million hits. To further exacerbate this situation many of the returned links are dead, duplicates of other links, incomplete, or only marginally related to research precipitation or even the broader precipitation area. Sometimes connecting the linked URL causes the browser to lose context and not be able to get back to the original page. Even using more sophisticated search engines query parameters or agents while reducing the overall return doesn't eliminate all of the other issues listed. As part of the development of the measurement-based Precipitation Processing System (PPS) that will support Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) version 7 reprocessing and the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission a precipitation links (PrecipLinks) facility is being developed. PrecipLinks is intended to share locations of other sites that contain information or data pertaining to precipitation research. Potential contributors can log-on to the PrecipLinks website and register their site for inclusion in the directory. The price for inclusion is the requirement to place a link back to PrecipLinks on the webpage that is registered. This ensures that users will be able to easily get back to PrecipLinks regardless of any context issues that browsers might have. Perhaps more importantly users while visiting one site that they know can be referred to a location that has many others sites with which they might not be familiar. PrecipLinks is designed to have a very flat structure. This poster summarizes these categories (information, data, services) and the reasons for their selection. Providers may register multiple pages to which they wish to direct users. However, each page may be attached to only one of these categories. Each page to which they refer users will also have a return link to PrecipLinks. The poster describes the operation of the system both the automated and the human processes. It also provides images for the various steps in the registration and use.

Velanthapillia, Balendran↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Market Survey 2020: Commercial Clinical Decision Support Systems and Wellness Tools

For long-duration, deep space exploration missions, current methods for managing and supporting crew health and medical conditions will be unsuitable. Communication and data transmission lags will necessitate the use of a sophisticated clinical decision support system (CDSS) that will tailor diagnosis and treatment guidance that is context-sensitive for anticipated astronaut health, wellness, and medical conditions. A variety of clinical decision support (CDS) and wellness tools (WT) are currently available in the commercial market and a broad-brush survey of this market can provide an initial impression of the current state of the art which, in turn, can inform the roadmap of NASA deep space CDSS development and associated requirements. Such a survey was undertaken during the first six months of 2020 using directed convenience sampling to obtain information provided by vendors on their websites; both commercially available CDS and WT (such as those used to track and monitor nutrition, exercise, and sleep) were included. Areas assessed were item type (e.g., software/application, device); primary purpose of the item (e.g., diagnostic support, nutrition tracking); additional purposes (if any); reported features, capabilities, and functionality; setting of use (e.g., inpatient, outpatient); intended user (e.g., clinician, patient); location and sources of data/information used or produced by the item; integration with patient electronic health record (EHR); compliance with interoperability ontologies and standards (e.g., Health Level 7 [HL7], Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine – Clinical Terminology [SNOMED-CT]); and whether the item is knowledge-based (derived from research findings) or non-knowledge-based (derived through artificial intelligence, machine learning, advanced probability and statistics), among others. Ninety-seven (97) vendor websites describing 196 CDS and 73 WT (269 total) were reviewed and coded. The primary purpose of the majority of CDS reviewed is diagnosis or diagnosis/treatment/drug decision support—targeted for clinician use— and the primary purpose of the majority of WT reviewed is the monitoring of different health metrics, most often through the use of a biosensor device (e.g., blood pressure)—targeted for patient use. Very few CDS or WT appear to comply with major international interoperability standards or can be integrated with a patient’s EHR data. None consider contextual factors, such as conditions of the physical environment (e.g., CO2 levels). The majority of CDS and WT reviewed are non-knowledge, cloud- or web-based applications or software. Forty-three (43) major findings were identified and the implications those findings have for NASA will be discussed. Example major findings include: CDS-WT capabilities range from diagnosis to treatment applications, CDS-WT may be wearable or non-wearable and are technologically advanced and only a few CDS-WT tools referenced compliance to ensure interoperability, among other findings. Recommendations will also be offered that will help to address ExMC Gap, Medical-701: Enhance medical capabilities within an exploration medical system.

market survey↗
NASA NTRS2000

Echo the Bat and the Pigeon Adventure

A multimedia, CD ROM to teach 2nd graders about remote sensing was created and developed into a web site. Distribution was expanded for Grades K-4 or 5-8. The idea was to have a story introduction, interactive story and a teacher's website. Interactive Multimedia Adventures in Grade School Education using Remote Sensing (I.M.A.G.E.R.S.) was created. The lessons are easy to use, readily available and aligned with national standards. This resource combines hands-on activities with an interactive web site

Butcher, Ginger↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA GSFC Flood Mapping System (In beta testing)

The authors are developing the NASA GSFC Flood Mapping System, designed to provide near real time, on-demand satellite-based products to disaster management practitioners for requests provided through a website interface. The initial version of the system, which only provides products based on Planetscope data provided by Planet Labs to NASA through the NASA CSDA Program, is currently being beta tested in partnership with the disaster management community and interested research partners. Products include images, NDWI maps, NDVI maps, and water extent maps for flood scenes of interest, the same four products for a specified reference scene, and water extent change maps based on the flood scenes and reference scenes. The team’s vision for the system includes adding products based on all appropriate sources of data that are available at no cost to the project (Landsat, Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2), and obtaining funding for commercial SAR data to provide products in the case where none of the “no-cost” data meets end-user needs. We provide an overview of the system, and discuss the products offered, lessons learned from initial testing, and plans to evolve the system in accordance with our overall vision and the lessons learned.

F. Policelli↗
NASA NTRS2012

Exploring Earth and the Solar System: Educational Outreach Through NASA's Space Place, SciJinks, and Climate Kids Websites

NASA's Space Place team publishes engaging content and creates an effective environment to inspire a young audience to dare mighty things. NASA uses the Space Place, Climate Kids, and SciJinks websites to cultivate interest among elementary-school-aged children in both science and technology. During my summer internship at Jet Propulsion Laboratory I used Adobe Flash and ActionScript 3 to develop content for the Space Place, Climate Kids, and SciJinks sites. In addition, I was involved in the development process for ongoing and new projects during my internship. My involvement allowed me to follow a project from concept to design, implementation, and release. I personally worked on three projects this summer, two of which are currently in deployment. The first is a scrambled letter-tile guessing game titled Solar System Scramble. The second, Butterfrog Mix-Up, is a rotating-tile puzzle game. The third project is a unfinished prototype for a maze game.

video games↗
NASA NTRS2002

The International Intercomparison of 3-Dimensional Radiation Codes

I3RC (International Intercomparison of 3-dimensional Radiation Codes) has as its primary goal to compare a wide variety of three-dimensional (3D) radiative transfer methods applied to Earth's atmosphere, with a few selected cloud fields as input, and a few selected radiative quantities as output. Phases 1 and 2 are now complete, and participants represented institutions in Canada, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the USA, who met for two workshops in Tucson, Arizona USA, and compared results from 5 cloud fields of varying complexity, beginning with simplified atmosphere and surface, and proceeding to more realistic cases. Phase 3 is now underway, focusing on improvement and sharing of 3D radiation code, aided by working groups on "Approximations" and "Open Source". The "Approximations" group has so far focused on diffusive approximate methods in an attempt to gain advantages in execution time, and also to advance the understanding of 3D radiation processes. The "Open Source" subgroup is developing a Monte Carlo radiative transfer toolkit that makes state-of-the-art techniques available to a wide range of users. Activities of both subgroups are further explained at the I3RC website http://i3rc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Participants in 13RC are forming a 3D Working Group under the auspices of the International Radiation Commission, and will meet for this and related activities at a workshop in Tucson in November 2002.

Cahalan, R. F.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Increasing Discovery and Usability of Earth Science Satellite Data with My NASA Data

For 20 years, the My NASA Data project at NASA Langley Research Center has developed innovative approaches to increase the use of NASA’s satellite data by learners. My NASA Data offers a variety of authentic Earth Science datasets and a data visualization tool, eliminating the need for educators and/or learners to obtain specialized knowledge of GIS data formats and software to access and use authentic Earth Science data. While there is no shortage of available data, as federal government agencies such as NASA house petabytes of freely accessible Earth Science datasets, much of the data are only available for download and visualization in specialized formats and software, limiting their accessibility to educators and learners, especially those in primary and secondary school. Using the Google Earth Engine platform, the My NASA Data team has recently reinvented their data visualization tool, called the Earth System Data Explorer (ESDE). The ESDE gives users the capability to explore over 60 Earth Science satellite datasets in a multitude of formats such as maps, graphs, and data table Its new and improved user interface design was developed based on the preferences of educators, whom the My NASA Data project has over 20 years’ experience working with. Earth Science and GIS Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) structured the data in a professional and scientific manner. During Fiscal Year 2023, the My NASA Data website received over 1 million digital engagements, with over one-third being visitors to the data visualization tool. These metrics highlight the interest in a visualization tool that is simple and free to use with reliable and trusted datasets. The ESDE empowers users to readily relate and analyze NASA Earth Science data within their area of interest. The team used a user-centered design (UCD) framework to receive and incorporate feedback into the application’s design. Core requested features include the ability to create time series graphs, comparative analysis of maps, and download the data as CSV file. Responses indicate that advances in data visualization tools such as the ESDE make authentic Earth Science data more accessible. This presentation will cover how the My NASA Data project develops tools to enhance data discovery and accessibility, as well as how SME and user suggestions are incorporated.

Desiray Wilson↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI) Knowledge Base Tool: Update and Future Direction

The Small Satellite Reliability Initiative (SSRI)Knowledge Base is a comprehensive and searchable online tool that consolidates and organizes resources, best practices, and lessons learned from previous small satellite missions sponsored by NASA, other government agencies, and academia. This free, publicly available tool is available to the entire SmallSat community. The SSRI Knowledge Base provides vetted, high-quality sources of information on elements that are key to successful small satellite missions. These resources include SSRI working group generated documents and presentations in addition to existing guides, publications, standards, software tools, websites, and books. The Knowledge Base is fully searchable, offers downloadable content when possible, and otherwise links to or references content directly from within the tool. This presentation and paper will discuss the motivation for and development of the SSRI Knowledge Base, demonstrate the existing tool, and outline plans for further development. The SSRI is a collaborative activity with broad participation from civil, Department of Defense, and both national and international commercial space systems providers and stakeholders. NASA’s Small Spacecraft Systems Virtual Institute (S3VI) funds the SSRI Knowledge Base. The S3VIis jointly sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and Science Mission Directorate.

Small Spacecraft↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hail Storm Risk Assessment Using Space-Borne Remote Sensing Observations and Reanalyses

Much of the world is impacted by severe thunderstorms, but whether they become disasters depends upon resilience--our capacity to prepare, mitigate, respond, and recover. Hail is the costliest severe weather hazard for the insurance industry, generating ~70% of severe convective storm losses due to damage to assets such as homes, businesses, agriculture, and infrastructure. Most insurance companies do not reserve enough capital to cover catastrophes, so they acquire reinsurance. The reinsurance industry uses catastrophe models (CatModels) to statistically estimate risk to an insurer’s portfolio. Hail CatModels are developed with climatologies that define hailstorm frequency and severity. Hail-prone areas can be defined using hail reports from trained spotters, the media, and the general public. Extremely severe hail (2+ inch diameter) occurs nearly every day across the world. Weather radars can detect hail because hailstones strongly reflect microwave signals that they emit. However, hail climatologies are difficult to derive because hail covers small areas and there are neither hail reporting mechanisms (e.g. website or mobile app) nor radar networks in most places outside the US and Europe. This lack of ground truth on severe hail puts society and economies at risk. Hail is generated within storms by strong updrafts. These updrafts exhibit unique signatures in NASA and other agency satellite observations, offering new opportunities for hailstorm analysis. Geostationary (GEO) visible and infrared imagery has been collected for ~15-25 years across the world (region dependent) and methods have been developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to detect hailstorm updrafts using GEO imagery. Climatological GEO updraft data has been used by Willis Towers Watson (WTW), a leader in catastrophe risk assessment for the insurance industry, and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology to develop CatModels over Europe and Australia. Hail can also be inferred with passive microwave imagery collected by low-Earth-orbiting sensors such as the GPM GMI, TRMM TMI, AMSR-E, AMSR-2, SSM/I, and SSMIS over the last 20+ years using methods developed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). Hailstorms generate enhanced lightning flash rates that can be tracked using new GOES-R series GEO Lightning Mapping (GLM) imagery. Atmospheric reanalyses can be used to define favorable hailstorm environments for combination with the satellite-based storm detections. This presentation will describe a framework for developing continental to global hail climatologies and CatModels based on NASA satellite data and capabilities. This is a collaboration between LaRC and MSFC, WTW, and partners in Brazil, Argentina, and South Africa. This project seeks to mitigate hail disasters by aiding development of new satellite-based severe storm nowcasting tools by regional partners and developing climatologies to improve societal understanding of hail frequency. GEOO visible and infrared metrics of storm intensity, environmental conditions based on reanalyses, spotter hail reports and radar MESH observations are intercompared to quantify the detectability of hailstorms, and our ability to discriminate hailstorms from other severe storms. We are also maturing methods using land surface imaging satellite data (e.g. MODIS, Landsat, Sentinel 1 and 2) to identify hail damage to agriculture. Work with WTW will improve socioeconomic resilience through development of new CatModels. Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina feature some of the most intense thunderstorms on Earth. South America and South Africa are developing insurance markets of interest to WTW clients, and is similar to other regions routinely impacted by hail that do not have comprehensive hail reporting or radars to assess hailstorm frequency. Project datasets will be made available via online GIS-enabled tools developed at the LaRC Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC) which will visualize data and provide it in multiple formats for use in a wide range of open source and commercial tools.

Kristopher Michael Bedka↗
NASA NTRS2014

The Experimental Regional Ensemble Forecast System (ExREF): Its Use in NWS Forecast Operations and Preliminary Verification

The Experimental Regional Ensemble Forecast (ExREF) system is a tool for the development and testing of new Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) methodologies. ExREF is run in near‐realtime by the Global Systems Division (GSD) of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) and its products are made available through a website, an ftp site, and via the Unidata Local Data Manager (LDM). The ExREF domain covers most of North America and has 9‐km horizontal grid spacing. The ensemble has eight members, all employing WRF‐ARW. The ensemble uses a variety of initial conditions from LAPS and the Global Forecasting System (GFS) and multiple boundary conditions from the GFS ensemble. Additionally, a diversity of physical parameterizations is used to increase ensemble spread and to account for the uncertainty in forecasting extreme precipitation events. ExREF has been a component of the Hydrometeorology Testbed (HMT) NWP suite in the 2012‐2013 and 2013‐2014 winters. A smaller domain covering just the West Coast was created to minimize band‐width consumption for the NWS. This smaller domain has and is being distributed to the National Weather Service (NWS) Weather Forecast Office and California Nevada River Forecast Center in Sacramento, California, where it is ingested into the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS I and II) to provide guidance on the forecasting of extreme precipitation events. This paper will review the cooperative effort employed by NOAA ESRL, NASA SPoRT (Short‐term Prediction Research and Transition Center), and the NWS to facilitate the ingest and display of ExREF data utilizing the AWIPS I and II D2D and GFE (Graphical Software Editor) software. Within GFE is a very useful verification software package called BoiVer that allows the NWS to utilize the River Forecast Center's 4 km gridded QPE to compare with all operational NWP models 6‐hr QPF along with the ExREF mean 6‐hr QPF so the forecasters can build confidence in the use of the ExREF in preparing their rainfall forecasts. Preliminary results will be presented.

Reynolds, David↗