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RAL
• Cross-Cutting Themes

Advanced Instrumentation

RAL employs a variety of advanced instrumentation to conduct significant applied scientific research and to facilitate the transfer of the information, expertise, and technology it develops to the public and private sectors.

ADDS

The Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS) has been a valuable tool to the aviation community since September 2003. Text, digital and graphical forecasts, analyses, and observations of aviation-related weather variables are made available to the aviation community through ADDS. ADDS is a joint effort of NCAR Research Applications Laboratory (RAL), NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL), and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Aviation Weather Center (AWC).

Intelligent Weather Systems (DICastTM)

The Dynamic Integrated foreCast (DICastTM) system ingests meteorological data (observations, models, statistical data, climate data, etc.) and produces meteorological forecasts at user-defined forecast sites and forecast lead times. Current and potential applications for the DICastTM system are in the areas of public weather, surface transportation, short-term forecasting, agriculture, military/homeland defense, fire weather, ceiling and visibility and the energy sector.

Real-Time Four Dimensional Data Assimilation (RT-FDDA)

A high-resolution data assimilation system developed in RAL. Running with the Penn State/NCAR MM5 Mesoscale Model, the RT-FDDA provides regional weather forecasts. It also has an interior grid centered over the Washington metropolitan area that runs at very high resolution.

Variational Doppler Radar Assimilation System (VDRAS)

Developed in RAL/MMM, VDRAS provides detailed and frequently updated information on wind, rain, and other real-time weather developments. VDRAS is the first real-time system to diagnose low-level wind and temperature over a wide region using four dimensional data assimilation of Doppler radar data.

Variational Lidar Assimilation System (VLAS)

A Doppler lidar variant of VDRAS, VLAS provides similar information as VDRAS, but at very high resolution, suitable for estimating winds at a neighborhood scale.