An Operational Mesoscale Ensemble-Based Forecast System using HPC Resources

The US Army Test and Evaluation Command (ATEC) currently is responsible for providing operational meteorological support to research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) activities at eight Army installations. The four-dimensional weather (4DWX) meteorological support system used to provide that support was developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in collaboration with ATEC meteorologists. A high-resolution (mesoscale) numerical weather prediction (NWP) model is a major 4DWX component in operational use at seven ATEC test centers. This paper describes current 4DWX NWP capabilities and discusses how the new Department of Defense (DoD) dedicated high performance computing project investment (DHPI) at Dugway proving ground (DPG) will enhance NWP forecast support to ATEC field and virtual tests.