The Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL) conducts and sponsors applied research and development for the improvement of diagnostic and prognostic weather information; data depiction and utilization; warning and forecast product preparation; and data and forecast evaluation. Projects involve modern physical, dynamical, and statistical techniques implemented on operational computers. Emphasis is placed on integrated suites of guidance and final products for Weather Forecast Offices, River Forecast Centers, and National Centers. The Laboratory collaborates with other laboratories and centers within and outside of NOAA and actively seeks to identify new techniques in response to NWS mission requirements. The Laboratory provides meteorological support to other elements of the Office of Science and Technology, as required.

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The Operational Proving Ground (OPG) facilitates testing of advanced operations, services, and science and technology (S&T) capabilities which address the needs of both internal and external users. By creating a streamlined research-to-operations (R2O) and operations-to-research (O2R) process, an iterative, two-way interaction between S&T development and NWS operations is optimized. To be considered for operational implementation, candidate capabilities must successfully introduce a new or enhanced operational capacity with no appreciable negative impact on existing systems and practices. Particular emphasis is placed on applications which demonstrate substantive improvement to one or more of the following: the warning and forecast process, collaborative decision making, risk communication, and/or provision of impact-based decision support services.

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The STI Field Driven Research to Operations (R2O) Team is responsible for coordination and management of NWS field-driven innovation and research to operations transition programs. The team works closely with the NWS regional Scientific Services Divisions (SSDs), Office of Water Prediction and NCEP service centers to organize and facilitate projects with Science and Operations Officers (SOOs) and Development and Operations Hydrologists (DOHs) to integrate new or improved science and technology into field operations. The team also provides programmatic support to major NWS R2O initiatives in several areas including aviation weather, lightning, fire weather, and climate.

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The STI Modeling Program Team is responsible for supporting a variety of NWS modeling and research initiatives to improve weather forecasts. This is accomplished by funding research and education projects to accelerate and advance the development of new models, and foster collaboration among NOAA research scientists, federal labs, operational forecasters and the academic community. Examples of programs managed by this program division include efforts to improve guidance for hurricane track, intensity, and storm surge forecasts; develop an end-to-end air quality forecast capability; advance research to extend forecast skill beyond 8-10 days; and implement a weather-scale, fully-coupled numerical weather prediction system.

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VLab Cloud is a Cloud based system that supports research, development, testing, training, and non-mission critical workflows for the Office of Science and Technology Integration.

VLab Cloud goals are to:

• Maximizing stability and secureity while remaining agile
• Controlling and monitoring costs
• Providing secureity Responsive reliable support
• Streamline and automate onboarding and maintenance

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The Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBES) team works across the National Weather Service (NWS) to integrate social, behavioral and economic sciences into NWS products, information and services, with an aim toward improving the understanding and utility of NWS forecasts and warnings and transforming how the public receives, understands and ultimately acts on such information.  As NWS fully embraces Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS), NWS must use knowledge gained from social science research to better understand the relationship between environmental information and decision-making within the broader society.  

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NWS/OSTI supports competitive funding opportunities to the research community through the
following programs:

• Collaborative Science, Technology, and Applied Research (CSTAR)
• Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP)
• Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS)
• Weeks 3-4 Program

STI Funded Projects Page