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National Weather Service

The Evolution of AWIPSThe Evolution of AWIPS

NSTEPNSTEP

April 4, 2007April 4, 2007

Ronla HenryRonla Henry

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OverviewOverview

• Outcomes and Objectives

• Re-architecture Approach

• Features of AWIPS II

• Roadmap

• Impacts

• Training

• Risks and challenges

• Summary

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AWIPS EvolutionAWIPS EvolutionShort-Term OutcomesShort-Term Outcomes

• Improve transition of research to operations,

• Reduce of software operations and maintenance costs,

• Reduce of technology refresh costs, and

• Improve software and hardware upgrade methodologies that minimize adverse impacts on operations.

AWIPS-II enables these outcomes

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AWIPS EvolutionAWIPS EvolutionLong-Term OutcomesLong-Term Outcomes

• Increase integration of hydrologic and meteorological activities,

• Improve performance and functionality of AWIPS at RFCs,

• Increase integration of AWIPS and National Center AWIPS (N-AWIPS),

• Improve continuity of operations during significant events, and

• Increase access to all environmental data for decision making.

Enhanced AWIPS-II requiredto address these outcomes

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ObjectivesObjectives

• Establish Service Oriented Architecture for AWIPS and NAWIPS• Enable access to data independent of its location, i.e., provide

access to data not resident locally at the WFO or RFC.• Build a common AWIPS visualization environment (CAVE) that

will be used by all applications• Provide infrastructure for real time graphical collaboration

between• WFOs, RFCs and centers for enhanced internal collaboration• Other NOAA entities and• Trusted partners, e.g., Emergency Managers

• Establish infrastructure for Enterprise Service Back up• Standardize generation of NWS products and services• Establish infrastructure for GIS integration in generation and

delivery of services

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AWIPS IIAWIPS IIRe-Architecture ApproachRe-Architecture Approach

• Perform “black-box” conversion• Same outward appearance and functionality as today

• New “internals”

• Most expedient migration at lowest operational risk

• Convert the baseline system off-line• Thorough field validation and acceptance before deployment

• Leverage Raytheon Internal Research and Development (IRAD) to “jump start” software development

• AWIPS II to be consistent functionally with AWIPS I baseline at time of deployment

Approach Designed for Expedient Realization at Low Operational Risk

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AWIPS IIAWIPS II Re-Architecture ApproachRe-Architecture Approach

Open SourceOpen Source

• Raytheon approach leverages open source projects - No proprietary code

• JAVA and open source projects enable AWIPS II to be platform and OS independent• No plans to move from Linux

• AWIPS Development Environment/Software Development Kit (ADE/SDK) contains necessary software to write applications, extend AWIPS

• Objective is to make AWIPS II available for collaborative development• OS, Platform independence allows non-Linux based research

to be easily integrated into AWIPS II

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AWIPS II AWIPS II FeaturesFeatures

• AWIPS II architecture: an integrated environment enabling easy extension of the system

• Developers concentrate on new capabilities, not re-implementing existing ones (i.e. screen I/O, communications protocols, data access routines, logging routines, or other previously developed capabilities)

• Key Requirements/Needs implemented or enabled

• System level, remediation, core services

• Improved support for local requirements (e.g., local apps, scripts, plug-ins)

• AWIPS II software infrastructure extended through

• Use of plug-ins: visualization extensions; new data types and transforms

• Additional infrastructure services

Reliability, Adaptability, Performance – Core Features of AWIPS II

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AWIPS II AWIPS II FeaturesFeatures

• Common software development environment via AWIPS Development Environment (ADE)• Used by all AWIPS developers (National, Regional, & Local)

• Software can be developed on a variety of platforms

• Applications developed using ADE more easily integrate into AWIPS

• Common AWIPS Visualization Environment (CAVE)• Provides a common development and execution environment for

AWIPS GUIs (e.g. D2D, NMAP, GFE, etc.)

• Ability to pan/zoom large data sets (Raster & Vector)

• Complete Operator flexibility over data rendering

• GIS tools

• Thin Client (Web Browser) enabled

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RoadmapRoadmap

2007 2008 201020092006

SW CTR

ADE Training

Local App Migration

Baseline Application MigrationDeployment

AT

Field Ops Training

App Migration Planning

New Release Paradigm

PIPAnalysis

ADE Development

Risk Reduction Demos

AE OSIP Gates 2 3 4a 4b+

= Fiscal Year

= Calendar Year

Prototype ReleasesEvery 3 months

ADE Production Release 1.0

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AWIPS IIAWIPS IIOperational Operational ImpactsImpacts

• Forecaster• Little to no impact anticipated

– Look & Feel preserved• ESA/ITO

• New architecture drives changes to:– Release Installations (projected to be easier & shorter in duration)– System Maintenance– System Troubleshooting

• Application Focal Point• Definition of application changes under new architecture• Application configuration likely to change

– Do not know by how much at this time. Better idea around end of calendar year (2007)

• Local Application Developer• Local applications need to be migrated to new infrastructure

– Migration path needs to be determined for each local app• New development accomplished within ADE/SDK

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AWIPS IIAWIPS IITrainingTraining

• Training Requirements submitted to NSTEP• 1-Pagers:

– AWIPS 2 System Administration Deployment– AWIPS 2 Focal Point Deployment– AWIPS 2 Developer Training– AWIPS 2 Local Applications Development– AWIPS 2 Meteorologists and Hydrologists Application

Deployment– AWIPS 2 Site Support Team (SST) Training– Weather Event Simulation Capabilities in AWIPS 2

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AWIPS IIAWIPS IITrainingTraining

• Working with NWSTC to write a strategic training plan for AWIPS II

• Phasing schedules• Provide enough (but not too much) lead time prior

to deployment of AWIPS II

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AWIPS IIAWIPS IIRisks and ChallengesRisks and Challenges

• Performance• Supporting the short fuse warning mission• Handling large global data sets

• Schedule• Completing the migration and testing before the

end of 2009

• Migration of local applications• Local applications outside the baseline and not a

Raytheon responsibility

Active Risk Mitigation Activities in Critical Areas

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SummarySummary

• AWIPS Evolution underway!!• ADE/SDK 0.2 delivered March 2007• ADE/SDK 1.0 to be delivered July 2007

• Application migration planning underway• AWIPS baseline migration to be complete FY09• Deployment complete FY10

• Enhancements to AWIPS II being planned• “Open Source” AWIPS project to enable collaborative

development• Risks and challenges abound but mitigation activities

in place