Global Repository | Data Contributors

Contributors to the Global Repository

Overview

TCGP's global repository is made possible through the voluntary contributions of data from dozens of government-funded agencies, universities, and other research institutions. Without this network of data contributors, TCGP would not be possible. This page details the various contributing organizations to give proper credit for each of their contributions. Before getting to the full list, the types of organizations, types of data, and methods of contributing are first described.

Types of organizations that contribute data to TCGP

There are many different types of data contributors. These include National Meteorological and Hydrometeorological Services (NMHS), Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers (RSMC), Tropical Cyclone Warning Centers (TCWC), academic and research institutions, and individual researchers.

Types of data contributed

Not all of the data contributed to the global repository consists of model data. Other types of data include analyses of the current and past locations and intensities of tropical cyclones, as well as observational data taken in and around tropical cyclones.

Methods of data contributions

Data are contributed through several different ways:

  • Passive contributions: In many cases, the data are already made publicly available on an open ftp server. In these cases, TCGP scripts periodically pick up the data from these various ftp servers.
  • Active contributions: In cases where the data are not already publicly disseminated elsewhere, special arrangements must be made to either push or pull the data from the contributor to TCGP. In some cases, work must be done to get the data into the ATCF format used by TCGP.  
  • Linked contributions: In some cases, data are not collected and disseminated through TCGP directly, but TCGP provides links to outside websites that provide this information. 

 

List of TCGP Contributors

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

NOAA is currently the greatest contributor of data to the global repository. A number of NOAA divisions and offices work together to provide a massive amount of data used in prediction tropical cyclones. These include several units of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Center (NCEP), the NOAA Satellite and Information Data Service (NESDIS), and NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR).

National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)

NCEP is an integral part of the National Weather Service (NWS), providing meteorological, hydrometeorological, oceanic, climate, and space weather prediction services for the United States. Several units of NCEP work together to provide much of the comprehensive suite of TC model guidance. These include the Environmental Modeling Center (EMC), the NCEP Central Operations (NCO), the National Hurricane Center (NHC), and the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC). The contributions of each of these units is detailed below. 

Environmental Modeling Center (EMC)

EMC develops and improves NCEP's suite of numerical models through partnerships with the research community. EMC's specific contributions to TCGP include:

  • Development of the regional Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) model
    • Real-time HWRF runs for the North Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Central Pacific basins are obtained via NHC's public ftp server.
    • Real-time HWRF runs for the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean basins are provided to TCGP through special arrangement with EMC.
  • Development of the Global Forecasting System (GFS) model and the Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS)
    • Real-time GFS and GEFS runs are provided for the North Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Central Pacific basins via NHC's public ftp server
    • Real-time GFS runs are provided for the Western Pacific, North Indian Ocean, South Indian Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere via a NCEP public ftp server
  • Contribution of JTWC compute decks in the form of tcvitals files for the Western Pacific, North Indian Ocean, South Indian Ocean, and Southern Hemisphere basins via a NCEP public ftp server:

Central Operations (NCO)

NCO maintains the central computing facility for NOAA and has the responsibility for running all of the various operational model guidance. The global and regional models run at NCO include the GFS/GFES, HWRF, and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) hurricane model.

National Hurricane Center (NHC)

NHC is the designated RSMC for the North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins. It is important to note that NHC does not run most of the models that are provided on its ftp server -- most of these models are run at a various global modeling centers (e.g. NCEP, the UK Met Office, the Canadian Meteorological Center, the U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical and Oceanographic Center, and elsewhere). Other experimental models are run at various research institutions through the support of NOAA's Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project or the NOAA Joint Hurricane Testbed.

NHC's specific contributions to TCGP include:

  • Compute decks: Operational estimates of tropical cyclone intensity, position, and size which comprise the CARQ lines in adecks.
  • Storm table:
  • a-decks: NHC collects, processes, and interpolates of the comprehensive suite of operational and experimental models for the North Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins (these models run at NCEP, other modeling centers, and research institutions). TCGP downloads the a-decks from: ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/aid_public/.
  • b-decks: NHC analyzes current and past tropical cyclone locations and intensities for its area of responsibility. TCGP downloads the operational b-decks from ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/btk/.
  • f-decks: NHC collects observations of center fixes obtained from various remote sensing platforms and aircraft (many of these center fixes are made by other divisions within NOAA). TCGP downloads the f-decks from ftp://ftp.nhc.noaa.gov/atcf/fix/.
  • Aircraft reconnaissance archive: NHC's CARCAH office collects a large volume of aircraft-based observational data taken in and around hurricanes by the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and the NOAA Aircraft Operations Center. All of these operational data streams are maintained by NHC in their aircraft reconnaissance archive at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/recon. TCGP mirrors the NHC reconnaissance archive every 15 minutes here.

Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC)

CPHC is the designated RMSC for the Central Pacific basin.

Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC)

HPC provides hydrometeorological forecasts and analysis for tropical cyclones that make landfall in the United States. Their flash flood guidance is available on NHC's website.

Ocean Prediction Center (OPC)

OPC provides forecasts and analysis of ocean waves and significant marine weather for the high seas. Their guidance is available on their website.

NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

Atlantic Oceanographic and Marine Laboratory (AOML)'s Hurricane Research Division (HRD)

HRD seeks to increase basic physical understanding of hurricanes and improve hurricane models. Importantly, HRD runs the annual field program each year, using a fleet of NOAA aircraft to collect data in hurricanes. HRD's specific contributions to TCGP may in the future include:

  • Hurricane Analysis and Forecast System (HAFS).

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL)

GFDL is another NOAA laboratory dedicated to the development of earth systems models. GFDL's specific contributions to TCGP include:

  • Development of the Hurricanes in a Multi-scale Ocean-coupled Non-hydrostatic (HMON) hurricane model.

NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (AMAO) - Aircraft Operations Center (AOC)

AOC is responsible for maintaining the small fleet of NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft that fly into and around hurricanes to collect research data.

NOAA Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

NESDIS is responsible for the NOAA satellite program which provide vital satellite imagery over the Atlantic and East Pacific regions. NESDIS also runs the satellite and aircraft wind analysis products that TCGP links to in its individual storm pages.

Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program (HFIP)

HFIP is a major program funded by the United States which seeks to improve forecasts of hurricane track and intensity. HFIP has provided major support for the improvements made to the HWRF/HAFS models and other academic research groups.

 

U. S. Department of Defense

Naval Research Laboratory (NRL)

NRL is the U.S. Navy's main research laboratory.

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC)

FNMOC runs the various Navy numerical guidance and provides these to TCGP through special arrangement. These include the following:

    NAVGEM and NAVGEM Global Ensemble (replaced the NOGAPS model in 2013)

    COAMPS-TC

    GFDL model initialized from the NAVGEM (GFDN)

FNMOC has granted TCGP permission to publicly disseminate these numerical guidance.

Joint Numerical Warning Center (JTWC)

JTWC is the U.S. Department of Defense agency responsible for issuing tropical cyclone warnings for the Pacific and Indian Oceans. JTWC provides analysis of current and past TC location and intensity for the Western Pacific, North Indian, and Southern Hemisphere ocean basins. Much of JTWC's data is not available for public access due to their sensitive military mission, however JTWC has recently granted permission for TCGP to publicly disseminate their real-time operational estimates of tropical cyclone parameters from the JTWC Collaboration Site. JTWC invites researchers and collaborators who need historical or archive data to apply for a collaboration account at the link above. JTWC's specific contributions to TCGP include:

  • CARQ lines: Operationally-analyzed estimates of tropical cyclone intensity, position, and size for the previous 24 h during the history of the storm. These data are included in TCGP's a-decks.
  • TCVITALS: Operationally-analyzed estimates of tropical cyclone intensity, position, and size formatted into files for the purpose of initializing numerical weather models and other forecast aids. TCGP uses these TCVITALS (format described here to create working best track files (b-decks)for these basins. Users are cautioned that the contents of TCGP's working best tracks will often differ in content from JTWC's actual working best tracks. For instance, JTWC may update their operational estimates during a forecast cycle, which may not be immediately reflected in TCGP. They may also working best track after the fact during a storm event and such changes will NOT be reflected in TCGP's working best tracks. Users are reminded that JTWC's final post-season best tracks can be obtained from JTWC's web site approximately one year following the storm.
  • Storm table: JTWC also provides a consistent ATCF-based numbering scheme for TCs in the other global basins outside of the North Atlantic and East/Central Pacific. This JTWC storm table is distributed via NRL's ATCF collaboration site

United Kingdom Met Office

The UK Met Office provides the track and intensity forecasts from the Unified Global Model. These are provided to TCGP via special arrangement.

University Contributors

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Professor Kerry Emanuel

Professor Kerry Emanuel is a world renowned expert in the thermodynamics of tropical cyclones and how storm dynamics plus environmental factors such as the sea surface temperature (SST) and upper tropospheric outflow temperature act to set an upper bound on the intensity that a system can achieve. Such a limit is called the Maximum Potential Intensity (MPI). Kerry's specific contributions to TCGP include:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Jonathan Lin

Jonathan Lin is a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jonathan Lin's contribution to TCGP is:

*The data incorporated herein is generated from the use of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)’s Forecasts of Hurricanes Using Large-ensemble Outputs (FHLO) version 1.50, © MIT, used with permission. All Rights Reserved.