Since the 1980’s, the Research Applications Laboratory (RAL) here at NCAR has been performing work for the FAA in the area of nowcasting and forecasting hazardous weather that affects aviation. Along these lines RAL has collaborated both with Lincoln Labs and NOAA in creating real-time systems that provide hazardous weather products to FAA controllers, airline dispatch, pilots and weather forecasters. Recently the FAA has requested the participating labs to collaborate in establishing a set of common standards in order to improve the quality of the delivered code and its associated documentation. In this talk we will discuss how this process evolved, the steps we are taking to respond to the FAA’s requests and the challenges of conforming to a stricter development environment.
The Coding Standard Draft mentioned in the talk.
Gerry Wiener has been a software engineer at NCAR since 1987. He is currently the engineering deputy under Bill Mahoney in the Weather Systems and Assessment Program at RAL. He has worked on a variety of projects including FAA wind shear/microbursts, FAA turbulence, FAA ceiling and visibility, Hong Kong wind shear and turbulence, wind forecasting for renewable energy and road weather.
