Year

Historical List of JNWPU / NMC / NCEP Numerical Weather Prediction and Ocean Models (1955-present)

Last changed 01/25/06

Year	Type	Model	Horizontal Resolution	Layers	Domain	Forecast length	Documentation	Computer	Bye	#/dy
1955	R	Baroclinic	300 km	3	US	36 hrs	NAVAER	IBM701	10/57	1
1955	R	Barotropic	600 km	1	N America+	72	“	“	10/57	1
1956	R	Thermotropic	375 km	2	N America	36	“	“	10/57	1
1957	H	Barotropic	381 km	1	NH Octagon 1977pts	72	JNWPUB #22	IBM704	6/93	2
1958	?	Baroclinic	?	2	“	36	JNWPUB #26	“	1/62	1
1960	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	IBM 7090
1962	H	Cressman filtered-equation	381 km	3	“	36	JNWPUB #34+NMC-TM22 (TPB105)	“ ======>	6/66 anl til Hough (1974)	2
1962		BarotropicEx	381 km	1	“	36-96		“	6/66
1962	H	Reed – Surface	381 km	2	“	36	NMC -TM26	“	6/66
1963	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	IBM 7094
1966	H	Primitive Equation (PE)	381 km	6	NH (53,57) points	36	Shuman, Hovermale JAM,1968	CDC6600	8/80 (1/78)	2
1968	O+H	TDL’s Wave Model	381 km			36		“	‘86
1970	H	PE, Barotropic extension	381 km	1	NH	84-144		“	8/80 (1/78)	1
1971	R	Limited-area Fine Mesh (LFM)	190.5 km	6	N America	24	TPB #67	“	2/96 (’75)	2
1972	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	IBM 360-195
1974	G	PE	2.5 deg	8	Global	12 hr Final Analysis	TPB #115	“	‘76
1975	R	LFM	190.5 km	6	N America	36	TPB #129	“	2/96 (’76)	2
1976	R	LFM	“	6	“	48	TPB #162	“	2/96 (3/79)	2
1976	G	PE	2.5 deg	9	Global	12 hr Final Analysis	TPB #258	“	8/80
1977	G	PE	3.75 deg	3	Global to 48 hr NH to252	252	TPB #215,#257	“	4/81	1
1978	H	PE	190.5 km	7	NH (129,129) points	84	TPB #218	“	8/80	2
1978		Barotropic extension	?	1	NH	84-240	NMC Office Note 316	“	1/80	1
1978	Hu	Moveable Fine Mesh	60 km	10	Window (50,50) points	48	TPB #259	“	‘88
1979	R	LFM-II	127 km	7	N America	48	TPB #255	“	2/96 (’81)	2
1980	H	PE extension using 4^th order finite differencing	381 km	7	NH	60-144	TPB #272,#273 Office Note 316	“	8/80	1
1980		Barotropic extension	?	1	NH	144-252	Office Note 316	“	8/80	1
1980	G	Spectral	R30	12	Global	48	TPB #282	“	Still* (’83)	2
1980	H	Spectral extension	R24	12	NH	48-144	Office Note 316	“	4/81	1
1981	R	LFM-II 4^th order	190.5 km	7	N America	48	TPB #300	“	2/96	2
1983	G	Spectral	R40	12	Global	240, 00Z		Cyber 205	Still* (’85)	2
1985	G	Spectral	R40	18, 12 h2o	Global	240,00Z 72,12Z	TPB #349	“	Still* (’87)	2
1985	R	NGM	80 km	16	N America	48	TPB #345,#350	“	Still*	2
1986	O+G	NOAA Ocean Wave (NOW)	2.5 deg	-	Global	72	TPB #364	“	10/94	2
1987	G	Spectral	T80	18	Global	240, 00Z		2^nd C205	Still* (’91)	2
1988	Hu	Quasi-Lagrangian Model(QLM)	40 km	10	Window (111,111) points	72	TPB #377	“	6/95
1990	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	==>	CrayYMP
1991	G	Spectral	T126	18	Global	240, 00Z		“	Still* (’93)	2
1992	E+G	ENSembles (ENS) - Spectral	T62	18	Global	240 : 3 mbrs	TPB #471	“	Still* (’94)
1993	R	ETA	80 km	38	N America+	48	TPB #412	“	Still* (’95)	2
1993	G	Spectral	T126	28	Global	240, 00Z		“	Still* (’00)	2
1994	R	Rapid Update Cycle (RUC)	60 km	25	CONUS+	12,evry3	TPB #416,#429	Cray C90	Still* (’98)	8
1994	O+G	WAM	2.5 deg	1	Global	72	TPB #426	“	3/00	2
1994	E+G	ENS-Spectral	T62	18	Global	384 hrs: 17 mbrs		“	Still* (’00)
1995	Hu	GFDL multi-nest	Atmosphr3 nests: 1, 1/3,1/6 dg	18	Window	78	TPB #424	“	6/01
1995	R	Meso-ETA	29 km	50	N America+	33 at 3Z and 15Z		“	6/98	2
1995	R	ETA	48 km	38	“	48		“	Still* (’98)	2
1997	R	RSM	10 km (20N)	28	Hawaii	48	TPB #444	“	Still*
1997	O+R	Sea-Ice Drift	List of ice-line points		Arctic, Antarctic	384	TPB #435	“	Still*	1
1998	R	ETA	32 km	45	N America+	48 @ 0Z & 12Z; 33 @ 3Z; 30 @ 18Z		“	Still* (’99)	4
1998	R	RUC	40 km	40	CONUS+	12,evry3 3,every1		“	Still* (’02)	24
1999	R	ETA	32 km	45	N America+	48–0, 6, 12, 18Z		IBM-class8, phase 1	Still* (’00)	4
2000	G	Spectral	T170/62	42/28	Global	384@0Z 84@6Z,12Z,18Z		“	Still* (3/02)	4
2000	E+G	ENS-Spectral	T126 T62	28 18	Global	0-84 84-384: 23 mbrs		“	Still* (’04)
2000	O+G	NOAA Wave Watch III	1.0 x 1.25 deg	1	Global	72 (orig) then 126	TPB #453	“	Still* (’03)	2
2000	R	ETA	22 km	50	N America+	60 @ 0Z & 12Z; 48 @ 6Z & 18Z		“	Still* (’02)	4
2000	O+R	W. North Atlantic Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Atlantic	72 (orig) then 126	TPB #459	“	Still* (’03)	2
2000	O+R	Alaska Wave	.50 x .25 deg	1	Alaskan Waters	72 (orig) then 126	TPB #456	“	Still* (’03)	2
2001	Hu	GFDL/URI coupled	Atmos= 3 nests! Ocean = 1/6 deg	A=18, O= 23	Window	126	TPB #472b	IBM–class8, phase2	Still* (’03)	4
2001	O+R	N. Atlantic Hurricane Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Atlantic	72	TPB #478	“	Still* (’03)	2
2001	G+E	Seasonal Forecast Model (SFM)	T62	28	Global	7 month: 20 mbrs	TPB #480	“	8/04
2001	E+R	Short-Range ENS forecast (SREF) –	48 km	(45-28)	N America	63: 15 mbrs		“	Still* (’05)
2001	R	Hi-Res window (Eta)	10 km	50	1/3 CONUS; 6 nests/da	48		“	Still* (’03)	1
2002	O+R	Princeton Ocean Model(POM)	Variable 10-20 km	19	Ocean off Eastern N America	48	TPB #489	“	12/05	1
2002	O+R	E. North Pacific Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	East Pacific	126	TPB #491	“	Still* (’03)	2
2002	G	Spectral	T170/62	42/28	Global	384: 4 times/dy		“	Still* 10/02	4
2002	G	Spectral aka GFS (Global Fcst System)	T254/170/126	64/42/28	Global	“		“	Still* 5/05	4
2002	R	ETA, aka NAM	12 km	60	N America+	84		“	Still*	4
2002	R	RUC	20 km	50	CONUS+	12,evry3 3,every1		“	Still* (’05)	24
2003	R+ NHy	Hi-Res Window (non-hydrostatic mesoscale)	8 km	60	1/3 CONUS: use one of 6 diff domains	48		IBM-class9, phase 1: frost/snow	Still* (’05)	4
2003	R+ NHy	Fire Weather (non-hydro, mesoscale)	8 km	60	SDM gets ¼ Hi-Res Window	48		“	Still*	4
2003	Hu	GFDL/URI coupled	Atmos= 2 nests; 33/18 km; Ocean = 1/6 deg	A=42, O= 23	Window; 75x75 deg	126		“	Still* (’05)	4
2003	O+R	N. Atlantic Hurricane Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Atlantic	72	TPB #478	“	Still* (’05)	4
2003	O+R	N. Pacific Hurricane Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Pacific	72	TPB MMAB /2004-03	“	Still* (’05)	4
2003/2004	O+G	NOAA Wave Watch III	1.0 x 1.25 deg	1	Global	168(’03) 180(’04)	TPB #494	“	Still*	4
2003/2004	O+R	W. North Atlantic Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Atlantic	168(’03)180(’04)	TPB #495	“	Still*	4
2003/2004	O+R	Alaska Wave	.50 x .25 deg	1	Alaskan Waters	168(’03)180(’04)	TPB #496	“	Still*	4
2003/2004	O+R	E. North Pacific Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	East Pacific	168(’03)180(’04)	TPB #491	“	Still*	4
2004	E+G	ENS-Spectral	T126 T62	28	Global	0-180, 180-384: 45 mbrs		“	Still* 8/05
2004	R	Downscaled GFS with Eta extension (DGEX)	12 km	60	CONUS+Alaska	84-192 extenson		“	Still*	2
2004	G+E	Climate Forecast System: CFS, replaces SFM	T62	64	Global	9-10 months: 60 mbrs		“	Still*	2
2005	E+R	SREF	Variable 32-48 km	(60-28)	N America	87: 15 mbrs		IBM-class9, phase2: blue/white	Still*
2005	O+R	N. Atlantic Hurricane Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Atlantic	126	TPB #478	“	Still*	4
2005	O+R	N. Pacific Hurricane Wave	.25 x .25 deg	1	North Pacific	126	TPB MMAB /2004-03	“	Still*	4
2005	O+R	RTOFS_Atl, HYCOM, replace POM	Variable 4-15 km	26	20S-70N Atlantic Ocean	120 at 00 UTC	Being Prepared	“	Still*	1
2005	G	GFS (spectral)	T382/190/	64	Global	384: 4 times/dy	Informal EMC tpb	“	Still*	4
2005	R	RUC	13 km	50	CONUS	12,evry3 9,every1		“	Still*	24
2005	R+ NHy	Hi-Res Window: WRF cores (nmm,arw)	5 km	35	1/3 CONUS+Alaska; 6 domains	48		“	Still*	1/ea regn
2005	E+G	ENS-Spectral	T126	28	Global	0-384: 45 mbrs		“	Still*
2005	Hu	GFDL/URI coupled	Atmos= 3 nests; 33,18,8kOcean = 1/6 deg	A=42, O= 23	Window; 75x75 deg	126		“	Still*	4

NOTES:

Bye = approximate date of model retirement

(mm,yy) or (‘yy) is date that this version was retired!

Still* = an operational version is still running in 2005

(mm,yy) or (‘yy) is date that this version was retired!

#/dy = number of operational runs per day

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Contact for information or corrections – Kenneth Campana, NCEP/EMC
Email address: kenneth.campana@noaa.gov

Reference Information –

Bonner, W.D., 1989: NMC overview: recent progress and future plans, Weather and Forecasting, 4, 275-285.

Kalnay, E., Lord, S.J. and R.D. McPherson, 1998: Maturity of operational numerical weather prediction: medium range, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 79, 2753-2769.

Shuman, F.G., 1972: The research and development program at the National Meteorological Center, NMC Office Note 72, 19 pages.

Shuman, F.G., 1989: History of numerical weather prediction at the National Meteorological Center, Weather and Forecasting, 4, 286-296.

Special Thanks to current and former members of NMC/NCEP, in alphabetical order: Thomas Black, Lawrence Burroughs, Kenneth Campana, Geoffrey DiMego, Francis Hughes (Office Note 316), Robert Kistler, Timothy Marchok, George VanDenberghe, Yuejian Zhu.

Type -

H = Hemispheric

G = Global

R = Regional

Hu = Hurricane

O = Ocean

E = Ensembles

NHy = Non-Hydrostatic

Documentation -

NAVAER = Numerical Weather Prediction, NAVAER 50-1P-541,

June 1956, published by direction of the Chief of Naval Operations

JNWPUB = Joint NWP Unit Bulletins (38 of them from 1955-1967),

some available from NOAA Library, Silver Spring, MD.

NMC-TM = National Meteorological Center Technical Memorandum,

available from NOAA Central Library, 1315 East-West Highway, SSMC3, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

JAM = Journal of Applied Meteorology

NCEP Office Notes :

available from National Centers for Environmental Prediction, Office of the Director, 5200 Auth Road, Camp Springs, MD 20746, OR

see http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/officenotes

TPB = NWS Technical Procedures Bulletins (continuation of the JNWPU

Bulletins), 1967+, available from NOAA Central Library,

Silver Spring, MD, or Office of Services, NOAA/NWS,

1325 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Some available on-line, see:

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/tpb/indexb.htm