Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms, University of Oklahoma
Data Center Description
The Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS; http://caps.ou.edu) was established at the University of Oklahoma in 1989 as one of the first 11 National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center. Its mission was, and remains the development of techniques for the computer-based prediction of high-impact local weather, such as individual spring and winter storms, with the NEXRAD (WSR-88D) Doppler radar serving as a key data source.
Along the path toward fulfilling this mission, CAPS developed the Advanced Regional Prediction System (ARPS; http://caps.ou.edu/ARPS). The ARPS is a fully automated numerical prediction system designed for both research and operational application at scales ranging from continents down to cities. It includes a data ingest, quality control, and objective analysis package known as the ARPS Data Analysis System (ADAS; http://caps.ou.edu/adas.html); a single-Doppler radar parameter retrieval and 3DVAR/4DVAR data assimilation system; the prediction model itself; and a web-based data display and decision support system. The value of the ARPS was recognized in 1997, when CAPS received both the Discover Magazine Award for Technology Innovation as well as the Computerworld-Smithsonian Award.
When CAPS was established over 10 years ago, few in the scientific community believed that storm-scale weather, especially thunderstorms, possessed any reasonable degree of predictability. By 1996, CAPS had conclusively demonstrated that prediction on this scale indeed was possible, and had done so through a mix of case studies as well as real-time operational tests in close collaboration with the Norman, Oklahoma National Weather Service Forecast Office, NCEP Storm Prediction Center, US Air Force, FAA, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.