Lucas Sterzinger's capstone (undergraduate senior) research project at the University of North Dakota (UND) investigated how cloud computing services could be used to run weather models, specifically for small businesses.

In this article, Lucas summarizes his project, which looked at whether hosting servers in the cloud a reasonable alternative to buying physical hardware to be located on-site.

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have used funds made available through Unidata's Community Equipment Awards program to prototype a system for using cloud-based resources to provide access to 3D-visualization software. Their project, titled “A Prototype Cloud-Based Visualization System for Unidata Applications,” focused on running Unidata's Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) on a remote (“cloud”) system and making it available on multiple remote clients.

Unidata is happy to announce the Community Equipment Award recipients for 2017. Five institutions received funding this year:

• Central Michigan University
• College of DuPage
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• University Hawaii
• University of Miami

Unidata offers equipment grants to support a variety of projects

The Unidata Program Center is pleased to announce the opening of the 2017 Unidata Community Equipment Awards solicitation. Created under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, Unidata equipment awards are intended to encourage new members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in the geosciences to join the Unidata community, and to encourage existing members to continue their active participation, enhancing the community process. For 2017, a total of $100,000 is available for awards; proposals for amounts up to $20,000 will be considered.

Thanks to a 2015 Unidata Community Equipment Award grant, combined with matching funds from Plymouth State University, students working in the weather lab in Plymouth State's Department of Atmospheric Science & Chemistry now have 21 new workstations on which to use the Integrated Data Viewer (IDV) and AWIPS II.

During the 2015-16 academic year, the workstations were used heavily by students in a variety of classes, including Synoptic Meteorology, Atmospheric Physics, Instrumentation & Observations, Mesoscale Meteorology, Numerical Weather Prediction, Satellite & Radar Meteorology, and our meteorological computer application class, which provides in depth instruction with IDV and ISL. Furthermore, students used the workstations to produce scholarly research in areas such as atmospheric rivers, orographic precipitation, and explosive extratropical cyclone intensification over the North Pacific.

Western Kentucky Student using AWIPS II

The Bachelor of Science Meteorology Program at Western Kentucky University, housed within the Department of Geography and Geology, is currently the only meteorology program in Kentucky and Tennessee that meets all Federal Civil Service requirements for employment by the National Weather Service and enables broadcast meteorologists to immediately pursue the “Certified Broadcast Meteorologist” program of the American Meteorological Society upon graduation. The program is facilitated by a variety of atmospheric science centers and laboratories, including the College Heights Atmospheric Observatory for Students (CHAOS), the Kentucky Mesonet, and the Kentucky State Climate Center. Faculty and students within the WKU Meteorology Program also maintain close working relations with the National Weather Service-Louisville and other nearby offices for lectures, workshops, storm surveys, and student employment.

The emphasis of the WKU Meteorology Program is on advanced theoretical and applied coursework, coupled with student engaged, hands-on active learning with meteorological instruments, field work, and data visualization. Students undergo extensive training in each course using a variety of Unidata and other software for data visualization regarding forecasting and research applications.

NWS meteorologists demonstrating AWIPS II

Thanks to a 2015 Unidata Community Equipment Award grant, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Atmospheric Science Program has been able to acquire a dedicated AWIPS II Environmental Data EXchange (EDEX) server and three Common AWIPS Visualization Environment (CAVE) workstations. The machines were deployed in our Atmospheric Science computer lab in mid-August 2015, just prior to the start of the 2015-16 academic year. Over the past year, our program has seen maximum benefit from these resources in two areas: strengthening our partnership with the Milwaukee/Sullivan, Wisconsin National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office (MKX) and as a tool to enhance student development outside of a formal classroom setting.

Unidata is happy to announce the Community Equipment Award recipients for 2016. Five institutions received funding this year:

• Oregon State University
• Pennsylvania State University
• University of Iowa
• University of Louisiana at Monroe
• University of North Dakota

Unidata offers equipment grants to support a variety of projects

Just a reminder that the 2016 Unidata Community Equipment Awards solicitation is open for new proposals through March 25, 2016. If you're looking for equipment (physical hardware or cloud-based services) to get your Unidata technology project off the ground, we encourage you to submit a proposal.

Created under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, Unidata equipment awards are intended to encourage new members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in the geosciences to join the Unidata community, and to encourage existing members to continue their active participation, enhancing the community process. For 2016, a total of $100,000 is available for awards; proposals for amounts up to $20,000 will be considered.

Unidata offers equipment grants to support a variety of projects

The Unidata Program Center is pleased to announce the opening of the 2016 Unidata Community Equipment Awards solicitation. Created under the sponsorship of the National Science Foundation, Unidata equipment awards are intended to encourage new members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in the geosciences to join the Unidata community, and to encourage existing members to continue their active participation, enhancing the community process. For 2016, a total of $100,000 is available for awards; proposals for amounts up to $20,000 will be considered.