The Weather Research & Forecasting Model
The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model is a
next-generation mesoscale numerical weather prediction system
designed for both atmospheric research and operational
forecasting needs. It features two dynamical cores, a data assimilation
system, and a software architecture facilitating
parallel computation and system extensibility. The model serves a
wide range of meteorological applications across scales
from tens of meters to thousands of kilometers. The effort to develop WRF
began in the latter part of the 1990's and was
a collaborative partnership principally among the National Center
for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (represented by the National Centers for
Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the (then) Forecast Systems
Laboratory (FSL)), the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA), the Naval
Research Laboratory, the University of Oklahoma, and the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA).
WRF can generate atmospheric
simulations using real data (observations, analyses)
or idealized conditions. WRF offers operational
forecasting a flexible and computationally-efficient platform,
while providing recent advances in physics, numerics, and
data assimilation contributed by developers across the
very broad research community. WRF is currently in operational use at
NCEP, AFWA, and other centers.
WRF has a large worldwide community of registered users
(over 30,000 in over 150 countries), and workshops and
tutorials are held each year at NCAR.
The WRF system contains two dynamical solvers, referred
to as the ARW (Advanced Research WRF) core and the NMM (Nonhydrostatic
Mesoscale Model) core. The ARW has been largely developed and maintained by the
MMM Laboratory, and its users' page
is: WRF-ARW Users'
Page. The NMM core was developed by the
National Centers for Environmental Prediction, and its user
support is provided by the Developmental Testbed Center.
Its users' page is: WRF-NMM
Users' Page.
This site (wrf-model.org) provides general information on the
WRF model and its organization and offers links to WRF users' pages,
real-time applications, and WRF announcements. However, for detailed
information on the content, use, and updates of the modeling
system, and for all code downloads and documentation,
users should visit the WRF-ARW and WRF-NMM home pages (see above).
For WRF questions or comments, email wrfhelp: wrfhelp@ucar.edu .
For website questions or comments, email webmaster: webmaster .
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