A 3-D animated image of downscaled Global Forecast System (GFS) model data showing Hurricane Katrina making landfall on August 29, 2005. This image was generated with the Visualization and Analysis Platform for Ocean, Atmosphere, and Solar Researchers (VAPOR) tool and ImageMagick.
To address a growing need for remote access to high-volume numerical weather prediction and global climate models and data, NCDC, along with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL), initiated the NOAA Operational Model Archive and Distribution System (NOMADS) project. NOMADS is a repository of weather model output datasets, model input datasets (assimilation), and a limited subset of climate model datasets generated by NOAA. NCDC provides near-real-time access to these weather model forecast data in addition to historical model data.
Looking into the past, present, and future, three broad categories of modeled data are available through NOMADS: Reanalysis, Numerical Weather Prediction, and Climate Prediction. To assist users in the analysis of multi-disciplinary datasets and promote interoperable data analysis, NOMADS also services derived/other model data including sea surface temperatures (SST), Paleoclimate (tree ring and ice core) data, observational, and derived observational datasets. More information and data are available through the NOMADS homepage.