WRF Administration

The original development of the WRF system was a joint, long-term effort by a collaboration of organizations. The coordination of the project was shared, and included the partner institutions and outside advisory positions. This page summarizes WRF's historical and active administrative components. As the core development of WRF is over and the system is mature, most of the original entities are no longer active. The one board that does remain active is the Research Applications Board (RAB). The WRF Developers' Committee and the WRF Release Committee have taken over the duties of oversight of code contributions, repository maintenance, and the issuance of new model releases. The active and historical administrative entities are described below.

WRF Developers Committee and Release Committee

Currently, WRF repository management and release oversight are handled by two committees: the Developers Committee and the Release Committee.  The Developers’ Committee oversees additions to, and maintenance of, the code repository, while the Release Committee oversees the new releases to the user community.

The Developers Committee has responsibility for maintaining the WRF system software by implementing procedures for, and overseeing the process of, code contributions, code testing, and repository upkeep. It determines whether code modifications are acceptable for inclusion, and it manages the repository. The Release Committee oversees the preparation and issuance of WRF major releases. The document WRF Code Repository and Release Administration describes the groups and their functions.

WRF Research Applications Board

The primary function of the WRF Research Applications Board (WRAB) is to review trends, emerging science, and new technologies and to identify and prioritize things with the greatest opportunity for advancing the capabilities of WRF for research community use. The board meets annually at the WRF/MPAS Users' Workshop. The membership of the WRAB reflects leaders in the research community and heads of WRF working groups. WRAB members are selected for their research expertise and span a cross-section of the atmospheric sciences community to provide the vision and leadership for sustaining WRF as a modeling system for research. The WRAB may be contacted at wrf-wrab@wrf-model.org.

WRAB Members

  • Shuyi Chen, University of Washington
  • Chris Davis, NCAR
  • Georg Grell, NOAA
  • Todd Hutchinson, The Weather Company
  • Brian Jewett, University of Illinois
  • Joe Klemp, NCAR
  • Ruby Leung, PNNL
  • Cliff Mass, University of Washington
  • Lou Wicker, NSSL

Ex-Officio WRAB Member

  • Bill Kuo, NCAR

WRF Executive Oversight Board

During WRF's formative years and initial developmental phase, the WRF Executive Oversight Board (WRF ExOB) was the top level of WRF program management and operated in accordance with the WRF Agreement in Principle (AIP), the agreement of the partner institutions. The AIP signatory organizations each designated one senior-level voting member to the board. The ExOB focussed on the overall progress of the effort and on budgetary issues. It appointed a Program Coordinator, as well as the members and chairmen of the WRF Research Applications Board and WRF Operational Requirements Board.

WRF Operations Requirements Board

The primary function of the WRF Operational Research Board (WORB) was to define WRF program requirements necessary for the system to support operational and real-time forecasting applications. Requirements were those scientific and technical attributes needed for WRF to be a powerful tool for the operational and real-time communities. The WORB was to review WRF coding and documentation standards developed by the WRF working groups and, in concert with the Developmental Testbed Center (DTC) and Operations Testbed Centers, ensure their suitability for sustaining WRF for operations as well as research. The head of the WORB was an ex officio member of the WRAB.

WRF Development Teams and Working Groups

In the initial development of the WRF system five development teams were set up: Numerics and Software, Data Assimilation, Analysis and Verification, Community Involvement, and Operational Implementation. Each team coordinated efforts from subsidiary working groups within its area, and the original teams and working groups (WG) are listed below. While the teams are no longer active, some groups still communicate and meet at the annual WRF/MPAS Users' Workshop. For information on active working groups, one may post to the WRF & MPAS-A Support Forum.

  • Numerics and Software

    • WG1: Numerics and Software
    • WG2: Software Architecture, Standards, and Implementation
  • Data Assimilation

    • WG3: Standard Initialization Procedures
    • WG4: 3D-VAR Data Assimilation System
    • WG10: Advanced Data Assimilation
  • Analysis and Verification

    • WG6: Post Processing
    • WG7: Model Testing and Verification
    • WG13: Ensemble Forecasting
  • Community Involvement

    • WG5: Model Physics
    • WG8: Website, Workshops, and Model Support
    • WG11: Atmospheric Chemistry
    • WG14: Land Surface Modeling
    • WG16: Regional Climate Modeling
  • Operational Implementation

    • WG9: Operational Implementation
    • WG12: Data Handling and Archive
    • WG15: Operational Forecaster Training