ASTRONOMY

Indiana University has received a five-year, $6 million award to expand its operation of N-Wave, the science network for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA is the federal agency that works to understand the entire Earth system, including the complex interactions between the ocean and atmosphere that produce weather and climate. Research and continual improvements to mathematical models contribute directly to more accurate weather forecasts, pinpointed severe storm warnings and more complete climate understanding and prediction.

Since 2010, network engineers, software developers and service desk technicians at the IU Global Research Network Operations Center (GlobalNOC) have provided expert, round-the-clock support to N-Wave. In turn, the network backbone provides high-speed services to NOAA customer sites, programs, line offices and research facilities. Ultimately, N-Wave moves massive data loads – up to 80 terabytes of data per day – from remote supercomputing sites across the country, increasing collaboration and access to weather and climate data across the scientific community.

"The N-Wave network is vital to the essential scientific work of NOAA that has profound effects for public safety and the national economy," said Brad Wheeler, IU vice president for information technology and chief information officer. "We are proud that NOAA has again chosen the unique expertise of Indiana’s GlobalNOC as its partner. The renewal and expansion of this contract again affirms the value and skills in the Hoosier state."

"Going forward, the GlobalNOC will continue to be an important partner for NOAA missions such as climate modeling, data delivery, satellite data dissemination, research in tsunami modeling and weather forecasting in general," said Jerry Janssen, executive director, NOAA Boulder Laboratories.

"For the past three years, the GlobalNOC staff has earned a trusted relationship with NOAA based on providing excellent network operations support and customer service," said Dave Jent, IU associate vice president for networks. "This new $6 million award affirms IU’s success in supporting NOAA’s science mission, and we see additional opportunities to further the relationship. N-Wave makes extensive use of Internet2’s newest high performance research network that is also supported by the NOC staff at Indiana University.”

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IU’s initial NOAA contract was a $1.6 million, three-year award funded in part under the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also known as "the Stimulus"). The contract establishes a ceiling of up to $6 million for specific NOAA work orders to support and expand the network.

Formed in 1998 to provide 24-hour network operations and engineering services for Internet2's first national network, the GlobalNOC recently celebrated its 15th anniversary. Today, GlobalNOC's Service Desk, Network Engineering, and Software and Systems teams ensure reliability, performance and advanced capabilities for Internet2 and more than 20 advanced network projects.