• Weather.gov Forecast
  
• Active Weather Alerts
• NOAA Organizations
• Working With NOAA
• Media & Constituents
• NOAA In Your State
• Emergency Information for NOAA Employees

NOAA Names Kyger to Manage Nation’s Climate and Weather Supercomputer

February 12, 2008

Ben Kyger has been selected to manage the day-to-day operations of the nation’s weather and climate supercomputers that give federal, private and broadcast meteorologists the latest forecasts and models for national weather, daily air quality, U.S. hazards assessments, drought, hurricane, and seasonal outlooks.

As the director of central operations at the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, an arm of NOAA’s National Weather Service, Kyger also will manage the acquisition process for the nation’s next weather and climate supercomputer.

“Ben Kyger brings a wealth of information technology experience and management skills that will allow the National Weather Service to ensure timely delivery of accurate climate, ocean and weather forecasts to customers across the country and around the world,” said Dr. Louis Uccellini, director, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction.

Currently, the nation’s weather and climate supercomputer, made by IBM, takes in 1.7 billion observations per day and makes 14 trillion calculations per second.

Kyger graduated from the California State Polytechnic University and started his career with Electronic Data Systems, eventually becoming an account executive supporting Bethlehem Steel. He went to work for i2 Technologies as a consulting director supporting one of their largest clients, Caterpillar Corporation. He became the deputy director of NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction central operations in March 2006 and has served as the center’s acting director since October 2006.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.