Contact: Barry Reichenbaugh or Paul Kinville FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2/28/97
General Sciences Corporation of Laurel, Md., was awarded a competitive, five-year, $9.1 million contract today to provide software support for the National Weather Service's new interactive weather computer and communications systems that will help save more lives and limit damage caused by bad weather, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. This system, known as the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, or AWIPS, was approved for limited deployment by the Secretary of Commerce in February.
"These software tools are integral to the operational mission of the National Weather Service and support the development of AWIPS," said Elbert W. Friday Jr., NOAA assistant administrator for weather services. "By equipping forecasters and meteorologists with improved forecasting tools, the weather service can provide even more timely weather and flood-related services. By increasing the warning time for severe weather events, the weather service can decrease the loss of lives and property."
NWS Weather Forecast Offices will use AWIPS to provide weather and flood warnings, public forecasts and advisories for all of the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas. AWIPS will allow local forecasters to receive their forecast guidance products in near real time, making it possible to update forecast and warning information more frequently and to provide, more rapidly, the variety of weather products available to the public.
GSC's work complements the design work done by PRC Inc., the primary AWIPS contractor. GSC will participate in the design, development, integration and deployment of software applications. Specifically, GSC will provide scientific and automated data processing services for hydrometeorological techniques and software support running in AWIPS and used by forecasters across the country. GSC has been supporting NWS in software development for AWIPS since September 1986.
NWS will begin installing AWIPS at 21 field sites this summer and fall. A decision on installing the remaining sites is planned for December. NWS is developing AWIPS in incremental stages to allow for continuous feedback that can be incorporated into ongoing development efforts. AWIPS will connect the national centers and forecast offices with each other, and will provide them with data gathered by radars, satellites and other advance observing technologies. A total of 148 systems will be installed.
GSC, founded in 1977 as a small minority business, graduated from the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program in 1988. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Science Applications International Corporation, the largest employee-owned research and development company in the United States.