Hi Phil,

Good question. Geoff Manikin and I haven't been able to find any NCEP web site yet with plans about the transfer of models to the new IBM SP-2. But here is what we know.

Transition of NCEP operational models to the SP-2 will take place in the May-August period. The global model is scheduled for May, the Eta for June, and the RUC by July, but may occur in May-June.

Initially, all models will be transferred in their current resolution to the SP-2, and then a few-several months later, there will be changes to all of the models with increased resolution to take advantage of the faster SP-2.

For the RUC, it is estimated that the SP-2 will allow a 20-25 km resolution. We have run 20km tests here already at FSL, and the RUC code seems to run efficiently in initial tests on the SP-2. We have already moved the code to the SP-2 and begun recompiling it there. The forecast model itself has been run a number of times -- it is the biggest CPU component of the RUC. The Eta anticipates a 22-25 km resolution.

There is a further upgrade to the SP-2 with more and faster processors planned for late 2000. This upgrade will allow further resolution, physics, and data assimilation improvements to all NCEP operational models.

I hope this information helps. This NCEP computer change really opens the doors to some major improvements and users will see some very significant benefits in the next year or two.

Stan