Division History

Last Updated: Tuesday, 15-Jul-2008 11:05:30 PDT

Marine Meteorology Division History

The genesis of what is now the Marine Meteorology Division of the Naval Research Laboratory began October 2, 1950 with Project AROWA (Applied Research: Operational Weather Analysis) in Norfolk, Virginia. The Bureau of Aeronautics authorized the establishment of Project Arowa for the purpose of developing basic meteorological research data into practical weather forecasting techniques during the Korean conflict.

By 1957, that project had grown and resulted in the establishment of the Navy Weather Research Facility, which became known as the Environmental Prediction Research Facility (EPRF) in 1971. Also in 1971, EPRF was moved to Monterey, California to be collocated with Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (then known as Fleet Numerical Weather Center) and the Naval Postgraduate School. The purpose of this move was to provide maximum synergy between research and operations and to facilitate sharing of computer resources, thereby expediting product development and operational implementation. In 1972, the FAMOS project (Fleet Application of Meteorological Observations from Satellites) was merged with EPRF, further expanding the mission of the organization.

In 1974, “Naval” was added to the Facility’s name, and the group became known as NEPRF. NEPRF initially functioned as a field activity of the Naval Air Systems Command. It was later placed under the authority of the Chief of Naval Research in Washington, D.C. The primary mission of NEPRF was an applied mission, with a focus on development of products and handbooks to support naval operations and evaluation of the impact of the atmosphere on those operations.

In 1989, NEPRF’s designation changed once again, but this change was more than a name change. NEPRF was combined with the Naval Oceanographic Research and Development Activity (NORDA) and the Institute for Naval Oceanography, both located at the Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, to form a new corporate laboratory under the Chief of Naval Research. This new laboratory was called NOARL, the Navy Oceanographic and Atmospheric Research Laboratory, with the former NEPRF group designated as the Atmospheric Directorate of NOARL, which remained in Monterey. The merger with NORDA also brought a change in mission, and the group began to focus on establishing and growing a basic research program in atmospheric sciences to complement the more traditional applied research and development mission.

Finally, in 1992, as a continuation of the Department of Defense laboratory consolidation initiative, NOARL was incorporated into the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) – headquartered in Washington, D.C. – and the Atmospheric Directorate of NOARL became the Marine Meteorology Division of NRL. Today, NRL Monterey is the only scientific center in the Navy that is wholly dedicated to atmospheric research.

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