wrf

The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) is a mesoscale numerical weather prediction system designed for both atmospheric research and operational forecasting. It supports high-resolution forecasts and flexible configurations across scales from convective to synoptic.

WRF comprises two dynamic cores: the Advanced Research WRF (ARW) and the Nonhydrostatic Mesoscale Model (NMM). The ARW is the more widely used core; the NMM core provides an alternative nonhydrostatic option. WRF is coupled with the WRF Preprocessing System (WPS) for data ingestion and domain definition, and with WRF Data Assimilation (WRFDA) tools for incorporating observations. The model runs on high-performance computing platforms and can exploit MPI, OpenMP, and GPU acceleration in some configurations.

WRF offers numerous physical parameterizations for microphysics, radiation, surface layer and land-surface processes, boundary layer schemes, and cumulus parameterizations. It supports nesting of multiple domains and nonuniform grids, enabling fine-scale forecasts within a larger domain. Initial and boundary conditions can be supplied from global models (e.g., GFS, ECMWF) or from regional data assimilation systems.

As an open-source project, WRF is widely used by universities, meteorological services, and research institutes for weather forecast studies, climate research, workflow testing, and impact assessment. Outputs are typically in NetCDF or other standard data formats, suitable for post-processing and visualization.