Role of the PSL Map Room

These products are not guaranteed to be updated on a regular basis. They are intended to serve as examples of our ongoing work. Please contact psl.maproom@noaa.gov for more information.

The PSL Map Room consists of a mix of short-term operational weather products available from the National Centers for Environmental Predicition (NCEP) (e.g., via Unidata) and long-term research-oriented climate products produced from a variety of in-house data sets. The Map Room is part of PSL's real time climate monitoring project whose major goals are:

  1. Disseminate global climate products depicting slow oscillations of the climate system (time scale greater than 30 days).
  2. Interpret the current state of the climate system using El Niño/ Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as a framework.
  3. Produce experimental predictions of important variables describing the slow climate oscillations (e.g., Pacific/Indian Ocean sea surface temperatures, tropical convection, etc.).
  4. Transfer useful monitoring and forecasting products to NCEP's Climate Prediction Center for public dissemination.
The experimental climate effort involves mostly global datasets but there is also a regional component that focuses on the evolving climate over the Americas, including circulation, precipitation, storm tracks, etc. The initial set of products available for viewing illustrates some preliminary ideas under (1) above.