H.R. 4141 — Advanced Weather Model Computing Development Act

This section revises NOAA's computing resources authorities by striking authorizations of appropriations for information technology pilot programs ($5 million for FY2019, $10 million for FY2020, and $5 million annually for FY2021-FY2023) and related reporting requirements; and inserting the following: (1) a requirement to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to optimize advanced computing for NOAA missions; (2) authority to expand or establish centers of excellence to promote adoption of next-generation artificial intelligence- and machine learning-enabled advanced computing capabilities, including through public-private partnerships for workforce and infrastructure development, software tool optimization, application of advanced data analysis technologies, and exploration of quantum computing partnerships to improve weather prediction accuracy and resolution; (3) authority to enter multi-year contracts, per 41 U.S.C. §3903, for high-performance and cloud computing infrastructure or systems; and (4) a requirement for the NOAA Under Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretary of Energy, to submit to specified congressional committees within two years of enactment a report evaluating the value of high-resolution probabilistic forecast guidance for hazardous weather or water events (i.e., severe storms such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and flash floods; winter storms; and other hazards such as extreme heat or cold, wildfire, drought, dense fog, high winds, and flooding), interagency computing collaboration needs, and implementation timelines for high-resolution numerical weather prediction models and related computing, visualization, and dissemination capabilities. This section further requires the NOAA Under Secretary to make publicly available, not later than one year after enactment and updated every five years thereafter until 2035, a 10-year strategic plan on high-performance computing and data management needs to support NOAA missions including fisheries management, oceanographic forecasting, and ecological forecasting. The plan must include a prospective outlook of required computing resources and upgrades; projected needs disaggregated by line office; information on facilities, contracts, and partnerships; use of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other emerging technologies; distribution of resources between operations and research; products unavailable due to computing limitations; workforce development needs; common high-performance computing requirements across line offices; and implementation timelines.