Overview

The VLab is a set of services and IT framework which enables NOAA employees and their partners to share ideas, collaborate, engage in software development, and conduct applied research.

  • Enables informal collaboration and prototyping
  • Supports formal structured development

VLab goals promote the successful and efficient transfer of research and development to operations/applications and the flow of information from operations to the research community.

VLab Components
Collaboration Services

VLab collaboration services offer access to communities that feature wikis, blogs, forums, document libraries, and other tools that help users express, refine, and share their ideas. Because the VLab is a virtual environment, users can leverage these tools regardless of time zone and work schedule.

VLab provides resources useful to collaborators such as the Science Sharing Library, a registry of scholarly articles and papers written by NWS employees, and the You-Make-the-Call lessons which allow users to learn from real world case studies. More information on these resources is available on the Science Sharing page. There are also plans to add a database of information on projects that users can search to find like minded collaborators and prevent duplication of effort.

VLab collaboration services acts to facilitate people getting involved. The VLab leverages the NOAA Rotational Assignment Program (NRAP) to enable employees to become adjunct VLab developers. In the future, the VLab will also give NOAA employees to share their skills, through a Subject Matter Expert Cadre.

Want to learn more about getting started collaborating within the VLab, go to the Communities page.

Development Services

Development Services allow users to leverage tools to manage software development projects. Tools include the following:
 

  1. Project Management - Redmine
  2. Issue Tracking - Redmine
  3. Revision Control - Git and Subversion
  4. Code Review - Gerrit
  5. Continuous Integration - Jenkins

 

Want to learn more about getting started developing software within the VLab, go to the Development Services page.



Who Uses The VLab
  1. Open to all NOAA employees.
    • You can log in now by going to the Sign In Page
    • Enter the user ID and password you use for Google Mail
  2. External users with NOAA sponsorship

    External users needing VLab access should have their NOAA sponsor complete the user request form at /group/guest/external-user-request
  3. VLab Development Services targeted at operational systems
    • Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS)
    • Weather and Climate Operational Supercomputing System (WCOSS)
    • NWS Internet Dissemination System (NIDS)
Where To Go Next
  1. Read about VLab Goals
  2. Learn more about collaborating within the VLab at the Communities page
  3. Understand how to develop software within the VLab by going to the Development Services page
  4. Consider volunteering for a NOAA Rotational Assignment (NRAP) by going to the VLab NRAP page
  5. Learn more about Science Sharing within the VLab