AR Recon Program Named First “Anchor Project” by Global Precipitation EXperiment (GPEX)

July 24, 2025

Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon), a CW3E-led program in partnership with NOAA (National Centers for Environmental Prediction and Aircraft Operations Center) and the U.S. Air Force, was recently named by the Global Precipitation EXperiment (GPEX) as an anchor project to coordinate global field campaigns. Called for in the 2023 ARROW Act, the bipartisan AR Forecasting Bill, and recognized as a World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) endorsed project, AR Recon serves as a critical program to improve western U.S. operational weather forecasts in direct support of emergency preparedness and resource management.

The Global Precipitation EXperiment (GPEX) is a cross-World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) initiative to improve global precipitation predictions, with an emphasis on storm types such ARs, mesoscale convective systems, monsoons, and tropical cyclones, including in polar and high-mountain regions. High impact events like floods and debris flows are often caused by extreme precipitation and projected to be exacerbated by a warmer climate. Accelerated improvements in precipitation products are essential to support emergency response, water management, and infrastructure planning amid changing precipitation patterns. GPEX provides a unique opportunity to close observational and process-level gaps and advance prediction capabilities for resilient, sustainable development.

To serve as an anchor project supporting GPEX, AR Recon is collaborating with international field campaigns—such as NAWDIC and DOTSTAR—as it expands globally and advances AR science. A demonstration of an expanded version of AR Recon, known as the Global AR Recon Program 2026 Demonstration (GARRP-26 Demo), is planned for January and February 2026, in close coordination with following field campaigns sharing highly relevant scientific objectives:

  • SAFARI linking ocean and atmospheric observations (ONR-led)
  • NAWDIC in the Northeast Atlantic (European-led)
  • NURTURE at high latitudes based in Canada (NASA led)
  • TEPEX Tropical Pacific air-sea interaction (NOAA-led)
  • AR Recon – University Coordinated Radiosonde Program (CW3E-led)

In line with GPEX objectives, these campaigns focus on sampling precipitation across different regions and seasons, evaluating gridded datasets, identifying gaps in the global observing network, advancing kilometer-scale modeling, improving understanding of key precipitation processes through field observations and emerging tools like feature tracking and instrument simulators, and enhancing prediction of both extreme events and shifts in precipitation seasonality.

For more detailed information about the AR Recon program, please see the AR Recon webpage.