Guest editorial
Parallel computing in regional weather modeling
The area of regional weather modeling is an important branch of atmospheric simulation, with application to forecasting, climate, and basic atmospheric research. These models are able to provide detailed simulations of a particular locality that global models cannot. And while similar to their global counterparts, regional models also have a number of important structural and algorithmic differences that also bear on their suitability for parallel computers. Two years ago, Parallel Computing focused on parallel computing in climate and weather modeling on a global scale. Intended as a follow-up to the 1995 special issue, the nine papers in this special issue underscore the interest and activity world-wide in developing regional weather models able to exploit the power and memory capacity of modem scalable parallel computers.
Clive Baillie, our principal guest-editor, held a joint appointment at Colorado State University and the NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory, in Boulder. He conceived the idea for this issue and then worked and organized with characteristic energy and dedication until his untimely death, October, 1996 in the climbing accident that also claimed the life of Julie Boucher, his wife. This issue is dedicated to their memory.