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JHT Frequently Asked Questions



2016 JHT Announcement of Grant Opportunity

What programming language is supported at NHC? We have been using R -- but the Announcement of Grant Opportunity states that R is discouraged. What do recommend in its place based on the environment there?

Python would work well for NHC. We have several NHC staff members that are trained in Python and that is supported on our Linux servers at NHC and on the NCEP supercomputer. R is not ideal because NHC does not have anyone trained in that language and it would be one more package the Technology and Science Branch would need to support, which is already spread too thin. A stand-alone Fortran or C routine that did not require a license (other than a compiler) or Python library routine would be acceptable.


How much data storage is available at NHC for our project? How can we best provide you large amounts of data? We can easily include in the budget several 3-4 Tb USB disks for transfer of data as required.

NHC can handle data storage for a project on the order of 10 Tb, but not 100 Tb. Discussion about the exact transfer mechanism can be accomplished later, after funding decisions are made. If we used external storage for the transfer, NHC would supply that so you do not need to budget for it.


Do you know the history behind JHT-9: (Applications) Develop tropical cyclone climatology software that provides statistics on closest point of approach to a station, bearing and distance to a station, cyclone intensity statistics for a point or location, return period statistics, etc.? This sounds like a perfect candidate for a GIS application. Doesn't some of the functionality already exist in various apps such as the Historical Hurricane Tracks Tool?

The background about the JHT-9 Applications item is that a replacement is needed for HURISK, the "National Hurricane Center Risk Analysis Program". This was developed in the 1980s by Charlie Neumann (Neumann 1987). With the evolution of HURDAT into HURDAT2 a few years ago, HURISK could not take into account the asynoptic landfall times nor could it even be run any longer because of the dramatically changed data format. A replacement is desired that can provide similar or enhanced output from that originally available in HURISK. The type of application that could provide this information would be to individual PIs to propose.



2014 JHT Announcement of Grant Opportunity

Could you be more specific as to the solicitation request for a "brief budget" in the Letter of Intent? Do you require a detailed line item budget with exact numbers that the full proposal must adhere to (if encouraged)? Or is an estimated budget with a few general line items (salary, travel, etc.) generally acceptable for the Letter of Intent?

An estimated budget with a few general line items (salary, travel, etc.) is acceptable for the Letter of Intent. The full proposal does not have to adhere to the numbers included in the Letter of Intent.


Is it permissible to have multiple proposals submitted under one principal investigator?

Yes


The full solicitation for the JHT (NOAA-OAR-OWQ-2015-2004200) states that LOIs are due Friday, September 15, 2014; however, September 15 is a Monday. Which is the correct date?

Monday, September 15 is correct