Advances in technology over recent decades have revolutionised the practice of meteorology by providing both computational resource and the ability to store and distribute large amounts of data. The use of numerical techniques to produce operational weather forecasts initially required supercomputers that were only available to the largest NMHSs. The storage and distribution of increasingly large datasets produced by atmospheric models and observation systems such as satellite and radar also became a challenge.

The continued advance of computer technology, coupled with the emergence of high speed global communication connectivity has led to the creation of ‘Cloud Computing’ where any meteorologist can easily access previously unaffordable computational power and data storage for both operational and research activity. A variety of different architectures and application platforms are now widely available in a global marketplace.

This session aims to bring together both users and providers of Cloud Computing resource who are working at the leading edge of this significant advance in meteorological practice. Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for meteorologists is the need to access large volumes of data within tight operational deadlines.
Some of the aspects we will seek to explore are:
• What is the scale of the meteorological data distribution requirement, both now and in the future?
• Selecting the appropriate Cloud Computing architecture for a specific meteorological application.
• The relevance of Cloud Computing in the world of ‘Big Data’ and ‘Open Data’.
• New types of meteorological products and services that have been made possible by the availability of Cloud Computing.
• Future trends in Cloud Computing and Data Distribution which will be of particular interest to meteorologists.