NOAA's Next Generation Global Prediction System (NGGPS) has provided the unique opportunity to develop and implement a non-hydrostatic global model at National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) that can operate at convective resolving scales, making a leap-step advancement in seamless prediction capabilities across all spatial and temporal scales. Model development efforts are centralized with Unified Global Coupled System (UGCS) development in the NOAA Environmental Modeling System (NEMS) infrastructure based on ESMF.  A more sophisticated coupling among various earth system components is being enabled within NEMS following National Unified Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC) standards.  The eventual goal of unifying global and regional models will enable operational global models operating at convective resolving scales.

Apart from the advanced non-hydrostatic dynamic core and coupling to various earth system components, advanced physics and data assimilation techniques are essential for improved forecast skill.  NGGPS is spearheading ambitious physics and data assimilation strategies, concentrating on creation of a Common Community Physics Package (CCPP) and Joint Effort for Data Assimilation Integration (JEDI).  Both of these initiatives are expected to be community developed, with emphasis on research transition to operations (R2O).

This talk presents the current and future plans of unified global model development at NCEP for weather, climate and ensemble applications.  Role of academic and research community is critical in accelerating our progress towards becoming second to none in global weather predictions from NCEP.