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2 The U.S. Weather and Climate Enterprise
Pages 23-42

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From page 23...
... predictions with local information and their knowledge of specific weather phenomena to generate forecasts, advisories, and other weather and climate products. The products and services cover the past, present, and future states of the atmospheric and hydrologic systems and are issued on scales ranging from a few minutes for a tornado warning, to tomorrow's weather forecast (now extending 10 to 14 days)
From page 24...
... activities and $2.3 million supports the six regional climate centers.2 Weather-related research, including in-house government research and academic research funded by government agencies, constitutes about 17% of the federal budget for weather activities.3 A significant but unknown amount of money is also invested by the private sector and state agencies to create weather and climate services. There are about 400 commercial weather companies and independent contractors in the United States,4 with revenues of about $500 million.5 All but four states have a state climatologist,6 and most contribute funding to the regional climate centers as well as to relevant state government agencies (e.g., transportation, environment, natural resources, emergency management)
From page 25...
... State governments also collect data and operate data centers for the economic and public benefits they bring to the state. Weather information disseminated to the public takes the form of forecasts, advisories, and other weather products.
From page 27...
... . incentives encourage private companies to generate innovative pros ucts or ways of presenting weather information.
From page 28...
... For example, DOD collects weather data to support military operations, and DOT collects data to improve the safety and efficiency of air, railroad, coastal waterway, and highway transportation systems.l2 At the state level, all but four states deploy roadway weather information sensors, and several operate networks of soil moisture instruments. Some even own automated weather observing systems.l3 Both state and private sector organizations collect local and regional air quality measurements.
From page 29...
... Finally, some universities make local measurements or maintain networks for research purposes, such as SuomiNet.15 A few universities partner with government agencies and private companies to create state and regional networks, such as the Oklahoma Mesonet and MesoWest.16 Some of the data collected by private sector companies are used by the NWS for creating forecasts and warnings, particularly if the data are unique. For example, commercial airlines collect temperature, humidity, and wind data and provide them in real time to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)
From page 30...
... They generally contain models of the components of the climate system the atmosphere, ocean, land, and ice and these components interact in the coupled climate model. Details of the initial conditions of the climate models are of less importance than those of the weather prediction models, although climate models run out for a few months to a couple of years require good estimates of the ocean structure, especially near the surface.
From page 31...
... Forecasts and Other Weather and Climate Services Weather Services All three sectors produce forecasts and provide weather services. The major services provided by the NWS include weather advisories, watches, warnings, and forecasts; river forecasts; aviation weather services; marine weather services; fire weather services; tsunami warnings; and community preparation for weather-related disasters or storms.
From page 32...
... output gathered from government, academic, and private sources. Examples include weather forecasts with wind and temperature information to help trucking companies improve fleet fuel efficiency or wave and sea forecasts aimed at helping shipping companies reduce shipping time and costs.
From page 33...
... Within NOAA the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) , in partnership with the NWS, provides a wide range of climate data, information, and products that are used for planning purposes, such as designing buildings as well as power and water systems and for hedging against extreme weather and climate events.26 For example, regional climate data were recently used to support decisions on dam operations in the Grand Canyon.27 The regional climate centers provide climate information in their multistate area, develop climate products, conduct applied climate research, and monitor and assess the impact of climate conditions (e.g., drought, soil moisture)
From page 34...
... Archive The primary archive for official weather and climate data is NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. NCDC holds more than 1.4 petabytes of data from state institutions (state climatologist program and regional climate centers)
From page 35...
... Examples of ex ante (based on expectations) decisions that are influenced by weather information include choices of crop mix, cultivar traits, amount of land to cultivate, frost protection, herd size, and placement of animals on rangeland and pastures.35 32RA.
From page 36...
... Farmers can now obtain general weather forecasts for any part of the country, near-real-time radar data every six minutes, accumulated precipitation data, drought indices,38 and specialized forecasts and services. However, although the variety and accessibility of information products have never been greater, data coverage is still a limitation, especially west of the Mississippi where there are few cooperative observer stations.
From page 37...
... The aviation industry uses a wide array of weather products, including radar imagery, current weather conditions, severe weather maps and warnings, hurricane tracking maps, winds and temperature aloft, and satellite imagery. These products are used extensively by airline operations control centers and flight crews.43 Dispatchers need weather data for pre-flight 41National Research Council, 1999, Making Climate Forecasts Matter, P.C.
From page 38...
... , but if that is not available, from a private observer or automated weather observing system. The Internet is an approved distribution channel of data, but the Federal Aviation Administration cautions users that weather information obtained from qualified Internet communications providers may not be accurate, timely, or useful.44 Improvements that the industry would like to see include (1)
From page 39...
... Public Health Extreme and prolonged cold and heat cause hypothermia and heat stress, and less directly, weather conditions influence disease ecologies that can result in major outbreaks of infectious diseases such as influenza, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, and malaria. Weather information is routinely used to convey alerts for heat waves and extreme cold.
From page 40...
... Many insurance companies employ atmospheric scientists or contract with private weather service firms to aid in such caicuiations. A special type of insurance is provided by the weather derivatives industry, which uses weather information to defray risk associated with normal weather variability.52 The weather derivatives industry depends on reliable, quality-controlled weather information from objective sources.
From page 41...
... To get the most out of existing weather products, emergency managers need information in formats suitable to nonscientists and training to apply weather information to actions. Because of the costly and disruptive nature of evacuations, it is important to have accurate forecasts of hurricane track and intensity, for example, to reduce overwarning.56 Long-term warnings (one- to three-day forecasts)
From page 42...
... tend to be much more specialized than NWS products to meet the needs of particular user groups. Climate products fall mainly in the domain of NOAA, state climatologists, and regional climate centers, but the private sector will be an increasing player as the accuracy of seasonal to interannual forecasts improves and climate products become more useful to industries such as insurance, energy, health, and agriculture.


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