The Atmospheric Sciences Entering the Twenty-First Century (1998) / Chapter Skim
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4 Leadership and Management Challenges in the Decades Ahead
4 Leadership and Management Challenges in the Decades Ahead
Pages 46-60
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From page 46... ...
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATION 1: DEVELOP A STRATEGY FOR PROVIDING ATMOSPHERIC INFORMATION The Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research should lead a thorough examination of the issues that arise as the national system for providing atmospheric information becomes more distributed. Key federal organizations, the private sector, academe, and professional organizations should all be represented in such a study and should help develop a strategic plan.
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From page 47... ...
A Changing System for Providing Weather Services From the beginning of organized attempts to forecast weather events a century or so ago, nearly all observation networks and both national and global analysis and prediction services have been instituted, funded, and managed by national governments. In the United States, public forecasts and warnings of severe weather are the responsibility of the National Weather Service (NWS)
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From page 48... ...
Despite the richness of the meteorological feast, it is important to keep in mind that all of this information is based on government-financed observations, computer analyses and predictions, and on the research that makes improved approaches possible. Prospects for Atmospheric Information Contemporary approaches to atmospheric information focus on user activities, provide more specific local information, are integrated quantitatively into formal decision systems operated by the user, and in some cases take advantage of expert systems and machine learning approaches.
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From page 49... ...
In this case, forecast systems might produce scenarios of weather, air quality, climate, or near-Earth space events in response to a user's electronic request and deliver them as a visualization, perhaps in a time-space format.2 It is conceivable that such capabilities might be provided by advertisers or as a service to customers by firms that have close ties with particular industries. Implications of Distributed Atmospheric Information Services The issue before all of the partners in the atmospheric sciences is whether the evolution to a more distributed national atmospheric information system is to occur with or without strategic guidance and some attempt at design of an optimal system.
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From page 50... ...
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATION 2: ENSURE ACCESS TO ATMOSPHERIC INFORMATION The federal government should move forthrightly and aggressively to protect the advance of atmospheric research and services by maintain ing the free and open exchange of atmospheric observations among all countries and by preserving the free and open exchange of data among scientists. The increasing dependence on distributed capabilities has significant implications for access to atmospheric data and information.
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From page 51... ...
LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT RECOMMENDATION 3: ASSESS BENEFITS AND COSTS The atmospheric science community, through the collaboration of ap propriate agencies and advisory and professional organizations, should initiate interdisciplinary studies of the benefits and costs of weather, climate, and environmental information services. There are a number of reasons for embarking on a thorough examination of benefits and costs across the full range of atmospheric services.
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From page 52... ...
Today, accurate budget information is essential to wise leadership and management of a complex endeavor, in order to assess its effectiveness, balance, and commitment to initiatives and to plan for the future. Formal federal coordination of atmospheric research began in 1959 when the Federal Council for Science and Technology created the Interdepartmental Committee for Atmospheric Sciences (ICAS)
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From page 53... ...
Similar summaries were assembled, somewhat sporadically, until the most recent one prepared by SAR in 1990. The evolution of funding for atmospheric research as portrayed by ICASSAR summaries is shown in Figure I.4.1, along with an estimate of the 1994 research budgets assembled by the Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC)
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From page 54... ...
Although the difficulties of constructing a meaningful budget summary from the disparate sources are recognized, FY 1994 was the last year for which a considerable body of data is available. To aid understanding of the distribution of funds within atmospheric science, BASC used the CENR project summaries to allot funds to five functions and to each of the five disciplinary areas represented in Part II of this report; funds allocated to related areas (e.g., societal impact, assessment of indoor air quality)
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From page 55... ...
In some cases, base funding included in agency figures was not included in the CENR inventory data; in other cases, infrastructural expenses were not included in the agency estimate.4 4Note, however, CENR data can be used to provide an independent estimate of total funding for atmospheric research by assuming that only part of the expenditures for data and observing systems should be assigned to research For example, the CENR total for research projects, added to onequarter of the total for data and observing systems, gives an estimate of $1,246 million compared to the agency estimate of $1,196 million
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From page 56... ...
Funding for Atmospheric Information Services The national investment in atmospheric sciences includes federal expenditures for the acquisition and management of atmospheric observations, preparation of forecasts and warnings, and distribution of atmospheric information to a wide variety of users in the private and public sectors. It would be of value to estimate private expenditures to provide and procure atmospheric information, a topic about which little is known.
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From page 57... ...
Department or AgencyBudget Agriculture 12 Commerce (NOAA) National Weather Service723 National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service4011,124 Defense 506 Interior Bureau of Land Management 1 Transportation FAA360 Coast Guard7367 National Aeronautics and Space Administration Nuclear Regulatory Commission Total 8 <1 2,018 SOURCE: Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology and Supporting Services, with adjustments from data furnished directly by agencies.
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From page 58... ...
A significant component of atmospheric chemistry is coordinated through the North American Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone program and the CENR Subcommittee on Air Quality Research. These interagency interests indicate clearly the breadth of the atmospheric sciences and their importance to the nation.
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From page 59... ...
Thus, BASC believes that a national research environment requires a strong disciplinary planning mechanism. This view is reinforced by the very basic contemporary reality for atmospheric sciences and the nation: opportunities for scientific progress and societal service in the atmospheric sciences are far more plentiful than resources.
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