Status of the AMS Response to the 2002 NRC Fair Weather Report

1. Status of the AMS Response to the 2002 NRC Fair Weather Report John T. Snow Dean, College of Geosciences, University of Oklahoma Chair, Ad Hoc Committee on the Weather and Climate Enterprise American Meteorological Society 2004 Corporate Forum 􀁸 14-16 March 2004 The Hilton Crystal City Hotel 􀁸 Arlington, VA

2. 2003 National Research Council study • Requested, funded by National Weather Service • Examined roles of public (government), private (commercial), and academic sectors in providing weather, climate and related services • Conducted by broad-based, interdisciplinary expert panel • Tasked to provide policy principles and recommendations that affect the partnership between the three sectors

3. NWS got more than it expected: • Advice on how to build better institutions • Advice on how to affect the culture of our community to provide event better services • Reminder that disruptions to the way we do business are inevitable in a high-tech business that operates at the ever expanding limit of scientific knowledge, making rigid boundaries for who does what and with which tools counter- productive and diversionary

4. Recommedation #3: “The NWS and relevant academic, state, and private organizations should seek a neutral host, such at the American Meteorological Society, to provide a periodic dedicated venue for the weather enterprise as a whole to discuss issues related to the public-private partnership.”

5. The AMS Responds • Summer 2003: Forms an ad hoc committee charged to “…study the possible responses to Recommendation 3, seeking input from all of the various constituencies that make up the Society.” • Ad hoc committee membership broad-based, includes user community as well as representatives from academic, commercial, and government sectors • Charge extends to recommending new organizational structure for the Society if needed to better serve current day situation

6. Commercial Weather Services User Community Government Weather Services Universities The National Weather and Climate Enterprise

7. John T. Snow, Univ. of Oklahoma Susan K. Avery, CIRES, Univ. of Colorado and President, AMS Ana Paula Barros, Harvard Univ. Clifford F. Mass, Univ. of Washington George L. Frederick, Vaisala Meteorological Systems, Inc. Matthew J. Parker, Atmospheric Technologies Group, Westinghouse Savannah River Co. Steven A. Root, President & CEO, WeatherBank, Inc. Robert T. Ryan, WRC-TV, NBC Television Edward R. Johnson, Strategic Planning and Policy Office, National Weather Service Robert J. Plante Thomas D. Potter, Univ. of Utah Jay Baker Carl R. Knable Maria Pirone, AER Doyle E. Pittman, TVA Kevin Lavin, National Weather Association Elbert W. (Joe) Friday, Past President, AMS Raymond Ban, The Weather Channel John Toohey-Morales, NBC Telemundo Walter Lyons, AMS President-elect Valerie Cooper Ronald D. McPherson Ad hoc Committee Members

8. The ad hoc Committee Reports 1 • In its deliberations, the ad hoc committee came to realize that the Society must look beyond simply responding to Recommendation #3 of Fair Weather. • The national meteorological enterprise is evolving rapidly and the Society must change as well to remain relevant and supportive of the discipline • 1st (preliminary) report to AMS Council in January 2004 recommends that the AMS establish a new commission within the Society organizational structure

9. A New Commission For The American Meteorological Society Proposed

10. Commission Steering Committee • Will consist of community leaders and the leaders of groups representing users of meteorological information plus members at large, meeting twice yearly • Purpose of the CSC is to provide a forum for identification and discussion of issues of interest or concern to the meteorological community as a whole • Will normally refer items requiring further action to one of the boards of the Commission

11. Commission Boards • Board on Community Planning and Development (BCPD) strategic, long term focus; annual topic with ~2-year cycle time on studies • Board on Community Communication (BCC)  internal focus; will provide venues to bring together the meteorological community to learn about, discuss, and provide input concerning issues of short-term nature and of immediate interest to the community • Board on Economic Development (BED)  external focus. will grow the economic base of the weather and climate enterprise by reaching out to the community of users, broadly defined

12. The ad hoc Committee Reports 2 • Council response mixed; committee told to continue • January 2004: Ad hoc committee morphs in to “Ad hoc Committee on the Weather and Climate Enterprise”, begins to lay ground work for the establishment of the new commission • Currently, ad hoc Committee is … … planning a web cast on a “hot topic” … planning a first community summit … revising its proposal • Goal: Begin formal establishment of the new commission in 2005

13. National Webcast Panel Discussion and Public Forumon theNational Weather Service’s Proposed Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Weather, Water, Climate and Related Environmental Information Wednesday, 14 April 2004 1-4 pm ET GOAL: To provide an accessible, interactive public forum for comment on the proposed National Weather Service policy on partnerships in the provision of weather, water, climate and related environmental information; to educate participants on the details of the proposed NWS policy; to encourage comments on the policy. MEDIUM: MS Media Player and RealPlayer via the AMS Website at www.ametsoc.org

14. National Webcast Panel Discussion and Public Forumon theNational Weather Service’s Proposed Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Weather, Water, Climate and Related Environmental Information The Webcast will center around a panel discussion. The panelists, all members of the AMS Ad Hoc Committee on the Weather and Climate Enterprise, include: Dr. Elbert (Joe) Friday, AMS Past President Dr. Susan Avery, CIRES, University of Colorado; AMS President Dr. Edward Johnson, Strategic Planning and Policy Office, National Weather Service Mr. Steven Root, President & CEO, WeatherBank; Chair, Commercial Weather Services Association Mr. Matthew Parker, Westinghouse Savannah River Company; President National Council of Industrial Meteorologists Mr. John Toohey-Morales, NBC Telemundo; AMS Commissioner on Professional Affairs

15. National Webcast Panel Discussion and Public Forumon theNational Weather Service’s Proposed Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Weather, Water, Climate and Related Environmental Information • An Experiment: • -- Example of role to be played by Board on Community Communication • -- Webcast  small, virtual meeting -- short, focused, to the point; eliminates need for expensive travel, time away from the office • -- Cost effective ???

16. 1st Community Summit on the National Weather and Climate Enterprise A 2nd Experiment to demonstrate the viability of a high-level steering committee for the proposed commission GOAL: Bring together community leaders, discuss a topic of importance to the weather and climate enterprise, and provide guidance/direction to the boards of the proposed commission for exploring the topic through a variety of means and venues FORMAT/TIME FRAME: One day, noon to noon/July, August 2004 VENUE: Central location (DFW, Chicago O’Hare, DIA) TOPIC: ??? – questions around mesoscale observations

17. Unanswered Questions • Can technology be used to involve more of the commercial sector and the user community? • Will community leaders be willing to participate? • Will the enterprise support the costs of doing business this way?