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Assessment of the National Weather Service's Modernization Program

Completed

Weather Services for the Nation presents recommendations for responding to the key challenges faced by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the post- Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR) era. These recommendations will help the NWS become more agile and effective, putting it on a path to becoming second to none at integrating advances in science and technology into its operations and at meeting user needs. The approach outlined in the report will make societal benefits possible beyond what the NWS budget alone allows.

Description

During the 1980s and 1990s, NOAA launched a major program to modernize the National Weather Service (NWS), investing $5 billion to modernize NWS technologies to advance weather forecasting. Because no complete assessment of the entire end-to-end NWS modernization enterprise has been done, Congress has asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an assessment of the now-completed National Weather Service modernization. The project should not only address the past modernization, but also focus on lessons learned to support future improvements to NWS capabilities. It should address high-impact weather and new science and technologies that allow for even better forecasts; the integration of new technologies and better models into NWS operations; workforce composition and structure; and improving current partnerships with private industry, academia, and other governmental agencies. Finally, the project should provide advice on how NWS can best plan, deploy, and oversee these future improvements based on lessons learned from the NWS modernization.

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Committee Membership Roster Comments

Note: Hoshin Gupta resigned from the committee, effective September 13, 2011.
Note: Nicholas Lampson resigned from the committee, effected Thursday, May 24, 2012.

Sponsors

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Staff

Maggie Walser

Lead

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