Weather Services for the Nation: Becoming Second to None (2012)
Chapter: Appendix A: Statement of Task
During the 1980s and 1990s, NOAA launched a major program to modernize the National Weather Service (NWS), investing $4.5 billion to modernize NWS technologies to advance weather forecasting. No complete assessment of the entire end-to-end NWS modernization enterprise has been done, thus 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.
