Description:

The 2021 Report on Priorities for Weather Research identified social and human behavioral data collection as one of their top priorities. As a key supporter of weather-related social and behavioral science (SBS), NOAA’s Weather Program Office (WPO) has embarked on several strategic initiatives to publish and archive previously collected SBS data, and data collection instruments, in order to promote shared learning and collaboration. One WPO initiative, in particular, sought to encourage SBS and multidisciplinary data and instrument publication by partnering with the Natural Hazard Center, the National Science Foundation, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, and the National Weather Service to establish the Weather-Ready Quick Response Research Initiative. These initiatives, however, are only a small (but important) step toward identifying and leveraging the wide variety of SBS data in the weather, water, and climate enterprise.

During the 2022 AMS Symposium on Societal Applications, presenters and participants urged the weather, water, and climate enterprise to prioritize publishing and making social science data and their accompanying instruments more accessible and visible. Building upon these academic discussions, weather industry can also offer collection  and/or sharing of data and societal insights. To measure our shared goals of saving lives, protecting property, and enhancing the National economy, we need to build strategic partnerships to collect, organize, and share data on societal insights, conduct economic valuation, and understand the effects of communication, just to name a few. While in recent years researchers and institutions have become increasingly aware of the value and importance of open science, with some notable exceptions, the sharing of social science research data and tools still largely occurs on a piecemeal basis despite the existence of a large body of work. As such, this session seeks abstracts to understand the opportunities and challenges surrounding the sharing of societal insight data.

Topics and questions may include:

• What types of data may exist with academic, public, and private partners that could help measure perception, comprehension, or protective action responses?  
• What weather-related SBS data exists, where does it currently reside, and what additional data might be needed?
• What types of social science data are needed to measure mission critical factors, such as performance metrics, impact, and change?
• What types of social science data and instruments are appropriate to collect, share, and re-use?
• What are existing and necessary data management strategies and policies?
• Can public-private partnerships, such as CRADAs, offer possibilities for data sharing and sustainability?
• What concerns or conditions may need consideration to nurture the sharing of data or insights between the private sector with the public and academic sectors?
• What are the challenges and/or barriers to data sharing and coordination?
• What type of data infrastructure is needed for data collection, storage, and utilization?
• Once these data are archived and publicly available, how do we best inform or market to the public, private, and academic sectors that these data exist?