Core Science Keynote: Vice Admiral Nancy Hann: Towards a Scientific Understanding of Atmospheric Rivers and the Utilization of Diverse AR Observations for the Realization of Improved Model Development and the Role and Impacts on Present and Future Weather Forecasting (Core Science Keynote)

NOAA, in coordination with its partners, aims to provide authoritative and actionable information about Atmospheric Rivers (ARs) and their impacts. Satellite measurements, offshore aircraft reconnaissance, and land-based atmospheric river observations are used collectively to guide model forecast system development, leading to improvements in the prediction of atmospheric river intensity, duration, and landfall location. As we look to the future, efforts are occurring across NOAA to advance the scientific understanding and prediction of atmospheric rivers, including research on air-sea interactions (OAR), deployment of novel new observations through the AR-Recon program (OMAO/OAR), development of specialized models (OAR, NWS), and enhanced operational services (NWS/NESDIS). This presentation will highlight NOAA’s current AR observation systems and techniques, future plans for NOAA AR observation systems (including new aircraft capabilities), and NOAA’s approach to continue stakeholder engagement and ensure user needs remain central to NOAA’s AR efforts.