Observing for Society: Benefits and Applications of NOAA's Observing Systems

How do you determine the societal benefit of an observing system? We are inclined to link the value of an observing system to its operational success, but this provides an incomplete picture of the observing system’s benefit to society. In order to truly understand an observing system’s value, and thus societal benefit, we must also take into account the research and development projects and activities that utilize the observing system and its data.

Observing systems are critical to a number of research functions including the development and improvement of models and emerging technologies, as well as to applications like numerical weather prediction and satellite retrieval validation. These research functions and applications have a direct impact on the public, however, many times the recognition of the observing system as the foundation of the research and applications is lost.

Using data from one NOAA-developed database, we demonstrate how research and development project information can be used to show how observing systems benefit society beyond operational applications.