Meeting the Nation's Evolving Needs for Space Weather Services

Space weather impacts new technological advances that we rely on every day, including: GPS, satellites, aviation, and electric power grids. Rapid advances in space-based technology and widespread dependence on these systems have made society more vulnerable than ever to the disruption caused by space weather. The health of our Nation's technological infrastructure will depend heavily on our understanding of the space environment and our ability to predict space weather storms and to mitigate the impact of these events. The rapidly growing customer base requires that new products and services be developed to support the diverse user areas.

The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), one of the nine National Weather Service National Centers for Environmental Prediction, is the Nation's official source for civilian space weather alerts and warnings. SWPC monitors, measures, and predicts the space environment and provides timely and accurate operational space weather services to end users in the U.S. and around the world.

Understanding and being prepared for space weather is a part of the National Weather Service-led campaign to build a Weather-Ready Nation to protect lives and livelihoods. This presentation will focus on:

• Status review of today's space weather products and services

• Identification of the gaps in the operational observations and models

• Strategy for addressing these gaps

• Renewed commitment to the Space Weather Test Bed in order to kick start the R2O process required to ensure research and technological advances are accelerated into the operational delivery of space weather products and services