SOO-DOH Projects: Enhancing field-driven R2O in the National Weather Service

Recent reports by the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Public Administration recommended that NOAA's National Weather Service improve processes for managing and executing R2O and O2R. To address these concerns, a Field-Driven R2O Team was created during the 2015 NWS Headquarters reorganization in the Office of Science and Technology Integration (OSTI). In September 2015, OSTI held the first national meeting of Science and Operations Officers (SOOs) and Development and Operations Hydrologists (DOHs) in over 20 years. SOOs and DOHs function as Science Officers at NWS field units responsible for operational issues, staff training, and transitioning new research into operations. One of the critical outcomes from the 2015 National SOO-DOH Meeting was the formation of the SOO-DOH Projects initiative, in which SOOs, DOHs, and subject matter experts come together to work on R2O projects that address critical field science and training needs. This presentation will introduce the SOO-DOH Projects effort, highlighting several recent examples of field-driven research projects transitioned into NWS operations.