Need for Experts to Support Meteorological Consensus Standards

Voluntary consensus meteorological Standards are the core foundation of meteorological observation programs producing defensible quality data. The meteorological Standards community is in a critical shortage of scientists and engineers willing to develop and maintain the Standards. Standards organizations, such as ASTM International and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), have Meteorology subcommittees that cannot function without a representative mix of technical experts. Dwindling participation apparently based on economic decisions is endangering the process. 

The World Meteorological Organization, governmental and private sector entities and equipment manufacturers utilize Standards to uniformly establish and describe equipment specifications and assess equipment performance through standardized calibration, operation and quality assurance methods. Currently, meteorological Standard topics range from basic weather observations and equipment to high-technology remote observing systems.

Read on to learn the current status of consensus meteorological Standards managed by ASTM and ISO. Also learn the ways you can easily step forward to participate in the Standards process, no matter where you live or what your area of expertise and involvement may be. And feel welcome to contact this author for assistance in taking that first step. We in the Standards community need you, and you need us.