The Town Hall provides an opportunity to discuss the definition of “atmospheric river” as it is being developed for the Glossary of Meteorology. Atmospheric river draft definition: A long narrow and transient corridor of anomalously strong horizontal water vapor transport that is typically located in the lowest 3 km of the troposphere and associated with a low-level jet stream ahead of the cold front of an extratropical cyclone. The water vapor in atmospheric rivers is supplied by tropical and/or extratropical moisture sources and atmospheric rivers frequently lead to heavy precipitation where they intersect topographic or other lower-tropospheric boundaries, or enter into the warm-conveyor-belt-related isentropic upward air motion. Atmospheric rivers conduct over 90 percent of all poleward water vapor transport in the extratropics in less than 10 percent of the zonal circumference of the globe.

This town hall will discuss innovative methods for flood and flash flood prediction focused on systems and methods applied at global scale. Advancements in computing power have recently enabled distributed hydrologic models to be run at 1-10 km2 spatial resolution over the world with forecast lead times up to a week. These hydrologic models are commonly forced with satellite-based rainfall or output from numerical weather prediction models. The discussion will focus on the current state of global hydrologic forecasting systems and how these systems are envisioned to evolve into the future with an emphasis on the Global Flood Partnership (GFP).

As illustrated by lack of inclusion in recent presidential debates, results from voter surveys, and ultimately by the general election outcome, climate change is not a primary issue for a substantial fraction of the general public.  This may not be surprising given that it has been shown that many Americans do not think that climate change is happening or that humans are the cause, despite consensus among the vast majority of climatologists.  The first step in making climate change a national priority is thus ensuring that the general public has an accurate understanding the science.  Despite the existence of dozens of online resources, books, documentaries, and groups of willing science speakers through networks such as Climate Voices, the general public is not responding to this global problem as informed voters might, nor are they demanding that it be made a priority during campaigns for elected office.  The goals of this Town Hall meeting are as follows: 1) To encourage participants to accept the responsibility as individual scientists to make communication of climate change a priority, 2) To identify existing obstacles to effective climate change communication, 3) To identify more effective methods for climate change communication, and 4) To establish a social network of concerned atmospheric scientists who may share educational resources and provide encouragement for young scientists to participate in this effort.

Radio frequencies are widely used in the timely measurement, collection and dissemination of critical foundational data including data from satellites, weather radar, surface observations, radiosondes etc. High quality weather and hydrologic forecasts and warnings required to ensure safety and enhance the nation’s economy are underpinned by these observations. At the same time, there is increasing and accelerating pressure from policymakers to optimize the use of the radio spectrum to support our increasingly connected world, resulting in the potential for radio frequencies used by our community to be no longer available or exhibit significant interference, affecting our community’s ability to perform our critical missions. This Town Hall will explore the current status of this issue from across the weather, water and climate enterprise, with a focus on the most pressing concerns. Additionally, opportunities to work together to meet the challenges and opportunities presented by this issue will be discussed.

Dr. Bill Hooke of the AMS Policy Program will lead a discussion on challenges early career scientists face related to law and policy. These topics are often overlooked by those starting out their careers, and much of the training is received on the job. The goals of this town hall are to expose attendees to steps they can take to best understand policy and law related to their work; and to provide managers, supervisors and those in leadership roles with ways to encourage early career scientists to be proactive when it comes to maintaining policy standards in the workplace.

What are the requirements for a national smoke health warning system? Smoke from wildland and agricultural fires is a recognized contributor to air quality degradation, yet ambient concentrations of smoke are difficult to accurately forecast and the potential risks to human, animal, and environmental health are not well understood. Epidemiological, medical, and public health expertise, along with effective communication strategies, are necessary components of an effective national system. Within the U.S., there are multiple agencies involved in providing information regarding smoke emissions, transport, and exposure estimates, as well as efforts towards developing warning systems. This Town Hall invites community discussion around this issue, and will include comments from representatives from various national agencies and the private sector.

The transportation revolution is coming. Connected vehicles (CV) are already talking to each other and the infrastructure around them, sending basic safety messages ten times per second. Smart cities are embracing the promise of connected technologies to improve safety, mobility, and sustainability for their citizens. Once deployed nationwide, these technologies will produce massive amounts of data from hundreds of millions of vehicles. What new businesses, public services, and research could these data fuel? Could CV data be used for micro-forecasting or added to the national climatic data record? What should the Federal role be in enabling nationwide access to the data while protecting the travelers’ privacy? The US Department of Transportation invites you to join the conversation and help shape our national strategy for intelligent transportation data. We will discuss our strategy for accelerating deployment of CV and smart city technologies, types and amounts of data produced, and potential uses.

Forecasts to predict Earth system conditions on subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) timescales (2 weeks to 12 months) will help to save lives, protect property, and increase economic vitality. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a report in March 2016 entitled Next Generation Earth System Prediction: Strategies for Subseasonal to Seasonal Forecasting that provides a detailed research agenda for improving the nation’s S2S forecasting capabilities. The report sets out a bold vision for the next decade – that S2S forecasts will be as widely used as short-term weather forecasts are today. Please join us for further discussion of the strategies and issues raised in the report and initial plans for responding to the report’s recommendations. There will be a panel discussion with representatives from the authoring Committee and from several funding agencies.The NAS Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate will provide a limited number of box lunches.

The energy markets are driven immensely by weather patterns, short-term forecasts, and long-term trends. Market players in the power & gas sectors rely on meteorological guidance for managing risk every day. In this interactive discussion, we will frame a risk management challenge using the power merit order curve. Power plants of varying fuel types are dispatched in response to demand, which is largely driven by weather.

The National Climate Assessment (NCA) is a mandated quadrennial assessment of the risks posed by climate change to our nation and how we can respond to minimize those risks. As part of the Sustained Assessment process, the fourth such assessment, NCA4, is currently in development under the auspices of the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). In this listening session, you’ll hear about the NCA4 process, progress to date, and how you can contribute. We’re particularly interested in hearing from stakeholders about how NCA4 can best reflect the impacts you are seeing, the risks posed to the things you care about, and specific case studies worth sharing with the nation.

During the time-frame August 12-14, 2016, the boot area of the state of Louisiana, northwest of New Orleans, was subject to rainfall of over 30". This produced major flooding that, as of August 20, killed 13 people and inflicted over one billion dollars of damage to thousands of homes and businesses. The slow, westward-moving weather system responsible for this devastation will be shown to have both tropical and non-tropical characteristics, along with huge amounts of precipitable water drawn up from the 87-degree water of the Gulf of Mexico. The difficulty of forecasting the system will be discussed.

Looking for ideas for your local AMS chapter? Have an idea to share? Interested in learning about local AMS chapters? Join us at the third annual Local AMS Chapter Town Hall - designed for both student and regular chapter officers, members, and prospective members. All chapters are invited to share their successful activities in addition to their challenges and seek advice from other chapters. Those interested in joining a local chapter are also invited to attend to learn about local AMS chapters and how to get involved. The Local Chapter Affairs Committee and local AMS chapters from across the country invite YOU to take part in this information sharing session! For questions, email amschaps@ametsoc.org.

Approximately every five years, the AMS develops guidance to university and college faculty and administrators responsible for undergraduate programs in atmospheric sciences. The guidance describes the curricular composition including pre-requisites and associated learning outcomes, faculty size, and facility requirements recommended by the AMS for an undergraduate degree program in the atmospheric sciences. The statement also provides information to help students prepare for various career pathways within the atmospheric sciences.   This past year, the AMS Council charged a working group to develop an update to the statement with input from the academic, private, and operational sectors. At this townhall, a draft of the new statement will be presented by members of the drafting team with an opportunity for comment on and additional input into the draft from townhall attendees.

This Panel Discussion supports the 97th AMS Annual Meeting theme "Observations Lead the Way" by attempting to provide a vision of the future of the environmental systems enterprise for obtaining, routing and processing satellite-based observational data. To achieve this goal, the Panel Discussion will convene a distinguished panel of experts with broad expertise in environmental satellites to form a picture of the future environmental satellite system enterprise and how it will meet current and new requirements and employ emerging technologies and operational concepts. Panel members are expected from the NRC Decadal Survey, DoD, EUMETSAT and NOAA/NESDIS. The Panel Discussion moderator will be William B. Gail, past AMS President, Global Weather Corp. co-founder and CTO, and NRC ESAS 2017-2027 Decadal Survey Steering Committee Co-Chair. Riverside/Vencore are sponsoring a limited number of box lunches. For additional information, please contact Gary McWilliams (gary.mcwilliams@noaa.gov).

In keeping with the Annual Meeting Theme of "Observations Lead the Way", this panel discussion addresses the scientific opportunity afforded by the availability of a storm-penetrating aircraft.  Investments by the National Science Foundation (NSF) provide for modifications to an A-10 aircraft made available by the U.S. Air Force to NSF and the addition of the aircraft as a requestable asset within the Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities (LAOF) managed for NSF by the Earth Observing Laboratory of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.  The panel will be comprised of experts in a variety of atmospheric science subdisciplines that could benefit from such an asset.  Additionally, experts on aircraft operations will provide details on potential operational capabilities of the A-10.  Panel presentations and open discussions will seek community input as to the needs and benefits of such an observing capability, which will include required and desired instrumentation.

Significant progress has been made over the last 20 years in measuring and estimating air-sea turbulent and radiative fluxes. Over the same time frame, the importance of accurate in situ and global estimates of winds, sensible and latent heat fluxes, gas and aerosol exchange, and evaporation towards answering crucial questions in weather and climate science including air-sea feedbacks, the global water cycle, and the carbon cycle has highlighted the need for a focus on improving our estimates of these fluxes. However, limited funding opportunities for scientists working primarily in these areas are relatively small and have limited more significant advancement. Experts in the areas of in situ observations, satellite observations, and modeling will discuss their views of the critical outstanding issues that need to be addressed, including the use of new or needed technologies and instrumentation, and possible strategies for progress. Discussion time will be provided for maximum audience input.

In preparation for the planned five-year update to the DOE Atmospheric System Research (ASR) Program Science plan, the program conducted four workshops in 2015-2016 on topical challenges in atmospheric process research, including: Secondary Organic Aerosols, Marine Low Clouds, Absorbing Aerosols, and Convective Processes. At this Town Hall, DOE program managers and workshop chairs will lead discussion on the outcome of these workshops as well as challenges and opportunities for DOE-led progress in each of the topical areas. For additional information, please contact Shaima Nasiri at shaima.nasiri@science.doe.gov.

The EarthCube initiative is a community-driven activity aimed at transforming the conduct of geosciences research and education by creating a well-connected and facile environment for sharing and integrating data and knowledge across all geoscience disciplines in an open, transparent, and inclusive manner and to accelerate our ability to understand and predict the Earth system. After five years of community engagement and development activities, EarthCube is now transitioning into an implementation phase. This town hall will discuss the progress of EarthCube on a number of fronts and engage geoscientists in the future steps toward the development of geoscience cyberinfrastructure for research.

Numerical modeling executed in the NCEP Production Suite (NPS) forms the foundation of all forecasting of the National Weather Service (NWS). The NWS needs to remain at the cutting-edge of research and model development, and continuously transition science advances from the research community to operations. A key element in modernizing the NPS is the 2015 external review performed by the UCACN Model Advisory Committee (UMAC). Some of the key recommendations were simplification and better governance of the NPS, and a closer working relationship between the NWS and NOAA research and academia in general. A second key element is the Next Generation Global Prediction System project, where the NWS has started to adopt a more project-oriented approach to improving the NPS. This town hall is designed to communicate progress on model development and response to UMAC recommendations to the public, and to provide a forum for gathering feedback from our customers.

In light of profound global implications of the strong El Nino/La Nina signal in the past two years and ever-warmth of our globe, we will gather scientists and decision makers in the Asian countries/regions, such as China, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc. to discuss the issues and challenges they are facing. The townhall discussions could be of interest and informative to U.S. scientists, government employees, policy makers, and U.S. business community. We intend to invite chairs/leaders of meteorological society from these countries/regions to discuss the following issues: 1) what issues (e.g., natural hazards and environmental challenges) are they dealing with arising from climate change and variability? 2) what advancement of science and technologies are in place to mitigate these peril futures? 3) what scientific program(s) are they implementing or planning? 4) are there international common interests and potential collaboration opportunities between U.S. and international community?

The Symposium on Education Town Hall is an opportunity for AMS participants interested in education, outreach, and engagement to connect and discuss ideas, activities and partnerships to enhance future AMS Symposia and education-related events.  Please join us to meet your education colleagues and voice your thoughts and ideas about next steps for AMS education.

NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) leadership team will present an update of status and plans, with significant time for discussion with the audience, which is expected to comprise current and potential investigators in ESD’s programs and/or those of its partner agencies, as well as current and potential users of its data and models. Highlighted items include status of operating and future satellite missions; implementation of Venture Class activities; evolution of and plans for the research, applied sciences, and technology elements; contribution to interagency and international Earth observation and global change programs, and response to and preparation for community-based guiding documents.

Forecasters, emergency managers, and decision makers in Alaska and Hawaii and the US-affiliated Pacific Islands are challenged with numerous decision points each wildfire season. Unlike the Contiguous United States (CONUS) region, these regions outside the CONUS (OCONUS) rely on unique factors, indices and data sets. NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) hosts this side panel event in an effort to explore the role of environmental information in OCONUS wildfire management. This dialog will provide an opportunity for interaction between government partners, emergency managers, and field experts to discuss current techniques, data sets, and challenges, and identify requirements to enhance OCONUS wildfire disaster resilience and response. The intent is to foster and reinforce the lines of communication and to develop the resilience of the nation's resources and infrastructure. Global Science & Technology inc. will be providing a limited assortment of light fare. For additional information, please contact Annette Hollingshead at Annette.Hollingshead@noaa.gov

The USAF Weather Systems Program Office (AFLCMC/HBAW) will present a systems roadmap for USAF weather capabilities and programs to interested industry, academia, and government research organizations, as part of general government market research and awareness outreach. Addressed will be likely research and procurement opportunities of meteorological systems with meteorological in-situ and remote sensing, modeling and high-performance computing, large-scale data processing and dissemination, and forecaster applications.

The 2017-2027 Decadal Survey for Earth Science and Applications from Space (ESAS 2017) will help shape science priorities and guide agency investments well into the next decade. The survey, sponsored by NASA, NOAA, and the USGS, is driven by input from the scientific community and policy experts. Some 100 community members are participating on the survey’s steering committee or one of its 5 study panels (which are focused on weather, climate, hydrology, ecosystems, and the solid Earth and natural hazards) and hundreds more have participated via white paper submissions and outreach events. Waleed Abdalati and Bill Gail, co-chairs of the survey steering committee, will lead a discussion on the study’s objectives, progress to date, and plans for completion in late 2017. Detailed information about the survey, including links to the study panels and the white papers, is posted at: www.nas.edu/esas2017.

The AMS is proud to initiate at this annual meeting the EMS Town Hall Lecture series, which will become an annual event. The first EMS Lecturer, Tanja Cegnar, was the recipient of the EMS Outstanding Contribution Award in 2015. She chairs the EMS Media Team, working to improve exchange and communication among European broadcasters, as well as instigating communication and public presentation training for scientists. Promoting examples of innovative ways of bringing weather and climate information closer to general public is also one of the goals. Cegnar works at the Slovenian Environment Agency and is a weather presenter at the national television in Slovenia. This town hall meeting will provide information on outreach activities in Europe as a way to initiate a broader town hall discussion on international efforts to better engage those in the media for public education.A subsequent discussion with a panel of AMS Certified Broadcast Meteorologists will follow, focusing on industry practices and challenges in both the United States and Europe.  Moderated by Maureen McCann (News 13, Orlando, FL), this panel will include Rob Eicher (WHDH, Boston, MA), Alex Garcia (KABB, San Antonio, TX), Erica Grow (WNBC, New York, NY), and John Morales (WTVJ, Miami, FL).For additional information, please contact Maureen McCann (email: maureen.mccann@gmail.com).

The AMS Centennial is coming up in 2019, this milestone is a chance to rethink, improve, and advance the Society.  The Centennial provides a special opportunity to contemplate how we prepare and prosper -- to actively position the Society so we will have even greater success and impact in this new century than we had in our first.  During this Town Hall, we intend to invite a few speakers and engage the AMS membership in a discussion of future challenges and opportunities as AMS reaches it’s 100th year, and AMS’s role in addressing and capturing those challenges and opportunities.  Format: We will identify a few topics and have each invited speaker talk for 3-5 minutes about the specified topic and then open the floor to the audience for further discussion, expect civility, and limit comments to 3 minutes, to ensure full engagement of all attendees.

Cloud computing represents a fundamental change in the way IT services are developed, deployed, operated, and paid for, placing science communities in the middle of a major paradigm shift. The cloud appears to be a potential avenue for researchers to gain access to significant computing resources beyond the traditional supercomputing centers for end-to-end modeling studies, democratizing access to high performance computing resources, vast amounts of storage, and unprecedented access to large volumes of data. Historically, the modeling research community has relied mostly on high performance computing facilities and campus computing clusters to perform predictions. With the maturity of and significant advances in cloud computing, it has recently emerged as an alternative new paradigm for hosting and delivering a broad array of services over the Internet. This Town Hall will gather community input toward organizing a community workshop to explore the potential for advancing "Modeling Research in the Cloud."

The NASA Earth science flight program is a dynamic undertaking consisting of a large fleet of operating satellites, an array of satellite and instrument projects, a robust airborne science program which advances the use of satellite data, and a massive data archiving and distribution system. NASA’s fleet of 19 operating missions provides a wide range of scientific measurements obtained from dedicated Earth science satellites and the ISS. Projects in development are divided into categories: 1. Earth Systematic Missions (ESM) 2. Earth System Science Pathfinders (ESSP). The Earth Science Flight Program benefits from investments by the Earth Science Technology Office (ESTO) to develop and demonstrate cutting-edge technologies that can be applied to future NASA Earth science measurements/missions. The Town Hall will be conducted by Eric Ianson, of the Earth Science Division, NASA HQ, with time for audience participation. Orbital ATK is sponsoring a limited number of box lunches.

This panel and discussion will describe activities within NOAA and AMS to advance a comprehensive and integrated understanding of water, with a particular focus on coastal resilience. We will identify key challenges and opportunities for AMS and the broader community in collaboratively advancing the critical water issues facing our communities and business today, and share work being done by the AMS Policy Program.

The world of weather forecasting is being transformed by the emergence of innovative data sources; the ability to merge diverse data streams; and new advances in modeling, cloud computing and machine learning. This panel will showcase key players in the weather value chain of the future, and discuss the opportunities and challenges in driving dramatically better weather forecasts to fuel a next generation of analytics and risk management solutions for various industries. Moderated by Jason Samenow (Weather Editor and Chief Meteorologist, Washington Post’s Capital Weather Gang), this panel will include Mary Glackin (SVP, Science and Forecast Operations, The Weather Company), Alex Kubicek (CEO, Understory), Ashish Kapoor (Senior Researcher, Microsoft), Don Berchoff (CTO, TempoQuest), Brad Colman (Director of Weather Science, Climate Corporation), and Eric Dixon (Product Manager, Harris Helios).For additional information, please contact Dan Stillman (email: dstillma@harris.com).Harris will provide a limited number of box lunches

With the proliferation of platforms for communicating information over the internet and the popularity of weather, many news organizations are increasingly covering the subject. The platforms - including blogs, social media and more traditional online articles - facilitate instant sharing of time-sensitive, important information leading up to and during hazardous situations. Their interactive features encourage engagement that can facilitate mutually beneficial exchange of information. But in their drive to attract readers and clicks in covering weather in a very competitive business environment, some organizations and/or individuals have crossed lines. They sensationalize headlines and social media posts. They post forecasts beyond the range of predictability. They omit important details, make errors and/or perpetuate misconceptions. This panel will feature digital meteorologists and weather journalists who will discuss today's rapidly evolving media landscape. They'll discuss what's working well in online weather communication, best practices, and areas to improve.