Policy research on observing network design for weather prediction

Observations are a fundamental tool in the atmospheric and related sciences, used for weather and climate research, monitoring, risk estimation, and prediction. Allocation of resources for atmospheric and related observations is thus an important issue for scientists, policy-makers, and society. Decisions about observing system design are made through the collective actions of a variety of people and groups, ranging from individual scientists and engineers to government agency personnel to international coordinating bodies. The diverse uses of observations and diverse collection of actors involved in observing network design make it challenging to effectively allocate public observing resources for societal benefit.

This presentation will discuss these and other aspects of observing network design, focusing primarily on examples from weather prediction. Public policy research will be used as a framework for bridging scientific and societal perspectives.