Unisys Weather Information Services

1

• Unisys Weather Information Services
• Presentation for
• NWS Partners Meeting
• Partner Perspective
• June 2010
• Ron Guy, Director
• Unisys Weather
• Ronald.Guy_at_unisys.com

2
Agenda

• Partner Perspective on Weather Enterprise Sector
  Relations and Direction
• Where We Were
• Where We Are
• Where We Are Going

3
Where We Were

• 1980s and early 1990s
• Limited information and technology constrained
• Satellite picture images (no data) with limited
  analysis data
• Isolated weather radar with no images for public
  dissemination
• Model data with limited time range and accuracy
• Limited IT infrastructure
• Good ground observation network
• 1990s
• Transformation of weather observing/forecasting
  with GOES, WSR-88D (NEXRAD), AWIPS, NCEP Models
• Transformation of IT with computing and
  communications
• Internet enabled
• Prior patterns of delivering weather information
  changed and weather forecast accuracy gained
  value

4
Where We Were

• Stage Set for Confusion and Conflict in Weather
  Industry
• Private, Academic, and Public weather providers
  have new and better information with ability to
  directly disseminate in real-time much improved
  weather information developed over a short
  time-frame
• Roles were blurred greatly with enablement of
  both Public and Non-Public weather information
  providers
• Sometimes unknown, unexpected products and
  initiatives came out from NWS that impacted
  commercial business

5
Where We Were

• Effects
• Loss of commercial business from new, unexpected
  experimental products (on rare occasion putting
  small commercial company or consultant out of
  business)
• Commercial and academia not knowing where to put
  investments
• Limited NWS resources diverted from core
  competencies and needs
• End users without support when NWS agenda changed
  or experimental products ended

6
Where We Were

• Finally Came NRC (National Research Council) and
  Fair Weather (2003)
• Eleven recommendations to address the friction
  among the three Weather Enterprise sectors
• Fundamentally, suggested ideas to make public
  sector plans more transparent, improve
  communications between Public and Private
  Partners, and to recognize key roles of the
  sectors
• Suggests forums to encourage transparency (NOAA
  Science Advisory Board (SAB) and AMS)
• No boundaries were set, but framework was
  recommended to work together in the Weather
  Enterprise
• Still leaves a lot of uncertainty on specifics of
  roles

7
Where We Are

• Results
• In 2008, NOAA SAB established plan to standup the
  Partnership Working Group (PWG) and which is now
  evolved into the Environmental Information
  Service Working Group (EISWG) with a temporary
  mission as SAB advisory committee to be evaluated
  after one year
• AMS facilitates communications with Weather and
  Climate Enterprise Commission having the many
  interests of the Enterprise reviewed and
  discussed
• Although not immediate, level of harmony
  significantly improved since 2003 and even before
• Enterprise recognized the need for cooperation in
  many areas
• The tone started to change in early decade when
  all sectors cooperated in common interest to
  improve NWS data collection and dissemination
  infrastructure with reliability and redundancy

8
Where Are We Going

• Better Coordination of Enterprise
• NWS agenda more transparent even if not always
  agreed upon within the Enterprise
• Support from private and academic sectors
  continues for many if not all NWS goals
• Discussions on figuring out the problems to solve
  and effort to prioritize initiatives within the
  Enterprise (e.g., improved weather observations
  access with Network of Networks, Alternative
  Energy requirements, Climate measurement and
  forecasting)
• Transformational Automated Decision-Making
  Weather Information
• Infrastructure (Efficient use of massive weather
  information explosion)
• Weather products (accuracy and probabilities)
• Weather Information to User Interpretation and
  Decision (user business application)

9
Where Are We Going

• Commercial Partners Requests Being Met
• Give us more advanced notice on what NWS products
  are planned
• Processes in place
• Give us the data to use in machine readable
  format so public safety information is
  transported more quickly and more uses can be
  made of the data (business and user
  decision-making)
• Problems worked out and new, modern formats
  implemented
• Focus NWS resources on improving the science,
  enhancing model forecasts, deploying observing
  platforms, and improving infrastructure
• GOES-R, Network of Networks, Probabilistic
  Weather Products, NEXRAD/MPAR/CASA
• The Great Frontier
• Climate Forecasting and Verification (Global
  Scale)
• Micrometeorology Forecasting and Microclimatology
  Databases