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Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office (2004)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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REVIEW OF THE U.S. CLIVAR PROJECT OFFICE

Committee to Review the U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) Project Office

Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

Division on Earth and Life Studies

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

Support for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation under Contract No. ATM-0135923. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number 0-309-09501-8

Additional copies of this report are available from the
National Academies Press,
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Copyright 2004 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm. A. Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Wm. A. Wulf are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE U.S. CLIMATE VARIABILITY AND PREDICTABILITY (CLIVAR) PROJECT OFFICE

DAVID KAROLY (Chair),

University of Oklahoma, Norman

JUDITH CURRY,

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta

JAMES EDSON,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

LYNNE TALLEY,

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, California

PAUL TRY,

Science and Technology Corporation, Silver Spring, Maryland

HASSAN VIRJI,

International START Secretariat, Washington, DC

NRC Staff

JULIE DEMUTH, Study Director

ROB GREENWAY, Senior Program Assistant

GERALDEAN HOURIGAN, Intern

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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BOARD ON ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND CLIMATE

ROBERT J. SERAFIN (Chair),

National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,

McKenna Long and Aldridge LLP, Washington, D.C.

ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY,

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Massachusetts

ROSINA M. BIERBAUM,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

RAFAEL L. BRAS,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

MARY ANNE CARROLL,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

WALTER F. DABBERDT,

Vaisala Inc., Boulder, Colorado

KERRY A. EMANUEL,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

CASSANDRA G. FESEN,

Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire

JENNIFER A. LOGAN,

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

WILLIAM J. RANDEL,

National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

ROGER M. WAKIMOTO,

University of California, Los Angeles

JOHN C. WYNGAARD,

Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Ex Officio Members

ANTONIO J. BUSALACCHI, JR.,

University of Maryland, College Park

ERIC F. WOOD,

Princeton University, New Jersey

NRC Staff

CHRIS ELFRING, Director

AMANDA STAUDT, Senior Program Officer

JULIE DEMUTH, Program Officer

SHELDON DROBOT, Program Officer

ELIZABETH A. GALINIS, Senior Program Assistant

ROB GREENWAY, Senior Program Assistant

DIANE GUSTAFSON, Administrative Coordinator

PARIKHIT SINHA, Postdoctoral Fellow

ANDREAS SOHRE, Financial Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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Preface

The World Climate Research Program (WCRP) is a major international research effort to develop scientific understanding of the physical climate system and climate processes needed to determine to what extent climate can be predicted and the extent of human influence on climate. CLIVAR is the project within the WCRP focusing on climate variability and predictability on time scales from seasons to centuries. In 2001, a National Research Council (NRC) study on U.S. contributions to the WCRP (NRC, 2001) recommended that there should be a national “focal point” for implementing each of the projects of the WCRP. Each focal point should serve as a point of contact and as a coordinating mechanism for domestic and international scientific implementation and cooperation both within the project and with other related projects.

The U.S. CLIVAR Project Office (USCPO) is the national focal point for CLIVAR activities in the United States. It was established in 2000, and in January 2004 the National Science Foundation commissioned the NRC to review the USCPO. A study committee was established under the guidance of the Climate Research Committee to undertake this review. The committee members’ collective expertise in various aspects of climate variability and predictability, combined with their individual experiences managing similar project offices and serving on scientific steering committees of U.S. and international projects, make them well suited to the task at hand (see Appendix E for the list of committee members and their biographies). The committee was asked to assess whether the USCPO is fulfilling its charge as established by the Interagency Group (i.e., DOE, NASA, NOAA, and NSF) by adequately conducting its core functions, which range from project development, project coordination, support, and communication. The specifics of the Statement of Task are included in Chapter 1 of the report.

The study was undertaken during June to October 2004. It is important to recognize that this study was neither a review of CLIVAR-related scientific research in the United States nor a review of agency funding for CLIVAR and related climate research in the United States. We have limited our review to the activities of the USCPO, as described in the Statement of Task. However, input provided to the committee often stretched beyond these bounds and sometimes raised issues related to the balance of U.S. CLIVAR science or agency funding of U.S. CLIVAR science. Because those aspects were considered to be outside the scope of this review, we have not addressed them in our findings and recommendations. In addition, although there is considerable overlap between CLIVAR science in the United States and the “Climate Variability and Change” research element of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP, 2003), we have not addressed in detail any potential overlap between the USCPO and the Climate Change Science Program Office.

We would like to thank the many people who provided valuable inputs to the study committee, as listed in Appendix C. In particular, we thank the staff of the USCPO, the members of the U.S. CLIVAR Interagency Group, and the co-chairs of the U.S. CLIVAR Scientific Steering Committee for their assistance. In addition, we are very grateful to the more than 160 scientists who took the time to respond to an electronic questionnaire that was distributed as part of this study. The members of the study committee have a wealth of relevant experience, which helped to provide an important context for this review. I would like to thank the members of the committee and the NRC staff for their major contributions to this study.

David Karoly, Chair

Committee to Review the U.S. Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) Project Office

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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Acknowledgments

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Alan Betts, Atmospheric Research, Pittsford, Vermont

Randall Dole, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado

Larry Gates, University of California, Davis

William Large, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

Roger Lukas, University of Hawaii, Manoa

Edward Urban, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Although the reviewers listed above have provided constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the report’s conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Michael Prather, University of California, Irvine. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2004. Review of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11149.
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A growing appreciation for how variations in climate affect society and the environment has increased the demand for fast and accurate predictions of climate variability. The Climate Variability and Predictability (CLIVAR) program, established internationally in 1995 and expanded to include a U.S. component in 1998, focuses on improving understanding and skill in predicting climate variability on seasonal to centennial time scales. This report evaluates the performance of the U.S. CLIVAR Project Office (PO) in fulfilling its charge from supporting agencies. The report concludes that the project office is vital for coordinating US CLIVAR activities and is effective despite limited resources. It also provides suggestions for enhancing the communications from and visibility of US CLIVAR activities and for developing strategic directions for the future.

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