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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2012. The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring: A Retrospective Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13216.
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F


Statement of Task

During the 1980s and 1990s, NOAA launched a major program to modernize the National Weather Service (NWS), investing $4.5 billion to modernize NWS technologies to advance weather forecasting. No complete assessment of the entire end-to-end NWS modernization enterprise has been done, thus Congress has asked the National Academy of Sciences to conduct an assessment of the now-completed National Weather Service modernization. The project should not only address the past modernization, but also focus on lessons learned to support future improvements to NWS capabilities. It should address high-impact weather and new science and technologies that allow for even better forecasts; the integration of new technologies and better models into NWS operations; workforce composition and structure; and improving current partnerships with private industry, academia, and other governmental agencies. Finally, the project should provide advice on how NWS can best plan, deploy, and oversee these future improvements based on lessons learned from the NWS modernization.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2012. The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring: A Retrospective Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13216.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2012. The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring: A Retrospective Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13216.
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Page 101
Suggested Citation:"Appendix F: Statement of Task." National Research Council. 2012. The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring: A Retrospective Assessment. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13216.
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Page 102
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The Modernization and Associated Restructuring (MAR) of the National Weather Service (NWS) was a large and complex re-engineering of a federal agency. The process lasted a decade and cost an estimated $4.5 billion. The result was greater integration of science into weather service activities and improved outreach and coordination with users of weather information. The MAR created a new, modernized NWS, and, significantly, it created a framework that will allow the NWS to keep up with technological changes in a more evolutionary manner.

The MAR was both necessary and generally well executed. However, it required revolutionary, often difficult, changes. The procurement of large, complex technical systems presented challenges in and of itself. The MAR also affected the career paths and personal lives of a large portion of the field office workforce. The MAR created a new, modernized NWS, and, significantly, it created a framework that will allow the NWS to keep up with technological changes in a more evolutionary manner.

The National Weather Service Modernization and Associated Restructuring presents the first comprehensive assessment of the execution of the MAR and its impact on the provision of weather services in the United States. This report provides an assessment that addresses the past modernization as well as lessons learned to support future improvements to NWS capabilities.

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