Future of the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Network (1998) / Chapter Skim
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2 Operation and Management
2 Operation and Management
Pages 12-31
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From page 12... ...
The volume of data processed by NCDC is quite largecurrently more than 142,000 cooperative data forms per year, containing more than 25 million handwritten observations. Management Structure Figure 2-1 shows the management structure in the NWS and NESDIS with respect to the Coop Program and coop data.
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From page 13... ...
Data Operations Branch i Support Services Contractor FIGURE 2-1 Coop Program management structure. Source: National Weather Service ~ ~ Customers r Database Management Branch 1 Customers
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From page 14... ...
The high error rate in administrative entries on paper forms submitted to the NWS by cooperative observers represents a substantial problem for data processors at NCDC. But from the standpoint of the climate record, a far more serious problem is created by procedural errors by observers, which result in incomplete, incorrect, or misleading observations.
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From page 15... ...
Some observers, when faced with one or more days of missing observations, enter representative measurements for several days or for a period of time when the temperature equipment was not reset or precipitation gauges were not emptied. Overall, about 10 to 20 percent of the cooperative data submitted to NCDC in any given month, or about 55,000 to 60,000 individual weather elements, are missing or inaccurate.
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From page 17... ...
l f 1~ a,' _~ ~_. l 7,000 1948 1956 1964 1972 1980 1988 1996 Year FIGURE 2-4 Decline in the number of coop stations since 1970 Source: National Weather Service data used in NCDC publications)
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From page 18... ...
Data sent via ROSA and ATDTDCS are distributed via transmissions in a standard hydrometeorologic format to other NWS offices and RCCs, and thence to many other users, including most state climatologists. The data are then entered into a precursor to the local data acquisition and dissemination (LDAD)
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From page 19... ...
But most data are not disseminated directly to interested parties, such as the media, utilities, and agricultural concerns. Under current procedures, all cooperative observers mail their handwritten observation forms at the end of each month to the NWS.i There, the DAPM, assisted by HMTs, visually scans the data entry forms, inventories them, and conducts preliminary quality control (mainly identifying missing forms and identifying missing station identification or "metadata," missing observations, and implausible entries)
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From page 20... ...
NCDC officials estimate that, if data input were electronic and quality control were more automated, most cooperative data products could be generated 10 to 15 days after the end of a month (15 to 20 days for precipitation data) , compared with the current 60 to 90 days, and preliminary data could be made available immediately.
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From page 21... ...
NCDC typically receives the data forms and paper tapes from NWS forecast offices two to four weeks after the end of the calendar month. Because these forms are sent by mail from 119 NWS offices, the NCDC does not receive them all at the same time.
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From page 22... ...
The summary of the day and hourly precipitation databases became available on the NCDC Web Page in 1998. With 1.2 million on-line users per year, the 2Restructuring of the former weather service offices and WSFOs into fewer weather forecast offices has put pressure on NWS offices to respond to phone and dial-up data demands, which they now tend to pass on to NCDC, RCCs, or state climatologists.
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From page 23... ...
New technology has been introduced on an ad-hoc basis. For the most part, staff of weather forecast offices do not consider non-real-time cooperative data as operational data.
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From page 24... ...
to the Coop Program has not changed, and some of the former CPMs are now DAPMs, the people responsible for the program all have additional duties. Because Coop Program duties are part-time, DAPMs and HMTs require time and training in conducting their coop TABLE 2-2 Changes in Coop Program Operations (based on information provided by NWS field managers)
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From page 25... ...
Several NWS field managers told the panel that interns often perceive the Coop Network as a low-tech, part-time duty and that they are more interested in forecasting and modeling severe weather than in visiting farmers and laying MMTS cable. HMT staffing at every WFO is necessary to manage the Coop Program effectively.
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From page 26... ...
The absence, until recently, of a national cooperative program manager to ensure that the program received the necessary high-level management resources, attention, and planning also contributed to program deficiencies. Signals from NOAA and the NWS that the Coop Program has a low priority have seriously weakened the management structure.
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From page 27... ...
Table 2-3 shows Coop Program costs and reimbursements for FY 1996. The total annual cost of each coop station to American taxpayers is estimated to be about $700 (including the annual operating cost and the cost of NCDC operations)
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From page 28... ...
For example, mesonet data are mostly tailored to meet the needs of particular users and are focused on weather data rather than climate; in some cases, there is less quality control of the data, they are less available to the public than the coop data, and their period of record is much shorter than the 100-year record of the Coop Network. In many cases, the type of measurements is limited (e.g., no observations of snow, hail, thunder, etc.~.
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From page 29... ...
The figure illustrates the overall architecture for the NOAA National Weather System that the NWS plans to use to guide the development of its current and future weather modernization technologies and climate services. Two of the stated objectives for the architecture are to "pro vide for efficient and timely delivery of data from national observing systems to the NCDC" and to "support the integrity of the long-term climate record from weather systems" (NOAA, 1997~.
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From page 30... ...
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From page 31... ...
The NWS Office of Meteorology appears to recognize the need for, and has initiated a study of, an integrated surface observation network to leverage the information and resources of the many independent sources of surface observations throughout the United States. A comprehensive observing system architecture for integrated surface observations would provide a clear blueprint for the future management and operation of the Coop Program as part of the National Weather System.
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