An introduction to NOAA's Weather Program Office (WPO) Observations Program. Our history and mission.
Sandra LaCorte
From severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and winter storms to extreme precipitation, temperature extremes, and tropical cyclones, high impact weather phenomena will endlessly continue to impact human life and the environment. This makes improvement and advancement of weather forecasting and prediction through further understanding of the atmosphere from the surface through the planetary boundary layer crucial.
The National Academy Report “Observing Weather and Climate from the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks” documented gaps, challenges and priority needs to address inadequacies in the mesoscale weather observations needed to improve the forecasts, products, and services of the federal and weather enterprise. NOAA's Weather Program Office Observations Program has embraced this challenge and is strategically engaged with the weather observation operations and research communities to identify requirements, gaps, and execute investment opportunities.
Weather observation equipment from the rooftop of a building in Asheville, North Carolina with the Blue Ridge mountains in the background.
Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) owned and operated by Mississippi State University.
A saildrone in the ocean owned by Saildrone, Inc.
A shelf cloud at the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina International Airport.
NOAA observing equipment in Asheville, NC (credit: Sandy LaCorte).
Mississippi State University Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) (credit: Mississippi State University).
Saildrone navigating ocean waters during deployment (credit: Saildrone, Inc.).
Shelf cloud from parking lot of National Weather Service in Greenville, SC (credit: Sandy LaCorte).
NOAA's Weather Program Office
TheWeather Program Office (WPO) located under NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) supports world-class research and works closely with both the weather enterprise and NOAA’s National Weather Service to develop, advance, and transition weather research to operations. Formerly known as the Office of Weather and Air Quality (OWAQ), knowledge gained from research supported by WPO not only allows for a continuously evolving understanding of tropical cyclones, severe storms, air pollution, social science, and more - it supports NOAA’s mission to save lives, reduce property damage, and enhance the national economy, as well.
A list of all programs in the NOAA Weather Program Office, i.e. Observations, Testbeds, The Weather Act, etc.
NOAA WPO Office Programs
WPO Programs
Air Quality
Disaster Supplemental - Hurricane
Earth Prediction Innovation Center (EPIC)
FACETs (Forecasting a Continuum of Environmental Threats)
Established in October 2017, the mission of the Observations Program is to support the development and advancement of innovative weather observing technologies that are critical for the detection and forecasting of hazardous weather phenomena, and to transition these mission-effective, integrated, adaptable, and affordable technology into operations. To support this mission, the Observations Program works closely with the weather observations research community and the operational community across the government, academia, and the private industry.
To date, the program has funded over 45 projects with topics ranging from snowpack and soil moisture and phased array radar, to most recently in FY21, airborne and/or uncrewed systems (UxS) based technologies, profiling systems, and saildrones.
The Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act (Public Law 115-25), also known at The Weather Act was codified by the 115th U.S. Congress, and signed into law in April 2017. This legislative mandate aims to “improve NOAA’s weather research through a focused program of investment on affordable and attainable advances in observational, computing, and modeling capabilities to support substantial improvement in weather forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events.”
Image: The Weather Act.
Since the NOAA Authorization Act of 1992, the Weather Act is extensively viewed as the first comprehensive weather authorization. It has and continues to pave the way for improved forecast and warning systems to build a Weather-Ready Nation and for the protection of life and property, as well the integration of social science and unified modeling capabilities. Research that focuses on hurricanes, tornadoes, subseasonal and seasonal forecasts, risk communication, and transition to operations, are among it’s priorities.
In full support of the Weather Act, WPO’s Weather Observations Research program aims to fund research that develops and demonstrates innovative sensor and observing technologies that have a high potential for advancing an observation systems portfolio that is mission-effective, integrated, adaptable, and affordable.
Click here for more information on The Weather Act.
NOAA Weather Program Office logo, which includes the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration logo and text that names Weather Program Office.
