National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Partners

Climate Services works with other NOAA line offices, other federal agencies, international agencies, and private sector enterprises to distribute climate services and improve NWS products. Links to some of these partners are found below.


National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI)
NCEI is the world's largest active archive of weather data. NCEI produces numerous climate publications and responds to data requests from all over the world. NCEI operates the World Data Center for Meteorology which is co-located at NCEI in Asheville, North Carolina, and the World Data Center for Paleoclimatology which is located in Boulder, Colorado. NWS has an extensive, ongoing partnership in climate data activities, including the COOP data “paperless” activity and quality control.

NOAA’s Climate Program Office (CPO)
CPO is located in the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and funds high-priority climate research to advance understanding of atmospheric and oceanic processes as well as climate impacts. The objectives of CPO’s programs are to describe and understand the state of the climate system through integrated observations, monitoring, and data management; to understand and predict climate variability and change from weeks to decades to a century into the future; and to improve society's ability to plan and respond to climate variability and change. CSD coordinates with CPO on a variety of NOAA-wide climate initiatives, such as strategic planning, internal and external communications, and training.

Regional Climate Centers (RCC)
RCCs deliver general and user defined climate data, information and knowledge for decision makers and other users at the local, state, regional and national levels. RCCS support applications, interdisciplinary research, and education that provide a regional focus to addressing societal needs. A cooperative agreement among the NWS, NESDIS, and the Western Regional Climate Center (WRCC) resulted in the successful implementation of the COOP data “paperless” initiative. The WRCC made their data processing system available to accomplish this. This improvement resulted in thousands of additional COOP stations’ data being available on a daily basis.

Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program (RISA)
The RISA Program supports research that address complex climate sensitive issues of concern to decision makers and policy planners at the regional level. The RISA research team members are primarily based at universities though some of the team members are based at government research facilities, non-profit organizations or private sector entities. RISAs conduct extension climate studies such as climate and forestry, water management, and human health. CSD collaborates with RISAs to transition climate research into applications that meet regional and local climate user needs.

Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Physical Sciences Division (PSD)
provides their expertise on climate variability and change and NWS forecast products to CSD training program. ESRL also participates in the monthly discussions with CPC prior to the issuance of forecasts.

U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP)
CCSP integrates federal research on climate and global change, as sponsored by thirteen federal agencies and overseen by the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Council on Environmental Quality, the National Economic Council and the Office of Management and Budget. CCSP develops improved science-based resources to aid decision making, and communicates scientific results to domestic and international scientific and stakeholder communities.

National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)
NIDIS improves the nation’s capacity to proactively manage drought-related risks, by providing those affected with the best available information and tools to assess the potential impacts of drought, and to better prepare for and mitigate the effects of drought. NIDIS ensures successful implementation of an integrated national drought monitoring and forecasting system at federal, state, and local levels through partnerships that foster and support research that focuses on risk assessment, forecasting, and management. CSD liaisons with NIDIS to support the development of relevant drought products and to provide comprehensive drought information to decision makers.

American Association of State Climatologists (AASC)
AASC fosters climate expertise at the state level and serves as a direct conduit for the communication of climate priorities into state level planning and management decisions. AASC provides climate outreach services and conducts state level climate impact studies.

American Meteorological Society (AMS)
WeatherFest is an AMS co-sponsored, interactive 4-hour science and weather fair. It is designed to instill a love for math and science in children of all ages and to spark a young person’s interest in the area of science with the hope that they may consider a career in science and engineering fields. WeatherFest is held in conjunction with the AMS annual meeting (usually on the weekend before the annual meeting begins).

National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is a member-driven organization, 60,000-strong. NSTA publishes books and journals for science teachers from kindergarten through college. NSTA provides ways for science teachers to connect with one another, and it informs Congress and the public on vital questions affecting science literacy and a well-educated workforce.

Sally Ride Science™
Dr. Sally Ride (President and CEO of Sally Ride Science), best known as America’s first woman in space, founded Sally Ride Science in 2001 to create quality programs and products that educate, entertain, engage, and inspire. Sally Ride Science is an innovative, science-content company dedicated to supporting girls’ and boys’ interests in science, math, and technology. The organization believes that when children are encouraged to pursue their interests, they are inspired to think about their futures, and are better prepared to pursue a wide range of exciting opportunities in high school, college, and beyond.

Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS)
The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) is a grassroots effort whose goal is to engage sectors of the public in science to increase their understanding of the nature of science and its value to society . Key objectives of COPUS are to create new forums for communication and to develop new opportunities for engaging the public with science. A COPUS primary mission is to work with others to engage the general public in dynamic ways that will make science more accessible, personally meaningful, and locally relevant.

National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF)
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) was chartered by Congress in 1990 to advance environmental knowledge and action. The ultimate goal of NEEF is to activate environmentally-responsible behavior in the general public through a powerful network of trusted professionals (i.e., health professionals, weathercasters, land managers, and teachers) who can help Americans make everyday choices for a healthy life and healthy environment.

Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF)
In 1977 The World Agricultural Outlook Board (WAOB), that serves as USDA’s focal point for economic intelligence and the commodity outlook for the US, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration formed the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF). Housed at USDA, JAWF monitors the weather and assesses its likely impact on crops around the world. Regular briefings by Board experts are an important information source for USDA commodity forecasters as well as for the Secretary of Agriculture and other top officials at the Department. CPC represents NOAA at JAWF. JAWF produces a number of products that are considered official NWS products in NWS policy directives, including the Palmer Drought Severity Index, The Crop Moisture Index, and and Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin. CPC provides 6 members of its staff to JAWF activities; 3 are located at the USDA and 3 assist remotely at CPC. CPC assists in the preparation of the Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (WWCB).

 

The CPC collaborates with USD in the preparation of the Palmer Drought Severity Index for long-term planning by agricultural and water supply managers, and the Crop Moisture Index for short-term planning by agricultural interests. CPC helps JAWF transmit CLIMAT messages (monthly means of selected U.S. station data), via the NWSTG, to the World Data Center for Meteorology (operated by NCDC) for publication under WMO sponsorship.

National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC)
An operational Drought Monitor team, consisting of CPC, NOAA’s NCDC, USDA’s JAWF, and the University of Nebraska’s National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC), issue the Drought Monitor and related National Drought Summary (text discussion), with lead responsibility rotating among the members of this team.

International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI)
CPC and CSD has three-way collaborative partnership in training development, local climate products and climate services outreach activities (ideally if each of the last three will have an access to appropriate CSD page). They also participate in the monthly discussions with CPC prior to the issuance of forecasts.

Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET)
COMET is the NWS Climate Services Division main and long-term partner in developing the NWS Professional Development Series (PDS) in Climate Services and leveraging existing resources to enhance the NWS training program. The partnership includes the Climate Variability and Change Virtual Course and numerous distance learning online training modules on various climate topics