JCSDA Briefing to Agencies’ Executives
September 5, 2008
Notes and Action Items
Attendees representing the Agencies:
Mary Kicza for NOAA/NESDIS
Jack Hayes for NOAA/NWS
Rick Spinrad for NOAA/OAR
Edward Franchi for the Navy/NRL
William Curry on behalf of Robert Winokur for the Navy/N84
Mark Zettlemoyer on behalf of Fred Lewis for the Air Force/Director of Weather
Randy Friedl on behalf of Michael Freilich for NASA/Earth Science Division
Attendees from the JCSDA Management Oversight Board:
Al Powell for NESDIS/STAR
Louis Uccellini for NWS/NCEP
Robert Atlas for OAR/AOML
William Curry for the Navy/N84
Mark Zettlemoyer for the Air Force/Director of Weather
Franco Einaudi for NASA/GSFC/Earth Sciences Division
Attendees from the JCSDA Executive Team:
Lars Peter Riishojgaard, JCSDA Director
Steve Goodman, JCSDA Acting Deputy Director from NESDIS/STAR
Steve Lord, JCSDA Associate Director from NCEP/EMC
Michele Rienecker, JCSDA Associate Director from GSFC/GMAO
Wayman Baker, JCSDA Chief Administrative Officer from NCEP/Office of the Director
Background:
The meeting was the first of what is intended to be annual briefings to the seven agencies’ executives who signed the JCSDA Memorandum of Agreement on behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of the Navy, and the Department of the Air Force.
The current Chairman of the JCSDA Management Oversight Board, Col. Mark Zettlemoyer, USAF, opened the meeting and reminded the participants of the importance of the activities undertaken by the JointCenter in support of numerical weather prediction and optimizing the return on the substantial investment of the nation in existing and future satellite systems. He then handed the meeting over to Dr. Lars Peter Riishojgaard, the JSCDA Director, who provided a briefing (attached) on the current and planned JCSDA activities. The briefing was well received and generated a lively discussion of the JointCenter activities and the level of priority given to them in the various participating agencies. Noting that this was the first time they had been briefed on and asked to comment on JCSDA activities as a group, the agencies’ executives expressed the wish that a follow-on briefing be held within a period of six months rather after one year as stated in the Memorandum of Agreement.
During the discussion, the following was agreed upon:
Action Items
1. Budget for data assimilation as a critical part of the cost of each sensor intended for operational use – ACTIONS: Meet with Satellite Sub-Goal Team Lead; put on agenda for future NASA/NOAA R2O meeting and provide briefing– POC: JCSDA Deputy Director
Status: Open. Working toward putting this on agenda for NASA/NOAA Roundtable
2. Create a NASA/NOAA OSSE Steering Group to formalize and accelerate the current collaboration on OSSEs among GMAO, EMC, and GSD– ACTIONS: Draft expected outcome, Terms of Reference, and benefits – POC: L. P.Riishojgaard, STAR
Status: Closed. Terms of Reference for OSSE Steering Group drafted by JCSDA Director and approved by Management Oversight Board. Note that USWRP has launched an “OSSE Testbed” initiative targeting similar activities. The relationship between the two initiatives needs to be clarified.
3. Schedule the next JCSDA briefing to the Agencies’ Executives for Spring 2009 –ACTIONS: Poll the calendars of the Agencies’ Executives, the MOB, and JCSDA Executive Team in early 2009 and finalize meeting date/time – POC: W. Baker
Status: Closed. Briefing scheduled.
4. Consider using internal JCSDA resources to close the gap between what funding is expected from the IPO and what is needed to prepare for NPP, especially for CrIS and ATMS – ACTIONS: Review JSDI priorities and consider JSDI as a potential funding source as well as consider re-directing internal civil service manpower – POC: MOB, JCSDA Executive Team
Status: Closed. JSDI not deemed to be a viable source of funding for FFO.
5. Develop a strategy for enhancing the funding of the FFO – ACTIONS: Consider other potential funding sources as well as re-directing internal resources – POC: Agencies’ Executives, MOB
Status: Ongoing. Improved financial picture for FY 2010, but longer term planning and commitment still requested.
6. Develop a strategy for addressing the computing shortfall – ACTIONS: Approach agency partners (NASA, DoD) to contribute to the future NOAA R&D computer acquisition with their representatives serving on the acquisition team and the resulting computing resources made available to their respective users who collaborate on JCSDA projects – POC: Agencies’ Executives, MOB.
Status: Open. JCSDA Executive exploring pathways toward increased capabilities.
7. Develop a more comprehensive set of forecast performance metrics and not rely on just 500 hPa anomaly correlation. Note: the development of a composite skill index calculated from key parameters for each forecast system operated by the JCSDA partners is already underway – ACTIONS: Complete and begin to report on the results of the composite skill index – POC: L. P. Riishojgaard
Status: Open. AFWA has submitted composite metric to JCSDA, metric for NCEP/EMC is currently in development.