MITRE’s data-driven responses to a White House inquiry supporting the advancement of Federal meteorological services across the meteorological enterprise.
MITRE’s Response to the ICAMS RFI to Help Inform the Advancement of Federal Meteorological Services
What’s the issue?
The Interagency Council for Advancing Meteorological Services (ICAMS) is the interagency organization established in July 2020 in response to the Weather Research and Forecasting and Innovation Act of 2017. ICAMS is the formal mechanism by which all relevant Federal departments and agencies coordinate implementation of policy and practices intended to advance meteorological services and ensure continued U.S. global leadership in their development and provision. By ICAMS charter, one of its primary objectives is to “lead the development of a decadal strategic plan to advance meteorological services with involvement of the Earth system science, service, and stakeholder communities.” ICAMS leadership plans to develop this decadal strategic plan during 2022-2023, and issued an RFI to gather data and evidence to support its work.
What did we do?
The Center for Data-Driven Policy led a cross-MITRE analysis of the questions posed in the RFI, seeking to uncover data and evidence (from our work in the public interest) that would help the Subcommittee answer its questions and subsequently make policy decisions that are evidence-based, actionable, and will lead to their desired outcomes.
What did we find?
MITRE provided data- and experience-driven recommendations in our response, including discussion on the needs to (1) increase the density and frequency of atmospheric measurements and (2) increase the attention on translating meteorological data and findings to policymakers so that decisionmakers can understand and properly calibrate their thinking to make proper decisions. Implementing the latter recommendation also aligns with new scientific principles previously issued by the White House Scientific Integrity Task Force.