Experimental Climate Services
In addition to its basic climate research, CDC provides an extensive range of experimental climate services. Climate services require sustained and systematic communication of climate information to a broad spectrum of users, and interactions with users to determine their priorities and needs. A common objective of our experimental climate services is to address NOAA's goal of improving mechanisms for dissemination of climate and weather products. Enhancing access to climate information also facilitates basic climate research and expands the scientific basis for informed public planning and policy decisions.
Research at CDC and elsewhere indicates that there are currently substantial barriers to the effective use of climate information (e.g., requirements for better and more timely access to data, improved visualization, user-specific needs, and organizational obstacles to factoring climate information into decisions). CDC employs various approaches to overcome such barriers, in order to develop improved NOAA climate products that address both research scientist and non-traditional user needs. Experimental climate services activities in CDC fall into five categories: 1) enhanced weather and climate monitoring products and experimental climate forecasts; 2) WWW based value-added access, analysis, and visualization tools for climate data; 3) user studies and societal interactions; 4) Western Water Assessment activities; and 5) public health and climate research.