The Federal Plan
for Meteorological Services
and Supporting Research
FISCAL YEAR 1998
FCM-P1-1997
PREFACE
Since 1965, the Office of the Federal Coordinator has developed a
federal plan which articulates the meteorological services provided and
supporting research conducted by agencies of the federal government. As in
the past, it provides Congress and the Executive Branch a comprehensive
plan for meteorological services and supporting research within the
federal meteorological community. "Supporting" research is
defined as those research and development (R&D) programs that directly
support and improve meteorological services. The plan reviews agency
programs for FY 1997 and documents proposed programs for FY 1998. The
plan's narratives, timelines, and schedules reflect a date as of June
1997. Consequently, the new OFCM organizational changes are not reported
in this edition.
Section 1 is an overview and general summary of the entire document.
Section 2 describes interagency cooperation that is essential to meet the
federal government's requirements for meteorological services. Section 3
summarizes a discussion of resources requested in the President's budget
for FY 1998 as compared to those resources that Congress appropriated for
FY 1997. This budget information along with other significant aspects are
summarized in graphical and table formats and are current as of the end of
June 1997. The emphasis is on changes in resources and the associated
changes in programs. Section 4 is a review article entitled Owning The
Weather--An Army Force Multiplier. Appendices A through D describe
individual agency weather activities and programs; Appendix E describes
the World Weather Program; Appendix F contains a list of acronyms; and
Appendix G lists the topics of our feature articles from prior years.
The policy and program guidance for coordinating weather activities and
programs is provided by the interagency committees shown on the inside
front cover. These committees and the supporting organizational structure
shown on the inside of the back cover conduct systematic and continuous
reviews of federal programs and requirements for meteorological services
and supporting research according to guidelines initially set forth in the
Office of Management and Budget Circular A-62.
This edition of the Federal Plan continues modifications to format and
presentation of information initiated two years ago. The focus of Section
2 is now on OFCM's coordination and planning activities for the past year
rather than descriptive, historical program information. In conjunction
with these modifications that we've initiated, I solicit your comments and
feedback regarding additional enhancements. These comments may be directed
to either myself or the staff editors.
In FY 1997, OFCM established a Web site--WWW.OFCM.GOV. In addition to the
latest version of the Federal Plan, we intend to convert and make
available for viewing and distribution new as well as previous OFCM
publications. We look forward to your suggestions to assist us in
improving our web site.
To view the following PDF files, Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed. Click on the following link to go to Adobe's website. Adobe Acrobat.
Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
TABLE OF CONTENTS (86kb)
SECTION 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (104kb)
SECTION 2 FEDERAL COORDINATION AND PLANNING
(487kb)
SECTION 3 RESOURCE INFORMATION AND AGENCY
PROGRAM UPDATES (122kb)
SECTION 4 OWNING THE WEATHER--AN ARMY FORCE
MULTIPLIER (490kb)
APPENDIX A Department of Commerce Weather
Programs (242kb)
APPENDIX B Department of Defense Weather
Programs (203kb)
APPENDIX C Department of Transportation Weather
Programs (98kb)
APPENDIX D Weather Programs of Other Agencies
(155kb)
APPENDIX E World Weather Program (74kb)
APPENDIX F Acronyms and Abbreviations (49kb)
APPENDIX G Previous Feature Articles (22kb)
Last Year's Plan in html format
Federal Plan for Meteorological
Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 1997