| Office
of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology
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Introduction:
The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services
and Supporting Research, more briefly known as the Office of the Federal
Coordinator for Meteorology (OFCM), is an interdepartmental office
established because Congress and the Executive Office of the President
recognized the importance of full coordination of federal meteorological
activities. The Department of Commerce formed the OFCM in 1964 in
response to Public Law 87-843. Samuel P. Williamson is the Federal
Coordinator.
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Mission:
To ensure the effective use of federal meteorological resources by
leading the systematic coordination of operational weather requirements
and services, and supporting research, among the federal agencies.
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Activities:
Fifteen federal departments and agencies are currently engaged in
meteorological activities and participate in the OFCM's coordination
and cooperation infrastructure. The OFCM carries out its tasks through
an interagency staff working with representatives from the federal
agencies who serve on program councils, committees, working groups,
and joint action groups. This infrastructure supports all of the federal
agencies that are engaged in meteorological activities or have a need
for meteorological services. In addition to providing this coordinating
infrastructure, the OFCM prepares operations plans, conducts studies,
and responds to special inquiries and investigations. The successful
development and deployment of the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988
Doppler (WSR88-D) is an example of a tri-departmental program coordinated
through the OFCM. Another example of effective OFCM coordination is
the substantial progress in model development, cooperative support
and data-sharing arrangements, backup requirements, and communications
upgrades among the Operational Processing Centers (National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental
Prediction and Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution,
the Air Force Weather Agency, and the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology
and Oceanography Center and Naval Oceanographic Office). The OFCM
recently restructured the interagency coordinating process to better
match the federal agencies' perspectives, focus areas, and priorities
for the 21st century and, at the same time, reduced the number of
groups needed to support the infrastructure.
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