Duration: 10/01/2015 to 09/30/2016

Administrative Advisor(s):

NIFA Reps:

Non-Technical Summary

Statement of Issues and Justification

Climate change, drought, and pronounced natural climate variability pose major challenges to agriculture and natural resource management in the western United States. In turn, climate information—historical, real-time and prognostic—is vital for the sustainable management of these resources. The use of climate information is a key component of decision support tools, programs, technologies, and practices that protect and enhance water, soil, and air. Likewise, legislation and policy must incorporate knowledge of climate variability and change if we hope to maintain the stability and long-term viability of agriculture, water, timber and other goods and services in the West.

Currently climate data and information are collected by a wide range of Federal, state and local agencies, as well as many non-governmental organizations. This information is then stored and distributed in myriad ways, and accessing relevant and reliable climate-related products continues to be a major challenge for the agriculture and natural resource communities. Communication among the various agencies and organizations responsible for this information is becoming increasingly important as a means of leveraging data collection efforts, maintaining monitoring stations and for disseminating products that best meet stakeholder needs. State Climatologists (SCs) and NOAA Regional Climate Centers (RCCs) fill some of these coordination needs at the state and regional level, and the National Climatic Data Center performs similar—but limited—functions at the national level. However, there is a pressing need in the western US to enhance cooperation and coordination, and to address issues that SCs and RCCs working alone are not well-equipped to tackle. Critical areas for further development include 1) the creation of internet-based tools that allow users to access data and information from multiple groups and agencies simultaneously; 2) research into the relationships among weather, climate, agriculture and natural resources in the context of changing land-use and shifting regional economies and demographics; 3) development of analytical diagnostic and forecast tools and summary products aimed specifically at agriculture and natural resources; 4) technology transfer that takes data and research on climate variability and change and places it in the hands of the policymakers, water managers, land managers, extension personnel, engineers, growers and ranchers that need it. In time, legacy programs and resources will also need to be integrated into local, state, and federal efforts currently under development.

Towards these ends, the Western Extension Research Activity (WERA)-102 committee has served, and continues to serve, a critical function in ensuring coordination and cooperation among the many and varied groups responsible for producing climate data, climate-related information and products in the West. In times of increasingly tight budgets, WERA-102 is playing an increasing role in ensuring the sustainability and economic viability of the networks and partnerships responsible for creating and distributing these products. Given the significant economic impacts from adverse weather and climate variability and change, it is also prudent that the committee continue to serve as a focal point for ensuring the persistence of strong weather and climate research and applications programs in the West. In short, this committee serves as a forum for coordination, discussion and prioritization of data collection, research and applications, as well as a platform to promote the efficient use of limited resources and to ensure our collective ability meet stakeholder needs.

Objectives

Procedures and Activities

1. Collaborate with federal agency climate hubs and centers to highlight their unique roles and leverage limited resources for research activities related to agriculture and resource management in the western U.S.
• Communication and coordination with federal partners and their climate centers and hubs to ensure that the needs of agriculture and natural resource management are met in the most effective manner possible.
• Support for monitoring and assessment of climate variability and change, particularly as it relates to drought and water resources.
• Communicate improved understanding of climate variability and change, and their impacts on agricultural and natural resources.
• Facilitate the creation of climatic time-series and climate scenarios that can be used in hydrological and natural resource models and decision support systems.
• Collaborate on the development of tools that quantify or describe relationships between weather and climate and water availability, crops, forests, rangelands, pests, and diseases, and thereby increase the effectiveness of management activities.

2. Evaluate monitoring network capabilities to facilitate regional comparison of data to address critical issues in agriculture and natural resources management.
• Identify and share relevant weather and climate data and information resources.
• Develop technologies to gather and distribute data and information from disparate sources.
• Provide coordination on issues surrounding data collection, quality control/assurance and, where appropriate, make recommendations or take action to ensure the creation of high-quality data sets to support both research and applications.
• Play a leading role in the development of standards for siting and maintenance of stations, as well as standards for data archiving and metadata.

3. Promote access to, use of, and further development of monitoring networks and associated value added products to meet the needs of agriculture and resource management in the West.
• Share methodologies for manipulating and presenting climate information spatially.
• Facilitate the creation and use of gridded and modeled data sets and derived climate products suitable for agricultural and natural resources management
• Facilitate the creation of climate impact assessments, drought advisories and other products that are directly applicable to policymakers, water managers, and other key end-users.
• Facilitate the development of climate products that incorporate information from multiple data sources (e.g., satellite, radar and ground observations).
• Ensure that data and information critical to agriculture and natural resource management is delivered in formats that can be readily incorporated into decision support systems.
• Develop and share methods to evaluate how well products and services are meeting user needs.
4. Facilitate interagency coordination for data collection and maintenance of monitoring sites in the western U.S.
• Identify monitoring needs or gaps in existing networks that impact agriculture and resources management and explore remedial options.
• Identification of data and analysis needs related to agriculture and natural resource management.
• Explore presentation and dissemination methods for climate information using emerging technologies (e.g., web mapping, social networks, etc.).
• Use of new and emerging sensor technologies to improve data quality and/or promote the economic sustainability of data collection networks.
• Leveraging of existing data collection, analysis and distribution infrastructure and technologies to better meet the need of agriculture and natural resource management.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

Projected Participation

View Appendix E: Participation

Educational Plan

Agricultural meteorology and climatology are integral sciences in virtually all research sectors of the AES. Participants are called upon to provide consultation to other researchers, extension personnel, and end users such as growers and consultants. A major focus of the WERA-102 is the development and dissemination of weather and climate information related to agricultural and natural resources management. Another purpose of the WERA-102 is the on-going education of its participants regarding activities from the complex web of agencies involved in weather and climate monitoring and applications in the West. Specifically, the WERA-102 will:
• Conduct detailed educational sessions at each annual meeting about current priority issues. For example, we will conduct one workshop on evaluation of product and outreach effectiveness; as well as cooperative discussions regarding database quality descriptors, and confidence intervals.
• Coordinate and publicize the availability of sources of weather and climate information.
• Provide information and documentation about the various weather and climate-related products generated and disseminated under the Objectives and.
• Provide web resources and other tools to disseminate the outcomes of these interactions.

Organization/Governance

Governance will be standard. Two officers are elected each year: A chair, who develops the agenda and leads the annual meeting, and a secretary who prepares the minutes and the annual report. Traditionally, the secretary becomes the chair the following year.

Literature Cited

Attachments

Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

AZ, CO, OK, WA, WY

Non Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

California Department of Water Resources, NIFA, University of Kentucky