The Risks of Contracting the Acquisition and Processing of the Nation’s Weather and Climate Data to the Private Sector
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bams-d-18-0034.1.pdf
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232.11 KB
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Author(s)
Serra, Yolande L.
Haase, Jennifer S.
Adams, David K.
Fu, Qiang
Ackerman, Thomas P.
Alexander, M. Joan
Arellano, Avelino
Back, Larissa
Chen, Shu-Hua
Fuchs, Zeljka
Date Issued
June 2018
Journal
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Publisher
American Meteorological Society
Citation
Serra, Yolande L. et al. “The Risks of Contracting the Acquisition and Processing of the Nation’s Weather and Climate Data to the Private Sector.” Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 99, 5 (May 2018): 869–870 © 2018 American Meteorological Society
Version
Final published version
Abstract
We are deeply concerned with the trend toward the purchase of commercial weather and climate data by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other government agencies that may follow. One major concern is for the stability of both the raw and processed forms of these datasets as commercial enterprises come and go. Also of concern is the loss of free, publicly available data, which provide the backbone for much of the non-profit research at universities, government laboratories, and other nonprofit organizations. Related to this latter point is the questionable practice of private companies gaining the rights over data collected by instruments paid for by United States taxpayers. This letter highlights recent events that prompted our concerns and provides arguments in favor of maintaining an open and free data policy, which has established the United States as the global leader in supporting weather and climate operations, applications, basic research, and education.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0034.1
