R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters

Abstract A communication deficit exists between the space weather research and forecast communities in the research‐to‐operations‐to‐research (R2O2R) pipeline. No formal, citable space exists for forecasters to communicate needs and lessons learned to the research community (O2R). This deficit was t...

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Main Authors: E. C. Butler, J. M. Keller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-06-01
Series:Space Weather
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1029/2021SW002739
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author E. C. Butler
J. M. Keller
author_facet E. C. Butler
J. M. Keller
author_sort E. C. Butler
collection DOAJ
description Abstract A communication deficit exists between the space weather research and forecast communities in the research‐to‐operations‐to‐research (R2O2R) pipeline. No formal, citable space exists for forecasters to communicate needs and lessons learned to the research community (O2R). This deficit was termed the “valleys of death and lost opportunities” (NRC, 2003, https://doi.org/10.17226/10658) and has resulted in advancements taking up to 20 years or more to become forecast operational. To provide this communication space, we surveyed a group of US civilian space weather forecasters on their needed improvements, use of available resources, and interactions with researchers, via a combination of questionnaire and focus group discussions. Nineteen needed improvements were identified, clustering into four categories: scientific understanding, access to data, forecast office tools, and instrumentation. Participants appeared to prefer resources with a robust data stream of high‐resolution and high‐time cadence data which suffer few technical issues. Participants want to be included in tool development more often and earlier in the process as they felt they were “seldom listened to when it comes to what [they] actually need.”
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spelling doaj-art-bf3335d6849a490c9f93aba6dcf10a5d2025-01-14T16:30:36ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902021-06-01196n/an/a10.1029/2021SW002739R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather ForecastersE. C. Butler0J. M. Keller1Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USADepartment of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences University of Colorado Boulder Boulder CO USAAbstract A communication deficit exists between the space weather research and forecast communities in the research‐to‐operations‐to‐research (R2O2R) pipeline. No formal, citable space exists for forecasters to communicate needs and lessons learned to the research community (O2R). This deficit was termed the “valleys of death and lost opportunities” (NRC, 2003, https://doi.org/10.17226/10658) and has resulted in advancements taking up to 20 years or more to become forecast operational. To provide this communication space, we surveyed a group of US civilian space weather forecasters on their needed improvements, use of available resources, and interactions with researchers, via a combination of questionnaire and focus group discussions. Nineteen needed improvements were identified, clustering into four categories: scientific understanding, access to data, forecast office tools, and instrumentation. Participants appeared to prefer resources with a robust data stream of high‐resolution and high‐time cadence data which suffer few technical issues. Participants want to be included in tool development more often and earlier in the process as they felt they were “seldom listened to when it comes to what [they] actually need.”https://doi.org/10.1029/2021SW002739operations‐to‐research
spellingShingle E. C. Butler
J. M. Keller
R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters
Space Weather
operations‐to‐research
title R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters
title_full R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters
title_fullStr R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters
title_full_unstemmed R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters
title_short R2O2R Improvements Identified by United States Space Weather Forecasters
title_sort r2o2r improvements identified by united states space weather forecasters
topic operations‐to‐research
url https://doi.org/10.1029/2021SW002739
work_keys_str_mv AT ecbutler r2o2rimprovementsidentifiedbyunitedstatesspaceweatherforecasters
AT jmkeller r2o2rimprovementsidentifiedbyunitedstatesspaceweatherforecasters