Presentations from the Urban Meteorology Forum are available through our Special Projects link.

Click here -- For presentations from the 2nd International Conference on Volcanic Ash and Aviation Safety (June 2004).

Click here -- For Presentations from OFCM's Session – Supporting Homeland Security Requirements for Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion Modeling (Day 2 of the GMU Conference).

Click here -- for a quick linking page to the Operational Processing Centers.

	Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology 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. 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. 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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	OFCM also maintains the Climate Information and Services site at climateservices.gov. This site contains links to Federal agency climate information and services web sites and is compiled by the Committee for Climate Monitoring and Services.

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Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology
8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1500
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301.427.2002

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