I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2413 

To prioritize and redirect NOAA resources to a focused program of investment 

on near-term, affordable, and attainable advances in observational, computing, and modeling capabilities to deliver substantial improvement in 

weather forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events, such 

as tornadoes and hurricanes, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 18, 2013 

Mr. BRIDENSTINE (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mr. STEWART, and Mr. 

HARRIS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology 

A BILL 

To prioritize and redirect NOAA resources to a focused 

program of investment on near-term, affordable, and attainable advances in observational, computing, and modeling capabilities to deliver substantial improvement in 

weather forecasting and prediction of high impact weather events, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Weather Forecasting 

3 Improvement Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PUBLIC SAFETY PRIORITY. 

5 In accordance with the critical responsibility of 

6 NOAA to ensure and enhance the provision of data, fore7 casts, and warnings for the protection of life and property 

8 and the enhancement of the national economy, the Under 

9 Secretary shall make these weather-related activities the 

10 top priority in the planning and management of programs 

11 within all relevant line offices. 

12 SEC. 3. WEATHER RESEARCH AND FORECASTING INNOVA13 TION. 

14 (a) PROGRAM.—The Assistant Administrator for 

15 OAR shall undertake a program to develop improved un16 derstanding of and forecast capabilities for atmospheric 

17 events, placing priority on developing more accurate and 

18 timely warnings and forecasts of high impact weather 

19 events that endanger life and property. 

20 (b) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The program described 

21 in subsection (a) shall focus on the following activities: 

22 (1) Improving the fundamental understanding 

23 of weather consistent with section 2, including 

24 boundary layer and other atmospheric processes. 

25 (2) Research and development, and transfer of 

26 knowledge, technologies, and applications to the 

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1 NWS and other appropriate agencies and entities, 

2 including the American weather industry and aca3 demic partners, related to— 

4 (A) advanced radar technologies, including 

5 those emphasizing rapid, fine-scale sensing of 

6 the boundary layer and the use of innovative, 

7 dual-polarization, phased-array technologies; 

8 (B) aerial weather observing systems; 

9 (C) high performance computing and infor10 mation technology networks; 

11 (D) advanced forecast modeling that im12 proves the timing, track, and intensity forecasts 

13 of severe storms and related phenomena, such 

14 as storm surge, including through— 

15 (i) more effective use of existing, and 

16 the development of new, regional and na17 tional cloud-resolving models; and 

18 (ii) enhanced global models; 

19 (E) observing system simulation experi20 ments as described in section 7; 

21 (F) atmospheric chemistry and interactions 

22 essential to accurately characterizing atmos23 pheric composition and predicting meteorolog24 ical processes, including cloud microphysical, 

25 precipitation, and atmospheric electrification 

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1 processes to more effectively understand their 

2 role in severe weather; and 

3 (G) additional sources of weather data and 

4 information, including commercial observing 

5 systems. 

6 (3) A technology transfer initiative, carried out 

7 jointly and in coordination with the Assistant Ad8 ministrator for Weather Services, and in cooperation 

9 with the American weather industry and academic 

10 partners, to ensure continuous development and 

11 transition of the latest scientific and technological 

12 advances into NWS operations. 

13 (c) ACADEMIC RESEARCH.—In carrying out the pro14 gram under this section, the Assistant Administrator for 

15 OAR shall collaborate with and support the academic 

16 weather research community, including by making funds 

17 available to institutions of higher education through com18 petitive grants and contracts. 

19 SEC. 4. TORNADO WARNING EXTENSION PROGRAM. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out section 3, the As21 sistant Administrator for OAR shall establish a tornado 

22 warning extension program. 

23 (b) GOAL.—The goal of such program shall be to de24 velop and extend accurate tornado forecasts and warnings 

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1 beyond 1 hour in order to reduce loss of life, injury, and 

2 damage to the economy. 

3 (c) PROGRAM PLAN.—Within 180 days after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Administrator for 

5 OAR, in consultation with the Assistant Administrator for 

6 Weather Services, shall issue a program plan that details 

7 the specific research, development, and technology trans8 fer activities, as well as corresponding resources and 

9 timelines, necessary to achieve the program goal. 

10 (d) BUDGET FOR PLAN.—Following completion of 

11 the plan, the Under Secretary shall transmit annually to 

12 Congress a proposed budget corresponding to the activities 

13 identified in the plan. 

14 SEC. 5. WEATHER RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN15 NING. 

16 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

17 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Assistant Admin18 istrator for OAR, in coordination with the Assistant Ad19 ministrator for Weather Services and the Assistant Ad20 ministrator for NESDIS, shall issue a plan to restore 

21 United States leadership in weather modeling, prediction, 

22 and forecasting that— 

23 (1) describes weather technology goals, objec24 tives, and progress of NOAA for the program estab25 lished under section 3; 

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1 (2) identifies and prioritizes specific research 

2 and development activities and the associated mile3 stones necessary to achieve such goals and objec4 tives; 

5 (3) describes how the program will collaborate 

6 with stakeholders from institutions of higher edu7 cation and industry in support of program goals and 

8 objectives; and 

9 (4) identifies, through consultation with the Na10 tional Science Foundation, research necessary to en11 hance the integration of social science knowledge 

12 into weather forecast and warning processes, includ13 ing to improve the credible communication of threat 

14 information necessary to enable improved severe 

15 weather planning on the part of individuals and 

16 communities. 

17 SEC. 6. OBSERVING SYSTEM PLANNING. 

18 The Under Secretary shall— 

19 (1) develop and maintain a prioritized list of 

20 observation data requirements necessary to ensure 

21 weather forecasting capabilities to protect life and 

22 property to the maximum extent practicable; 

23 (2) undertake ongoing systematic evaluations of 

24 the combination of observing systems, data, and in25 formation needed to meet the requirements develmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 oped under paragraph (1), assessing various options 

2 to maximize observational capabilities and their cost3 effectiveness; 

4 (3) identify current and potential future data 

5 gaps in observing capabilities related to the require6 ments under paragraph (1); and 

7 (4) determine a range of options to address 

8 gaps identified under paragraph (3). 

9 SEC. 7. OBSERVING SYSTEM SIMULATION EXPERIMENTS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—In support of the requirements of 

11 section 6, the Assistant Administrator for OAR shall un12 dertake OSSEs to quantitatively assess the relative value 

13 and benefits of observing capabilities and systems. Tech14 nical and scientific OSSE evaluations— 

15 (1) may include assessments of the impact of 

16 observing capabilities on— 

17 (A) global weather prediction; 

18 (B) hurricane track and intensity fore19 casting; 

20 (C) tornado warning times and accuracy; 

21 and 

22 (D) prediction of mid-latitude severe local 

23 storm outbreaks; and 

24 (2) should be conducted in cooperation with 

25 other appropriate entities within NOAA, other Fedmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 eral agencies, the American weather industry, and 

2 academic partners. 

3 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—OSSEs shall quantitatively— 

4 (1) determine the potential impact of proposed 

5 space-based, sub-orbital, and in-situ observing sys6 tems on analyses and forecasts; 

7 (2) evaluate and compare observing system de8 sign options; and 

9 (3) assess the relative capabilities and costs of 

10 various observing systems and combinations of ob11 serving systems in providing data necessary to pro12 tect life and property. 

13 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—OSSEs— 

14 (1) shall be conducted prior to the acquisition 

15 of major Government-owned or Government-leased 

16 operational observing systems, including polar-orbit17 ing and geostationary satellite systems; 

18 (2) shall be conducted prior to the purchase of 

19 any new commercially provided data critical to fore20 cast accuracy and may be conducted on existing ob21 serving systems; 

22 (3) shall be conducted within 2 years after the 

23 date of enactment of this Act for any existing com24 mercially provided observing system data contract in 

25 excess of $15 million; and 

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1 (4) may be conducted on existing observing sys2 tems where such data costs NOAA in excess of $20 

3 million. 

4 (d) RESULTS.—All OSSE results shall be publicly re5 leased and fully considered by NOAA for implementation. 

6 SEC. 8. COMPUTING RESOURCES PRIORITIZATION REPORT. 

7 Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 

8 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the NOAA Chief In9 formation Officer, in coordination with the Assistant Ad10 ministrator for OAR and the Assistant Administrator for 

11 Weather Services, shall issue a plan for high performance 

12 computing support of its advanced research and oper13 ational weather prediction models that— 

14 (1) assures that NOAA aggressively pursues the 

15 newest, fastest, and most cost effective high per16 formance computing technologies in support of its 

17 weather prediction mission; 

18 (2) assures a balance between the research re19 quirements to develop the next generation of re20 gional and global models and its highly reliable oper21 ational models; 

22 (3) takes advantage of advanced development 

23 concepts to make its next generation weather pre24 diction models available in beta-test mode to 

25 NOAA’s operational forecasters, the American 

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1 weather industry, and its partners in academic and 

2 government research; and 

3 (4) identifies opportunities to reallocate existing 

4 advanced computing resources from lower priority 

5 uses to improve operational weather prediction. 

6 SEC. 9. COMMERCIAL WEATHER DATA. 

7 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 60161 of title 51, United 

8 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing: ‘‘This prohibition shall not extend to— 

10 ‘‘(1) the purchase of weather data through con11 tracts with commercial providers; or 

12 ‘‘(2) the placement of weather satellite instru13 ments on cohosted government or private payloads.’’. 

14 (b) REPORT.—Within 6 months after the date of en15 actment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to 

16 the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 

17 House of Representatives and the Committee on Com18 merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 

19 assessing the range of commercial opportunities for ob20 taining space-based weather observations, including the 

21 cost-effectiveness of these opportunities, and providing a 

22 plan for procuring data from these non-governmental 

23 sources. 

24 SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 

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1 (1) NESDIS.—The term ‘‘NESDIS’’ means 

2 the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and In3 formation Service. 

4 (2) NOAA.—The term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the Na5 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

6 (3) NWS.—The term ‘‘NWS’’ means the Na7 tional Weather Service. 

8 (4) OAR.—The term ‘‘OAR’’ means the Office 

9 of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. 

10 (5) OSSE.—The term ‘‘OSSE’’ means the Ob11 serving System Simulation Experiment. 

12 (6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

13 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

14 for Oceans and Atmosphere. 

15 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

16 Out of funds made available for operations, research, 

17 and facilities in OAR, there are authorized to be appro18 priated for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2017— 

19 (1) $100,000,000 to carry out section 3, of 

20 which— 

21 (A) $80,000,000 is authorized for weather 

22 laboratories and cooperative institutes; and 

23 (B) $20,000,000 is authorized for weather 

24 and air chemistry research programs; and 

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1 (2) $20,000,000 for the joint technology trans2 fer initiative described in section 3(b)(3). 

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