The shape of the NSSL program at a particular time will naturally be determined by the interests and capabilities of participating personnel. The national problem of skilled manpower shortage will certainly be reflected in the scope of the program. A few highly qualified specialists will be retained as consultants, and every reasonable effort will be made to attract capable people with interests in all the physical and mathematical disciplines needed to advance meteorological frontiers. The decision to work on a particular task will be based on considerations of the importance of the problem, the reasonableness of the proposed approach to a solution, and the adequacy of available resources to secure a desired useful result. Financial resources, equipment, and facilities authorized for NSSL management will be allocated to in-house or contractor control on a basis of estimated benefits per unit expenditure.
Many intangibles enter such estimates.
Government, university, and commercial enterprises have distinctive characteristics which may determine the type of facility best suited to particular tasks. The Laboratory is responsible to the Office of Meteorological Research, and will receive guidance from consultants drawn from institutions of government, commerce, and education. The interests of other agencies will be made known through the office of the Chief, U.S. Weather Bureau, and by contacts at other levels. The activities of research and equipment development shown in figure 2 are the Laboratory's raison d'etre . All other activities are supporting and their value will be judged in terms of their support effectiveness.