Dependability of services is essential to users. The products must be available on a regular, recurring basis in standard formats. Space weather forecasters do a commendable job given the resources at hand. But present forecasts are often not sufficient for customers to take specific mitigation actions or make specific planning decisions. Accuracy means the forecast values closely approximate the subsequently observed condition.
Reliability means the conditions that are forecast do, in fact, occur.
Timeliness means the customer receives the needed information in time to make decisions or take action. Requirements for forecasts, alerts and warnings are established by the users of these services. Synchronizing and merging the diverse observational data sets pose significant scientific and technical challenges. Sophisticated, physics- based models are needed to fill in areas where there are no observations. Today's space weather models are just starting to approach this goal.