eral agencies, the American weather industry, and 
academic partners. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—OSSEs shall quantitatively— 
(1) determine the potential impact of proposed 
space-based, sub-orbital, and in-situ observing sys-
tems on analyses and forecasts; 
(2) evaluate and compare observing system de-
sign options; and 
(3) assess the relative capabilities and costs of 
various observing systems and combinations of ob-
serving systems in providing data necessary to pro-
tect life and property. 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION.—OSSEs— 
(1) shall be conducted prior to the acquisition 
of major Government-owned or Government-leased 
operational observing systems, including polar-orbit-
ing and geostationary satellite systems; 
(2) shall be conducted prior to the purchase of 
any new commercially provided data critical to fore-
cast accuracy and may be conducted on existing ob-
serving systems; 
(3) shall be conducted within 2 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act for any existing com-
mercially provided observing system data contract in 
excess of $15 million; and 
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(4) may be conducted on existing observing sys-
tems where such data costs NOAA in excess of $20 
million. 
(d) RESULTS.—All OSSE results shall be publicly re-
leased and fully considered by NOAA for implementation. 
SEC. 8. COMPUTING RESOURCES PRIORITIZATION REPORT. 
Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment 
of this Act, and annually thereafter, the NOAA Chief In-
formation Officer, in coordination with the Assistant Ad-
ministrator for OAR and the Assistant Administrator for 
Weather Services, shall issue a plan for high performance 
computing support of its advanced research and oper-
ational weather prediction models that— 
(1) assures that NOAA aggressively pursues the 
newest, fastest, and most cost effective high per-
formance computing technologies in support of its 
weather prediction mission; 
(2) assures a balance between the research re-
quirements to develop the next generation of re-
gional and global models and its highly reliable oper-
ational models; 
(3) takes advantage of advanced development 
concepts to make its next generation weather pre-
diction models available in beta-test mode to 
NOAA’s operational forecasters, the American 
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weather industry, and its partners in academic and 
government research; and 
(4) identifies opportunities to reallocate existing 
advanced computing resources from lower priority 
uses to improve operational weather prediction. 
SEC. 9. COMMERCIAL WEATHER DATA. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 60161 of title 51, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: ‘‘This prohibition shall not extend to— 
‘‘(1) the purchase of weather data through con-
tracts with commercial providers; or 
‘‘(2) the placement of weather satellite instru-
ments on cohosted government or private payloads.’’. 
(b) REPORT.—Within 6 months after the date of en-
actment of this Act, the Under Secretary shall submit to 
the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a report 
assessing the range of commercial opportunities for ob-
taining space-based weather observations, including the 
cost-effectiveness of these opportunities, and providing a 
plan for procuring data from these non-governmental 
sources. 
SEC. 10. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
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(1) NESDIS.—The term ‘‘NESDIS’’ means 
the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and In-
formation Service. 
(2) NOAA.—The term ‘‘NOAA’’ means the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
(3) NWS.—The term ‘‘NWS’’ means the Na-
tional Weather Service. 
(4) OAR.—The term ‘‘OAR’’ means the Office 
of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. 
(5) OSSE.—The term ‘‘OSSE’’ means the Ob-
serving System Simulation Experiment. 
(6) UNDER
SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 
Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 
for Oceans and Atmosphere. 
SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
Out of funds made available for operations, research, 
and facilities in OAR, there are authorized to be appro-
priated for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2017— 
(1) $100,000,000 to carry out section 3, of 
which— 
(A) $80,000,000 is authorized for weather 
laboratories and cooperative institutes; and 
(B) $20,000,000 is authorized for weather 
and air chemistry research programs; and 
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(2) $20,000,000 for the joint technology trans-
fer initiative described in section 3(b)(3). 
Æ 
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