Geographic Information Systems in Weather, Climate, and Impacts

Abstract

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) held its first workshop on the Geographic Information System (GIS) in atmospheric sciences, ?GIS in Weather, Climate and Impacts.? The meeting was a forum for researchers, engineers, providers of weather and climate data and services, commercial GIS vendors, and educators to discuss the benefits and limitations of current GIS technology, develop strategies for incorporating GIS into atmospheric science research, and improve understanding of the value of spatial data and geographic methods of spatial analysis in meteorology and climatology. The workshop presentations and discussions centered upon scientific applications of GIS; state-of-theart GIS and remote sensing technology; and topics involving data, visualization, and interoperability. More than 70 workshop participants developed a coherent set of recommendations and addressed the issue of partnerships in GIS between academia, the government, and the private sector. *National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.