AR Recon Program Endorsement by World Meteorological Organization

April 26, 2024

Atmospheric River Reconnaissance (AR Recon), a CW3E-led program in partnership with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the U.S. Air Force, was recently endorsed by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) endorsed project.

The WMO WWRP promotes research to improve weather prediction and its impacts on society. The improvements in science and operational predictions are driven by international cooperation, and intended to drive sustainable development. As one of 10 WWRP endorsed projects, this represents a strong show of support for a key mission and a major programmatic milestone for AR Recon, which works to support improved prediction of landfalling atmospheric rivers on the U.S. West Coast.

Consistent with WWRP’s key objectives, AR Recon has developed the tools and network necessary to incrementally improve the warning process for extreme weather events, and reduce prediction uncertainty. Key sponsors have been the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the California Department of Water Resources, who are working with CW3E and other partners to advance their goals of using improved AR prediction to inform water and infrastructure management (e.g., for Forecast Informed Reservoir Operations – FIRO).

Since program inception, AR Recon observational campaigns have been conducted in collaboration with international experts from organizations including CW3E, Scripps Institution of Oceanograpy, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Naval Research Laboratory, the National Weather Service, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the U.S. Air Force, and other academic institutions. The operations to support these observational campaigns, which now run from November 1st through March 31st, continue to increase in pace and intensity as capability is added and the geographic area of interest expands globally.

We would like to express our appreciation to the WMO for selecting AR Recon for the WWRP. We look forward to engaging further with the WMO and international partners to support WWRP objectives through AR Recon.

For more detailed information about the AR Recon program, please see the AR Recon webpage.