The quantity and availability of weather- and climate-related data has grown dramatically over the past decade due in part to improvements in computing speed, internet bandwidth and data visualization tools. Ideally, these improvements should help information reach experts in the relevant domain and inform decision making, leading to better weather- and climate-related decision-making and risk management. Decision support tools (DSTs) often serve as the intermediary between raw data and actionable information and decision making. The design of these DSTs is critical to ensure they present actionable information for a wide variety of potential users. This can lead to mis-specified tools with a ‘one size-fits no one’ problem where the generic functions in weather and climate DSTs are not sufficiently focused on discrete data-driven information needs.
In this project, we propose to examine open source, data access development tools that promote use of increasingly diverse weather and climate datasets, and to leverage these tools in the creation of new DSTs and climate services. We will explore how weather and climate data access systems like the Regional Climate Center-Applied Climate Information System (RCC-ACIS) and open source development tools like R-Shiny can be brought together to quickly prototype custom data access and visualization tools for specific purposes based on the needs expressed by natural resource managers in mix of formal interviews, informal conversations, and survey responses. This mode of climate services development has the potential to quickly and flexibly connect an ever-increasing array of climate data and information to managers who have little time to learn complex decision support tools, but who decidedly want to incorporate these information into their decision making and planning.
