During the 1980s, the National Weather Service (NWS) embarked on a major modernization program. As part of this program, a strong emphasis was placed on improving the professional background and operational capabilities of meteorologists to use mesoscale data. A second goal was to accelerate the transfer of information from research activities into practical operations. Three means by which these goals could be accomplished were identified:
- Ongoing education and training
for currently employed meteorologists.
- Increased collaboration between
the operational and research communities.
- Improvements to university education throughout the country in order to provide future meteorologists with stronger educational and professional qualifications.
At the request of the NWS, the
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) convened
a committee in 1988 to examine the feasibility on instituting
a professional development program in mesoscale meteorology. The
committee was comprised of members from the university community,
UCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), NOAA/NWS,
and NOAA/ERL. Using the committee's work as its foundation, the
UCAR Board of Trustees authorized development of the
Cooperative Program for
Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET) in 1989.
The current activities of COMET focus on the "transfer of
scientific and technical knowledge of hydrometeorological forecasting
and nowcasting, concentrating on mesoscale phenomena in time periods
of 0 to 24 hours." The basic objectives of the COMET, as
defined in an agreement between UCAR and NOAA/NWS are as follows:
- Support the professional development
of weather forecasters and hydrologists through a program of
in-residence interactions with research scientists and the creation
of an effective means of delivering such knowledge remotely to
both students and operational forecasters.
- Facilitate the transfer of research
results to operational forecasting through the development and
testing of forecast techniques.
- Provide a mechanism for the
participation of operational forecasters, research scientists
and academic scholars in advancing the weather services of the
nation.
- Stimulate the further advancement of basic and applied research in the science of forecasting and nowcasting techniques. While the goals described above remain the primary emphasis of COMET, the population targeted by COMET has expanded in the last few years to include forecasters from the Air Force's Air Weather Service (AWS) and the Naval Oceanography Command (NOC).
Additional information can be found on the COMET Home Page
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