In October 2020, Congress passed the Promoting Research and Observations
of Space Weather to Improve the Forecasting of Tomorrow (PROSWIFT) Act.
The Space Weather Advisory Group (SWAG) was chartered, pursuant to
PROSWIFT, to advise the Space Weather Operations, Research and
Mitigation Subcommittee (SWORM) on a variety of space weather issues
including the development and implementation of an integrated strategy
for space weather (i.e., the National Space Weather Strategy and Action
Plan). The SWAG is comprised of 15 non-government members from
academia, the commercial space weather sector, and end users. In June
2022, the SWAG was tasked to provide input to the SWORM for their update
of the National Space Weather Strategy and Action Plan. To accomplish
this, SWAG sought broad input from the national space weather enterprise
through multiple open meetings and structured panel sessions with
community stakeholders.
The SWAG report, Findings and Recommendations to Successfully
Implement PROSWIFT and Transform the National Space Weather Enterprise(SWAG, 2023), notes that since the publication of the first National
Space Weather Strategy in 2015, the national space weather enterprise
has made noteworthy progress in several areas. These include raising
awareness of space weather and its effects, improving understanding and
forecasting of space weather, and enhancing the Nation’s preparedness
for space weather events. However, substantial investments are still
needed to build resilience and ensure space weather services can
continue to improve and meet the growing and changing needs of the
Nation.
To address these issues, SWAG identified 25 findings with 56
recommendations. Eleven of the recommendations were designated as
highest-priority by the SWAG. They call for coordination across the
entire space weather enterprise (including government, academic, and
commercial sectors). One of the highest priority recommendations is the
urgent need to adequately fund the space weather enterprise. The report
recognized that the “Federal space weather enterprise is insufficiently
funded to implement PROSWIFT actions, perform the codified roles and
responsibilities, or appropriately address the risk space weather poses
to the Nation”.
Other high-priority recommendations point to improvements and changes
needed in thee National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), to accomplish
the following operational and scientific goals:
- “Create and fund an applied research program office for space weather
within NOAA to coordinate, facilitate, promote, and transition applied
research across the national space weather enterprise”,
- “Provide long-term support for operational ground-based and airborne
sensors and networks”,
- “Provide and fund critical operational space weather services beyond
near-Earth”, including “meeting near-Earth operational needs and
expanding support and funding for space weather services in
medium-Earth orbit, geostationary Earth orbit, geostationary transfer
orbit, cis-Lunar, and eventually Martian environments”,
- “Fund NASA missions that advance fundamental science to support space
weather research“, and
- “Support coordinated applied research within the thermosphere (above
100 km altitude) which is critical for space traffic coordination”.
The goals outlined in the report are ambitious. They call for the
funding, processes, and structure needed to foster transformative change
across the national space weather enterprise . The PROSWIFT Act
authorizes many of the actions needed to improve national response to
threats from space weather. It must now be followed with sufficient new
appropriations to ensure that space weather is supported at a level
commensurate with the increasing risks that it poses to the Nation and
society.
SWAG looks forward to opportunities to engage the community on these
findings and recommendations and evaluate the implementation and
evolution of the national space weather enterprise, across all
segments–Federal, academic, and commercial.
*The members of the SWAG are Dr. Tamara
Dickinson, Mr. Mark Olson, Mr. Michael Stills, Mr. Craig Fugate, Dr.
Rebecca Bishop, Dr. Jennifer Gannon, Dr. Conrad Lautenbacher, Dr. Seth
Jonas, Dr. Kent Tobiska, Dr. Nicole Duncan, Dr. Tamas Gombosi, Dr.
Delores Knipp, Dr. Scott McIntosh, Dr. Heather Elliott, Dr. George Ho,
Dr. Jinni Meehan (for more information and member bios, see
www.weather.gov/swag).
References
S.881 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): PROSWIFT Act, Library of Congress,
21 October 2020, http://www.congress.gov/, accessed June 18, 2022.
SWAG (2023), Findings and Recommendations to Successfully Implement
PROSWIFT and Transform the National Space Weather Enterprise,
https://www.weather.gov/swag, accessed June 13, 2023.