Societal and Economic Research Applications

To advance the science of the social and economic application of weather related information and services and review and assist in the development and promotion of societal and economic related demonstration projects.

WG SERA

The Working Group on Societal and Economic Research Applications (SERA) had transitioned from a group devoted to THORPEX issues to one that has the responsibility for the entire range of time-scales and research issues associated with the WWRP. Jeff Lazo (USA) recently stepped down as Chair but remains a member of the SERA Working Group. Brian Mills (Canada) is currently the Chair of the SERA Working Group.

Research Priorities

Estimation of the economic (social) value of weather information;

Understanding and improving the use of weather information in decision making;

Understanding and improving the communication of weather forecast uncertainty;

Development of user-relevant verification methods; and

Development of decision support systems and tools.

Working Group Members

Chair: Brian MILLS (Canada)
bmills at uwaterloo.ca

Linda ANDERSON-BERRY (Australia)
L.Anderson-Berry at bom.gov.au
Kwabena ASOMANIN ANAMAN (Ghana)
kwabenaasomanin at hotmail.com
Jacqueline FRICK (Switzerland)
jacqueline.frick at wsl.ch
David JOHNSTON (GNS/Massey Uni)
David.johnston at gns.cri.nz
Paul KOVACS (ICLR)
pkovacs at pacicc.ca
Jeff LAZO (USA)
lazo at ucar.edu
Eugene POOLMAN (South Africa)
poolman at weathersa.co.za
Joanne ROBBINS (UK)
joanne.robbins at metoffice.gov.uk
Michael STAUDINGER (Austria)
staudinger at zamg.ac.at
Angelika WIRTZ (ICSU IRDR)
awirtz at munichre.com

Communicating Risk & Uncertainty Workshop (Melbourne, 26-30 July 2012)

WG SERA meeting (Melbourne, 25 & 30 July 2012)

Social Science for Weather Prediction Training Workshop (TBD, 2013)

Special Breakout Session during IRDR Conference 2011 (Beijing, China, 31 October - 2 November 2011) Report

Joint Meeting of the Joint Working Group on Forecast Verification Research and Working Group on Societal and Economic Research Applications (Toulouse, France, 27-29 September 2010) Presentations and Meeting Report

Meeting of the Working Group on Societal and Economic Research Applications (Trieste, Italy, 12-13 October 2009) Agenda, Presentations, and Meeting Report

Meningitis Environmental Risk Consultative Meeting (Geneva. Switzerland, 26-27 September 2007)

On-going & Planned Activities

Develop a joint JWGFVR/SERA project focused on The Integrated Global Grand Ensemble (TIGGE) tropical cyclone tracks (CXML data) or heavy precipitation product(s)

Develop a publication: Applications of seasonal to sub-seasonal weather and climate predictions: An annotated bibliography

Prepare a guidance document that can be used by project proponents in the design, costing and implementation of SERA elements of proposals seeing endorsement from WWRP

On-going & Planned Activities

Prepare the draft proposal for a SERA Research & Development Project: Understanding the Societal and Economic Dimensions of weather-related warning systems

Develop an externally-managed web site (and social media pages) linked to the WWRP web site