The American Meteorological Society in 2010
A Vision for the 1^st Decade of the 21^st Century

Adopted by the AMS Council, 10 January 1999

What kind of organization will the AMS be in 2010?
How will the Society advance the sciences and service to its members?

       The American Meteorological Society is the preeminent scientific and professional organization for scientists and practitioners in the atmospheric sciences and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences. It fosters these sciences and their applications through scientific and technical meetings and an array of high quality journals. It is active in kindergarten through high school education through support of teachers, and it supports a vigorous program of scholarships and fellowships in undergraduate and graduate studies. It offers services in support of professional members through certification and continuing education programs.

       The primary objectives of the AMS are and will continue to be the development and dissemination of knowledge of the atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences and their professional applications. The AMS represents a maturing field of science with rapidly improving understanding and predictive capabilities and a technological environment that provides more efficient and varied communication and computation capabilities.

       Further advances depend on better science and an ever more holistic approach to the physics, chemistry, biology, and dynamics of the earth system. These advances depend upon entraining expertise in other fields of science and increasing resources and support to fuel research, development, and operations. Better products of our science have fostered accelerating demand for products to be applied to economic and operational decisions. The recent modernization of the National Weather Service is resulting in a more accurate and effective forecast and warning program. Complementing this is a rapidly growing private sector engaged in enhancement of products for special applications and in disseminating these products to individual and corporate interests.

       An examination of our current circumstances, including the recognition of the rapid pace of scientific, technological, and economic change, has been carried out by the AMS Planning Commission, jointly with the Executive Committee of the Council, under the leadership of Prof. Charles Hosler of The Pennsylvania State University. This study led to the conclusion that the Society must place renewed emphasis in several areas as follows.

       Refinement of the quantitative approach to weather and climate predictions based upon scientific understanding has required more intensive research and integration of knowledge in areas such as oceanography, hydrology, ecology, the upper atmosphere, and solar and planetary physics, and their dynamics, physics, and chemistry. These and other fields have become more and more integrated into the meteorological, oceanographic, and hydrological enterprise. It is clear that this trend toward multidisciplinarity will be a dominant theme through the next decade.

       The AMS must constantly review all of its activities in light of the multidisciplinary nature of meteorology itself and the myriad allied science and engineering disciplines now essential to conduct research and to generate and apply its products.

       With greater multidisciplinarity, many scientists and engineers whose training was not in meteorology are playing vital and growing roles in the field. The private sector, including radio and television and industrial applications, is growing rapidly. There are many nonmembers as well as members who are engaged in developing observational systems, databases, and display and dissemination systems. Many other people who earn their living in other ways have an intense and abiding interest in meteorology and the related sciences as an avocation, and some, such as cooperative observers, actively contribute.

       The AMS must become a more inclusive society. Greater inclusiveness means reaching out to those mentioned in the previous paragraph, as well as to similar societies around the world. It must also embrace the inclusion of women and minorities and their involvement in the activities and governance of the Society.

       The public response to improved meteorological, oceanographic, and hydrologic products and understanding, and increased vulnerability to a changing environment, has greatly expanded the demand for information on weather, water, and climate. Interest has intensified at all levels of society. From schoolchildren through the working public to retirement communities, the public requires information. At the same time, the professions represented by the AMS require public financial support for research, education, and infrastructure for delivering useful information.

       The AMS must be aggressive in seeking ways to positively influence public policy with respect to the atmospheric and related sciences and their applications. This implies that the AMS should have more activities and outreach directed to policy makers, as well as generating grass-roots public support through education of the public.

       Communications technology is affecting, and will at an accelerated pace heavily impact, how the AMS interacts with its members, how its meetings are conducted, and how its journals are propagated. Computers have been at the core of almost all recent advances in the sciences and the explosive increase in the power of individual workstations has allowed sophisticated graphical multimedia displays to be delivered to the scientist's desktop, and, indeed, to teachers, students, users, and advocates.

       Already AMS journals are available online, and major parts of the publications process are electronic. One journal, Earth Interactions, is completely electronic. As this technology continues to advance, the ability to deliver scientific information in ways that transcend the limitations of the printed page will advance as well. Further, distributed "live" communication and "virtual" conferences, only in the experimental stage at present, will become a practical avenue for the type of scientific interchange currently carried out through traditional conferences and meetings.

       The AMS will continue vigorously engaged in the electronic revolution in the full range of Society activities, including publications, meetings, outreach, and member services.

       Crosscutting all of these evolving directions for the Society is the provision of financial support for current and any new activities. Many of the changes identified in this statement seem inevitable, and will require increased expenditures and therefore increased revenue. Some that are not inevitable but highly desirable will also require more resources. This dictates priority setting and increased efforts to raise the level and continuity of fund-raising efforts.

       The complete Ten-Year Vision Study was approved by the AMS Council on 1 October 1998 and is available on the AMS home page. It includes 22 specific ideas for implementing the four themes of multidisciplinary, inclusiveness, outreach, and the use of communications and computing technology. Other ideas from the membership at large are welcomed, and all will be considered by the Council during the development of an Implementation Plan.