Large-scale weather systems: A future research priority

Abstract

A brief assessment is provided of both the case against and the case for assigning priority to research on large-scale weather systems (LSWS). The three-fold case against is based upon: the emergence of new overarching themes in environmental science; the fresh emphasis upon other sub-disciplines of the atmospheric science; and the mature state of research and prediction of LSWS. The case for is also supported by three arguments. First is the assertion that LSWS research should not merely be an integral but a major component of future research related to both the new overarching themes and the other sub-disciplines. Second recent major developments in LSWS research, as epitomized by the paradigm shifts in the prediction strategy for LSWS and the emergence of the potential vorticity perspective, testify to the theme’s on-going vibrancy. Third the field’s future development, as exemplified by the new international THORPEX (The Observing System Research and Predictability Experiment) programme, embodies a perceptive dovetailing of intellectually challenging fundamental research with directed application(s) of societal and economic benefit. It is thus inferred that LSWS research, far from being in demise, will feature at the forefront of the new relationship between science and society.