Up Close: Don Berchoff, NWS Office of Science and Technology
Harriet Loeb
NOAA National Weather Service Communications Office
June 16, 2009 — If it wasn’t for a confusing 4th grade science lesson on weather, Don Berchoff may never have become passionate about meteorology.
In his science class, the then 8-year-old Berchoff was told that in order for snowstorms to form, it has to be cold. And, cold weather requires a favorable, high-pressure system. The connection just did not make sense to him at the time. So, Berchoff set out to do what any curious child might: he started keeping weather diaries and drawing weather maps he saw on television, teaching himself about East Coast storms that fascinated him.
Don Berchoff, director of NWS Office of Science and Technology, is briefed by Deirdre Jones, director of the Systems Engineering Center for OST. Jones is spearheading the design and production of AWIPS II, a cutting-edge weather information system that will soon help deliver more effective and accurate weather forecasts and warnings. Photo credit: NOAA NWS Communications Office.
”I have always been a person of discovery; I love learning and understanding why things happen the way they do,” says Berchoff, who parlayed his childhood interest into a position with National Weather Service’s Office of Science and Technology (OST), where he serves as its director.
To NWS, By Way of the Air Force
The path that led Berchoff to NWS was hardly a straight one. A New York native, Berchoff always wanted to be part of the NWS. However, in the months leading up to his graduation from college in 1984 with a degree in meteorology, NWS experienced a hiring freeze. He figured he’d give the Air Force a try instead.
"I told my wife it was only going to be a four-year career [with the Air Force] and then I would get out,” says Berchoff. “It turned into a 24-year career where I gained tremendous experience with operational forecasting. I helped build and lead a 180-person regional weather center responsible for providing weather forecasts, severe weather warnings and aviation forecasts for Air Force aircraft and bases across the northeastern United States."
As busy as he was during his years in the Air Force, Berchoff managed to earn two master’s degrees: one in international relations and another in procurement and acquisition management.
He eventually joined the NWS in the fall of 2008 as OST’s director. He believes we are in a “seminal moment” in meteorology in that decision makers are moving from a “cope with the weather” attitude to one that asks, “How do I mitigate its effects or exploit the opportunities it presents?”
“Weather information is becoming a commodity in demand because weather service capabilities, and most importantly our people, have taken forecast skills to a level where the information can be better utilized,” says Berchoff. “The work we are doing in terms of saving lives, protecting property and enabling economic prosperity is just going to get better over time."
Coming Soon: AWIPS-II
Berchoff is chiefly responsible for NWS science and technology plans, programs, and development activities. He is playing a critical role in transitioning the NWS to a second-generation version of its Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS II) — basically the nerve center of every weather forecast office in the country.
AWIPS is a technologically advanced information processing, display, and telecommunications system that is the cornerstone of NWS weather and water forecasting operations. AWIPS II will better integrate all of NWS’s meteorological, hydrological, satellite and radar data. The state-of-the-art system will allow forecasters to prepare and issue more accurate and timely forecasts and warnings.
Cautiously optimistic, Berchoff says that the transition of AWIPS II into field operations will have its challenges. Keeping the lines of communication open between his office and the field offices will be critical for its successful implementation. Thus far, he has been impressed with the effort the regions and NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Prediction are making to ensure the changeover to AWIPS II is a success.
“I am much attuned to the things that can go wrong,” says Berchoff. “We are doing our best to understand what those possibilities are and how best to manage them. If the field tells me this was a lot less painful than they imagined, I will feel that we succeeded.”
You can learn more about AWIPS II and listen to Don Berchoff discussing the project by visiting: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ost/SEC/AE/index.htm.