Research

The weather and climate across Oklahoma is diverse, dynamic, and impacts the welfare of the citizens of the state. The mission of research at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey to continue to gain fundamental understanding of the complex interactions that determine weather and climate conditions in and around the Southern Great Plains of the United States. In addition, OCS research is guided by specific legislative mandates that include:

• To conduct and report on studies of weather and climate phenomena of significant socio-economic importance to the state.
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• To evaluate the significance of natural and man-made deliberate and inadvertent changes or modifications in important features of the climate and weather affecting the state, and to report this information to those agencies and organizations in the state who are likely to be affected by such changes or modifications.

In turn, the knowledge gained from research projects is used across socioeconomic sectors including those focused to more accurately assess and predict the onset of drought conditions, develop new technologies used to monitor weather and climate, and improve weather forecasting.