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THE GLOBAL ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH PROGRAM 151 



demonstrating impressive capabilities in the prime technology of the 

 age: The first man in space in April 1961 was a Russian. 



In these circumstances, the new President was naturally motivated to 

 open channels of communication in science and technology with other 

 countries, especially the Soviet Union, in the hope that advances in 

 science — particularly in the mastery of space— could be turned to 

 peaceful ends. Explorations were initiated in the U.S. scientific com- 

 munity to uncover areas in which international scientific activities could 

 serve these objectives. As suggested above, it was almost inevitable that 

 meteorology would be seized upon as a most likely candidate because of 

 its long record of success in the international arena and the emergence of 

 exciting scientific opportunities. Complex discussion in the U.S. scien- 

 tific community and government led to insertion of a single sentence 

 into President Kennedy's September 1961 address to the United Na- 

 tions on "the peaceful uses of space" appealing for "further coopera- 

 tive efforts between all nations in weather prediction and eventually in 

 weather control." This impetus, in turn, led to the adoption of UN 

 resolutions in 1961 and 1962 calling on member states, WMO, and 

 ICSO to develop plans for expanded programs in meteorological ser- 

 vices and research, with particular emphasis on the peaceful uses of 

 space technology,^ 



PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT 



These resolutions set in motion a lengthy period of exploration and 

 planning both within the United States and in the international com- 

 munity. The Panel on International Meteorological Cooperation was 

 formed by the National Research Council's Committee on Atmospheric 

 Sciences (1966), and a similar international group was established under 

 ICSU auspices. In early discussions, a wide variety of topics for interna- 

 tional cooperation under the UN's broad charge was discussed. "> 

 However, attention rapidly focused on a single problem, the large-scale 

 motions of the atmosphere and their relationship to weather and 

 climate. 



On this topic, all the streams of motivation that had led to Kennedy's 

 call to action strongly converged. Numerical models of the atmosphere 

 were already being employed in routine weather prediction and were 

 evolving into tools for the study of global climate. Research had shown 

 that, while there existed a clearcut limit to detailed predictability of 

 weather systems, this limit lay well beyond the realized capabilities of 

 the weather services. The primary barrier to extending the range of 

 prediction was the difficulty of determining with sufficient accuracy and 



