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.

Research Expertise

The research team at the Oklahoma Climatological Survey includes scientists, staff, and students with a wide variety of backgrounds spanning weather, climate, and societal impacts.  Specifically, the OCS research team includes experts focused on:

• Instrumentation and Observations
• Data Quality Assurance
• Surface-Atmosphere Interactions
• Micrometeorology
• Mesoscale Meteorology
• Regional Climate
• Severe Weather
• Soil Moisture
• Urban Atmospheric Processes
• Societal Impacts

Collaboration

The Oklahoma Climatological Survey collaborates with local and international partners to drive research that increases our understanding of weather and climate across the Southern Plains of the United States.  Anyone who is interested in collaborative research using data from the Oklahoma Mesonet or other sources of Oklahoma weather and climate information should email Dr. Brad Illston (Subject: Collaborative Research). In addition, anyone who uses Mesonet data in a publication should use the following two citations:

McPherson, R. A., C. Fiebrich, K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, J. R. Kilby, D. L. Grimsley, J. E. Martinez, J. B. Basara, B. G. Illston, D. A. Morris, K. A. Kloesel, S. J. Stadler, A. D. Melvin, A.J. Sutherland, and H. Shrivastava, 2007: Statewide monitoring of the mesoscale environment: A technical update on the Oklahoma Mesonet. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, 301–321. (link to article)

Brock, F. V., K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, G. W. Cuperus, S. J. Stadler, H. L. Johnson, and M. D. Eilts, 1995: The Oklahoma Mesonet: A technical overview. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 12, 5-19. (link to article)