Lessons learnt about the use of environmental information and decision-making needs of Polar operators

Abstract

Research by the Polar Prediction Project's Societal and Economic Research and Applications Task Team's (PPP-SERA) aims to understand weather, water, ice and climate (WWIC) information use, related decision-making, and weather service provider and user (consumer) connections in polar environments. Detailed qualitative and quantitative data about operators’ activities and WWIC decision-making were collected during a series of PPP-SERA workshops, surveys and interviews and thematically analysed. In this presentation, we will share some of the results from this work. Stakeholders in polar regions, including fishing and tourism operators, governments, scientists, and Arctic Indigenous communities, utilise WWIC information to plan tasks and support their operations on land, sea, ice, and in the air. When considered from the perspectives of producers, creators, users, and adaptors, it is clear that a rigid dichotomy between users (consumers) and producers of WWIC information no longer exists. Continued technological advancement has resulted in a diversity of environmental forecasting products requiring different skills to derive meaningful and task-oriented information, which in turn affects the perceived and actual risks associated with operational decision-making. Experience is valued and is, in fact, vital in managing operations, WWIC-related decision-making, and safety. Despite advances in numerical weather predictions and product development, barriers to accessing high-quality useable observations and forecasts, particularly in the Antarctic, still exist. As a result, continued stakeholder engagement and research focussing on the utilisation of WWIC information, and decision-making processes, remain highly relevant to reduce further risks to human and environmental health and safety for Polar operators.