Articles | Volume 10, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-10-65-2013
https://doi.org/10.5194/asr-10-65-2013
28 May 2013
 | 28 May 2013

Socio-economic benefits of weather and climate services in Europe

A. Perrels, Th. Frei, F. Espejo, L. Jamin, and A. Thomalla

Abstract. There is a rising interest around the world for a better understanding of the economic and social value added of weather services. National hydro-meteorological services and international cooperative bodies in meteorology have ever more to justify their use of public budgets. Furthermore, the development of hydrological and meteorological services is to a large extent steered by expectations regarding the eventual benefits of the envisaged new developments. This article provides a compact overview of the impediments for uptake of socio-economic benefit (SEB) studies, methods and results of SEB studies to date. It also discusses some pitfalls and crucial steps to enhance a broader uptake of SEB studies.