The Journal of Applied Meteorology is changing its name to the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (JAMC) effective with this issue. The change was made in recognition of the increasing importance of applied climatology in the atmospheric sciences as reflected in the recent article by Stanley A. Changnon in the June 2005 issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society titled “Applied Climatology—The Golden Age Has Begun.”
Changnon defines applied climatology as a science that “describes, defines, interprets, and explains the relationships between climate conditions and countless weather-sensitive activities.” He notes that work in applied climatology covers four primary areas: 1) the design of structures and planning of activities; 2) assessments of current and past conditions, including evaluation of extreme events; 3) study of the relationships between weather/climate conditions and those in other parts of the physical and socioeconomic worlds; and 4) operation of weather-sensitive systems that employ climatic information in making decisions. It is in these and related areas of applied climatology that JAMC will be considering new manuscripts for publication.
To accommodate the review of these papers, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) has added two editors to the JAMC staff: Dr. Art DeGaetano in January 2005 and Dr. Julie Winkler in January 2006. To decide whether to submit a manuscript to the Journal of Climate (JCLIM) or JAMC, the following guidelines should be considered: JCLIM accepts manuscripts concerned with large-scale variability of the atmosphere, oceans, and land surface; changes in the climate system (including those caused by human activities); and climate simulation and prediction. JAMC publishes papers related to the use of climate information in decision making, impact assessments, agricultural and forest applications and verification, climate risk and vulnerability, development of climate monitoring tools, urban and local climates, and climate as it relates to the environment and society.
Through JAMC, the AMS is pleased to formally identify a “home” in its suite of journals for the research results of the increasing number of scientists working in the critical discipline of applied climatology.
