User awareness concerning feedback data and input observations used in reanalysis systems

Abstract. A web-based survey to assess the benefits and gaps in reanalyses as part of growing climate services was carried out in 2013–2014. The survey elicited responses from about 2500 users of climate information. One of the eleven survey points specifically addressed the observations used in reanalysis, with a multiple-choice question "Have you used reanalysis input observations and feedback data?". Almost half of the respondents admitted to not knowing what such data were about. Among the others, specific queries asked for these observations to be made available more openly. This paper summarizes the main findings in regard to use of existing reanalyses as well as user awareness and needs in regard to reanalysis feedback data and input observations. In the future, the information obtained via the survey makes it possible to perform various statistically robust analyses addressing different aspects of the use of reanalysis data.