Benefits and value of meteorological information services—the case of the Finnish Meteorological Institute

The benefits of meteorological information services have been widely studied, but a coherent view of the impacts of these services remains elusive. Meteorological information services must be seen primarily to have potential positive impacts on the functions of society: only in that light will their true worth emerge. This paper looks at the value of the services for society as a whole. In addition to their methodological contribution to the value assessment of meteorological services in general, the services of the Finnish Meteorological Institute represent an empirical case. Evidently the value of information is set to play an increasing role as societies grow increasingly information intensive. The results of the empirical case were explicit. The total value of benefits generated each year by the Institute's services exceeded the annual budget of the Institute many times over. Copyright © 2009 Royal Meteorological Society