APPENDIX A

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE WEATHER PROGRAMS

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the principal meteorological agency of the federal government. By law, NOAA is responsible for reporting the weather of the United States, providing weather and flood warnings and forecasts to the general public, developing and furnishing applied weather services, and recording the climate of the United States. This mission is carried out within NOAA by the National Weather Service (NWS); the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS); the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR); the National Ocean Service (NOS); and the Office of NOAA Corps Operations (NC).

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

The National Weather Service (NWS) has the principal responsibility for the plans and operations of the basic weather services and certain specific applied services. The primary mission of NWS is to help ensure the safety and welfare of the general public with respect to the effects of weather and to further the conduct of governmental and commercial activities which are affected by weather. In support of this mission, NWS:

» Issues warnings and forecasts of weather, flood, and ocean conditions.

» Observes and reports the weather and the river and ocean conditions of the United States and its possessions.

» Develops and operates national meteorological, hydrological, and oceanic service systems.

» Performs applied meteorological and hydrological research.

» Assists in developing community awareness and educational materials concerning weather related natural disasters.

» Participates in international hydrometeorological activities, including the exchange, coding and monitoring of data and forecasts, and also including the installation and repair of hydrometeorological equipment and systems overseas under the Voluntary Cooperation Program.

The basic enabling legislation and authority for weather services are summarized as follows:

» Organic Act of 1890 created the U.S. Weather Bureau in the Department of Agriculture.

» Enabling Act of 1919 allowed the U.S. Weather Bureau to enter into cooperative agreements for providing agriculture weather services.

» Flood Control Act of 1938 authorized the establishment, operation, and maintenance of the Hydroclimatic Network by the Weather Bureau for Flood Control; on July 1, 1940, the Weather Bureau was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Commerce.

» Federal Aviation Act of 1958 outlined duties of the Secretary of Commerce for provision of weather observations and services to aviation.

» Reorganization Plan 2 of 1965 placed the "National Weather Service" (NWS) in the newly created Environmental Science Services Administration (ESSA).

» Reorganization Plan 4 of 1970 made the NWS a part of the newly created National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

SERVICES

NWS provides around-the-clock weather and flood warning and forecast services to the public for the protection of life and property and to meet the needs of all segments of the economy. Weather services are provided by a nationwide network of offices that collect data, prepare state and local warnings and forecasts, and disseminate information to the population both directly and indirectly through the mass media. Data, analyses, forecasts, and outlooks used by field forecasters to prepare local forecasts are centrally processed by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The NWS core mission also depends on the study, development, and testing of new methods for improving basic warning and forecast capabilities through research.

Weather Warnings and Forecasts. Both Weather Service Forecast Offices (WSFO) and Weather Service Offices (WSO) issue local warnings for severe weather, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, flash floods, and extreme winter weather. WSFOs prepare forecasts for zones which are comprised of typically one or more counties that experience similar weather. Each WSFO has forecast responsibility for several zones which, together, comprise an area the size of an average state. WSFOs issue zone forecasts 4 times daily for a period out to 48 hours and a generalized statewide forecast twice daily, including an extended 5-day forecast on a daily basis. WSFOs also provide the main field forecast support for the marine and aviation programs as well as guidance for the fire weather program.

All counties in the United States are assigned to specific WSOs or WSFOs for warning purposes. These offices issue and distribute local warnings of severe weather for their assigned counties. WSOs adapt generalized weather forecasts to local areas and issue severe weather and flash flood warnings. In preparing local warnings and forecasts, WSFOs use forecast guidance prepared by NCEP, which is based on worldwide meteorological observations. Two of NCEP's science-based centers--the Storm Prediction Center and the National Hurricane Center/Tropical Prediction Center--provide specialized central support for the local warning program.

Weather Service Meteorological Observatories (WSMO) are additional sources of data for surface observations, upper air observations, and/or radar data. These observations are also used in the NCEP database for generating guidance products used by field forecasters.

Aviation Weather Services. The NWS provides a broad range of services in support of the aviation community. Fifty-two WSFOs prepare site-specific airport terminal forecasts 3 times per day with amendments as needed for over 500 public-use airports in the 50 states and in the Caribbean. These offices also produce about 300 individual route-oriented forecasts 3 times a day for the 48 contiguous states. WSOs also take observations to meet local aviation requirements.

NCEP's Aviation Weather Center prepares Area Forecasts 3 times daily describing general aviation weather conditions over the lower 48 states. This unit also issues in-flight advisories of hazardous weather conditions associated with thunderstorms, icing, turbulence, strong low-level winds, and broad areas of low clouds and/or restricted visibility. In Alaska and Hawaii, these products are issued by WSFOs.

River and Flood Warnings and Forecasts. River Forecast Centers (RFC) prepare guidance used by WSFOs and WSOs to issue flash flood watches, warnings, and river forecasts. RFCs provide forecasts of river stage and flow and related products and services for use by water resources managers and other users. Most WSFOs and WSOs support the RFCs by collecting and relaying hydrologic data. NCEP provides central support to RFCs by forecasting the movement of large storms that are causing significant precipitation.

Marine Weather Services. Using weather analyses and forecast guidance provided by NCEP's Marine Prediction Center, marine weather forecasters at coastal and Great Lakes WSFOs issue wind, wave, weather, and ice warnings, forecasts, and other information for the population living and working along the sea coast, off-shore, on the Great Lakes, and on the high seas. Principal products include small craft advisories; gale, storm, tropical cyclone, and storm surge warnings; coastal, off-shore, and high seas forecasts; sea and swell forecasts; sea and lake advisories; and special weather forecasts to aid in the containment and clean up of oil spills and other hazardous substances in the marine environment. In support of marine weather services, the NWS operates the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC), which provides real-time operations, data acquisition and data processing, and distribution of meteorological and oceanographic data from moored and drifting buoys and automated observing stations at selected coastal locations. NDBC also provides systems integration, deployment, maintenance and repair, and redeployment of data buoys and coastal stations. The NWS, through its Port Meteorological Officer Program, also coordinates and manages data acquisition from cooperative merchant ships under the international Voluntary Observing Ship program sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization.

Fire Weather Services. Designated NWS offices provide weather warning, forecast, and advisory services to federal, state, and local wildland management agencies to support wildfire control. Localized weather forecasts are issued, as required, during all wildfire. NWS offices also provide site-specific forecasts and advisories to federal natural resource agencies for prescribed burning and smoke management, insect and disease control, planting and cultivating new growth, preservation of watersheds, and promotion of wildlife habitat and recreational facilities.

Tsunami Warnings. Tsunami watches and warnings for Pacific Ocean areas and Alaska are prepared and issued by the Tsunami Warning Center at Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and the regional center at Palmer, Alaska. NWS collects and analyzes observational data from an international network of seismological observatories and sea-level observing stations which operate on a cooperative basis. The centers use the data to prepare watches and warnings covering all U.S. territories and states bordering on the Pacific Ocean and disseminate them to WSFOs, federal and state disaster agencies, military organizations, private broadcast media, and other facilities that furnish warning information to the public.

Over the last several decades, NWS has made major improvements in forecasting synoptic-scale (large-scale, slowly evolving) weather. As modernization efforts continue, further improvements will be realized in the severe weather and flood warnings program with continuing improvements in larger scale, centrally prepared weather guidance products for Day II and beyond, implementation of NWS systems upgrades, advanced observations from the planned geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites, and the development of mesoscale predictive techniques for NWS field operations. Integral to the modernization effort, NWS is reorganizing its field structure to focus more on warnings and short-range forecasts, and, in FY 1995, NMC was restructured to serve a broader mission required by the NWS modernization. The modernized operations concept includes a vertically integrated forecast process in which national centers provide products based on output from numerical models, statistical adjustments to model fields, and value-added products prepared by national center forecasts. This product suite will be transmitted to the modernized Weather Forecast Offices (WFO) in digital form, where forecasters will use them to prepare local forecast products. Under the new, modernized office structure, the responsibilities of the WSFOs and the WSOs will be subsumed by the WFOs.

National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)

Improved technologies allowed NOAA to reorganize the National Meteorological Center (NMC) into NCEP with seven science-based, service-oriented centers that generate environmental prediction products and two central support centers that develop and operate numerical models on which predictions are based. The structure includes an evolutionary operational numerical model suite, from which forecast products are derived by skilled forecasters, and a supporting research and development program, which emphasizes the relationship between NCEP and the broader scientific community.

The nine national centers that comprise NCEP are:

Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC). The HPC, located at NCEP headquarters in Camp Springs, Maryland, supports the hydrometeorological forecast functions of the NWS. The HPC incorporates the latest in technological support, maintaining an up-to-the-minute monitoring of all precipitation-related events, such as rain, snow, and ice, across the contiguous United States. While basic weather forecasts are prepared mainly for NWS field office guidance, they are also used by the entire meteorological community. Specifically, the National Precipitation Prediction Unit produces forecasts of rainfall and snowfall amounts out to 72 hours. The HPC also prepares analyses of weather conditions at sea level for North America every 3 hours and for the Northern Hemisphere every 6 hours. The HPC also has coastal-marine forecast guidance responsibilities originally planned for a seperate Marine Prediction Center.

Storm Prediction Center (SPC). The SPC, located in Norman, Oklahoma, is the primary NWS center of expertise for forecasting hazardous weather and econonmically disruptive weather events. It provides short-term guidance products for hazardous weather over the contiguous United States and coordinates with NWS field offices on the short-term aspects of hazardous weather, such as flash floods, thunderstorms, tornadoes, winter storms, blizzards, and freezing precipitation. The SPC draws some of its heritage from the Severe Local Storms Unit of the former National Severe Storms Forecast Center (NSSFC) but differs in that SPC's mission is broader. The SPC also provides internal scientific support and techniques development. This support includes researching, developing, evaluating, and testing forecast methods.

Aviation Weather Center (AWC). The AWC, located in Kansas City, Missouri, enhances aviation safety by issuing warnings, forecasts, and analyses of hazardous weather for aviation interests. The AWC identifies existing or imminent weather hazards to aircraft in flight and creates warnings for transmission to the aviation community and originates operational forecasts for weather conditions that will affect domestic and international aviation interests out to 2 days. The AWC also collaborates with universities, governmental research laboratories, Federal Aviation Administration facilities, international meteorological watch offices, and other NWS components to maintain a leading edge in aviation meteorology hazards training, operations, and forecast techniques development. These functions were formerly handled by three collaborating NWS offices.

Tropical Prediction Center (TPC)/National Hurricane Center (NHC). The TPC, located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, employs rapid advances in technology and research to issue increasingly accurate and timely watches, warnings, forecasts, and analyses for tropical weather conditions to save lives and protect property. To fulfill national and international responsibilities, the TPC prepares tropical storm and hurricane watches and warnings, tropical aviation and marine warnings and forecasts, and tropical analyses. The NHC remains an integral part of TPC and will continue its responsibility of tracking and forecasting tropical cyclones. The hurricane forecasting and warning programs remain critical for the protection of life and property along the vulnerable areas of the North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern North Pacific Ocean. The TPC also has a responsibility to conduct forecast techniques development as necessary to sustain an acceptable level of forecast accuracy and public service. This includes conducting studies and developing and evaluating forecast models.

Climate Prediction Center (CPC). The CPC, located in Camp Springs, Maryland, provides climate services to users in government, the research community, private industry, and the public both in this country and abroad. Services include operational prediction of climate variability, monitoring of the climate system and development of databases for determining current climate anomalies and trends, and analysis and assessment of their origins and linkages to the rest of the climate system. These services cover climate time scales ranging from weeks to seasons, extending into the future as far as technically feasible, and cover the domain of land, ocean, and atmosphere, extending to the stratosphere. The CPC supports and stimulates the application of climate information and services with particular attention to applications in agriculture, energy, transportation, water resources, and health. It monitors, analyzes, and, where possible, predicts large-scale climate variations, such as the El Niño and the Great Flood of 1993, as well as numerous regional climate fluctuations. To support these services, CPC engages in diagnostic research and studies of model output to improve monitoring, analysis, and predictions of the physical climate system. A major milestone occurred in January 1995, when CPC issued the first official long-lead outlooks for the United States out to a year in advance. This effort is part of a plan for delivery of U.S. national climate services for socioeconomic benefit and improved decision-making.

Space Environment Center (SEC). The SEC, located in Boulder, Colorado, provides national and international forecasts, alerts, and warnings of extraordinary conditions in the space environment, solar radio noise, solar energetic particles, solar X-ray radiation, geomagnetic activity, and conditions of stratospheric warming. The SEC observes, assesses, and predicts activity in the space environment to promote public safety and to mitigate economic loss that could result from disruption of satellite operations, communications and navigation systems, and electric power distribution grids. The SEC issues specific predictions of the activity level of space weather for the next 3 days and more general predictions up to several weeks in advance. Weekly summaries of observed solar-terrestrial conditions are also published. The SEC supports theoretical and experimental research to understand the fundamental physical processes governing the space environment and the development of operational techniques and processes. Research activities focus on areas where advanced applications can be developed to help improve the Nation's space weather service.

Environmental Modeling Center (EMC). The EMC, located in Camp Springs, Maryland, improves NCEP's numerical weather, marine, and climatic predictions through a broad program of data assimilation and computer modeling. In support of the NCEP operational mission to provide ocean prediction, mesoscale prediction (thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.), and global prediction, EMC develops, adapts, improves, and monitors data assimilation systems and models of the atmosphere, ocean, and atmosphere/ocean system using advanced modeling methods developed internally, as well as cooperatively with scientists from universities, the international scientific community, NOAA laboratories, and other government agencies. The EMC integrates research and technology through its Model Test Facility (MTF). The MTF serves as an efficient and effective interface between NCEP and the scientific community which may develop ideas, models, and techniques that will improve NCEP products. The MTF provides consultation, programming, and computer resources to outside scientists using the NCEP system and coordinates initial evaluations of their work. The EMC conducts applied research and development and publishes research results in various media for dissemination to the world meteorological and oceanographic community.

NCEP Central Operations (NCO). The NCO, located in Camp Springs, Maryland, is responsible for all aspects of NCEP operations, including access to real-time data, and its quality control and use in numerical weather prediction systems. The NCO provides management, procurement, development, installation, maintenance, and operation of all computing and communications-related services which link the individual NCEP activities together. The NCO is the focal point for the establishment and execution of policies, standards, procedures, and documentation for computing and communications within the entire NCEP organization. The NCO houses and runs the supercomputer facility and implements and monitors the management of all operational modifications to NCEP products to ensure the reliability of scheduled services. The NCO provides the technical transition between the research and development of numerical weather and climate prediction models and their operational use. The NCO also manages the NCEP databases for use by numerical weather and climate prediction systems and other operational and developmental efforts of NCEP. In addition, NCO provides 24-hour information services and operational support for NCEP computing systems, including the network which ties together internal NCEP communications, NWS mainframe and supercomputer systems, workstations, graphics plotters, and personal computers.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

The NWS conducts applied research, building upon the more basic research conducted by NOAA laboratories and the academic community. Applied meteorological and hydrological research is integral to providing more timely and accurate weather and flood warning and forecast services to the U.S. public.

Meteorological Research. The NWS conducts meteorological research to develop, test, evaluate, and improve numerical models and analysis/forecast techniques used in weather and climate prediction including:

» Techniques for predicting mesoscale phenomena (e.g., heavy precipitation, tornadoes, and severe thunderstorms). These techniques will be developed and improved to use digital data from new observing systems such as the Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) with Doppler capability, and geostationary satellites with higher resolution (GOES-NEXT).

» Models to improve hurricane tracking, hurricane probability estimates, and tropical analyses.

» Storm surge models to assist in developing hurricane evacuation plans for additional coastal basins.

Hydrological Research. The NWS develops improved hydrologic and hydrometeorological models and procedures in support of the national flood forecasting and water resources forecasting programs including:

» Improvements to the Extended Streamflow Prediction model and its complementary models in the NWS River Forecast System.

» Specialized flood and flash flood forecasting procedures using linked hydrological and meteorological models.

» Algorithms to combine WSR-88D precipitation estimates with data from satellites and other ground-based observation systems.

MODERNIZATION

A Strategic Plan for the Modernization and Associated Restructuring of the NWS was submitted to Congress in 1989. Implementation of the plan will optimize efficiency and effectiveness of the mesoscale warning and forecast program and will include an operational demonstration and evaluation program as required by Public Law 102-567 to refine operational procedures and resolve implementation issues best addressed through actual field experience. Continued improvements in larger scale, centrally prepared weather guidance products for Day II and beyond through advanced forecasting models and the requested increased computer processing capability are essential to successful implementation of mesoscale forecasting in NWS field operations, where field forecasters will concentrate on the small-scale, short-lived processes that occur in the 0 to 36-hour timescale.

The National Implementation Plan will provide a planning framework and general strategies for accomplishing the transition as well as advanced notification of when implementation activities are scheduled to occur at each site. The interrelationships of all of the activities--facilities preparation, staffing augmentation, training, commissioning of systems, and realigning operations and services--have begun so that the demonstration can begin in 1996. In addition to preparations for the demonstration, nationwide planning and implementation have begun. Facilities construction is ongoing; training for field personnel is being conducted with necessary backup personnel to cover operational shifts; software development continues; new communications are being established; and all NWS offices have developed and are updating detailed site plans for the transition. The NWS modernization effort is a complex mix of internal NWS activities and multiple contractor efforts. Internal activities provide land, facilities, software, training, staffing, and new operational procedures.

Modernization and Associated Restructuring. The NWS has begun this process of change prompted by two factors: the need to apply advances in hydrometeorological science and technology to operational forecasting and the need to replace obsolete and increasingly unreliable equipment. These factors offer the opportunity to improve severe weather warnings, flood warnings, and forecasts through the acquisition of the following new technologically advanced systems:

» Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) to reduce time-consuming manual observations, provide continuous weather watch, and permit increased productivity of staff.

» Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) with Doppler capability and sophisticated software to provide nationwide coverage for timely and accurate detection of severe weather and floods.

» Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) to enable local forecasters to integrate, process, and transmit high-volume radar, satellite, upper air, surface observation data and guidance information.

» Computer Facility Upgrades to accommodate advanced numerical weather prediction models and increased data to improve accuracy of forecast guidance.

These systems upgrades, coupled with observations from planned, advanced geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites and newly developed mesoscale forecasting techniques, will greatly improve the timeliness and accuracy of severe weather and flood warnings to the U.S. public. Improved capability to detect and predict the small-scale, short-lived (mesoscale) phenomena which cause the most destructive weather events will increase warning lead times for severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, high winds, and flash floods, as well as reduce false warning.

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA, AND INFORMATION SERVICE

The National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) manages United States civil operational environmental satellite systems, as well as global databases for meteorology, oceanography, solid-earth geophysics, and solar-terrestrial sciences. From these sources, NESDIS develops and distributes environmental data and information products and services critical to the protection of life and property, the national economy, energy development and distribution, global food supplies, and development and management of environmental resources.

NESDIS was established as a NOAA line office on December 1, 1982. It was formed by the merger of the former National Environmental Satellite Service (NESS) and Environmental Data and Information Service (EDIS).

NESDIS operates polar-orbiting satellites in sun-synchronous orbits with equatorial crossing times in the early morning (circa 7:30 a.m. LST) and early afternoon (circa 1:40 p.m. LST). These satellites collect global data four times per day that provide atmospheric and surface measurements in support of short-term weather forecasting and longer-term global climate change research. An agreement to be finalized in 1996 with the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) will give EUMETSAT responsibility for the morning segment of the polar environmental mission, with U.S.-provided payload instruments and sensors, beginning early in the next decade.

NESDIS is also responsible for operating two geostationary operational environmental satellites (GOES). One monitors the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts, and the U.S. Midwest; the other monitors the Pacific Ocean and West Coast.

The first of a new series of NOAA geostationary satellites, GOES-8, was successfully launched on April 13, 1994, and subsequently moved to its new operating position of 75°W. GOES-9 was launched on May 23, 1995 and, after extensive testing was repositioned at 135°W, reaching its final position on January 11, 1996. This operational configuration of east and west satellites establishes routine geostationary satellite coverage of the entire U.S. and adjacent waters at 15-minute intervals by the new generation of GOES.

ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SERVICES

The Office of Satellite Operations (OSO) directs the operation of NOAA's environmental satellites and the acquisition of remotely sensed environmental data. It manages the Satellite Operations Control Center (SOCC) and Command and Data Acquisition (CDA) stations, which command and control, track, and acquire data from these environmental satellites.

The Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution (OSDPD) directs the operations of NESDIS central ground data processing facilities. It processes and distributes current weather satellite data and derived products to the National Weather Service (NWS) and other domestic and foreign users.

Arctic Drifting Buoy Program. The United States Interagency Arctic Buoy Program (USIABP) was established in 1992 to provide the management structure and coordination necessary to maintain a baseline network of drifting buoys. Buoys within the array provide sufficient spatial resolution to define surface synoptic scale atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and sea-ice drift fields. Data are used in real-time for operational weather and ice forecasting and for research in the Global Climate Change Program. The USIABP is a collaborative program that draws operating funds and services from the collective contributions of eight government agencies and/or programs. These organizations include: the Naval Oceanographic Office, ONR, NASA, NSF, and NOAA's NESDIS, OAR, and OGP.

The NWS Satellite Field Distribution Facilities (SFDF) distribute processed geostationary satellite products to regional NWS offices and other federal, state, and private sector agencies. The products also are made available to private groups at their expense. SFDFs are located in Washington, D.C., Miami, Florida, Kansas City, Missouri, Honolulu, Hawaii, San Francisco, California, and Anchorage, Alaska. The Anchorage, Washington, San Francisco, and Honolulu SFDFs redistribute data from both the polar-orbiting and geostationary systems. The San Francisco, Anchorage, and Honolulu SFDFs also have the capability of receiving data broadcast directly from the polar-orbiting satellites via the High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) Image Processing System (see "Polar-Orbiting Systems" below.)

The Office of Research and Applications (ORA) provides guidance and direction for NESDIS research and applications activities. It coordinates the efforts of the Satellite Research Laboratory and Satellite Applications Laboratory. These laboratories conduct studies on the use of satellite data to monitor environmental characteristics and change and develop algorithms to analyze these data for applications to operational weather prediction. Further, ORA participates in the development of new spacecraft and sensors for future systems. It also carries out a vigorous program to calibrate and validate satellite data to ensure its quality for long-term studies. Staff from these laboratories also conduct a strong technology transfer program through scientific presentations, technical reports, and training workshops at domestic and international sites.

Polar-Orbiting Systems

These satellites increase the accuracy of weather forecasting by providing quantitative data required for improved numerical weather forecast models. Currently, the primary operational spacecraft are NOAA-14 and NOAA-12. NOAA-14 was launched December 30, 1994 to replace NOAA-11 as the primary afternoon spacecraft. NOAA-9 and NOAA-11 also provide data from operational sensors. NOAA polar satellites carry instruments to provide atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles. They also provide multi-channel images and carry a data collection and platform location system, and a Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking (SARSAT) subsystem. The SARSAT subsystem is used to detect and locate distress alerts from maritime, aviation, and land-based users. They are provided through the International COSPAS-SARSAT Program. Russia, the United States, France, and Canada provide the space segment and related ground systems for COSPAS-SARSAT. Over 25 states are now formally associated with COSPAS-SARSAT as ground segment providers or user states. NOAA operates and maintains the United States SARSAT Mission Control Center and seven ground stations. The ground stations receive Doppler signals directly from the satellites and process the information to provide the location of distress transmissions.

During the lifetime of the NOAA system, new instruments may be added or substituted for others. NOAA-14 carries a sensor to measure ozone. NOAA-9 carries a sensor to measure the Earth's radiation budget and ozone. The projected launch schedule and associated instruments for polar-orbiting satellites are shown in Table A.1.

NOAA spacecraft are five-sided, box-like structures that are 3.71 meters long, 1.88 meters in diameter, with an orbit weight of 735 kg. NOAA-14, NOAA-12, NOAA-11, and NOAA-9 operate in near-polar, sun-synchronous orbits and provide environmental observations of the entire Earth eight times each day. As of January 1996, NOAA-12 crosses the Equator in a southward direction at 0658 local standard time; NOAA-14 crosses the Equator in a northward direction at 1350 local standard time; NOAA-11 crosses the Equator in a northward direction at 1824 local standard time; and NOAA-9 crosses the Equator in a southward direction at 0945 local standard time. The orbital period of the satellites ranges from 101.11 to 102.07 minutes which produces approximately 14.2 orbits per day.

The NOAA-series satellites carry four primary instrument systems. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) provides data for real-time transmission to both Automatic Picture Transmission (APT) and High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) users and for storage on the spacecraft tape recorders for later playback. The AVHRR instrument provides stored and direct-readout radiometer data for day and night cloud cover, sea surface temperatures, vegetation indices, and snow and ice mapping. AVHRR read-out is accomplished by the following:

» Direct readout to APT ground stations worldwide, at 4-km resolution, of the visible and infrared data; panoramic distortion is removed.

» Direct readout to HRPT ground stations worldwide, at 1.1-km resolution, of all spectral channels.

» Global onboard recording of 4-km resolution data from all spectral channels, includes global area coverage (GAC) for command readout of global sea surface temperature and cloud distribution data for processing in the NOAA central computer facility at Suitland, Maryland.

» Onboard recording of data from selected portions of each orbit at 1.1-km resolution of all spectral channels, with local area coverage (LAC) for central processing and sea surface temperature measurements.

The TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) system combines data from several complementary sounding instruments on the spacecraft. These instruments are the High Resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRS/2), the Stratospheric Sounding Unit (SSU), and the Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU). HIRS/2, the primary instrument providing tropospheric data, is sensitive to energy from the visible to the carbon dioxide absorption region of the infrared (IR) spectrum. This instrument is designed to provide data that permit calculation of temperature profiles from the surface to 10 mb, water vapor content at three levels of the atmosphere, and total ozone content. The SSU instrument, which is sensitive to energy in the carbon dioxide absorption portion of the infrared spectrum, provides temperature information from the stratosphere. This instrument is provided by the Meteorological Office of the United Kingdom. The third instrument, the MSU, is sensitive to energy in the oxygen absorption region of the microwave spectrum and is used in conjunction with the two IR instruments. The microwave data permit computations to be made in the presence of clouds.

The Data Collection System (DCS) is provided by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales of France and is called the ARGOS DCS. The ARGOS DCS provides a means to locate and collect data from fixed and moving platforms. It provides two services not available in the geostationary meteorological satellite data collection system. First, it has the capability to determine platform location using an inverse Doppler technique. Second, it is able to acquire data from any place in the world, but especially in the polar regions, beyond transmission range of the geostationary satellites. An upgrade to allow forward message downlinking is being considered for the NOAA-N'satellite.

The Space Environment Monitor (SEM) measures solar proton flux, alpha particle and electron flux density, and energy spectrum and total particulate energy distribution at spacecraft altitude. The two sensors included within this instrument are the Total Energy Detector (TED) and the Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector (MEPED), in addition to a common data processing unit. This instrument augments the measurements made by NOAA's geostationary satellites. The data from the SEM are processed at Suitland, Maryland, and transmitted over a dedicated data link to NOAA's Space Environment Center in Boulder, Colorado, within 1 hour of the spacecraft readout. Space environment data from the NOAA satellites, as well as the geostationary data, are used to monitor the state of solar activity which has a significant effect on terrestrial communications, electrical power distribution, and high-altitude aircraft flight. SEM data are archived and disseminated to other government agencies, industry, and the public by the National Geophysical Data Center.

In addition to the four primary instrument systems, the "afternoon" NOAA series spacecraft carry the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV/2). SBUV/2 is a non-scanning (fixed nadir viewing) spectrometer designed to measure scene radiance and solar spectral irradiance from 160 nanometers to 400 nanometers. Data obtained from the instrument are used to compute the amount and vertical distribution of ozone in the Earth's atmosphere on the sunlit side of the Earth. Ozone data obtained from the SBUV instrument on Nimbus-7 and the SBUV/2 on NOAA-11 were merged to yield a continuous data set from 1979-1983. This data set is being used to determine trends in the global ozone distribution. Subsequent incorporation of data from the SBUV/2 instruments on NOAA-9 and NOAA-14 will allow the data set to be extended to 1996.

The ground system required to receive large volumes of digital data from NOAA satellites consists of two major subsystems--the Polar Acquisition and Control Subsystem (PACS) and the Central Environmental Satellite Computer System (CEMSCS). The PACS includes the Wallops, Virginia, and Fairbanks, Alaska, CDA stations and the SOCC at Suitland, Maryland. All the CEMSCS components are in the NOAA facility at Suitland.

PACS is used to command and control the spacecraft, monitor its health via housekeeping telemetry, and retrieve and transmit the spacecraft environmental data to the CEMSCS processing and data handling facility. The delivery of NOAA system data from the CDAs to Suitland is accomplished by using the General Electric American Communications, Inc. commercial satellite communications network. This system, which includes Earth stations at Suitland, Wallops, and Fairbanks, delivers the data to SOCC. These data are immediately passed on to the CEMSCS for processing. The CEMSCS ingests the raw satellite data and pre-processes and stores them along with appended auxiliary information, such as Earth location and quality control parameters. The data processed by the CEMSCS are used for environmental products and operational weather predictions which are disseminated to users throughout the world.

Geostationary Satellite Program

GOES-9, launched May 23, 1995, completed its check-out phase in October 1995 from 90° West. During the month of November, NOAA then conducted an Extended Research Checkout (ERC) using the new satellite to scan the contiguous United States every three minutes to build data sets for future meteorological research. Following ERC, GOES-9 was maneuvered to drift to its operating position of 135° West. GOES-9 replaced the 9 year old GOES-7 for all western operations, including WEFAX, DCS, and SARSAT, on January 11, 1996. The spacecraft was stopped at 135° West on January 23. NOAA will follow GOES-9 with the launch of GOES-K, possibly as early as April 1997.

GOES-8 and GOES-9 now cover virtually the entire western hemisphere for operational meteorological services. New operating schedules allow acquisition and distribution of imagery from the satellites four times per hour over the much of North America in Routine mode, and eight times per hour over the continuous U.S. during severe weather situations.

GOES-7, the last in NOAA's series of spin-stabilized geostationary spacecraft, has been placed in a standby mode over a central longitude. Following some cross-satellite calibration tests, no further imaging will be scheduled from this spacecraft.

The projected launch schedule and associated instruments for geostationary satellites are shown in Table A.1.

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TABLE A.1 PROJECTED SATELLITE LAUNCH SCHEDULE

*Launch date depends on performance of prior spacecraft.

The GOES-Next satellites host an imager capable of detecting atmospheric, sea surface, and land properties in five spectral bands including the new 3.9 micron (m) and 12.0m wavelengths. Unlike GOES-7, the new GOES satellites transmit all five spectral bands simultaneously affording the user community continuous views of atmospheric measurements in various wavelengths, each with its own meteorological and hydrological application. GOES-Next spacecraft were also designed for flexible scanning of the Earth; a variety of scans or sector coverage can be scheduled within a 30-minute time frame. For example, the full earth disk is scanned once every three hours and requires the entire 30 minute time period. Depending on weather, 30 minute periods during the 2½ hours after the full disk scan may be a mixture of 15 minute interval (routine weather) or 7½ minute interval (severe weather) scans over the United States, with other time spent imaging selected regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as South America (GOES-East) and New Zealand (GOES-West). The five channels and respective resolutions are as follows:

» Channel 1 (Visible, .55m to .75m)--1 km.

» Channel 2 (Infrared, 3.8m to 4.0m)--4 km.

» Channel 3 (Water Vapor, 6.5m to 7.0m)--8 km.

» Channel 4 (Infrared, 10.2m to 11.2m)--4 km.

» Channel 5 (Infrared, 11.5m to 12.5m)--4 km.

GOES-Next satellites are capable of providing hourly atmospheric sounder coverage over the continental United States for input to weather forecast models and other near-real-time analyses.

The GOES-8 and GOES-9 sounder, consisting of 19 spectral channels (GOES-7 has 12 spectral channels), is used for measurements of atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, surface and cloud top temperatures, and ozone distribution. Products derived from the sounder include precipitable water and lifted index--a measurement of atmospheric stability. Comparable to the imager, the sounder is capable of providing various scan coverages, such as full Earth imagery, sectorized imagery, and local imagery. An independent sounder platform, governed under its own schedule, leads to an expansion of sounder-data coverage and an increase in the frequency of transmissions.

The GOES also carries a DCS which is used to collect and relay environmental data observed by a variety of remotely located platforms, such as river and tide gages, seismometers, buoys, ships, and automatic weather stations. GOES satellites rebroadcast imagery, meteorological analyses, and other environmental data to remote locations using the WEFAX system. Data are collected for warnings of solar activity using SEM. This block of instruments is more extensive than on the polar spacecraft. The GOES SEM instruments include X-ray monitors that detect solar flares, energetic particle sensors, and three-component vector magnetometers to measure changes in the ambient magnetic field. Real-time SEM data are used to support operational NOAA and DOD space environment forecasts and alerts. Data from GOES SEM sensors are archived by the National Geophysical Data Center and provided to retrospective users on-line via Internet and on a variety of computer media.

A system similar technically to the DCS, but used for a different purpose, is the SARSAT transponder. The operational SARSAT transponders on GOES-8 and GOES-9 are capable of providing an immediate distress alert. While the present GOES system is incapable of providing location of the distress signal, it provides advance warning to the SARSAT Mission Control Center which then begins to verify the location of the alert through other means. Future COSPAS-SARSAT distress beacons, utilizing Global Positioning System (GPS), will have the capability to provide location information in the distress message. Remapped GOES-8 and GOES-9 images for the NWS AWIPS began flowing to "Pathfinder" sites at Boston and Pittsburgh via the point-to-multipoint data feed known as NOAAPORT in 1995. NWS will deploy another 14 AWIPS sites in 1996, and the remaining 100 or so in the following two years. NOAAPORT delivers GOES imagery available to forecasters within seconds of satellite scanning and makes it a valuable new real-time capability.

As AWIPS development and deployment proceed, NESDIS will continue to supply digital GOES images to a group of NWS sites equipped with the RAMM Branch Advanced Meteorological Satellite Demonstration and Interpretation System (RAMSDIS)--a PC-based image display and analysis system. These sites acquire the images via the Internet for demonstration, evaluation, and familiarization purposes. RAMSDIS enables forecasters to perform operations such as looping, enhancement curve changes, and local image recombination.

Satellite Communications System (SATCOM)

The NESDIS Telecommunications System is a complex network of voice, teletype, and data-grade transmissions sent via satellites, microwave, and terrestrial cable services. A major component of the system is the Office of Satellite Operations (OSO) which consists of the SOCC and two CDA stations at Wallops, Virginia, and Fairbanks, Alaska. The OSO is responsible for the operation and safety of NOAA polar and geostationary satellites and for providing satellite data to the OSDPD Suitland, Maryland.

Another major component is the Environmental Satellite Distribution/Interactive Processing Center (ESD/IPC) in Camp Springs, Maryland. The ESD/IPC is connected in turn with the Fairbanks and Wallops CDA stations and the six SFDFs.

A third major component, managed and operated by OSDPD, is the NOAA Operational Satellite Active Archive (SAA) for satellite data and metadata access, display, and electronic transfer. Developed as a collaborative effort between OSDPD and NOAA's National Climatic Data Center, the SAA offers the user a wide range of capabilities, including data catalog and inventory search, AVHRR image browse, on-line data selection and file transfer protocol (FTP), and off-line data selection and delivery. On-line system documentation, data guides, and help files will assist the novice user and provide valuable time-saving tips to all users. While developed as an independent system, the SAA serves as NOAA's initial interoperable interface to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). In 1994, AVHRR Level 1B data sets became the first SAA satellite data available for browse and delivery on the Internet. In September 1995, TOVS (HIRS, MSU, and SSU) Level 1B data sets were added and a system established, though not yet operational due to lack of resources, for providing retrospective (pre-1994) AVHRR data and browse products. Development efforts are underway to add NOAA-K, RADARSAT, and DMSP special sensor data by the end of FY 1997.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAM

The requirements and goals addressed by NESDIS supporting research in FY 1997 include:

» NOAA's role in the national effort on the study of climate and global change (as detailed in the interagency report of the Committee on Earth and Space Sciences).

» The NWS modernization effort (including strengthening the environmental observing and prediction systems and improving the application and dissemination of products and services) (per P.L. 100-685).

» Improvement in monitoring of the global ocean and in managing coastal zone resources.

» The management of data that will be needed to support the above.

» The development, evaluation, validation, and implementation of new products and services from GOES-8 and GOES-9: this activity also supports NWS modernization.

» The continuation and improvement of products and services from the polar-orbiting satellite system. The GOES-Next satellites provide higher resolution, enhanced multispectral imaging and separate sounding systems. Ongoing research will focus on new applications and products from this new sensor suite. Hourly soundings are being produced for the continental United States and adjacent waters. These have been tested in current and developmental numerical models to support NWS modernization initiatives. Special products, such as precipitable water and atmospheric stability, are being evaluated. These products, together with wind, temperature, and moisture profiles and ASOS, will improve temporal and spatial observations, particularly in coastal and mountainous sounding areas, complementing the improvements expected in the global polar soundings after the launch of NOAA-K.

The new capabilities of GOES-8 and GOES-9, along with improved data collection and archival resources, have already provided unprecedented opportunities in 1995 for assessing rapid interval imagery over a wide variety of weather systems. Special 1-minute and 3-minute interval data sets were collected for a large number of case studies, which included severe thunderstorms, land falling hurricanes, and lake effect snow events. During the entire month of November, 1995, GOES-9 provided nearly continuous 3-minute imagery over the continental United States. Those data were collected and archived for analysis by NOAA/NESDIS at the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) in Colorado. A number of significant Great Lakes snow events occurred during the November test, as well as significant cyclones with a blend of snow, freezing rain, and heavy rainfall. The cases are currently under investigation by NESDIS scientists at CIRA in conjunction with NWS Science and Operations Officers. The data are being studied to identify features which appear in rapid interval imagery but are either not observed or not depicted well in 15- and 30-minute interval imagery. Test results suggest that highly accurate cloud motions at both cumulus and cirrus levels can be derived from both the 1-minute and 3-minute interval imagery. The measurements clearly depict the extent of cyclonic flow at the top of hurricanes, and in some cases cloud drift winds have been derived in and near the hurricane eye wall.

Early results from research on tornadic storms with the new data show the importance of 1-minute interval imagery in the detection of very-small-scale interactions between two thunderstorms just prior to one or both of the storms becoming tornadic. 1-minute imagery also shows differences in the development of the anvils of the tornadic storms, as they build upshear against the prevailing flow, blocking the upper level jet. Other cases are being investigated with special data sets collected during the Verification of the Origins of Rotation Experiment (VORTEX) that took place in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas during the spring of 1995. Those cases involve both research and operational Doppler radar data, aircraft, and special chase teams.

The RAMSDIS has been providing digital satellite data to select NWS Forecast Offices across the U.S. for over 2 years. The RAMSDIS project was developed to make high quality digital satellite imagery available to NWS Forecast Offices as a means of familiarizing forecasters with use of GOES-8 and GOES-9 digital imagery and in preparation for AWIPS implementation. There are currently over 50 RAMSDIS sites across the country. RAMSDIS also includes several satellite data analysis applications developed by the CIRA/RAMM team. The response from the forecasters indicates that RAMSDIS: (1) is easy to learn and is quickly accepted by staff, (2) significantly improves utility of satellite imagery and improves the quality of NWS forecast/nowcast products, and (3) provides early exposure to high quality imagery, better preparing staff for the integration of digital satellite data into a full AWIPS workstation capability. Forecasters recommended that RAMSDIS be implemented at all NWS Forecast Offices with Internet capability.

Research focusing on the new IR channels is exceptionally encouraging. The GOES 3.9m channel is already providing a variety of new and exciting applications of digital satellite imagery. During daytime, 3.9m imagery is composed of both emitted terrestrial radiation and reflected solar energy. At night, only the emitted component is present.

At night, the 3.9m and 10.7m channels may be used in combination to develop an image product which can be used to distinguish between ice clouds and lower water clouds. This nighttime product is referred to as the "fog product" and has been found to be very useful in depicting fog and stratus at night when visible images are unavailable and when the 11m IR images show very little temperature difference between the top of the fog or stratus and the adjacent clear areas. Image products and interpretation techniques using the GOES 3.9m channel have been introduced for real-time evaluation on RAMSDIS and have received enthusiastic response from the user community. The "fog product" has proven to be a very useful product at the NWS Aviation Forecast Center in Kansas City where digital imagery analysis capability has existed for over a decade.

Research and development of applications of environmental satellite data are devoted to the improvement and development of improved techniques for quantitative and qualitative products and services. These serve national and international programs in weather analysis and forecasting, climate diagnosis, volcanic aerosol detection, programs for agriculture, fisheries, coastal zone management, and energy, and other weather, land, and environmental applications. The data from current NOAA operational satellites in both polar and geostationary orbits and research satellites operated by other nations and by NASA and DOD are used to develop improved techniques and algorithms for the definition of the global, three-dimensional structure of the atmosphere (winds, temperature, and moisture structure) that is essential for numerical weather analysis and forecasting.

NESDIS is developing products and procedures to assist forecasters in computing Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts for heavy precipitation events. High values of precipitable water (PW) often become antecedent conditions prior to the development of heavy precipitation and flash floods. High values of PW frequently appear as plumes, areas or surges of moisture in the 6.7mm data. Experimental blended PW products have been developed for detecting these all important surges or areas of high concentrations of moisture. One of the blended PW products uses Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) from the DMSP and GOES-9 with Aviation Model derived PWs filling the data voids. This product is designed for medium range forecasting and covers the western hemisphere between 70°W and 170°W. The second, designed for 0 to 24 hour forecasting of heavy precipitation, includes a region slightly larger than the Continental United States and extends south to 20°N. This product is a blend of both SSM/I and GOES-8 and GOES-9 data with the ETA model filling data voids.

An experimental Automatic Flash Flood Precipitation Estimator has been developed for the analysis of heavy precipitation over the United States and surrounding areas. This algorithm produces instantaneous and accumulative amounts at any time interval. This algorithm was developed by calibrating the GOES-8, 10.7mm cloud top temperatures with Doppler rainfall rates. This algorithm is further modified by a Moisture Correction Factor (based on PW and Relative Humidity) and a simple IR gradient detector to screen out cirrus. In the near future, cloud growth will be included to help detect active/heavy rain areas of convective systems. In addition, a validation methodology is being established that will compare estimates from the automatic technique with rain gages. Validation of the operational Interactive Flash Flood Analyzer algorithm for diagnosing flash floods continues and will be used as a benchmark for the Automatic Flash Flood Precipitation Estimator.

Extremely heavy rainfall amounts falling over already saturated soils can accentuate the adverse impact of flash floods. A knowledge of antecedent soil conditions can assist forecasters and, thereby improve timely and reliable information to users regarding the potential for flash floods. An experimental Soil Wetness Index has been designed to identify soil surfaces that are either extremely saturated or flooded. Such a product can be used to assist forecasters in their preparation of flash flood watches and warnings.

Climate analysis, diagnosis, and monitoring performed by NCEP's Climate Prediction Center depend upon global satellite observations of the incoming and outgoing radiation fluxes, clouds, and aerosols. Improvements in the estimation of the Earth's radiation fluxes at the top of the atmosphereare planned. A scene-dependent model will replace the global model that computes the planetary albedo from the visible and near infrared channels on the AVHRR.Also, a two-dimensional histogram of shortwave vs. longwave fluxes will be produced, replacing the two one-dimensional histograms of the fluxes. This will provide additional information on the fluxes not available heretofore. Experimental products of longwave fluxes (at the top, bottom, and within the atmosphere) derived from the HIRS have been developed and will be undergoing improvements and testing. The means for globally detecting cloud and cloud-free pixel arrays and for specifying total cloud amount from the AVHRR has been developed over the last several years. This information has been enhanced by the development and testing of the global pixel-scale analysis system for multiple-layered cloud types; validation and improvements of the resulting products will continue. Cloud optical and microphysical properties are to be derived from these products. The NCEP models could be greatly enhanced with information on the layering of the clouds. The aerosol optical thickness is currently available from the AVHRR. The current single-channel algorithm requires some estimate of the size distribution. A two-channel algorithm is being investigated for the next generation of polar satellites (beginning with NOAA K), where potentially both a size distribution parameter and the aerosol optical thickness will be available. This effort should yield a more accurate estimate of the aerosol optical thickness.

NESDIS scientists at the CIRA and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies played a key role in the development of the first Satellite Data interpretation module produced by the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training (COMET). The module, "Satellite Meteorology Remote Sensing Using the New GOES Imager" is the first such module to be on CD-ROM. The module will be used extensively throughout the NWS and DOD communities for training of forecasters in the use of digital GOES imagery. The module is also available for use in universities and is an excellent teaching tool for students. Although the title of the module refers to GOES, which is the main satellite whose data are addressed, it has great utility across the board for those interested in interpretation of satellite imagery from any meteorological satellite. The various sections address science-related issues that include radiative transfer, the sun-earth-atmosphere energy system, selective absorption by atmospheric gases, and channel selection for various meteorological applications. The module includes case studies that address phenomena, such as severe weather, tropical storms, and the identification of fog and stratus at night. Various sections have short subjects tests to allow users to track their progress.

ENVIRONMENTAL DATA CENTERS

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

NCDC has the principal responsibility to manage the national climatological data program, including data and information services. To meet this responsibility, NCDC:

» Performs all data management functions regarding retrospective meteorological data, including data from in-situ and remote sensing sources (satellites, radars, etc.). Such functions include acquisition, archiving, retrieval, indexing, quality assessments, evaluation, synthesis, dissemination, and publication of data collected by global and national observation networks or systems. Meteorological data that have enduring value to the Nation and are sufficient to describe the climate are included.

» Designs and implements new systems as necessary for ingesting, processing, quality control and archiving of new data streams from the NWS modernization program.

» Operates as a designated Agency Records Center for processing, storage, and servicing of retrospective meteorological data records.

» Prepares and provides special products and services to users as required as a basis for regulatory standards and policy decisions.

» Maintains national and global databases for analyses of long-term climate trends and for monitoring global change.

» Provides facilities, data processing support, data exchange, and expertise, as required, to meet U.S. commitments to foreign nations, international organizations, and to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) programs.

» Operates the World Data Center-A (WDC-A) for Meteorology under the auspices of the International Council of Scientific Unions. In this capacity, NCDC archives the data collected by internationally sponsored research programs and actively exchanges climate data with foreign countries.

NCDC is the archive for meteorological data sets from World Climate Research Program and WMO World Climate Data and Monitoring Program projects, such as the Tropical Ocean-Global Atmosphere (TOGA) Program, the Global Precipitation Climatology Program (GPCP), the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (ISCCP), etc.

Climate Data Management. Along with the modernization of weather services, the use of new technologies and the expansion in use of modern communication services will bring data into the archives much quicker. Therefore, more timely access by users to climate data and products will be achieved. Activities and plans for FY 1997 include:

» NOAA holds extensive collections of foreign meteorological and climate data in the NOAA Central Library and at NCDC's foreign data library. Heretofore, the data held in publications, microform and magnetic media had not been cataloged in an automated catalog system that could be accessed outside of the two libraries. The data holdings were cataloged and entered into the NOAA's Master Directory and are available for searching in NOAA's automated catalog system called NOAALINC. Both systems can be accessed by telephone dial-in and contents can be searched using keywords including country and climate parameters.

» NCDC has continued technology and systems upgrades (i.e., computers, workstations, on-line storage and access, communication, etc.) to meet data management and services requirements into the next decade. The Hierarchical Data Storage System (HDSS) providing on-line access to digital data will be expanded in FY 1997 to hold 50 terabytes of data to meet the increasing demand. The acquisition of data and products from NCEP will be migrated from mail services and to telecommunications and directly ingested into HDSS. This will include data and products such as surface synoptic and upper air data collected from Global Telecommunications System, model output (global analyses), aircraft reports from Aircraft Reports Management System, etc.

» Data (Level III products and Level II data) from about 100 WSR-88D systems are currently received for archiving. During FY 1997, data from all 160 WSR-88D sites will be available for archiving and servicing. To aid users in accessing these data and products, interactive browsing and data ordering systems will be placed on the World Wide Web.

» As part of a continuing program to update and modernize processing systems, NCDC completed the development and implementation of the hourly precipitation data processing system. Smarter quality control coupled with interactive graphics has brought higher quality data with less manual effort. The Hourly Precipitation Data publication was modified so that data quality flags are presented along with precipitation values. During 1997, an new processing system for Monthly Climate Data for the World (MCDW) will be implemented with improved quality control resulting in an increase of global data.

» NCDC currently ingests via telecommunications five data sets (1-minute data, 5-minute observations, hourly observations, daily summary data, and systems log information) from over 200 commissioned ASOS sites producing Local Climatological Data (LCD) publications and providing digital data to a variety of users. Continued commissioning of ASOS sites will increase the data volumes substantially and will make these data more readily available to users. During 1997, sophisticated monitoring capabilities will be added to the ingest system to insure a more complete receipt of the data.

» NCDC continues to place high priority environmental databases on-line for easy access by researchers and others. Metadata are provided to adequately describe the data and their availability. NCDC continues to develop tools to assist the users in obtaining the data they need to browse and to visualize the data. CLIMVIS, an interactive WWW graphics system using NOAA's Environmental Data archived at NCDC has been implemented. CLIMVIS dynamically generates time series, contour and vector plots in real time. Another program, CLISERV provides capability to integrate various types of data for a particular location or time. CLISERV also provides the capability for viewing on-line inventories (WSR-88D, ASOS, etc.) and to order data on-line. This system maximizes the use of Internet GUIs and WWW navigation tools in making data and metadata accessible to researchers. Additional capabilities, expanded user tools, and more data sets will be will be available in 1997. CLISERV and CLIMVIS can be accessed on NCDC WWW homepage.

» Working with the WMO, NCDC continues to collect climate data and metadata from foreign countries for the preparation of a high priority global data set to monitor climate change. The Global Climate Perspectives System (GCPS) is a joint scientific venture between NOAA's Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) Climate Diagnostics Center Laboratory (CDCL) and NESDIS/NCDC, sponsored by NOAA's Office of Global Programs. The GCPS is available for comparing current climate observations with long-term trends to put current observations into perspective. Using this system, researchers are be able to access data, perform analyses and inter-compare parameters. In FY 1996, a mapping and gridding routine was assembled for station and gridded data. Complex quality control procedures have been put into place, gridded global products have been produced, and numerous scientific papers have been published. In FY 1997, a client-server version of GCPS will be completed, additional data sets will be added, and additional tools for analyzing data will be made available, including some consolidation of homepage analysis systems.

» The Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (COADS) project is a multi-year/multi-agency program funded by Office of Global Programs (OGP) and ESDIM to provide an updated reference data set covering the world's ocean environment. In FY 1996 via a cooperative effort among NESDIS/NCDC, ERL and NCAR, the data period of record will be updated through the mid 1990s, additional data will be added to data-sparse periods, and some known problems corrected. FY 1996 accomplishments include the completion of the keying of 2 million Maury Obs (ship observations for the period 1820-1860) in the Peoples Republic of China, and Quality Control of 1 million U.S. Merchant Marine observations for the 1912-1946 period. Conversion software was developed for converting 24 of the Merchant Marine keying formats to a common format compatible to COADS.

In FY 1997, COADS Release 1b will be completed, the Film Optical Sensing Device for Input to Computer (FOSDIC) film recovery of additional information will be performed, the conversion software for converting the Maury Collection to the common COADS format will be completed, and the 60 percent of the U.S. Merchant Marine collection that has been quality controlled will be converted to the COADS common format for merging into COADS Release 2.

» The Comprehensive Aerological Reference Data Set (CARDS) project completed the building of a database containing daily global upper air observations for the period 1948-93. It is composed of 23 GB of data for a total of 2500 stations. Data from some 20 different sources were combined to form this Complex Quality Controlled on-line database. A baseline set of core stations will be identified. In FY 1997, the CARDS project will complete the building of the global upper air database through 1996. The database will be made available both in time sort (synoptic) and station sort. Inhomogeneities (biases) will be identified and adjusted for a core set of stations. A comprehensive station history will also be made available.

» NOAA ERL's Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (ERL/CMDL) and NESDIS/NCDC have been working for the past four years on a NOAA Office of Global Programs-sponsored Trace Gas Project. Global baseline trace gas data sets, such as CO₂, CH₄, O₃, and CFC's have been collected by CMDL and with the help of NCDC, the data sets have been quality controlled, documented, placed on line, and secured in the NCDC archive. Others have been put on the Internet/WWW for user access. Work has been competed during FY 1996 to update all data sets, prepare documentation and establish procedures for performing the work on an operational basis.

» The 19th Century FORTS/Signal Corps project, a project to digitize the meteorological observations taken at U.S. military forts and by the Signal Corps during the 19th century, has concentrated on establishing a preliminary data set, identifying stations, digitizing the manuscript records, and quality controlling the data. During FY 1996, the efforts will concentrate on the 1822-1860 period to complete the processing and archiving of these data and associated metadata. These will be available to research in FY 1997.

» The United States Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) is a joint project between the DOE/CDIAC and NESDIS/NCDC. Data sets of numerous climatological variables have been prepared and quality controlled with many inherent biases removed. During FY 1996, data set updating was initiated and will continue on a workstation-based system for much improved efficiency and data handling capability. Data can now be analyzed shortly after month's end.

» The United States Precipitation Metadata project has been supported by the NOAA OGP for the past 4 years and is producing unbiased data sets of monthly rainfall and snowfall for GCIP. Wind-induced turbulence biases have been removed by applying algorithms based on a combination of information and data, such as observing gage sitings, gage shields, and average monthly wind speeds. In FY 1997, these corrections will be applied to the USHCN data set.

» The NCDC functions as the Surface Reference Data Center (SRDC) for the World Climate Research Program Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP). The SRDC is supported by NOAA OGP which is supporting precipitation validation within the GPCP. The SRDC has provided support to GPCP by collecting and validating surface-based precipitation station data from a number of globally distributed test-site areas. Work during FY 1996 concentrated on the production of area-averaged validation data for all test sites, with the application of precipitation/elevation adjustment algorithms. In FY 1997, a paper containing the results on the comparison of precipitation calculated from remotely sensed data from satellites with in-situ precipitation measurements will be completed and available to research.

» The Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) is a cooperative data collection and quality assurance project between the DOE/CDIAC and NESDIS/NCDC of global monthly temperature, pressure, and precipitation data. The GHCN version 1, consisting of monthly temperature, precipitation, and pressure data was released three years ago and work has since progressed on version 2. This version will include many more global stations extending back to the 19th century. The data for Version 2 will be quality controlled using sophisticated algorithms and will also be homogeneity-adjusted. In FY 1996, version 2 release includes a maximum/minimum temperature data set in addition to monthly mean temperature. Population metadata will be available in order to more accurately determine global temperature trends that are free of urban heat island biases. In FY 1997, a complete version 2 will be released with the addition of precipitation and pressure data. A near-real-time update and analysis system will be implemented to keep the data set current as new data are received.

» NCDC is collaborating with NESDIS' ORA in a study of the effects of changes in land use/land cover on monthly and seasonal averages of diurnal temperature range (DTR). The study is combining AVHRR data with monthly temperatures and associated metadata from the USHCN for the period 1981-90. Preliminary results show that significant differences in DTR could be associated with certain predominant land use/land cover types. This work will be completed for the current series of satellites and will be available in FY 1997.

» NCDC is continuing work in collaboration with the WMO on the collection, compilation, and quality assurance of climate normals for the globe for the period 1961-90. More than 100 countries have sent in normals data for a wide-range of climatological parameters. The data will be sent in publication-ready format to the WMO Secretariat during FY 1996.

» For FY 1997, NCDC will complete the production of the publication Climatology #20 of the United States. This publication is based on normals data collected for 1961-90 for selected U.S. sites and includes such parameters as degree days, precipitation probability, freeze data, growing degree units, daily maximum and minimum temperature, monthly temperature means, extremes, days with selected meteorological elements, and precipitation totals.

Climate Data Services. The demand for basic climatic data and information services has continued to increase. NCDC expects to service over 157,000 request for data and information during FY 1997. In addition, over 2 million accesses to on-line data and information services are expected to be handled by the Center's automated systems. To meet the demand for data and information, on-line services are being expanded utilizing dial-in services and the Internet (WWW and mosaic/homepage). Currently, 20 data sets are accessible on-line. The number of data sets available on-line will be expanded to 30 in FY 1997 and the volume of data available increased. NCDC's home page will be frequently updated with added data and access capabilities. Researchers can access the homepage and view the availability of data and information by accessing the following URL address: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov.

NCDC and NESDIS/OSDPD implemented the operational SAA making near real-time satellite data available on-line for browsing images and/or accessing and ordering data. Data can be transferred computer-to-computer or ordered for off-line delivery.

There is also a demand for climate data and information products on CD-ROM media. NCDC has previously released 19 CD-ROM volumes. An additional 9 volumes are pending release in 1996 and another five are planned in FY 1997. Available volumes and planned releases can be viewed on NCDC Homepage.

National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC)

The NODC supports climatic services and research through its data management and data services activities. The NODC provides data management for major climate-related studies, such as the TOGA program, the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), and the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS). NODC also provides data products and services individually to researchers as well as to members of the operational marine community, e.g., the Navy, Coast Guard, and shipping industry.

Data Management. NODC is working closely with the academic community to provide data management for global change research programs. Three joint centers have been established with university groups to focus on different aspects of data management for global change:

» Joint Environmental Data Analysis (JEDA) Center with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego.

» Joint Archive for Sea Level (JASL) with the University of Hawaii.

» Joint Center for Research in the Management of Ocean Data (JCRMOD) with the University of Delaware.

The JEDA Center manages subsurface thermal data in support of TOGA. This activity is now part of a larger, global effort called the Global Temperature-Salinity Pilot Project (GTSPP). A cooperative international project, GTSPP was initiated to improve the quality, volume, and accessibility of global ocean temperature and salinity data.

NODC is participating in the JSAL by assisting researchers at the University of Hawaii in the acquisition, processing, quality assurance, archiving, and dissemination of sea level data from a network of island-based and coastal tide gages. The network consists of 137 stations in the Pacific Ocean Sea Level Network originally established as part of the North Pacific Experiment.

An initial project of JCRMOD was the establishment and operation of a data information unit in support of WOCE. An on-line information system called Oceanic provides WOCE and TOGA program information to principal investigators and other researchers. In addition to an oceanographic component, TOGA Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (COARE) also includes ocean-atmosphere and atmospheric interface components, thus extending the types of data to be tracked beyond those for WOCE. An information system for TOGA/COARE analogous to Oceanic is also operational.

To promote efforts to locate and preserve older, historical ocean data, the NODC/WDC-A, Oceanography, is the project lead for the WMO- approved Global Oceanographic Data Archaeology and Rescue (GODAR) Project. The success of initial GODAR activities has already resulted in the submission to NODC of an additional 960,000 temperature-salinity profiles from 9 countries, and nearly 300,000 station profiles from 4 countries.

NODC's research group has published a series of scientific papers described by decadal-scale variability of the North Atlantic Ocean as determined from the analysis of historical data. In particular, time-series data from Ocean Weather Stations "C" and "5," and a seven-volume ocean atlas providing objective analyses of major ocean parameters has been published. Also, a nine-CD-ROM series of the 1994 World Ocean Atlas has been published.

Data Services. During FY 1994, NODC filled 10,712 user requests and disseminated over 750 gigabytes of digital data to customers. CD-ROM continues to be an increasingly important medium on which to disseminate large ocean data sets. At the end of FY 1994, NODC had released about 60 individual disks holding several major ocean data sets and other ocean data products. In early FY 1994, NODC established Gopher and Mosaic servers on the Internet. These servers contain information about NODC, and its products and services. These servers enable basic data browse and electronic data ordering services to be conducted interactively. Internet accesses average about 5,000 sessions each month and have resulted in reducing client servicing times from an average of 4 days to 2 days per client request.

NODC has management responsibility for the NOAA Library and Information Network which includes:

» The NOAA Central Library in Silver Spring, Maryland, where usage has increased threefold in 1 year.

» Regional libraries at major NOAA facilities in Miami, Florida, and Seattle, Washington.

» More than 30 field libraries and information centers at other NOAA locations throughout the United States.

Technology Enhancements. An upgraded Ethernet local area network (LAN) links the distributed computing resources at NODC's headquarters offices. Silicon Graphics workstations function as distributed servers to support NODC database operations, user services, and data communications. Peripheral devices include magnetic tape drives (9-track, 8 mm, IBM 3480 cartridge), an optical disk drive, and an optical "Jukebox" that provides over 300 gigabytes of mass storage. The Ethernet LAN operates with TCP/IP protocol and supports about 90 nodes, including both high speed workstations and PC-class computers. Internet processing of oceanographic data is now done using in-house resources in an interactive mode.

National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)

NGDC participates in a number of national and international programs that provide data for research in meteorology and climatology. NGDC provides data processing and archival programs concerned with atmospheric emissions recorded by satellite instruments, as well as indirect or proxy measures of past climates. NGDC also provides services for supporting data sets including global environmental in-situ measurements and data describing the cryosphere.

At NGDC, NOAA established a program to assemble global information on paleoclimate and to cooperate in research projects to employ the combined global paleoclimate database for climate model verification and climate change studies. Support for this program from the NOAA Climate and Global Change Program (CGCP) is continuing.

NGDC has actively sought and acquired many paleoclimate databases derived from tree-rings, pollen and macrofossils, lake and bog sediments, marine sediments, ice cores, and other geological and biological sources. Digital data sets have been enhanced with custom display and search capabilities. These research tools are currently being distributed to the paleoclimate community. Objectives of the program are to cooperate with researchers from NOAA, other agencies, and academia to describe the global patterns of decade-to-millennial scale climate change, to identify and understand the causes of this climate change, to improve the ability of separating man-induced climate change from the natural variability, and to validate the models that are being used to predict global climate change the next several centuries.

NGDC uses in-house data archives to conduct research in past, present, and future climates. NGDC is computing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by fires on a global scale. The computation combines our Global Inventory of Biomass Burning from satellite imagery with statistical and laboratory models of vegetation type and combustion efficiencies.

NGDC prepares research-quality archival data sets from the complete complement of operational DMSP satellites. Instruments on DMSP satellites use remote-sensing techniques to monitor the horizontal and vertical structure of the atmosphere. NGDC's processing system is very extensive covering data rescue, calibration, navigation, and quality control. The archival data sets include visible, near infrared, thermal infrared, and microwave imagery of clouds, cloud types, snow, ice, fires, lightning, oil flares, etc., microwave sounding of atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles, ionospheric plasma parameters, and the Earth's magnetic field. Data services include tape copies, on-line search and browse, and image display and analysis software.

Long-term, global records of solar electro-magnetic variability archived at NGDC are the principle data bases available to support research into the impact of changing solar energy output affecting Earth and climate change. Older ways of observing solar activity continue to provide continuity between the past and modern observations using new technology deployed on the Earth and in space. Satellite instruments now monitor total solar irradiance and spectral irradiance at a few selected wavelengths before modification by the Earth's atmosphere. However, proxy data sets from the long-term archives are required to provide longer term records that describe the past output of solar energy. Both the long term archives and the total solar irradiance and some of the spectral irradiance data are available from NGDC. Data services include tape copies and on-line access.

Another source of energy input into the Earth's upper atmosphere is particles of external origin which are monitored by instruments on NOAA satellites. Because these particles are electrically charged, they provide both direct and indirect means to transfer energy to the atmosphere. NGDC archives the Space Environment Monitor data sets from DMSP and the NOAA polar-orbiting and GOES satellites. Data services include tape copies, on-line search and browse, and display software. Reduced volume data sets are also available on CD-ROM.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, and associated with NGDC, maintains several cryosphere-related data sets of interest to meteorology and climatology. These include a collection of historical photographs of glaciers, temperature, pressure, and position data from satellite-queried drifting buoys placed on the central Arctic pack ice, and data from the NOAA snow cover and DOD-NOAA sea ice chart digitizing programs. NSIDC provides data management services for the Second Greenland Ice Sheet Program and the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Arctic System Science Ocean-Atmosphere-Ice Interaction research programs. In addition, NSIDC has developed gridded sea ice products (sea ice concentration and multiyear ice fraction) based upon passive microwave data collected by the Scanning Multi-channel Microwave Radiometer on Nimbus 7 and the DMSP Special Sensor Microwave Imager. The passive microwave data sets are being distributed on CD-ROM. In addition, NSIDC serves cryospheric and polar users of DMSP data from the NGDC digital archive. Under NOAA funding, NSIDC is acquiring snow cover, glacier, and sea ice records from former Soviet Union scientists and institutes.

NGDC is integrating multithematic global and continental data for intercomparison and analysis related to studies of global change. Various elements of this program include:

» Global Ecosystems Database, an integrated multidisciplinary environmental CD-ROM database structured for Geographic Information Systems and designed to support global characterization and modeling research.

» Africa Global Change Database, initially constructed as a pilot database for the pedecessor to the Global Ecosystems Database, is now an educational product being made available to the teaching and research communities.

» Regional integrated databases for China, North America and South America. Additions to the Ecosystems database are released annually. The past releases included global data sets of topography, AVHRR-derived monthly vegetation indices, vegetation, ecosystems, and land-cover classifications, methane emissions, soil classes and properties, long term average monthly temperature, precipitation, cloudiness, geographic boundaries, and model-derived outputs. Global View, a four CD-ROM set was released in 1995. These data, circulated to the global change research community, included the Global Ecosystem, Global Vegetation Indices, Digital elevation Models and Coastal Change Analysis databases.

In addition to integrated database products distributed on CD-ROM, NGDC also maintains and improves individual disciplinary data sets related to its mission, to include the Generalized Monthly Global Vegetation Index, Experimental Calibrated Biweekly Global Vegetation Index, Tateishi Monthly Global Vegetation Index and derived land-cover class, Olson World Ecosystems, Varlyguln/Basllevitch above-ground phytomass, CZCS marine phytoplankton pigment concentrations, global and continental topography, global geographic boundaries, numerous geophysical data sets, and an operational archive of DMSP satellite meteorological data. In support of these databases, graphic browse and visualization software is being developed. These databases and the associated supportive access software will play an important role in the NOAA CGCP.

OFFICE OF OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES

The R&D programs of the Environmental Research Laboratories (ERL) support NOAA meteorological, oceanographic, and space services and are oriented toward providing, understanding, and developing techniques and technologies to form the basis for improvements in the Nation's weather services. These important functions encompass the missions of several ERL laboratories.

Special emphasis is placed on improving severe weather and hurricane warnings and forecasts and improved utilization of data and numerical products. Severe weather includes any major natural hazard, such as flash floods, strong winds, thunderstorms (including tornadoes, lightning and hail), heavy snowstorms, extreme cold or drought, and geomagnetic storms. ERL laboratories will continue to conduct both in-house and cooperative research with other NOAA components, joint institutes, and universities.

Observing Technology. The Environmental Technology Laboratory (ETL), formerly the Wave Propagation Laboratory, develops and experimentally evaluates new environmental remote-sensing concepts and systems. ETL also improves the Nation's atmospheric research and warning and forecasting services through the transfer of remote-sensing technology.

As an outcome of ETL research, ERL's Forecast Systems Laboratory (FSL) is operating the wind profiling Doppler radars that make up the Wind Profiler Demonstration Network (WPDN). This network, located mainly in the central United States, is providing hourly winds aloft data to weather forecasters and is helping improve weather warnings and forecasts.

During FY 1996, ETL will continue development of new sensors and techniques for combining observing systems synergistically and economically. Specific efforts include the development and integration of the radio-acoustic sounding system (RASS) into wind profilers to augment their capability with temperature profiles and continuing development of techniques that can integrate the data from ground-based and satellite-borne profiling systems for more effective use of this data in forecasts. ETL and FSL will continue investigating the use of inexpensive GPS receivers to achieve real-time, continuous observations of total atmospheric water vapor.

ETL will also continue development of Lidars and infrared Doppler multifrequency radars as research tools to improve our knowledge of atmospheric winds, turbulence, and moisture processes. Development of dual-polarization Doppler and multifrequency radars and passive radiometers will also be undertaken to study convective storms and their precursors, including in-cloud and entrainment processes. ETL will also continue research in the area of ocean remote sensing, including theoretical and experimental studies of rough surface scattering processes.

Tropical Atmospheric Research. The Tropical Dynamics and Climate Program of the Aeronomy Laboratory (AL) is using a network of remote-sensing wind profilers in a long term study of tropical circulation and its impact on global climate. The Trans-Pacific Profiler Network consists of an array of wind profilers and Integrated Sounding Systems that make continuous measurements of atmospheric winds and other parameters in the tropical Pacific. In addition to 50 MHz wind profilers, the network is incorporating 915 MHz lower tropospheric wind profilers recently developed at AL. The observations, which extend from the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere, reveal the relationship between atmospheric vertical motions and convective systems in the tropics. Precipitation measurements can be made with sufficient vertical resolution to categorize precipitation in deep and shallow convective systems and in stratiform conditions. The network will (1) provide valuable improvements to the boundary layer and convective parameterization schemes used in general circulation models and (2) contribute to climate forecasting by furthering the understanding of the coupled ocean-atmosphere dynamics that governs the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, the dominant component of interannual climate change.

Routine wind observations are made at Christmas Island using a 50 MHz and 915 MHz profiler. Lower tropospheric wind measurements using 915 MHZ profilers are made at San Cristobal, Ecuador, and Tarawa, Kiribati. In addition, surface and upper air measurements are being made at Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, using Integrated Sounding Systems installed by AL. Data from these systems are used by NCEP and the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasting in their operational analysis and forecast products. The data are also used by climate researchers to support investigations of the variability of tropical atmospheric circulation systems.

Severe Weather Analysis and Forecasting Research. The National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in Norman, Oklahoma, and the Forecast Systems Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, focus on research to understand and forecast severe weather systems and their associated hazards, such as tornadoes, hail, high winds, heavy rain and snow, lightning, and ice storms. The parameters of storm development and intensification are identified and studied by incorporating observations from Doppler weather radar, satellites, remote-sensing wind profilers, instrumented aircraft, and lightning-location networks. Work is being expanded to include assessment and improvement of numerical models to forecast severe weather systems.

NSSL provides significant technical and scientific support, including research and development, for the WSR-88D program. In FY 1996, NSSL will continue to develop techniques in cooperation with the NWS to forecast and warn of weather hazards to aviation and the general public. Work with the resultant data from the 1994-1995 VORTEX experiment will lead to new understanding of severe thunderstorms, improved ways to model and predict these storms, and new generation algorithms for severe storm detection. Immediate technology transfer will be effected by close association with the WSFOs, particularly those in Norman, Oklahoma, and Phoenix, Arizona.

Also, ERL will continue to transfer knowledge of Doppler radar applications, severe weather systems, and heavy rainfall events; much of the transfer is through courses at the NWS training center. Visits and interactions with NWS centers, regional headquarters, and forecast offices continue and FSL and NSSL are participating directly in training programs such as the COMET in Boulder and the WSR-88D Operational Support Facility in Norman.

Improvement of short-range (1-12 hour) forecasting will be accomplished by the development and evaluation of new local data system technologies and techniques, many of which can be incorporated into operational weather forecasting in the near term. FSL develops and evaluates prototype workstations for forecast office environments. Specifically, FSL has and will continue to develop capabilities to allow the forecaster to integrate, view, and manipulate observations from current and planned meteorological sensing systems using computer-assisted data display and synthesis techniques. By maintaining state-of-the-art capability for use in research and development of operational techniques, it continues to provide a mechanism to evaluate weather service requirements for AWIPS.

FSL will continue its emphasis on data application from GOES, Doppler radar, Aeronautical Radio Incorporated (ARINC) Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS), and the WPDN as inputs to quantitative analysis and prediction models, such as the Mesoscale Analysis and Prediction System and the Local Analysis and Prediction Systems. FSL is expanding service improvement efforts to include non-severe as well as severe weather to assist NWS modernization and restructuring and to help upgrade NCEP operations.

A multiyear program of coastal meteorology research continues at the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). This program also involves ETL and NSSL, the NWS Forecast Office in Seattle, NCAR, and the University of Washington. Support for the program is also being provided by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and NSF. This research is intended to improve the understanding of the effects of prominent terrain on U.S. West Coast weather, with the ultimate goal of providing improved forecasts of coastal winds, sea state, and storm surges. The early emphasis has been on the upstream effects of the coastal terrain in the storm environment when the background forcing is strong and the coastal forecasts are most critical. The approach being taken involves a combination of special field observations and diagnostic studies using experimental numerical simulations. Field work featuring a NOAA WP-3 research aircraft, for example, has yielded meteorological data for the Pacific Northwest coast with low-level winds of up to 85 knots, in the vicinity of two of the strongest cold fronts ever observed in detail over the ocean. The case studies from this work will provide immediate insights on the influences of the coastal terrain on landfalling storms, and high quality data sets for numerical model initialization and validation.

Mesometeorology and Precipitation Forecasting and Warning Research. NSSL and FSL develop techniques to improve short-term forecasts of significant weather events. Through detailed case studies and regional climatologies, scientists from these two laboratories have developed diagnostic tools and aids for operationally forecasting thunderstorms, lightning, flash floods, and large mesoscale convective storms complexes. Studies underway include the precipitation structure of mesoscale convective systems, interactions between mesoconvective systems and the larger environment, using satellites to infer storm development and rainfall, and winter storm forecasting procedures. In FY 1996, NSSL will continue to use polarization information to improve radar procedures for rainfall estimation.

Midlatitude Mesoscale Meteorology Research. At the Aeronomy Laboratory, the Atmospheric Dynamics Program combines observational and theoretical studies of mesoscale, high frequency atmospheric processes, focusing on internal gravity waves and vertical air motion. By improving the understanding of these dynamical processes, the research contributes to improvements in weather forecasting and the transfer of advanced meteorological measurement technology to operational use. Data for the studies is obtained from the 50 and 915 MHz wind-profiler radars at the Flatland Meteorological Observatory, which make continuous horizontal and vertical wind measurements in the very flat terrain near Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The observatory also includes a 915 MHz RASS to measure temperature, an array of 24 digital barometers spread over Illinois, and standard surface and balloon-borne instruments. The research has shown that all enhancements of gravity-wave energy are associated with meteorological events, such as fronts, convection, or jet streams, and that such events always cause enhancements. In 1995, a multi-year program was initiated to study the dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer, including measurements of the vertical entrainment velocity, which is of great importance to the vertical transport of trace species into the free atmosphere.

Hurricane Analysis and Prediction Research. The Hurricane Research Division (HRD) of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) explores hurricanes in dedicated research flights aboard the WP-3D aircraft operated by NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center (AOC). The P-3s carry a suite of instruments to measure a wide range of meteorological quantities, including standard flight-level data, remotely sensed surface winds, vertical soundings, radar reflectivity, and Doppler radar winds. In addition to the airborne observations, HRD develops techniques for real-time analysis and display of hurricane data, especailly of surface winds. It also carries out modeling and theoretical studies closely tied to the observational program and studies interannual and interdecadal changes in hurricane activity.

During the 1996 hurricane season, AOC will commission a new Gulfstream IV (G-IV) jet that will extend the envelope of observations throughout the depth of the troposphere. These three airplanes present an unprecedented opportunity for better understanding and forecasting of hurricanes through detailed observations. Of special interest are the hurricanes' inner core and the oceanographic and upper tropospheric synoptic-scale forcings that control intensity and motion.

The motivation for acquisition of the G-IV was a statistically rigorous demostration, based upon more than a decade of experiements with the P-3s, that intensive observations of the flows surrounding hurricanes can produce dramatic (16-30 percent) reductions in track forecast errors. The forecast system currently has limited skill in prediction of intensity. Though continuing research with the expanded aircraft fleet, the Nation can realize the experimentally demonstrated potential for improvement as much more accurate routine operational track forecasts. A second, equally significant, outcome is the promise of dynamically based, skillful intensity forecasts. Because hurricanes inflict costs on the U.S. economy of billions of dollars per year, even incremental improvements in forecasts have large benefit to expenditure ratios.

In addition to HRD research activities, the ERL scientists carry out hurricane research at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton, New Jersey. GFDL's Hurricane Dynamics group performs hurricane modeling research to study the genesis, development, and decay of tropical storms using multi-nested three-dimensional computer models of the hurricane system and its surrounding environment.

Because of the success of the group's research model in predicting the behavior of observed storms, GFDL scientists have worked with scientists at NOAA's NWS to develop a version of their research model for use in operational hurricane forecasting. The subsequent success of this model during the 1993 and 1994 hurricane seasons caused NWS in June 1995 to the name GFDL model as its official hurricane forecast model for the 1995 hurricane season.

Numerical Analysis and Prediction Modeling. As part of its weather research activities, GFDL conducts long lead-time research to understand the predictability of weather on both large and small scales and to translate this understanding into improved numerical weather prediction models. Three groups at GFDL are engaged in weather research activities: Experimental Prediction, Mesoscale Dynamics, and Hurricane Dynamics (described above).

Experimental Prediction at GFDL develops and improves numerical models of the atmosphere-ocean-land system in order to produce useful weather forecasts with lead times ranging from weeks to seasons and beyond. The group is pursuing several avenues of research to achieve such improvements. First, GFDL scientists are investigating methods of stochastic dynamic prediction in order to extract as much forecast information as possible from numerical prediction models, given imperfectly observed initial conditions. In addition, laboratory scientists are developing methods for the assimilation of ocean observations into prediction models in order to improve the forecast of the atmosphere and the ocean.

Mesoscale Dynamics at GFDL develops and utilizes atmospheric models with limited spatial domains to understand mesoscale phenomena and the interaction of these regional scale features with the atmosphere's larger-scale synoptic processes. As part of these research activities, GFDL scientists investigate the practical limits of forecast models to predict the behavior of these mesoscale features through model sensitivity studies.

Air Quality Research. The Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) carries out research on processes that affect the quality of the atmosphere, primarily in the context of air pollution, deposition, and emergency preparedness; much of this work is in support of other agencies such as DOE, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and DOD.

The ARL Headquarters Division in Silver Spring, Maryland, develops models for air quality prediction, for use in special forecasting (both weather and air quality) programs and in emergency response. The Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division, in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, develops predictive models on local, regional, and global scales, for assessing changes in air quality and air pollution exposure, as affected by ecosystem management and regulations. This work is primarily to provide technical guidance to the EPA on air pollution control strategies for attainment and maintenance of ambient air quality standards. The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, conducts studies to improve understanding of atmospheric transport, diffusion, and air-surface exchange processes, and to develop new predictive models. The Field Research Division, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, designs and conducts field studies to evaluate the performance of transport and dispersion models, over local, regional, and continental scales. The Special Operations and Research Division, in Las Vegas, Nevada, conducts research on problems of mutual interest to NOAA and DOE, that relate to the Nevada Test Site, its atmospheric environment, and its emergency preparedness and emergency response activities. (Note: See the DOE discussion in Appendix D for more details).

The Aeronomy Laboratory (AL) conducts research on air quality as part of its tropospheric chemistry program. A primary focus is on understanding the processes of near-surface ozone formation in rural regions. Field experiments, laboratory work, and numerical modeling studies assess the relative roles of natural hydrocarbons emitted from vegetation, anthropogenic hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides in controlling ozone production. A series of field experiments have been conducted in recent years in the southeastern United States, a heavily vegetated region which frequently experiences elevated levels of ozone. Since 1994, these field studies have expanded to include measurements from an aircraft platform, the NOAA WP-3D, in addition to ground-based observations. In certain areas, analysis of the data has linked ozone production most strongly to anthropogenic nitrogen oxides and natural, but not manmade, hydrocarbons. It has also underscored the regional nature of the ozone formation process and suggested that some municipalities are affected by events beyond their control. These results have implications for regulatory approaches to controlling air quality in the region.

Ozone production on the global scale is being studied by AL in the North Atlantic Regional Experiment. The study has been undertaken in response to the growing concern that long range ozone transport may influence air quality on an interhemispheric scale. Comprehensive chemical and dynamical measurements, made from both ground-based and from airborne platforms during several field missions of this experiement, track the changing composition of air masses containing pollutants from eastern North America as these air masses were carried into the North Atlantic. Results indicate that the quantity of ozone generated photochemically from anthropogenic emissions on the North American continent exceeds that injected from the stratosphere. This conclusion supports the contention that ozone derived from anthropogenic pollution has a hemisphere-wide effect at northern temperate latitudes.

ETL uses its suite of remote sensors, including a mobile profiler network, airborne and ground-based ozone lidars, Doppler lidar, and supporting turbulence instrumentation, to understand and better model the transport, transformation, and fate of primary and secondary pollutants in both rural and urban environments, as well as in complex orography.

Space Environment Services. NOAA and the Air Force jointly operate the National Space Weather Operations group in NOAA's Space Environment Center (SEC) in Boulder, Colorado. The SEC, working closely with the Air Force's 50th Weather Squadron (50WS), provides forecasts, alerts, indices, and summaries of disturbances occurring on the Sun, in space, in the geomagnetic environment, and in the upper atmosphere. The services are used by DOD, DOT, DOC, DOI, DOE, NASA, NSF, commercial users, and the research community:

» To optimize the operation of technical systems that are adversely affected by disturbances in the space environment.

» To carry out research in the solar-terrestrial environment.

Examples of the adverse effects include loss or reduced efficiency of communication systems, radiation hazards to personnel and systems in high altitude aircraft and in space, degradation of surveillance and monitoring systems for defense, errors in navigation systems, perturbations of satellite orbits, and disruptions in power distribution networks.

SEC serves as the international World Warning Agency for the solar-terrestrial environment. It collects international data--X ray, sunspot, corona, magnetic, etc.--in real time and from these data provides International URSIgram and World Days Service and meets additional specific needs of other government agencies. SEC distributes (receives) data to (from) other countries and issues a consensus set of daily forecasts for international use.

SEC operates with observations received from agencies that contribute their data and, in return, receive the synthesized and integrated services to meet their needs. Agencies making major contributions of data include: DOD, NASA, DOC, NSF, DOE, and DOI. SEC cooperates directly with NESDIS to receive solar X-ray, particle, in-situ magnetic field, and plasma data from the Space Environment Monitors on GOES and the polar-orbiting NOAA satellites.

Data are collected, stored, and displayed for analysis and products and distributed through the Space Environment Laboratory Data Acquisition and Display System (SELDADS). Services are also provided via digital data links (primarily operated by other agencies), and by radio broadcast, mail, recorded telephone messages available to commercial dial-up users, and low-cost commercial satellite broadcast service.

Voluntary Observing Ship (VOS) Program. OAR operates a global VOS Program that provides real-time meteorological and oceanographic data from selected vessels. Data are collected with the Shipboard Environmental Data Acquisition System, which transmits the information to NOAA via the GOES system. The information is then disseminated nationally and internationally using existing data networks. Presently, there are over 120 vessels in the program which record and transmit surface meteorological information four times per day at synoptic hours. Of these vessels, about 60 also are equipped to collect expendable bathythermograph data.

Southern Hemisphere Drifting Buoy Program. In support of Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) requirements, OAR, in cooperation with NWS, OGP, AOML, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, maintains a network of approximately 100 meteorological drifting buoys in the Southern Hemisphere. The buoys measure sea level atmospheric pressure, air temperature, and sea water temperature. Observations are obtained through the ARGOS data collection and platform location system on-board the NOAA polar-orbiting satellites.

Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TAO) Moored Array. OAR is a partner with OGP in the implementation of the TAO moored-buoy array. TAO is a basin-wide array of moored ATLAS buoys deployed in the tropical Pacific that report surface wind, air temperature, sea surface temperature, 10 subsurface temperatures to a maximum depth of 500 meters, and 2 subsurface pressures in real-time via the ARGOS system. There are 70 buoys deployed. The array is operated by the TAO Project Office located at PMEL in Seattle, Washington, where NOS has responsibility for management of project operations and logistics. While the principal objective is to support research objectives, the real-time availability of data makes it extremely valuable to operational meteorological centers.

Military. The U.S. Air Force operates the 50th Weather Squadron (50WS) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to provide space weather support to DOD assets. The 50WS operates and maintains the solar observing network with sites at Palehua, Hawaii; Learmouth, Australia; San Vito, Italy; Ramey, Puerto Rico; Sagamore Hill, Massachusetts; and Holloman AFB, New Mexico. The 50WS shares space weather support responsibilities with its civilian counterpart the SEC.

NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE

The National Ocean Service (NOS) develops, implements, and manages programs in physical, biological, chemical, and geological oceanography and establishes a scientific information base on which to support the development of national policy for the oceans and their users. NOS efforts are coordinated with marine programs administered by the other components of NOAA. Operational ocean observing activities administered by NOS include water-level programs and real-time currents/current prediction programs.

National Water-Level Observation Network (NWLON). NOS operates and maintains the NWLON for the collection of water-level data, as well as other oceanographic and meteorological data. The NWLON consists of l89 stations located in U.S. coastal areas and the Great Lakes. Through its strategic locations and data dissemination capabilities, NWLON supports a number of NOAA and other federal programs, such as the NOS Tide Prediction Program, NWS Tsunami Warning System and storm surge warning/forecast activities, Climate and Global Change Program, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lake-level regulation, dredging operations, and coastal construction efforts.

Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS). PORTS is a data acquisition and dissemination system which integrates a number of important meteorological and oceanographic parameters, including currents, water levels, and marine winds. Traditional NOAA tide and current prediction tables provide only the astronomical tides and currents and do not always meet the needs of users who must also consider the non-tidal effects of river flow, winds, and other meteorological forces. PORTS measures and integrates these important data and provides a data dissemination system that includes telephone voice response, as well as modem access.

OFFICE OF NOAA CORPS OPERATIONS
AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS CENTER

The Aircraft Operations Center (AOC) supports several NOAA missions, in particular, it operates a fleet of aircraft which are used to support NOAA's research and development programs to improve weather, marine, and climate services. It also provides weather reconnaissance support to NOAA programs, other federal agencies, and international programs approved by the Aircraft Allocation Council. Light aircraft provide aerial photography for nautical and aeronautical charting and living marine resources surveys.

AOC was established in October 1983 to consolidate the management of all aircraft used by NOAA. Fourteen aircraft located throughout the United States are managed by AOC at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida.

NOAA's atmospheric and oceanographic research and reconnaissance operations are supported by two fully instrumented WP-3D aircraft which carry state-of-the-art environmental research equipment. The aircraft research and navigation systems provide detailed spatial and temporal observations of a wide range of atmospheric and oceanic parameters. AOC develops and calibrates specialized instruments, integrates user-supplied instruments into the automated systems, and processes and analyzes data sets from various field programs.

AOC aircraft provide high density/accuracy hurricane data to the National Hurricane Center in near real time. Storm data are transmitted via the aircraft satellite data link to update hurricane track/intensity analyses and forecasts. The AOC aircraft have primary responsibility for reconnaissance of tropical storms and hurricanes over foreign airspace that may be restricted for military operations. AOC also augments Air Force Reserve operational aircraft reconnaissance when storms are within 24 hours of landfall of the continental United States and whenever DOC needs exceed DOD resources. In addition, AOC provides a quick response capability for investigation of storm activity east of 80° longitude from August 1 through September 30 each year.

The AOC is scheduled to begin the operation of the new high altitude jet for hurricane surveillance, which is expected to improve hurricane track predictions by 20 percent or more, saving about $10 million per hurricane in warning and preparedness costs. With some additional instrumentation, the jet will become a prototype for the next generation hurricane reconnaissance aircraft, as well as serving as a platform for air chemistry and other research in the upper troposphere, from 25,000 to 45,000 feet, which is above the WP-3D's altitude limit.

Section 4
Appendix B
Table of contents
Publications List
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