OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL

COORDINATOR OFCM FOR METEOROLOGY

FCM P1-2004

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

The Federal Plan

for Meteorological Services

and Supporting Research

Fiscal Year 2005

Natural Hazard Impacts

RISK

People Property Environment
THE FEDERAL COMMITTEE FOR

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH (FCMSSR)

VADM CONRAD C. LAUTENBACHER, JR., USN (RET)

Chairman

Department of Commerce

DR. KATHIE L. OLSEN

Office of Science and Technology Policy

DR. RAYMOND MOTHA

Department of Agriculture

BGEN DAVID L. JOHNSON, USAF (RET)

Department of Commerce

MR. ALAN SHAFFER

Department of Defense

DR. ARISTIDES PATRINOS

Department of Energy

DR. PENROSE C. ALBRIGHT

Office of Science and Technology

Department of Homeland Security

DR. ROBERT M. HIRSCH

Department of the Interior

MR. RALPH BRAIBANTI

Department of State

MR. RANDOLPH LYON

Office of Management and Budget

MR. NORMAN FUJISAKI (Acting)

Department of Transportation

MR. DAVID MAURSTAD (Acting)

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

DR. GHASSEM R. ASRAR

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DR. MARGARET S. LEINEN

National Science Foundation

MR. PAUL MISENCIK

National Transportation Safety Board

MR. JOHN W. CRAIG

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

MR. GARY FOLEY

Environmental Protection Agency

MR. SAMUEL P. WILLIAMSON

Federal Coordinator 

MR. JAMES B. HARRISON, Executive Secretary

Office of the Federal Coordinator for

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research

THE INTERDEPARTMENTAL COMMITTEE FOR

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH (ICMSSR)

MR. SAMUEL P. WILLIAMSON, Chairman

Federal Coordinator

MR. THOMAS PUTERBAUGH

Department of Agriculture

MR. JOHN E. JONES, JR.

Department of Commerce

RADM STEVEN J. TOMASZESKI, USN

Department of Defense

BGEN THOMAS E. STICKFORD, USAF

Department of Defense

MR. RICKEY PETTY

Department of Energy

MR. LEWIS T. MOORE

Department of the Interior

MS. NANCY L. SUSKI

Office of Science and Technology

Department of Homeland Security

MR. JEFFREY MACLURE

Department of State

MS. LISA BEE

Federal Aviation Administration

Department of Transportation

MS. REGINA MCELROY

Federal Highway Administration

Department of Transportation

DR. JONATHAN M. BERKSON

United States Coast Guard

Department of Homeland Security

DR. S. T. RAO

Environmental Protection Agency

MR. JOHN GAMBEL

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Department of Homeland Security

DR. RAMESH KAKAR

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

DR. JARVIS MOYERS

National Science Foundation

MR. DONALD E. EICK

National Transportation Safety Board

MS. LETA A. BROWN

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

MS. ERIN WUCHTE

Office of Management and Budget

MR. JAMES B. HARRISON, Executive Secretary

Office of the Federal Coordinator for

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research

Pictures displayed on the cover.

People: Rescuers traverse rising flood waters in Floyd County, Kentucky to provide assistance (NWS Central Region website);

Neighbors console one another as they survey the damage from Hurricane Claudette (AP Wide World Photo)

Property: Homes damaged by Gladstone, Missouri tornado on May 11, 2003 (FEMA website); Ice damage in New York on January

13, 1998 (FEMA website)

Environment: 60-foot drop in water level on Lake Mead, Nevada reflects the extent of 3-year drought in western United States

(NASA website); Wildfires approach and threaten rural communities in Southern California (John Gibbins / The San Diego UnionTribune, reprinted with permission.) 
For Fiscal Year (FY) 2005, the

President's budget requests a total of

$3.18 billion for meteorological services and supporting research. Of the

requested total, $2.73 billion is designated for operations and $443 million

for supporting research. Table ES-1

lists a breakout of the FY 2005 budget

proposal.

For FY 2005, 90.1 percent of the total

funds requested will go to the

Departments of Commerce (DOC),

Defense (DOD), and Transportation

(DOT). The distribution among these

three departments is DOC 58.3 percent,

DOD 17.1 percent, and DOT 14.7 percent. The other Federal agencies will

share the remaining 9.9 percent.

By comparison, the FY 2005 request

represents an increase of just 0.1 percent above the $3.17 billion appropriated in FY 2004. Within the three major

departments, DOC requests an

increase of 3.6 percent; while DOD

(4.9 percent) and DOT (2.2 percent)

each request a decrease. The DOC

increase is attributable to requests for

increases by NWS, NESDIS, and NOS.

The overall DOD decrease is mainly

the result of sizeable decreases in

DMSP (14.7 percent) and Army

(33.1 percent). DOT's 2.2 percent

decrease is largely attributable to

reductions in FAA’s operations and

supporting research requests.

The budget requests for the other

departments are as follows:

Department of Agriculture (USDA) a

decrease of 16.4 percent, Department

of the Interior (DOI) no change,

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) an increase of 3.1 percent;

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) a decrease of

6.3 percent; and Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC) an increase of

140 percent.

Figure ES-1 depicts each agency's

proportion of the requested FY 2005

Federal budget for meteorological

operations and supporting research.

Each agency's portion of the requested

funding for meteorological operations

is shown in Figure ES-2. Of the $2.73

billion requested for meteorological

operations, DOC, DOD, and DOT

account for slightly over 98.7 percent

of the funds. Overall, operational costs

increased by 1.8 percent. Figure ES-3

depicts each agency's portion of the

proposed Federal supporting research

budget. Unlike operations, DOC,

DOD, and NASA account for the major

share (85.3 percent) of the supporting

research budget. Other requests for

supporting research funds are:

decrease in NASA (6.5 percent),

increase in DOT (2.4 percent); decreases in DOD (18.2 percent) and DOC

(15.5 percent); and an increase in EPA

(3.1 percent).

All agencies project a personnel total

of 14,620 full-time equivalent (FTE) to

be employed in Federal meteorological

operations in FY 2005. This figure represents a decrease of 1.1 percent from

the 14,783 FTE employed in FY 2004.

EXEC SUM vii

THE FEDERAL PLAN FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES

AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

FISCAL YEAR 2005

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Table ES-1. Federal Budget for Meteorological Operations and Supporting

Research, FY 2005 (in thousands of dollars)

% of Supporting % of % of

Agency Operations TOTAL Research TOTAL TOTAL TOTAL

Agriculture $12,018 0.4 $27,431 6.2 $39,449 1.2

Commerce 1,768,220 64.7 83,377 18.8 1,851,597 58.3

Defense 492,612 18.0 49,526 11.2 542,138 17.1

Homeland Security 17,030 0.6 0 0.0 17,030 0.5

Interior 2,400 0.1 0 0.0 2,400 0.1

Transportation 438,146 16.0 28,445 6.4 466,591 14.7

EPA 0 0.0 9,000 2.0 9,000 0.3

NASA 2,544 0.1 245,100 55.3 247,644 7.8

NRC 120 0.0 0 0.0 120 0.0

TOTAL $2,733,090 100.0* $442,879 100.0* $3,175,969 100.0

* Column total does not exactly equal 100 percent due to roundoff error for several agencies.
viii EXEC SUM

Figure ES-1. Agency Percent of Total Federal Budget for Meteorological Operations

and Supporting Research, FY 2005.

Figure ES-2. Agency Percent of Federal Budget

for Meteorological Operations, FY 2005.

Figure ES-3. Agency Percent of Federal Budget

for Supporting Research, FY 2005.

Total = $3.18 Billion

Total = $2.73 Billion Total = $443 Million

17.1%

1.2%

14.7%

0.3%

7.8% 58.3%

64.7%

DOC

NASA DOT DOD

0.1%

0.4%

16.0% 18.0%

55.3%

6.2% 11.2%

18.8%

2.0%

6.4%

DOC

NASA

DOT

USDA DOD EPA

NASA

0.5%

DHS

DOD

DOT

DOC

USDA

EPA

USDA

DHS

0.6%
EXEC SUM ix

MAJOR PROGRAMS--DOC, DOD,

and DOT

NEXT GENERATION WEATHER

RADAR (NEXRAD). The NEXRAD

Program which began in FY 1981 was

responsible for procurement, installation, and operation of the Weather

Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler

(WSR-88D). The first limited production WSR-88D system was installed at

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in May

1990, and commissioned 4 years later

in February 1994. The original program plan called for a total of 161

radars. In response to a National

Research Council report, three additional radars were added and raised the

total to 164 radar sites.

As of June 2004, the DOC/National

Weather Service had commissioned

120 sites, the DOD (USAF and Army)

had commissioned 29 sites (within the

states and overseas), and the

DOT/FAA had commissioned 12 sites.

DOD has three systems at Keesler

AFB, Mississippi, for training;

DOC/NWS has one each at the

National Reconditioning Center, and

NWS Training Center in Kansas City,

Missouri and at the Operational

Support Facility, Oklahoma City,

Oklahoma.

AUTOMATED SURFACE

OBSERVING SYSTEM (ASOS). The

ASOS program began in 1983, as a

joint development effort between the

DOC, DOD, and DOT/FAA.

Installation of ASOS units started in

1992. A total of 1002 units have been

purchased. The NWS has purchased,

accepted, and commissioned 313 sites.

The FAA has purchased 570 units, all

of which have been accepted and commissioned by the NWS. The Navy has

purchased and accepted 72 sites. The

Air Force has purchased and accepted

47 sites. Collectively, a total of 1002

ASOS sites have been commissioned.

AUTOMATED WEATHER

INFORMATION SYSTEMS (AWIS).

The DOC, DOD, and DOT require

AWISs to facilitate the collection, processing, and interpretation of meteorological data. AWISs are being procured to provide an automated, highspeed, user-friendly man/machine

interface to access and process large

volumes of sophisticated meteorological data. AWIS supports timely production of accurate and geographically

precise warnings, forecasts, and specially tailored products while including

a communications capability to facilitate expeditious dissemination. 

Major agency systems classified as

AWISs are: NOAA's Advanced

Weather Interactive Processing System

(AWIPS), FAA's Weather and Radar

Processor (WARP), Air Force's Joint

Environmental Toolkit (JET), and the

Navy's Naval Integrated Tactical

Environmental Subsystem (NITES).

AWIPS: In February 1997, the

Secretary of Commerce approved the

limited deployment of AWIPS at over

forty sites. On April 9, 1998, the

Secretary authorized full scale production and deployment of AWIPS,

through Build 4.2, for the remaining 95

systems. Installation of these 95 systems began in September 1998 and

was completed in June 1999. An

Operational Test and Evaluation of the

commissioning software load (Release

4.2) was successfully conducted from

mid-May through June 1999. AWIPS

commissioning began in January 2000

and, currently the NWS has commissioned all 139 operational AWIPS systems located at 122 Weather Forecast

Offices (WFOs), 13 River Forecast

Centers (RFCs), the Spaceflight

Meteorology Group (SMG), and 4

National Centers for Environmental

Prediction (NCEP).

The NWS successfully completed

the final development phase release of

AWIPS (Build 5) in early 2003, completed deployment of its first

Operational Build (OB1) that summer,

and completed deployment of

Operational Build 2 (OB2) in

December 2003. Installation of

Operational Build 3 (OB3) is scheduled for completion in summer 2004.

First installation of Operational Build

4 (OB4) is planned to take place in the

middle of FY05. Of note within the

operational builds of AWIPS is an evolution of the architecture to the Linux

open source operating environment

which was started during the Build 5

phase and will continue through to its

planned completion in early 2007.

WARP: The FAA's WARP will

greatly enhance the dissemination of

aviation weather information throughout the National Airspace System

(NAS). WARP automatically creates

unique, regional, WSR-88D-based,

mosaic products, and sends these products, along with other time-critical

weather information, to controllers

through the Display System

Replacement and to pilots via the FIS.

WARP underwent operational testing

and evaluation in early FY 2003 and is

operationally fielded at the 21

ARTCCs and the command center.

Others systems used for enhancements, testing, and software support

bring the total to 25 systems.

JET: The Air Force is modernizing

and improving strategic, operational,

and tactical-level systems; a key component of which is the JET. JET will

replace several disparate legacy weather systems with a single, integrated

means of supporting both garrison and

deployed operations, including a "firstin" combat weather forecast capability. 

Combining forecasting, product-tailoring, and mission-impact capabilities in

an interactive, network-centric, standards-based package; JET accesses,

processes, analyzes, tailors, and disseminates terrestrial and space weather

products to guide warfighter decisionmaking. This effort will eliminate Air

Force Weather Weapon System

(AFWWS) redundancies and inefficiencies, reduce the burden on system

administrators, and ultimately extend,

consolidate, or replace the following

systems: Operational Weather

Squadron (OWS) Production System
x EXEC SUM

Phase II (OPS II), the New-Tactical

Forecast System (N-TFS), the Joint

Weather Impacts System (JWIS), and

the Army's Integrated Meteorological

System (IMETS) weather toolkit. 

NITES: The Navy continued migration towards a modular, interoperable

suite of systems to ingest, process,

fuse, display, and disseminate METOC

information and its impact on tactical

operations. The current program consists of four seamless versions known

as NITES Versions I-IV. NITES will

be fielded through FY 2006. The

NITES Version II Object Oriented

Redesign (OOR) is the basis for the

Joint METOC Segment of the new

Global Command and Control System

(GCCS) V4.0. Navy is reviewing

options to field a follow-on system to

NITES that would support naval tactical operations and be interoperable

with the other services.

NATIONAL POLAR-ORBITING

OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL

SATELLITE SYSTEM (NPOESS)

The NPOESS Program began when

Presidential Decision Directive (PDD)

NSTC-2 established the Integrated

Program Office (IPO) in October 1994.

Under the terms of this PDD, the IPO's

function is to "...reduce the cost of

acquiring and operating polar-orbiting

environmental satellite systems, while

continuing to satisfy United States

DOD (Department of Defense) and

DOC (Department of Commerce)

operational requirements for data from

these systems." Effectively, the directive combines the current operations

and future follow-on activities of the

DOD Defense Meteorological Satellite

Program (DMSP) with the DOC

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Polar-orbiting

Operational Environmental Satellite

(POES) program. The new follow-on

system is called NPOESS, and will be

available to launch after the failure of

the last operational DMSP or POES

satellite, around 2010. Cooperation

with foreign governments and international organizations is being nurtured.

NPOESS is an integrated DOC,

DOD, and National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA) program. Through the IPO, DOC is

responsible for operations and overall

program management; DOD contracts

are used for the acquisition of the satellites, launch vehicles, and associated

ground systems; and NASA is responsible for insertion of new and innovative technologies.

The space segment of NPOESS will

include space platforms and sensors

that will collect and store environmental and other data. This data will be

downlinked to a network of receptor

sites around the world, which will

immediately forward data via fiber

optic communications to the

Operational Weather Processing

Centers (i.e. AFWA, FNMOC, NAVO,

and NESDIS). This innovative data

distribution scheme is projected to be

at least 3 times faster than the required

data latency of 90 minutes. The satellite will also provide continuous downlink of data to Field Terminals used by

deployed/remote military units and

civilian users to obtain environmental

data. The space segment will consist

of meteorological, oceanographic, terrestrial, space environmental monitoring, and climatic sensors, in addition to

other systems such as surface data collection/location and search and rescue.

The NPOESS constellation will

notionally consist of three satellites,

which will fly at 833 ±17 kilometers

altitude with an inclination of

98.7 ±0.05 degrees in three distinct

sun-synchronous orbits; early morning, midmorning, and early afternoon.

A wide variety of sensors will be carried aboard these platforms to acquire

imagery and other meteorological and

environmental data.

Each satellite will carry several types

of sensors to accomplish its mission:

electrical/optical (E/O), microwave

(MW), space environmental, and other

specialized sensors. The E/O instruments include a Visible/Infrared

Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to

provide imagery in the VIS and IR

spectra, a Cross-track Infrared Sounder

(CrIS), a passive IR sounder to provide

high-resolution vertical profiles of

atmospheric properties in conjunction

with MW soundings, and an Ozone

Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) to

measure ozone in the Earth's atmosphere. The microwave instruments

include a NASA developed Advanced

Technology Microwave Sounder

(ATMS) to measure atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles and a

separate Conical Scanning Microwave

Imager Sounder (CMIS), consisting of

an imager and a supporting sounder, to

measure the critical surface and atmospheric phenomena in the MW spectrum under "all weather" conditions.

The space environmental sensor suite

(SESS) will measure parameters such

as electron density profiles, neutral

density profiles, and charged particle

energies. Other NPOESS instruments

include NASA's Total Solar Irradiance

Sensor (TSIS) to measure solar energy

per unit time per unit area, and the

Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS) to

retrieve specified aerosol and cloud

parameters using multispectral photopolarimetry.

NPOESS will carry other payloads

that are similar to existing instruments,

such as the French-provided Data

Collection System (DCS), which collects and processes measurements

from buoys, free-floating balloons, and

remote weather stations, for on-board

storage and subsequent transmission

from the satellite, and the joint

Canadian/French Search and Rescue

Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT)

system that uses NOAA satellites in

low-Earth and geostationary orbits to

detect and locate aviators, mariners,

and land-based users in distress. The

satellites relay distress signals from

emergency beacons to a network of

ground stations and ultimately to the
EXEC SUM xi

United States Mission Control Center

(USMCC) in Suitland, Maryland. The

USMCC processes the data and alerts the

appropriate search and rescue authorities.

Additionally, NPOESS will carry

sensors such as the NASA Earth

Radiation Budget Sensor and an

altimeter. One of the CMIS missions is

to use its polarimetric data to measure

the ocean surface wind speed and

direction, producing data that is comparable to the Advanced Scatterometer

(ASCAT) being flown on

EUMETSAT's Metop for ocean measurements (i.e. surface stress, surface

wind, sea ice coverage). 

FY 2003 was a very full year for

NPOESS. The most significant activity of the year was the award of the contract to TRW (now Northrup Grumman

Space Technology (NGST)) at the end

of FY 2002. Northrop is the prime

contractor for the entire system,

teamed with Raytheon to provide the

Ground Segment portion. During

FY 2003, the major focus was on completion of the VIIRS, CrIS, OMPS

instruments and the command and control and data processing systems, all

slated for first use on the joint

IPO/NASA NPOESS Preparatory

Project (NPP) satellite, slated for

launch in the fall 2006.

In FY 2000, NASA and NOAA

established the Joint Center for

Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) to

facilitate the use of satellite environmental data by developing new and

powerful mathematical techniques to

assimilate the data into numerical

weather prediction (NWP) models.

The NPOESS program arranged for

the DOD to participate in this effort,

and the IPO is augmenting the JCSDA

with funding to ensure NPOESS data

is quickly accelerated into weather

operations once it begins flowing.

In FY 2003 and early 2004, the

NPOESS IPO and NASA completed

arrangements with the Kingdom of

Norway for installation of satellite C3

antennae on the island of Svalbard and

fiber optic communications between

the island and the Norwegian mainland. This provides redundant, reliable

high volume communications for command and control and data retrieval.

The site became operational in January

2004 and began taking data passes

from the Navy's Coriolis/Windsat wind

measurement satellite.

NPOESS also recently sponsored

UCAR's (University Consortium for

Atmospheric Research) Cooperative

Program for Operational Meteorology,

Education and Training (COMET) in

branching into high-latitude territory.

Since the usefulness of geostationary

satellites declines rapidly at latitudes

above 60° north and south, NPOESS

data are especially important toward

the poles. COMET is developing a

training series to orient forecasters to

the products available from the polar

orbiters. COMET is also developing

material to help prepare forecasters for

the data provided by the NPOESS

series satellites.

The IPO is working with the

NGST/Raytheon team on a daily basis

to ensure ground systems are in place

and operating in time for an NPOESS

Preparatory Project (NPP) launch in

the late 2006 timeframe and that all

systems are ready for an expected 2010

NPOESS launch. In addition to DMSP

and POES activities at NOAA's

Satellite Operations Control Center

(SOCC) in Suitland, Maryland, the

operational side of the IPO will get

busier with the additional responsibilities of WindSat Coriolis, NPP, and

NPOESS over the next several years.

More information regarding the

NPOESS program can be found at

npoess.noaa.gov.

OTHER AGENCY PROGRAMS

For FY 2005, the Department of

Agriculture (USDA) requested

$39.5 million for meteorological operations and supporting research.

Operationally, the USDA supports specialized weather observation networks

and also conducts an active supporting

research program to ensure an abundance of high-quality agricultural commodities while minimizing the adverse

effects of agriculture on the environment. Under supporting research,

USDA focuses on the interactions of

weather and climate with plant and

animal production and water resources

management.

The Department of the Interior's (DOI)

FY 2005 request of $2.4 million is primarily to support the Bureau of Land

Management's Remote Automatic

Weather Station (RAWS) program.

The budget request for the

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) is $9.0 million, a slight increase

over FY 2004, to provide user-appropriate and scientifically credible airquality meteorological programs to

support regulatory applications. The

increase reflects the increased interest

on the effects of global climate change

on regional air quality, air quality forecasting, and the effects of air quality

changes on human health.

NASA requests a total of $247.6 million--$2.5 million for operations and

$245.1 million for supporting research.

These funding levels are composed of

the estimated meteorology share of the

supporting research and analysis programs as well as Earth Observing

System (EOS) and Earth Probe instruments, EOS science, and the EOS Data

Information System elements of the

NASA Office of Earth Science budget.

Included in NASA's request is

$71.3 million for special programs

under the category of aviation weather

supporting research.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's) request for $120,000 in

FY 2005 is for operations. The NRC

will dedicate these funds to obtain and

analyze meteorological data and information related to siting new nuclear

power plants and safe operation of

nuclear facilities, to the protection of

public health and safety, and protection

of the environment.
xii EXEC SUM

FEDERAL COORDINATION

INTERDEP A R TMENT A L

HURRICANE CONFERENCE. OFCM

annually hosts the Interdepartmental

Hurricane Conference (IHC) to provide a forum for the responsible

Federal agencies, together with representatives of the user communities

such as emergency management, to

review the Nation's hurricane forecast

and warning program and to make recommendations on how to improve the

program in the future. OFCM conducted the 58th Interdepartmental

Hurricane Conference (IHC) in

Charleston, South Carolina, March 1-

5, 2004. The theme of the conference

was Hugo to Isabel: 15 Years of

Progress Plus Momentum for the

Future. The conference attendance

was 216; for the fifth consecutive year,

attendance has exceeded 200. The

principal objectives of the conference

were to: review the Nation's hurricane

warning program, highlighting both

the advances made since Hurricane

Hugo and future challenges; evaluate

lessons learned from the 2003 hurricane season, with a focus on Hurricane

Isabel, and update the National

Hurricane Operations Plan for 2004;

examine the impacts of tropical

cyclone hazards, such as storm surge,

and begin to assess the socioeconomic/cost avoidance aspects of tropical

cyclone forecasts and warnings; evaluate the Joint Hurricane Testbed (JHT)

as a model for transitioning successful

research results into operations; and

develop the framework for a comprehensive R&D plan which documents

and prioritizes research needs based on

operational needs and requirements.

The keynote address was presented by

the Honorable Michael D. Brown,

Undersecretary for Emergency

Preparedness and Response,

Department of Homeland Security. He

praised the support provided by

NOAA and the Federal meteorological

community as instrumental in minimizing the loss of life and damage to

property each year from hurricanes and

other tropical storms. In May 2004,

the OFCM published the 42nd edition

of the National Hurricane Operations

Plan (NHOP), which documents the

new procedures, procedural changes,

and agreements reached at the IHC.

Several major accomplishments that

have resulted from specific action

items that were brought to the IHC or

have been achieved through the partnership arrangements facilitated by the

IHC include: implementation of the 5-

day hurricane forecast; development of

the Stepped Frequency Microwave

Radiometer (SFMR); improved capability because of use of Global

Positioning System dropwindsondes;

improved hurricane modeling and prediction; increased focus on inland

flooding; the successful partnering

with the Federal Emergency

Management Agency through the

Hurricane Liaison Team; improved

preparedness, response and outreach to

the public through Hurricane

Awareness Week; support to the Joint

Hurricane Testbed; partnership

between IHC and The Weather

Channel; and increased outreach to

other Federal agencies. A key action

item from this year's IHC is preparation of a comprehensive hurricane

R&D plan to document and prioritize

research needs based on operational

needs and requirements. Use of SFMR

surface winds had an immediate

impact on analyses for Hurricane

Frances in September 2004. The

SFMR surface winds showed that the

radius of 34 knot and 50 knot winds

had increased from the previous observations by a significant amount, necessitating the extension of warnings further north along the Florida east coast.

Further, analysis of the SFMR data

showed that, while the peak eyewall

winds had not increased, a shift in the

hurricane force winds occurred from

east of center at the previous analysis

time 6 hours earlier to north and northwest of the center; i.e., toward the

landward side of Frances. This

OFCM-sponsored development effort

is beginning to pay big dividends. The

next task is to transition the SFMR

technology to the operational fleet of

WC-130J aircraft flown by the Air

Force Reserve Command's 53rd

Weather Reconnaissance Squadron-the

Hurricane Hunters.

USER FORUM ON URBAN

METEOROLOGY.

OFCM, in partnership with the

Department of Homeland Security

(DHS) Science and Technology

Directorate, conducted a User Forum

on Urban Meteorology September 21-

23, 2004, at the Doubletree Hotel and

Executive Meeting Center in

Rockville, Maryland. The theme of

the forum was Information to Improve

Community Responses to Urban

Atmospheric Hazards, Weather Events,

and Climate. It focused on the following elements of urban meteorology:

severe weather, homeland security, air

quality, water quality, and climate.

This interagency forum was the direct

result of an action item from the

October 18, 2002, meeting of the

FCMSSR and, also, follows from the

7th Annual George Mason University

(GMU) Transport and Dispersion

Modeling Conference (June 17-18,

2003) and the 8th Annual GMU

Conference (July 13-15, 2004). The

forum's agenda included key presentations at the beginning and end of the

forum, five plenary session panels, and

six workshop sessions scheduled in

pairs. The forum's objectives were to:

reduce high impact weather and climate risks and improve the quality of

life in urban areas; increase understanding and facilitate the transfer of

emerging science and technology to

meet today's urban weather and climate challenges; improve forecasting

in coastal areas and areas with complex terrain; and set the stage for building user-tailored decision support systems for real-time response to the spectrum of hazardous weather events and
EXEC SUM xiii

atmospheric conditions. The subject of

this forum is extremely important since

nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in urban areas occupying less

than two percent of the U.S. landmass,

and America's vulnerability to severe

weather and hazards related to air quality, water quality, atmospheric dispersion of dangerous materials, and climatic variations are rising as the urban

proportion of the population increases.

The User Forum on Urban Meteorology

supports NOAA's goals related to coastal

and ocean resources, climate, weather

and water information, homeland security, and commerce.

OPERATIONAL PROCESSING.

The spring 2004 meeting of the OFCM

Committee for Operational Processing

Centers (COPC) took place at the Air

Force Weather Agency in Omaha,

Nebraska, from March 31-April 1,

2004. The focus of the meeting was on

the Weather Research and Forecasting

(WRF) community model and how to

facilitate the exchange of data and

information among the WRF

Operational Test Centers (OTC). The

major goals and issues of the meeting

dealt with information technology collaboration, grid computing, and architectural issues; establishment of priorities for the Joint Action Group for

Operational Community Modeling

(JAG/OCM); the WRF Concept of

Operations; WRF Operational Test

Center procedures; and a combined

strategy for future year budget

requests. The major accomplishment

of the meeting was finalizing and signing on April 1, 2004, of the National

Concept of Operations Framework for

the Operational Processing Centers to

guide the implementation of WRF--the

next-generation numerical weather

prediction model. Another significant

accomplishment was the publication of

the Catastrophic Backup Action Plan

(CBAP) for the operational processing

centers (OPC) in July 2004. The purpose of the CBAP is to identify catastrophic backup shortfalls that exist at

the Nation's military and civilian meteorological, oceanographic, and satellite

OPCs that can be addressed in the

short term. With respect to the plan,

"catastrophic" means a total incapacitation of an OPC for an extended period of time. "Short term" means

months--that which can be accomplished with a minimum of already

available resources. The CBAP identified 10 shortfalls. Plans to address

each of the shortfalls have been developed. For six of the shortfalls, implementation activities have been accomplished. That is, the tasks needed to

establish backup capabilities are finished and the resources needed to

establish backup capabilities are available. COPC activities relate to the

crosscutting area of homeland security

in addition to NOAA's goal to serve

society's needs for weather and water

information.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT TO

HOMELAND SECURITY.

George Mason University

Transport and Dispersion Modeling

Conference. George Mason

University (GMU), Fairfax, Virginia,

conducted its 8th Annual Conference

on Transport and Dispersion

Modeling, July 13-15, 2004. The

OFCM partnered with the Defense

Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and

GMU to sponsor the event. The major

topic areas for the conference were:

new developments in basic theories of

boundary layer models and transport

and dispersion models; urban-scale

meteorological and dispersion experiments and models; computational fluid

dynamics (CFD) model theory and

applications; field experiments and

laboratory experiments concerned with

boundary layer studies and turbulence

and dispersion studies; mesoscale

meteorological modeling for input to

transport and dispersion models; the

use of remote sensing technology in

boundary layer and transport and dispersion studies; model evaluation

methods, uncertainty/sensitivity analyses, and risk assessments; improvements in model inputs (e.g., land-use

data, 3-D building data) and output

visualizations; and methods and criteria for emergency response and decision-making. There was also a special

session on the Joint Urban 2003 Field

Experiment, the DTRA/DOE-sponsored Oklahoma City Field Exercise

which occurred in Oklahoma City

from June 28 - July 31, 2003.

On July 14, 2004, OFCM hosted a

session related to OFCM's ongoing

work with the Department of

Homeland Security and other members

of the Federal meteorological community to define the concept of operations

and the research and development

needs required to support the National

Incident Management System and

emergency responders at Federal,

state, and local levels. The objectives

of the OFCM session were twofold:

(1) to inform attendees regarding the

Interagency Modeling and

Atmospheric Assessment Center

(IMAAC) and the role the Federal

agencies will play in the development

of the IMAAC, and (2) to present the

draft Federal ATD R&D Plan, Federal

Research and Development Needs and

Priorities for Atmospheric Transport

and Diffusion Modeling, and solicit

comments, feedback, and discussion

from the conference attendees. The

OFCM session included two invited

presentations and a panel discussion.

As follow-on actions, the OFCM will

continue to work with the Department

of Homeland Security/Science and

Technology Directorate (DHS/S&T) to

develop the implementation plan and

concept of operations for the IMAAC,

integrating the responsibilities and

capabilities that all the Federal agencies bring to the table. The Federal

ATD R&D Plan will be presented to

the Interdepartmental Committee for

Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research (ICMSSR) for

approval in the fall, following the presentation to the OFCM/DHS jointly
xiv EXEC SUM

sponsored Urban Meteorology User

Forum, which will be conducted

September 21-23, 2004, to provide the

private and academic sectors an opportunity to further discuss with members

of the public sector the Federal

research and development needs and

priorities for atmospheric transport and

diffusion modeling.

Homeland Security Environmental

Support Plan. Work is ongoing to

complete the interagency Homeland

Security Environmental Support Plan--

an action from the FCMSSR. The plan

defines the mission, roles, and responsibilities of individual Federal agencies

as they relate to homeland security and

documents each agency's environmental support capabilities and/or requirements. The OFCM is currently working closely with the Plume Modeling

Subset of the Consequence

Management, Site Restoration/Cleanup Subgroup, which is chaired by the

Department of Homeland Security

(Emergency Preparedness and

Response), to develop an interagency

concept of operations for an all-hazards dispersion support framework.

The concept of the Interagency

Modeling and Atmospheric

Assessment Center (IMAAC) was successfully proposed to the Homeland

Security Council Deputies in April

2004. The Department of Homeland

Security/Science and Technology

Directorate (DHS/S&T) then started

developing the IMAAC implementation plan and concept of operations in

partnership with DOD, DOE, EPA,

NOAA, NRC, NASA, and OFCM.

Once it evolves, the concept of operations for the IMAAC will be an integral part of the Homeland Security

Environmental Support Plan, which

should be ready for publication in fall

2004. The intended audience for this

document includes the Federal agencies involved in crisis and consequence

management, and state and local (e.g.,

city, county, and parish) governments

and their first-responder organizations. 

Federal Atmospheric Transport

and Diffusion Research and

Development Plan. An interagency

joint action group (JAG) was formed

and activity is underway to develop an

integrated research and development

plan to support the atmospheric transport and diffusion modeling needs and

activities of the Federal agencies in

support of the Department of

Homeland Security--an action from the

FCMSSR. The plan will identify the

research and technical needs required

to enhance Federal atmospheric transport and diffusion (ATD) modeling.

Input to the plan will include:

Atmospheric Modeling of Releases

from Weapons of Mass Destruction--

Response by Federal Agencies in

Support of Homeland Security

(OFCM); Tracking and Predicting

Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous

Material Releases, Implications for

Homeland Security (NRC); and the

OFCM special sessions of the 7th

Annual GMU Conference on Transport

and Dispersion Modeling (June 2003)

and 8th Annual GMU Conference

(July 2004). The JAG conducted a gap

analysis and consulted with subjectmatter experts; listed and prioritized

R&D needs; developed research and

advanced development strategies; and

developed a framework for transitioning successful research results into

operations through interagency cooperative efforts like observational and

modeling test beds, field and urban

studies/experiments, and a common

model evaluation methodology. The

plan prioritizes the most pressing

needs based on stated operational

shortfalls and provides a roadmap to

address those needs within the OFCM

coordinating infrastructure. As discussed above, the initial draft plan was

vetted through the 8th Annual GMU

Transport and Dispersion Modeling

Conference in July 2004. Then following the presentation to the September

2004 Urban Meteorology Forum, the

plan will be presented to the ICMSSR in

the fall for its responses and actions to

the recommendations. The expected

completion date is October 2004.

WEATHER INFORMATION FOR

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION.

OFCM published the Weather

Information for Surface

Transportation-National Needs

Assessment Report in December 2002.

The WIST Report sets the stage for

revolutionary improvement in the way

weather information is applied to surface transportation across the Nation.

It establishes a process that involves

decision makers throughout the public

and private sectors, academia, and

industry in a collaborative effort to

define weather information needs and

recommends next steps to incorporate

current and future results from science

and technology innovations into surface transportation activities that bear

on the safety and economic welfare of

all citizens. The WIST Report is the

product of an extensive 3-year interagency effort and is a historic achievement from the standpoint that it is the

first-ever compilation of weather support needs across the six surface transportation sectors: roadway, railway,

transit, marine transportation, pipeline

systems, and airport ground operations. This activity included the formation of a joint action group to

address meteorological requirements

for surface transportation; questionnaires; surveys; WIST symposia conducted jointly by the Office of the

Federal Coordinator for Meteorology

and the Federal Highway

Administration; meetings with railroad, pipeline, and emergency managers; and participation on panels concerning public-private partnerships in

transportation and Intelligent

Transportation Systems. The report

makes clear that by meeting the

requirements for provision of weather

information for surface transportation

to users, we can often increase safety

and realize economic benefits at the

same time.
EXEC SUM xv

The Weather Information for Surface

Transportation-National Needs

Assessment Report has led to a great

deal of activity in this new and important area of meteorological support.

• On August 18, 2003, Ms. Mary E.

Peters, Administrator of the

Department of Transportation/Federal

Highway Administration (FHWA), and

VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr.,

USN (Ret.), Under Secretary of

Commerce for Oceans and

Atmosphere and Administrator of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), met to begin

a dialog regarding the next steps to

take in the area of Weather Information

for Surface Transportation (WIST).

Ms. Peters indicated that the WIST

Report documented not just FHWA

needs, but all of DOT's requirements,

and she wanted to begin discussions

with NOAA senior leadership on how

NOAA and FHWA could work together to meet those needs and requirements. The FHWA's first concern is

enhancing roadway safety, followed by

improving efficient transportation

regardless of the weather conditions

experienced by surface transportation

operators. Weather is a major economic factor. At least $1 trillion of our

economy is weather-sensitive, as

goods and services move through our

Nation's transportation systems.

• Subsequently, OFCM hosted a

NOAA-FHWA meeting on October 24,

2003, to discuss strategy and plans for

near-term, intermediate-term, and

long-term activities for WIST.

• OFCM worked with AMS senior

leadership to help structure the AMS

Policy Forum on "Highways and

Weather" held on November 4-5, 2003,

where the Federal Coordinator played

a key speaking role to set the tone and

direction of the forum.

• OFCM provided VADM

Lautenbacher a status report on

November 6, 2003, concerning NOAA

and FHWA staff activities to meet the

WIST-related tasks laid out during the

August 18, 2003, NOAA-FHWAmeeting.

• NOAA senior leadership supported the incorporation of WIST as a program element under NOAA Strategic

Plan Goal #4 (Commerce and

Transportation) on November 17,

2003, by issuing guidance that the

NOAA Commerce and Transportation

Program Plan should support and be

"consistent with Weather Information

for Surface Transportation (WIST)

demonstration and pilot projects."

• OFCM made several, specific

inputs to the NOAA Strategic Plan

Goal Team #4's R&D proposal

(NOAA Research and Development

Plan For Safe and Efficient Surface

Transportation) developed in late

November and early December 2003,

in support of the NOAA leadership

guidance to include WIST in the

Commerce and Transportation

Program Plan. This proposal was

approved by the Deputy Under

Secretary of Commerce for Oceans

and Atmosphere.

• OFCM provided a foundation-laying WIST briefing to the National

Academy of Sciences' Board on

Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

(BASC) and Transportation Research

Board (TRB) as they began to develop

the report Where the Weather Meets

the Road--A Research Agenda for

Improving Road Weather Services,

which was released on January 16,

2004. The BASC report endorses the

WIST Report results and calls for the

Federal government to establish a multiyear national road weather research

program, led by the FHWA, to bring

together the weather and surface transportation research communities. The

report also calls for the development of

an overarching, multiagency-coordinated WIST implementation program.

• Another NOAA-FHWA WIST

meeting was held February 19, 2004.

The purpose of the meeting was to further discuss and develop a detailed,

proposed set of near-term pilot projects

that would help NOAA and FHWA

begin to implement the WIST Report

recommendations in the operational

and research areas and document

results of these joint efforts.

• OFCM participated in the AMS

2004 Corporate Forum which was held

March 14-16, 2004. The forum

focused on the themes of earth observations, public-private-academic partnerships in the weather and climate

enterprise, and road weather. The

Federal Coordinator briefed the

Corporate Forum on The WIST Report

and the Road Ahead.

• OFCM participated in the AMS

and National Academies

Congressional Briefing, Weather and

Our Nation's Roads: The Need for a

Coordinated Road Weather Research

Program, March 17, 2004. Topics discussed included application of weather

information to road safety and efficiency, a research agenda for improving

road weather services, and perspectives from the state and local level.

• NOAA and FHWA personnel also

met on March 19, March 25, March 30,

and April 9, 2004, to work on a

NOAA/FHWA Partnering Plan to lay

the groundwork to achieve their shared

goals for a safer and more efficient surface transportation system. The first

iteration of the Partnership Plan groups

initiatives into five categories:

Training, Observations, Numerical

Weather Prediction,

Databases/Decision Support, and

Information Dissemination.

• Weather Information for Surface

Transportation was briefed and discussed at the May 14, 2004, meeting of

the ICMSSR. Actions which came out

of the ICMSSR meeting include: (1)

Complete development of the

NOAA/FHWA Partnering Plan, covering road weather needs, as a first step

in showing progress on WIST needs;

(2) OFCM establish a Working Group

for WIST (WG/WIST), led by FHWA

and NOAA, to allow all Federal

departments and agencies to participate in the development of plans or
xvi EXEC SUM

projects to meet their WIST needs and

ensure Federal resources are used efficiently; (3) WG/WIST develop a multiyear, Federal WIST research program

plan to bring together the Federal

weather and surface transportation

research communities and provide a

vision for the public and private sectors to use for planning purposes; and

(4) WG/WIST develop an overarching,

Federal, multiagency-coordinated

WIST implementation program.

• OFCM participated in the 1st

Surface Transportation Weather

Workshop at the University of North

Dakota, August 11-12, 2004. The

workshop was cosponsored by the

University of North Dakota Surface

Transportation Weather Research

Center and FHWA. A senior OFCM

staff person addressed the workshop

during its session on Converting a

National Vision into Reality.

• An ad hoc WIST Executive group

met on August 26, 2004, to review

progress on the NOAA-FHWA

Partnering Plan, a draft NOAA-FHWA

Memorandum of Uunderstanding, and

to receive an activities update briefing

from NOAA's Surface Weather

Program Manager. It was discussed

that the NOAA-FHWA Partnering Plan

should be restructured to concentrate

on "NOAA's responsibility for protecting life and property and enhancing the

national economy. The NOAA Surface

Weather Program should stress its support of public safety, and its commitment to support the Nation's commerce

with information for safe, efficient,

and environmentally sound transportation (NOAA's Commerce and

Transportation Strategic Goal)."

AVIATION WEATHER.

In December 2003, OFCM issued an

update to the 2001 Aviation Weather

Program Baseline Report. This is part

of the continued implementation of the

National Aviation Weather Program

Strategic Plan and the National

Aviation Weather Initiatives. The

update is an inventory of over 150 programs/projects in aviation weather and

represents nearly a doubling of the

number of programs/projects in the

2001 report; a preliminary summary of

the inventory was included in the

National Aviation Weather Program

Mid-Course Assessment which was

published in August 2003. The update

is a snapshot of work underway in both

the Federal agencies and the private

sector and includes a mapping of the

programs/projects against the National

Aviation Weather Initiatives. The

update shows that most of the initiatives are being worked by one or more

agency programs, but it also cautions

that the agencies must remain vigilant

for possible duplication. Furthermore,

the programs/projects outlined represent a fairly complete inventory of

work being done in the aviation community to reduce accidents and delays

where weather is a contributing factor.

Accident statistics are showing that

fatal accident rates involving weather

are declining, and it is believed that the

R&D efforts, as well as the other work

highlighted in this updated report, are

contributing to this decrease. OFCM

conducted a Panel Session on the

National Aviation Weather Initiatives

at the National Business Aviation

Association, Inc. and Friends and

Partners in Aviation Weather Annual

Meeting held in Orlando, Florida, in

October 2003, and provided an update

on implementation of the National

Aviation Weather Program at the

National Weather Association 28th

Annual Meeting in Jacksonville,

Florida, October 18-23, 2003.

From June 21-24, 2004, the OFCM

hosted the 2nd International

Conference on Volcanic Ash and

Aviation Safety at the Hilton

Alexandria Mark Center Hotel,

Alexandria, Virginia. The theme of the

conference was Avoiding Airborne

Volcanic Ash--Anywhere in the World,

and its overall goal was to enhance

mitigation capabilities worldwide by

providing an international forum for

the exchange of technical, operational,

and scientific information. Attendees

represented airlines (meteorology

departments, dispatch, pilots), aviation

manufacturers, airport authorities,

governmental and nongovernmental

organizations, volcano observatories,

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers, academia, and the scientific press. Total

conference attendance was 226 persons; 21 nations and 15 airlines were

represented. The conference was very

successful. Information collected from

conference attendees will ensure that

the four conference expectations will

be achieved. These are (1) identify

new operational needs/requirements

and the research and development

needed to satisfy those requirements,

(2) where possible, match operational

and research and development

needs/requirements to ongoing programs/projects to maximize partnership efforts, (3) develop a roadmap for

improved volcanic ash-related education, training, outreach, and decision

tools, and (4) develop a framework for

improved partnerships within the international volcanic ash community to

leverage resources and capabilities

across the spectrum of operations and

research and development. The conference generated a number of action

items and recommendations which the

OFCM Working Group for Volcanic

Ash (WG/VA) was tasked to address.

Specifically, the WG/VA will (1) seek

further help, input and advice from

international partners and the

International Civil Aviation

Organization; (2) sort action items and

recommendations into short- (0-12

month), mid- (1-4 year), and long-term

(4-10 year) actions and prioritize them;

and (3) develop and gain approval of a

Volcanic Ash Implementation Plan.

The plan will detail program goals;

operational needs/requirements; R&D

needs and priorities; a roadmap for

improved volcanic ash-related education, training, outreach, and decision

tools; and a framework for improved
EXEC SUM xvii

partnerships within the international

volcanic ash community to leverage

resources and capabilities across the

spectrum of operations and research

and development within the next 12

months. A summary of the conference

outcomes was issued in July 2004.

One example, and a timely reminder,

of why the Volcanic Ash Conference is

so relevant, is the seismic activity and

releases of steam and volcanic ash

from Mount St. Helens in Washington

beginning September 23, 2004, and the

possibility of a blast of ash that will

rise tens of thousands of feet and drift

with the wind.

SPACE WEATHER.

Space weather refers to conditions on

the Sun and in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and

ground-based technological systems,

and can endanger human life or health.

Space weather storms can cause disruption of satellites, communications,

navigation, and electric power distribution grids. The overarching goal of

the National Space Weather Program

(NSWP), which is administered by an

OFCM program council, is to achieve

an active, synergistic, interagency system to provide timely, accurate, and

reliable space weather warnings,

observations, specifications, and forecasts by 2007. The NSWP Strategic

and Implementation Plans provide,

respectively, broad guidance and a

detailed roadmap for the NSWP.

In the first quarter of FY04, OFCM

led the development of a report on the

Importance of the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration's

Space Environment Center

(NOAA/SEC) to the National Space

Weather Program (NSWP), in response

to continuing Congressional budget

pressures being experienced by

NOAA/SEC and concerns expressed

by the NSWPC and the CSW. The

report outlined the many key benefits

provided by NOAA/SEC to the multiagency NSWP. The report also

detailed the negative impacts that

would result from insufficient funding

at SEC with regard to the Nation's ability to observe, predict, and warn of

impending solar activity and the resultant impacts on the Nation's technical

systems and human life or health.

This report was endorsed to the Office

of Science and Technology Policy

(OSTP) by the Under Secretary and

FCMSSR Chairman. In November

2003, in a message from OSTP to

Congressional staff, Dr. John H.

Marburger, III, OSTP Director, supported the full funding of SEC. While

not totally successful, this effort did

garner enough Congressional support

to fund NOAA/SEC in FY04 at 65

percent of their budget request.

OFCM took part in Space Weather

Week at NOAA's Space Environment

Center, Boulder, Colorado, April 13-

16, 2004. The conference highlighted

recent space weather impacts in several areas of the environment, including

airline problems, GPS and ionospheric

disturbances, satellite drag, and geomagnetic storms.

Work is underway to conduct the

next meeting of the Committee for

Space Weather (CSW) in October 2004

and planning has begun for the next

meeting of the National Space Weather

Program Council.

PHASED ARRAY WEATHER

RADAR PROJECT.

OFCM hosted a Phased Array Weather

Radar Project (PAWRP) meeting on

July 22, 2003, attended by six Federal

departments and agencies to explore

expanded agency participation in the

project. This meeting was held in

response to actions of the last meeting

of the FCMSSR (October 18, 2002)

and the ICMSSR (April 30, 2003).

The FCMSSR and ICMSSR directed

the Federal Coordinator to determine

specific needs of the agencies, show

benefits of the Phased Array Radar

(PAR) capability for their respective

agencies, and explore opportunities for

expanded agency participation in the

PAWRP.

OFCM arranged for a January 29,

2004, visit to the National Severe

Storms Laboratory (NSSL) by representatives from three Federal agencies

to learn more about PAR technology

and how it might benefit their organizations. NSSL has a phased array

radar provided by the Navy for

research purposes. The participants

were briefed on PAR technology, and

the resultant discussion answered

agency questions concerning how the

PAR technology might meet agency

requirements, what period of time

might be needed for the required PAR

R&D to be accomplished before an

operational system could be developed

and fielded, and what other advancements (e.g., improved data assimilation, improved forecast models) would

be needed in addition a PAR system to

go from "warn on detection" to "warn

on forecast and detection." It was also

briefed that the PAR will be ready for

R&D efforts beginning March 2004.

Additionally, based on knowledge

gained at the July 2003 meeting, and a

subsequent visit to NSSL in January

2004, OFCM will begin work with the

Federal agencies to form a Joint Action

Group that would identify the potential

needs and benefits of the agencies that

PAR and Networked Radars

(NETRAD) would address, develop a

PAR R&D plan that would focus R&D

efforts on meeting agency needs, and

developing a funding proposal to support the required PAR R&D.

The PAWRP was briefed and discussed at the May 14, 2004, meeting of

the ICMSSR. Actions which came out

of the ICMSSR meeting include: (1)

OFCM work with the Federal agencies

to form a Joint Action Group for

Phased Array Weather Radar Project

(JAG/PAWRP) of stakeholder agencies; (2) JAG/PAWRP identify and

document the potential needs and benefits of the agencies that phased array

radar and an adaptive radar sensing
xviii EXEC SUM

strategy would address; and (3)

JAG/PAWRP integrate those identified

needs into a multiagency coordinated

R&D plan that would focus efforts on

meeting agency needs.

PUBLICATIONS AND OFCM'S

WEB SITE.

The following publications were prepared in hardcopy form and/or have

been placed on OFCM's Web site

(www.ofcm.gov):

• The Federal Plan for

Meteorological Services and Supporting

Research-Fiscal Year 2004

• Aviation Weather Programs/Projects

(Tier 3/4 Baseline Update)

• Urban Meteorology-Meeting

Weather Needs in the Urban Community

• National Hurricane Operations

Plan

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part A-System Concepts,

Responsibilities and Procedures

• Catastrophic Backup Action Plan

The following documents are

planned for publication during FY

2005:

• The Federal Plan for

Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research-Fiscal Year 2005

• Federal Atmospheric Transport

and Diffusion Research and

Development Plan

• Homeland Security Environmental

Support Plan

• Proceedings of the 2nd

International Conference on Volcanic

Ash and Aviation Safety

• Proceedings of the User Forum

on Urban Meteorology

• National Hurricane Operations

Plan

• Federal Meteorological

Handbook No. 11-Doppler Radar

Meteorological Observations; Part BDoppler Radar Theory and

Meteorology 

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part C-WSR-88D

Products and Algorithms

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part D-WSR-88D Unit

Description and Operational Analysis

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 12-United States Meteorological

Codes and Coding Practices 

During FY 2004, OFCM continued

to make substantial progress on its use

of the Internet. In addition to information about the office, OFCM has

placed its current publications on its

Web site, and keeps the Web site current with information regarding workshops and forums being conducted by

the office. OFCM will continue to

make information available on the

Internet during FY 2005.
The Federal Plan

for Meteorological Services

and Supporting Research

FISCAL YEAR 2005

FEDERAL COORDINATOR

FOR

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

8455 Colesville Road, Suite 1500

Silver Spring, MD 20910

FCM-P1-2004

OCTOBER 2004

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Editors: Frank Estis

Blaine Tsugawa

Assistant Editor: Kenneth Barnett

PREFACE iii

PREFACE

Since 1965, the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research

(OFCM) has developed a Federal Plan that articulates the provision of meteorological services and the support

for meteorological and related research by agencies of the Federal government. OFCM's 2005 Federal Plan

provides Congress and the Executive Branch with a comprehensive compilation of proposed programs for fiscal year (FY) 2005 and a review of agency programs in FY 2004. The Federal Plan's narratives, timelines, and

schedules are current as of July 2004.

The Federal Plan consists of an Executive Summary, three sections, and Appendices. The Executive

Summary, which is written as a concise, stand-alone report, provides a high-level view of the Federal

resources dedicated to meteorological programs and the achievements of those programs. This year's feature

article (Section 1) presents the idea that to make better decisions we need to understand the risks involved, and

that some of the most important roles we ask of government are related to avoiding, mitigating, transferring, or

accepting risks--in short, risk management. The activities involved in understanding risk go by many names,

such as risk identification, risk evaluation, risk assessment, risk estimation, and risk characterization.

However, the article suggests that the most important point is that understanding the risk is essential to making

sound decisions on managing it, no matter who the decision maker will be. In the area of understanding risks,

the OFCM is primarily interested in risks that are meteorological in nature, and has a strong interest and clear

role in coordinating the meteorological risk characterization and management activities of the Federal agencies. The OFCM believes that near-term safety and resource priorities require a better understanding and

application of risk assessment and management tools to the weather and climate hazards that affect our communities and lives. A critical part of the data required to use risk tools effectively is a comprehensive collection of economic data, impacts and variables. A coordinated, collaborative initiative is needed to establish

such a data collection effort.

Section 2 of the Federal Plan summarizes the resources requested in the President's FY 2005 Budget, compared with the resources appropriated by Congress for FY 2004. Section 3 contains departmental and agency

narratives on programs for providing meteorological services and supporting research and development. It also

describes relevant research funded by the National Science Foundation.

Appendix A describes the OFCM's coordination, program, and planning activities. Appendix B summarizes the World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Program. Appendix C lists the feature articles

published in previous Federal Plans. The acronyms and abbreviations used throughout this year's Federal Plan

are defined in Appendix D. The inside front cover lists the current members of the Federal and

Interdepartmental Committees for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, which provide guidance

and support for OFCM activities. The inside back cover diagrams the infrastructure through which the OFCM

performs its coordinating mission.

Samuel P. Williamson

Federal Coordinator for Meteorological

Services and Supporting Research

v

THE FEDERAL PLAN FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES

AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH, FISCAL YEAR 2005

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

Section 1. THE REWARDS OF MANAGING WEATHER-RELATED RISKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Section 2. RESOURCE INFORMATION AND AGENCY PROGRAM UPDATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Agency Obligations for Meteorological Operations

and Supporting Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Department of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Department of Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Department of Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Department of Homeland Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Department of the Interior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Department of Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Environmental Protection Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

National Aeronautics and Space Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Nuclear Regulatory Commission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Agency Funding by Budget Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Agency Funding by Service Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Personnel Engaged in Meteorological Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Interagency Fund Transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25

Facilities/Locations for Taking Meteorological Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Section 3. AGENCY METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTING 

RESEARCH PROGRAMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

Department of Commerce Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

National Weather Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

National Ocean Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83

NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

Department of Defense Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

United States Air Force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

United States Navy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

United States Army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115

Department of Transportation Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Federal Aviation Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129

Federal Highway Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Federal Railroad Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Federal Transit Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149
Department of Agriculture Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration

Operational and Research Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Department of Homeland Security Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

Department of the Interior Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

Department of State Climate and Atmospheric Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189

Environmental Protection Agency Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .195

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Weather Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .205

National Science Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .207

APPENDICES

A. FEDERAL COORDINATION AND PLANNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209

B. WORLD WEATHER PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223

C. LISTING OF PREVIOUS FEATURE ARTICLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .229

D. ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231

LIST OF TABLES 

ES-1 Federal Budget for Meteorological Operations and Supporting

Research, FY 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vii

2.1 Meteorological Operations and Supporting Research 

Costs, by Agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

2.2 Agency Operational Costs, by Budget Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

2.3 Agency Supporting Research Costs, by Budget Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

2.4 Agency Operational Costs, by Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

2.5 Agency Supporting Research Costs, by Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

2.6 Personnel Engaged in Meteorological Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

2.7 Interagency Fund Transfers for Meteorological 

Operations and Supporting Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

2.8 Facilities/Locations for Taking Meteorological Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

3.1 Projected Satellite Launch Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

A.1 Current OFCM Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221

vi
SECTION 1

WE ARE ALL RISK MANAGERS.

Risk management! We all do it, and

we do it every day. Most of us,

though, don't call it that or even think

about it that way. When we look both

ways before crossing the street, that's

an example of risk avoidance. Teaching our children to look both ways, to

cross at the corner, and to wait for the

green light or walk sign at a signalcontrolled intersection, is an example

of risk mitigation. We cannot entirely

remove the possibility that a child

will run out in front of a car, but we

can take steps to reduce the likelihood (or probability) of this tragic

event. We also mitigate risk, or

lessen the consequences of a potential

hazard, when we take an umbrella to

work on a sunny morning because our

most reliable local weather personality says there is an 80 percent chance

of rain for the evening commute.

When we buy automobile insurance

or flood insurance, that's an example

of risk transference. If the unlikely,

but catastrophic event covered by the

insurance policy should befall us, the

cost of the consequences is transferred to the insurer (less our

deductible, of course). Perhaps, we

hear on the radio that the cross-town

artery we are planning to take in the

next half hour has had a major accident with emergency vehicles on the

scene. If we go ahead with our

planned drive, betting that the traffic

jam will clear by the time we get

there or that we can detour by taking

an earlier exit, that's just an everyday

example of risk acceptance. Accepting the risk when we are warned

about it, as in ignoring a tornado or

hurricane warning, would be a risk

acceptance decision, albeit a dangerous one.

Many of the most important roles

we ask of government are related to

avoiding, mitigating, transferring, or

accepting risks--in short, risk management. Sometimes a Federal, state,

or local authority takes on the job

managing risks for us, as when firefighters or emergency responders

deal with a human-caused or natural

disaster. Laws and regulations are

made and enforced to limit and guide

activities that carry with them inherent risks. Governments at all levels

also partner with citizens to manage

risks by providing them the information they need to make informed riskmanagement decisions in their daily

lives. That weather forecast about

evening storms, government-compiled data on when and why accidents

occur, or the government-required

warnings and labeling on products,

are just a few of the ways we depend

on government information to manage the complex risks of life.

THE REWARDS OF MANAGING WEATHER-RELATED RISKS

WHAT SHOULD I DO WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED FOR MY AREA?

HOW CAN I PROTECT MY PROPERTY FROM A TORNADO?

WHEN SHOULD I EVACUATE FOR A HURRICANE?

SHOULD I DRIVE DOWN THIS FLOODED STREET OR TAKE A 10-MILE DETOUR TO REACH HOME?

WHERE SHOULD I GO ON A GOLF COURSE TO PROTECT MYSELF FROM LIGHTNING?

HOW FAST CAN I SAFELY DRIVE ON WET STREETS OR ON ICE AND SNOW?

WHEN SHOULD I PUT ICE/SNOW MELT SUBSTANCES ON MY SIDEWALK?

WHAT FERTILIZER SHOULD I USE FOR MY LAWN, AND WHEN, TO AVOID POLLUTING STREAMS?

SECTION 1 1

Article prepared by Mr. Samuel P. Williamson, Federal Coordinator, OFCM.

Should you bring the umbrella today?
2 SECTION 1

FEDERAL ROLES IN CHARACTERIZING AND MANAGING

METEOROLOGICAL RISKS.

Whether the ultimate decision on

how to manage a risk is made by individuals, a state or local government

entity acting on their behalf, or by Federal officials, better decisions are made

when the risks involved are well

understood. As the kinds of risks, the

hazards that cause them, and the extent

of their consequences become more

complex, the task of understanding

risk becomes more complex as well.

The activities involved in understanding risk (so that good risk-management

decisions can be made) go by many

names, such as risk identification, risk

evaluation, risk assessment, risk estimation, and risk characterization.

While the nuances of these terms are

important to risk-management experts,

for the purpose of this introduction, the

most important point is that understanding the risk is essential to making

smart decisions on managing it, no

matter who the decision maker will be. 

The Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research (OFCM) is primarily interested in risks that relate to

weather or climate in some way. A

hazard is anything that can cause consequences that present a risk to health

and safety or other values, including

economic value. The moving vehicle

is the hazard you intend to avoid by

looking both ways. The rain on your

walk home is the hazard whose consequences (wet clothes and a cold) are the

risks you reduce (or mitigate) by taking

an umbrella to work even on a sunny

morning. Weather-caused hazards

include tornadoes, floods, lightning,

blizzards, wind and hail storms, and

even hazards from unusual solar activity, called space weather. There are

many more kinds of hazards that are

not caused by weather but that can be

made worse by certain weather conditions. Among these weather-affected

hazards are air pollution, traffic congestion, accidental or deliberate

releases of hazardous materials, and

the many potential hazards in moving

people or goods around town, around

the Nation, or around the world. Climate-related hazards include changes

in climate patterns and unexpected seasonal variations in weather conditions,

such as drought, periods of high wildfire danger, and prolonged periods of

unusually severe weather (cold, heat,

rain, snow, etc.). The OFCM role in

meteorological risk characterization and

management is to coordinate Federal

agency efforts to manage risks from hazards that are weather or climate related.

For anyone who does not work routinely with these risks, the number of

Federal agencies that have a role in

meteorological risk characterization

and management is surprisingly large.

In addition to the Federal agencies and

programs concerned with helping all of

us manage the risks from weathercaused hazards, many more are

involved with helping us understand

and manage the risks of weatheraffected hazards. Here are just a few

examples of the most significant Federal activities in meteorological risk

characterization and management.

The wide range of mission activities

performed by the Department of

Commerce's National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) include some of the Nation's

most significant-and most familiarexamples of meteorological risk characterization and management.

NOAA's National Weather Service

(NWS) is the Nation's weather

observer and forecaster. NWS products and services, which are distributed

in partnership with the commercial

media and the private sector, significantly contribute to decisions made by

the public, state and local officials,

businesses, and Federal managers and

help make us all better risk managers.

NOAA also has responsibilities for

Hurricane Ivan, September, 2004. NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data,

and Information Service (NESDIS) operates the weather satellites and its Aircraft

Operations Center partners with the Air Force Reserve Command's 53rd Weather

Reconnaissance Squadron to fly synoptic surveillance, reconnaissance, and

research missions that kept us informed and helped manage this severe weather

risk.
characterizing and managing many

weather-affected and climate-related

risks. Examples include programs that

link marine environmental health to

human health, advisories about

sewage-contaminated water in rivers

and near beaches, warnings of hazards

to fisheries and their vessels, satellite

monitoring of natural and technological hazards, and mitigation response to

oil and chemical spills along coasts

and in waterways.

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) uses information on

weather-affected risks in monitoring

and managing the quality of the

Nation's air and water. For example,

the EPA supports research on computer-based modeling of how weather

conditions affect airborne pollutants.

It monitors the effects of precipitation,

runoff, and flooding on water quality,

for both human uses of water and environmental impacts. In September

2004, EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt

announced a 32 percent annual decline

in sulfur oxide emissions since

1990,and a 37 percent annual decline

in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions.

These pollutants are responsible for

acid rain, which is formed when they

dissolve in the water of clouds. EPA

credits cap-and-trade regulations under

its Acid Rain Program for the reductions.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) must deal with both

weather-caused and weather-affected

risks as part of its responsibilities for

the safety and efficiency of the

Nation's transportation systems. The

DOT's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) helps the airlines, air transport companies, and general aviation

manage the meteorological risks of flying and the indirect impacts of weather

on the increasingly crowded National

Airspace System. The Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit

Administration, National Highway

Traffic Safety Administration, and

Federal Railroad Administration do the

same for all those who use or manage

our surface transportation modes and

systems. Other parts of DOT deal with

weather- and climate-related risks maritime transportation, pipelines, and the

safe transportation anywhere of hazardous materials. Many of these DOT

activities illustrate how Federal agencies partner with state and local entities, the private sector, and the academic community to help manage

transportation risks with a weatherrelated component. For example, as an

extension of the Strategic Highway

Research Program, the Kansas Department of Transportation participated in

an anti-icing test and evaluation project that used sodium chloride brine to

reduce snow and ice bonding. Results

from tests like this help state and local

highway departments reduce the risks

of winter-driving hazards at lower cost

to taxpayers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland

Security (DHS) shoulders the responsibility for both weather-caused and

weather-affected risks as a part of its

all-hazards approach to protecting

national security at home through preparedness and response. The mission

of DHS's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to reduce loss

of life and property and protect the

Nation's critical infrastructure from all

types of hazards through a comprehensive, risk-based program of mitigation,

preparedness, response, and recovery.

These hazards range from severe

weather events like hurricanes, floods,

and tornadoes to accidental and intentional releases of airborne chemical,

biological, radiological, or nuclear

materials.

The U.S. Department of Energy

(DOE) also has responsibility for

weather-affected transportation risks.

DOE is responsible for ensuring that

shipments of radioactive material are

conducted safely. DOE's National

Transportation Program relies on tailored weather information for route

planning to mitigate risks from weatheraffected accidents during transit.

SECTION 1 3

These shuttered windows in Southport,

North Carolina, are an example of protective measures that individuals can

take against hurricane-force winds

before they arrive. The hinges are permanently mounted for easy on/off

installation in response to warnings of

approaching storms.

FEMA News Photo - Dave Saville.
4 SECTION 1

The U.S. Department of Defense

(DOD) through the U.S. Army Corps

of Engineers (USACE), is a major

partner in risk mitigation for flooding

hazards along the Nation's major

rivers. Many DOD operations at home

and abroad depend on weather information to mitigate weather-affected

risks to operational effectiveness. In

response to the damage wrought by

Hurricane Ivan in West Virginia, project officers and quality control engineers from the USACE teamed with

FEMA's Public Assistance staff and

the National Guard to aid in debris

removal and other Hurricane Ivan

recovery projects in 16 of the state's

hardest-hit counties.

The National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) frequently

partners with other Federal agencies on

the research and development (R&D)

needed to improve risk characterization and management. NASA works

with NOAA to design, develop, and

test new weather-observing satellites

and remote sensing instruments.

NASA and the FAA work together on

developing and implementing the tools

and systems used by air traffic controllers, pilots, airlines, and general

aviation pilots to lessen the risks of

both weather-caused and weatheraffected aviation risks.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) addresses climate and

weather risks in agricultural conservation, crop spraying, and wetland management. Its U.S. Forest Service handles weather-affected risks, such as suppressing wildland fires and conducting

prescribed burns to reduce the risk of

wildfires. The Agricultural Research

Service helps farmers and others with

watershed flood control and participates

in climate-change research projects.

RECENT CONSENSUS RECOMMENDATIONS ON METEOROLOGICAL RISK MANAGEMENT.

In February 2001, the OFCM and the

National Science and Technology

Council, Committee on Environment

and Natural Resources, Subcommittee

on Natural Disaster Reduction jointly

sponsored a Forum on Risk Management and Assessments of Natural Hazards. The forum included representatives from Federal agencies, academia,

and industry. The theme of the forum

was: Toward a Safer America: Building Natural Hazard Resistant Communities through Risk Management and

Assessments. Overarching issues and

challenges posed to the participants

included examining risk assessment

processes and ways to build a consensus to proceed with a national natural

hazard assessment. A forum goal was

to facilitate risk assessment and management of natural hazards through

legislative proposals, policy guidance,

and agency cooperation.

The participants in this forum concluded that the best approach to a

national assessment of natural hazards

was to conduct it in bite-size chunks-a

series of smaller, focused assessments.

For example, a thorough assessment

could be conducted focused purely on

hurricanes. The needed talents and

resources of the Federal agencies could

be coordinated and dedicated to completing such an assessment nationwide,

at which time the assessment for

another major natural hazard could be

organized and begun. A vital part of

these assessments would be to determine and understand stakeholder risk

tolerances, with the intent of assisting

managers at all levels in making betterinformed decisions on managing risks

from these hazards. The list of natural

hazards to be assessed included tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

At this forum and other meetings at

the national level, stakeholders and

agency representatives have concluded

that the United States needs an adequate national warning system to alert

those at risk to imminent natural and

human-made hazards. To make warnings more effective, research is needed

on risk communication and risk perception. Understanding how people

perceive risk and interpret warnings

about potential hazards will help make

Interagency Hotshot crews are diverse teams of career and temporary agency

employees who have solid reputations as multi-skilled professional firefighters.

These crews are employed by the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management,

the National Park Service, various Native American tribes, and the states of Alaska

and Utah.

NASA's Synthetic Vision System (SVS)

cockpit display will offer pilots a clear,

three-dimensional picture of the terrain

outside the aircraft even in the worst

weather or darkest night conditions.
SECTION 1 5

warning systems more effective. How

individuals perceive risks involves factors such as their beliefs about their

personal safety and whether they are

likely to suffer economic losses. Other

key factors include the credibility of

the person or authority issuing a warning and the familiarity with the hazard

and its potential consequences.

Risk characterization and management offer a method of identifying

risks; evaluating them on the basis of

their likelihood, severity, and consequences; and allocating resources to

control them on the basis of their

importance. This can enable decision

makers to identify and evaluate effective and efficient risk mitigation

options, then choose among those

options that minimize risk at reasonable levels of practicality and affordability. After implementing the

selected options, those responsible for

risk management can monitor system

performance to determine whether risk

control measures are effective. This

iterative process of assessment, management decision, implementation,

and evaluation can, over time, continue

to reduce risks. Agency and public

responses to Hurricanes Charley,

Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne in 2004, provide abundant examples of the importance of risk analysis and assessment

in decisions to evacuate and in actions

to protect property. The press reported

many personal stories of people who,

in hindsight, would have made different decisions if faced with similar hazards in the future.

The success of risk assessments for

most hazards rests on identifying a

potential hazard or dangerous situation

and describing the mechanisms by

which the hazard can cause harm to

people, property, and the environment.

The next step is to define the probabilities of the component parts. Typically,

this means estimating the probabilities

of the initiating events, such as

weather and climate. The risks are

then analyzed for each hazard or for a

set of hazard scenarios. The severity

of the consequences can be expressed

in human terms, such as fatalities,

injuries or some other metric like dollars lost. The likelihood of concurrence of an adverse event can be estimated by a variety of methods, ranging

from prior experience with the frequency of occurrence to computations

based on mathematical models.

Momentum has been building in

recent years to focus more attention and

resources on disaster mitigation and

planning. Initiatives are underway or

planned to include measures such as:

• Anticipation and assessment of

risk, not simply reaction to disasters;

• Focusing on mitigation activities

that build resilience at the earliest

planning stages, not as an afterthought,

and dealing with mitigation comprehensively rather than piecemeal; and

• Development and implementation

of warning and dissemination systems

that allow society to bring its resilience

into play.

The intent is to expand disaster preparedness activities beyond saving

lives. Added benefits will help to

ensure the continued, uninterrupted

functionality and viability of communities, regions, and their associated

managed and natural ecosystems to

help create a sustainable society,

resilient to natural and other disasters.

Research is needed to assist with

these initiatives, especially with

respect to:

• The physical and biological structure

and character of the hazards themselves;

• Improved risk assessments to

guide natural disaster reduction;

• Holistic, systems-level understanding of the socioeconomic factors

driving societal vulnerability and the

full range of engineering and other

strategies available to improve mitigation and adaptation; and 

• Improved use of new information

technologies to disseminate warnings and

provide integrated, ready access to information on natural disaster reduction.

This research will improve the links

between the physical, biological, and

social sciences; economics; and environmental policy. It will also aid in

developing science policy tools to

guide research, development, and

operational implementation decisions.

NEXT STEPS IN COORDINATING FEDERAL EFFORTS AND

FOSTERING PARTNERSHIPS.

The coordinated efforts of the Federal agencies to address the spectrum

of risks from hazards caused by or

affected by weather and climate will

require a minimum of three steps.

• The first step is to gather more

comprehensive risk data on the hazard.

The data should include economic

costs associated with the risk, as well

as quantitative assessments of the risks

to human health and safety. The cost

and benefits of potential mitigation

In October 2003, several massive wildfires raged across southern California.

Wildfires that month in California,

fanned by dry Santa Ana winds from the

mountains, killed at least 15 people and

burned more than 500 homes. Drought

conditions across the region, after

years of wildland brush and tree growth,

had created ample quantities of fuel

ready to be sparked by lightning or a

careless human. Fire danger alerts

when dry winds are forecast and prescribed burns are among the tools used

to manage the wildfire risk.
6 SECTION 1

options should also be considered.

• The second step is to incorporate

the comprehensive risk information

into the decision-making process at all

levels-public and private. Providing

clear and accurate information about

the nature of risks can help people

make realistic assessments of the risks

they face and, where appropriate, to

make informed judgements on how to

handle risks themselves. Education

and outreach will help people understand hazard risks and apply the information in a more effective manner.

• Experience with risk processes

in decision making will allow further identification of deficiencies

in the hazard risk information or

its application and communication. Research may be needed to

resolve these deficiencies. The

third step will be to coordinate

among the Federal agencies on priorities and plans to conduct related

research and to help bring

improved science and/or technology into practice. The resulting

improvements in risk characterization and management will save

lives and better protect the natural

and economic resources of our citizens and communities.
SECTION 2

Table 2.1 contains fiscal information,

by agency, for meteorological operations and supporting research. The

table shows the funding level for Fiscal

Year (FY) 2004 based on

Congressional appropriations, the

budget request for FY 2005, the percent change, and the individual agencies' percent of the total Federal funding for FY 2004 and FY 2005.

DEPARTMENT OFAGRICULTURE

(USDA)

The USDA budget request for

FY 2005 is $39.45 million for operations and supporting research, representing a 16.4 percent decrease from

FY 2004. A large portion of this

decline was due to changes in budget

reporting procedures by the Forest

Service. Beginning in 2005, the budget number for "Operations" no longer

includes funds for the Forest Service

air quality program. USDA operational activities include specialized

weather observing networks such as

the snow telemetry (SNOTEL) system

operated by the Natural Resources

Conservation Service (NRCS) and the

remote automated weather stations

(RAWS) network managed by the

Forest Service. The SNOTEL and

RAWS networks provide cooperative

data for NOAA's river forecast activities, the irrigation water supply estimates, and Bureau of Land

Management operations. The Forest

Service is also the world leader in

developing emissions factors from

fires and modeling its dispersion.

The USDA and the Department of

Commerce (DOC) jointly operate a

global agricultural weather and information center located in Washington,

D.C. This Joint Agricultural Weather

Facility operationally monitors global

weather conditions and assesses the

impacts of growing season weather on

crop and livestock production

prospects. This information keeps

crop and livestock producers, farm

organizations, agribusinesses, state and

national farm policy-makers, government agencies, and foreign buyers of

agricultural products apprised of

worldwide weather-related developments and their effects on crops and

livestock. Furthermore, tracking

weather and crop developments in

countries that are either major

exporters or importers of agricultural

commodities keeps the agricultural

sector informed on potential competitors. USDA is also actively involved

in drought monitoring efforts in concert with the National Drought

Mitigation Center.

For supporting research, USDA

funds research projects through the

Cooperative State Research, Education

and Extension Service (CSREES) that

study the impact of climate and weather on food and fiber production. The

goal of supporting research is to develop and disseminate information and

techniques to ensure an abundance of

high-quality agricultural commodities

and products while minimizing the

adverse effects of agriculture on the

environment. Furthermore, the

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

conducts research on how annual variation in weather adversely effects crop

and animal production, hydrologic

processes, the availability of water

from watersheds, and the environmental and economic sustainability of agricultural enterprises.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

(DOC)

All reported DOC meteorological

activities are within the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA FY 2005

total congressional request of

$1.85 billion for meteorological programs represents an increase of

3.6 percent over the FY 2004 appropriated funds. NOAA's FY 2005 operations and supporting research requests

for major line office activities are

described below:

Weather Services.

The National Weather Service

(NWS) provides weather, hydrologic,

and climate forecasts and warnings for

the U.S., its territories, adjacent

waters, and ocean areas for the protection of life and property and the

enhancement of the national economy.

NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other govRESOURCE INFORMATION AND AGENCY PROGRAM UPDATES

The tables in this section summarize budgetary information of the Federal government for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005.

The funds shown are those used to provide meteorological services and associated supporting research that has as its

immediate objective the improvement of these services. Fiscal data are current as of the end of July 2004 and are subject to later changes. The data for FY 2005 do not have legislative approval and do not constitute a commitment by the

United States Government. The budget data are prepared in compliance with Section 304 of Public Law 87-843, in

which Congress directed that an annual horizontal budget be prepared for meteorological programs conducted by the

Federal agencies.

AGENCY OBLIGATIONS FOR METEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS 

AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

SECTION 2 7
8 SECTION 2
SECTION 2 9

ernment agencies, the private sector,

the public, and the global community.

The U.S. is the most severe-weatherprone country on Earth. Each year,

Americans cope with an average of

10,000 thunderstorms, 2,500 floods,

1,000 tornadoes, as well as an average

of 6 deadly hurricanes. Some 90 percent of all Presidentially-declared disasters are weather related, causing

approximately 500 deaths per year and

$11 billion in damage. According to

the American Meteorological Society,

weather is directly linked to public

safety and about one-third of the U.S.

economy (about $3 trillion) is weather

sensitive. In 1997-98, seasonal and

interannual variations in climate, like

El Niño, led to economic impacts on

the order of $25 billion. All of these

impacts are further magnified by current socio-economic trends such as

population growth in severe-weatherprone areas of the country, drought,

and increasing demands for fresh

water. In addition, key NOAA customers such as industry, state and local

governments, and emergency managers are demanding more reliable and

more specific weather, water, and climate information for use in key decision making.

These multiple demands all point to

the need to sustain and improve NWS's

core observing, forecasting and warning services. The NWS continues to

establish and track key service performance improvement goals and has

been recognized within and without

government as a leader in performance-based management and for actually delivering on the goals it has set.

With the FY 2005 budget, the NWS

will continue to focus resources toward

improving its core performance measures including tornado warning lead

time (13 minutes); flash flood warning

accuracy (89 percent); winter storm

warning accuracy (90 percent);

48 hour hurricane track forecast error

(128 nautical miles); aviation ceiling/visibility accuracy (46 percent);

marine wind speed forecast accuracy

(60 percent); and marine wave height

forecast accuracy (72 percent).

The FY 2005 President's Budget

Request supports the funding and program requirements necessary to

address established NOAA/NWS

strategic goals and sets NWS on a path

to achieve its vision: Produce and

deliver forecasts that can be trusted;

use cutting-edge technologies; provide

services in a cost-effective manner;

strive to eliminate weather-related

fatalities; and improve the economic

value of weather information.

• NOAA requests an increase of

$12,269,000 and 0 Full Time

Equivalent (FTE) manpower authorizations to fund adjustments to current

programs across all accounts in the

National Weather Service. The

increase will fund the estimated FY

2005 Federal pay raise of 1.5 percent

and annualize the FY 2004 pay raise of

4.1 percent. NWS is very labor intensive and depends on pay related adjustments to ensure continuity of services:

labor costs comprise approximately 70

percent of the NWS operations budget.

The increase will also provide inflationary increases for non-labor activities, including maintenance contracts,

utilities, field office lease payments,

and rent charges from the General

Services Administration.

In addition to the adjustments to base

above, NOAA requests increases to

reflect the transfer of two programs

from the Office of Oceanic and

Atmospheric Research to the NWS:

• NOAA requests $5,298,000 and

51 FTE in the NWS budget to reflect

the transfer of the Space Environment

Center (SEC) from the Office of

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

(OAR) to the NWS. The SEC will

become an official center under the

NWS's National Center for

Environmental Prediction (NCEP).

The SEC provides predictions of the

Earth's space environment, which are

largely driven by solar phenomenon

that impact the Earth. SEC produces

alerts and warnings of space weather

events, and provides data in real time

to the public. In recognition of the

operational nature of these functions,

the Administration has concluded that

the SEC mission is a valid and necessary component of NOAA's operational environmental modeling and

prediction mission. The transfer will

place SEC in an operational capacity better suited to meeting the NOAA mission.

• NOAA requests $5,200,000 and

17 FTE to reflect the transfer of U.S.

Weather Research Program (USWRP)

from the OAR to NWS.

The focus of USWRP is the shortterm transition of research to operations. This transition function can be

more effectively implemented in the

NWS, where applied research activities can occur side by side with weather forecast operations.

• NOAA also requests a technical

adjustment to the current program

level of $7,313,000 to reflect the transfer of Weather Forecast Office (WFO)

maintenance funds back to the

Operations, Research and Facilities

(ORF) account. In FY 2004, these

funds were requested in the ORF

account, but appropriated in the

Procurement, Acquisition and

Construction (PAC) account.

• A net increase of $13,739,000 and

0 FTE over the current program level, is

requested for a total of $611,448,000,

and 4,121 FTE under the Local Warnings

and Forecasts line item of the Operations

and Research subactivity.

• NOAA is requesting $5,500,000

and 0 FTE over the current program

level for a total request of $5,500,000

for the Air Quality Forecasting Pilot

Program. Operational implementation

of a NOAAAir Quality Forecast model

will provide an initial operating capability for 24-hour ozone forecasts at

hourly intervals for the Northeastern

U.S.. Mid-term actions will expand

the initial operating capability nationwide for ozone forecasts by FY 2009,
10 SECTION 2

and NOAA's longer-term target is for

an initial particulate matter forecast

capability by FY 2012. Poor air quality leads to health problems and loss of

life in the U.S.. One study estimated

that annual impacts nationwide are

over 40,000 deaths from airborne particulate matter and $147 billion spent

treating air pollution related illnesses

(Science, 2002). These losses can be

mitigated with accurate and timely air

quality forecasts as part of an air management system that provides information needed to change public behavior

in advance of predicted poor air quality. In cooperation with the

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) and state and local agencies,

NOAA/NWS will provide operational

air quality models and generate forecast pollutant concentration fields and

provide them to the EPA. EPA will

then interpret and disseminate this

information to state and local users for

eventual application in the public and

commercial sectors. In FY 2005, the

NWS pilot project aims to achieve 90

percent forecast accuracy for ozone in

the Northeast. This goal reflects the

ability to predict the onset of poor air

quality conditions.

• NOAA is requesting an increase of

0 FTE and $1,000,000 over the current

program level for a total of $2,300,000

to support THORPEX (The

Hemispheric Observing System

Research and Predictability

Experiment): A Global Atmospheric

Research Program. In THORPEX,

NOAA partners with the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration,

the U.S. Navy and the National

Science Foundation, as well as

Canada, China, France, Germany,

India, Japan, Korea, United Kingdom,

the Russian Federation, Australia and

the European Commission to advance

the science of extended range global

weather predictability. The NOAA

THORPEX program is designed to

accelerate the improvement of the

Nation's operational three-day to twoweek high impact weather forecasts.

The overarching goal of the NOAA

THORPEX program is to provide the

Nation with 7-14 day weather forecasts

that are as reliable and useful as current 2-3 day weather forecasts. This

request is a component of the U.S.

Weather Research Program (USWRP),

and a substantial part of the funds will

be spent through competitive grant

processes within the USWRP, and will

augment the USWRP Collaborations

Fund. The THORPEX program will

make America's extended weather

forecast skill the world leader in a

decade. NOAA is requesting an additional $239,000 over the current program

level for the U.S. Weather Research

Program to maintain current operations.

• NOAA is requesting an increase of

$2,214,000 and 0 FTE over the current

program level for the Space

Environment Center (SEC). NOAA

has reviewed the operating costs of the

SEC and has determined that the SEC

can operate at a level of $7,512,000

and requests this increase to achieve

that level of funding. This establishes

the funding level necessary to maintain

the SEC's products and services.

• NOAA is also requesting an

increase of $4,786,000 and 0 FTE to

maintain current operations. This

includes several increases, as follows:

Local Warnings and Forecasts Base,

+$2,596,000; Alaska Data Buoys,

+$200,000: Facilities Physical Security,

+$1,950,000; and Advanced Hydrological

Prediction Services, +$40,000.

• NOAA requests a net decrease of

$812,000 below current program levels,

for a total of $71,681,000 for the NWS

PAC-Systems Acquisition line item.

• NOAA requests an increase of 0

FTE and $360,000 above current program levels for a total of 0 FTE and

$11,860,000 for the Weather

Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler

(WSR-88D) program. This reflects the

planned accelerated completion of

Open Systems Radar Data Acquisition

(ORDA) unit development (125 in FY

2005 for a total of 150); the continuation of full scale development of Dual

Polarization technology; and the support given to the development, testing,

and transition activities necessary to

integrate new observational data sets

into NOAA's operational numerical

weather prediction systems.

Implementation of ORDA will enable

the NWS to improve tornado warning

lead times from 11 minutes to 15 minutes by FY 2007 through the following

improvements: (1) double the range

for detection of small tornadoes from

120 kilometers to 240 kilometers,

(2) increase coverage area for small

tornadoes by 80 percent, and (3) accelerate volume scanning from 5 minutes

to 2.5 minutes. When fully implemented (end of FY 2010), dual polarization technology will enable NWS

forecasters to provide better rainfall

estimates, better identify different

forms of precipitation, and provide

information on aircraft icing potential.

Improvements to data assimilation and

modeling systems using WSR-88D data

will result in improvements to three-day

precipitation forecast accuracy from 26

percent to 29 percent by FY 2009.

• NOAA requests an increase of

$870,000 above current program levels, for a total of $3,740,000, for the

NWS Telecommunications Gateway

Legacy Systems Replacement to complete a two year effort to replace the

National Weather Service Telecommunications Gateway (NWSTG)

switching system and repair and

upgrade NWSTG facilities. Installed

at NWS Headquarters in 1989, the

NWSTG cannot meet current and projected data throughput volumes, and

relies on obsolete information system

and facilities infrastructure. The

increasing data volume associated with

higher resolution numerical weather

predication model output and

advanced radar products have and will

continue to degrade performance,

causing long delays in delivery of critical products to field offices, emer-
SECTION 2 11

gency managers, and the general community of users. Data volume associated numerical weather predication

models (NWP), radar, and satellite

products will approach 3,500 gigabytes per day by FY 2007, up from

500 gigabytes per day in FY 2003.

The NWSTG is the Nation's weather

information communications hub,

responsible for the acquisition and distribution of hydrometeorological data

for NWS national centers and forecast

offices, many Federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DOD),

private and commercial partners, the

public, and numerous international

partners. During FY 2005, NWS will

complete server and front-end processor replacement and will address facility deficiencies, including cooling systems and uninterruptible power supply

systems. The new NWSTG system

will meet a delivery performance target of 10 seconds to process severe

weather watches and warnings.

• Cooperative Observer Network

Modernization (COOP): NOAA is

requesting an increase of $1,400,000

above the current program level to

operate and maintain modernized

Cooperative Observer sites installed

under the High Temperature

Resolution Program in FY 2003 and

FY 2004 (a total of 460 sites in the

Northeastern U.S.). NWS will continue the planning of the COOP Network

Modernization, including identification of non-NOAA surface observing

networks (mesonets) that meet NWS

standards. NWS will also continue to

support the central database and processing capability to make high-density surface observations available to its

customers. The COOP modernization

will eventually provide the U.S. with a

network of accurate, near real-time

surface weather data (temperature, precipitation, soil moisture) obtained with

state-of-the-art measurement, monitoring, and communication equipment.

Quality-controlled, higher-density,

real-time surface data will improve

temperature forecast skill, river height

forecast error, drought monitoring resolution, hydrology planning, and energy optimization for NWS customers.

(A Tennessee Valley Authority study

found that a one-degree improvement

in temperature forecasting could save

$1 billion annually in energy costs.)

• Coastal Global Ocean Observing

System (C-GOOS): NOAA requests

an increase of $2,000,000 and 0 FTE

above the current program level to

establish a Coastal-Global Ocean

Observing System for the National

Weather Service. The C-GOOS is a

new initiative, fulfilling the U.S.

coastal component of the international

GOOS effort, and addresses the mandate of the President's Commission on

Ocean Policy and the National

Oceanographic Partnership Program to

bring together government, industry

and academia. NOAA's C-GOOS will

add oceanographic sensors to the existing

NWS Marine Observational Backbone.

The COOP Network Modernization will

greatly improve drought monitoring resolution and accuracy.

• NOAAAll Hazards Weather Radio

(NAHWR): NOAA requests a

decrease of $5,442,000 and 0 FTE

below the current program level to

reflect the completion of an effort to

automate the collection and dissemination of civil-emergency messages over

NOAA Weather Radio.

• NOAA Center for Weather and

Climate Prediction (NCWCP): NOAA

requests a decrease of $7,991,000 and 0

FTE, for a total of $2,300,000 and 0 FTE

to continue project management support

for the NCWCP project. The remaining

funding will ensure project continuity for

work initiated in FY 2004.

Environmental Satellite, Data, and

Information Services.

Proposed funding for FY 2005

includes an increase in the PolarOrbiting Satellite Program of $24.7

million and an increase in the

Geostationary Satellite Program of

$31.8 million. These changes allow

for continuation of procurements to

provide the spacecraft and instruments,

launch services, and ground systems

necessary to assure continuity of environmental satellite coverage. The FY

2005 budget request will maintain a

system of polar-orbiting satellites that

obtains global data and a system of

geostationary satellites that provides

near-continuous observations of the

Earth's western hemisphere. Funding is

included for NOAA's share of the converged NOAA and Department of

Defense (DOD) polar-orbiting system

that will replace the current NOAA series

and the DOD Defense Meteorological

Satellite Program (DMSP).

A total of $4.0 million is requested to

continue the Ocean Remote Sensing

Program, which began in FY 1995.

During the next several years, NOAA

will acquire data from foreign and

other non-NOAA satellites that will

provide measurement of ocean currents, surface winds and waves, subsurface temperature and salinity profiles, ice thickness and flows, and other

marine factors.

A total of $96.5 million is included in

the budget request to maintain basic

mission satellite services including

maintenance and operation of satellite

ground facilities; provision of satellitederived products, including hazards

support; and conduct of research to

improve the use of satellite data.

$52.5 million is included in the

budget request for the NOAA Data

Centers and Information Services subactivity base operating funds.

Ocean Service.

Funding provided through the FY

2005 budget will allow the continuation of the second generation of the

NOS CO-OPS advanced data quality

control program, the Continuous

Operational Real-time Monitoring

System (CORMS AI), as well as the

continued implementation of its development program of the Ocean Systems

Test and Evaluation Program

(OSTEP). The FY 2004 budget
12 SECTION 2

allowed for sufficient support to operate the National Water Level

Observation Network (NWLON) and

for continued growth of the Physical

Oceanographic Real-Time System

(PORTS). Both the NWLON and

PORTS programs have subsets of operational water level stations with meteorological sensors installed for various

partners and users, including the NWS.

Under the NOAA-Wide Coastal

Storms Initiative (CSI), targeted stations of existing Federal and state tide

station networks have been funded to

be enhanced with new meteorological

sensors. Under a NOAA Ocean

Service Partnership Proposal first

funded in FY 2002, a subset of the

NWLON in the Great Lakes was

enhanced with new meteorological

sensors and with continuous GPS.

Previously, special, water level stations

were enhanced with meteorological

sensors in the Gulf of Mexico with

funding from the NWS Southern

Region. In FY 2004, NOS continued

to work cooperatively with the NWS

National Data Buoy Center to establish

common procedures and data streams

for meteorological and water level data

from NOS and NDBC observing systems. NOS operational nowcast/forecast modeling activities are expanding

and rely upon NWS Eta model data

streams as hydrodynamic model drivers.

Office of Atmospheric Research.

Requested funding for FY 2005 for

Weather and Air Quality research is

$35.4 million--a decrease of $20.4 million or almost 37 percent from the FY

2004 enacted level. Increases consist

of a base adjustment of $0.8 million to

partially cover inflationary cost

increases. Two major transfers of programs from NOAA Research to the

National Weather Service are proposed

- the Space Environment Center ($5.3

million and 51 FTE) and the U.S.

Weather Research Program ($5.2M

and 17 FTE). Finally, terminations

totaling $10.8 million are proposed

for: Atmospheric Investigation

Regional Modeling Analysis and

Prediction (AIRMAP) ($4.9 million);

New England Air Quality Study ($3.0

million); the "STORM" Program at the

University of Northern Iowa ($0.5 million); Targeted Wind Sensing ($1.9

million), Remote Sensing Research at

the Idaho State University/Boise

Center Aerospace Laboratory ($0.5

million), and East Tennessee Ozone

Study ($0.3 million).

National Polar-orbiting Operational

Environmental Satellite System

(NPOESS).

The FY 2005 DOC/DOD budget

request for NPOESS is $615.3 million.

FY 2005 funds will be used for the

continued development of system

architecture, technology development

efforts, and critical sensor and algorithm development. NPOESS is

planned to be launched in FY 2010.

This system will exploit advanced

hardware and software technologies to

produce a more reliable, longer-lived

spacecraft with greater mission capability. In addition to new products,

NPOESS will also provide a significant reduction (90 minutes to 30 minutes) in the time required to move from

sensed to processed data.

NOAA Marine and Aviation

Operations (NMAO).

NMAO supports meteorological

activities by collection of related data

from ships and aircraft. The FY 2005

President's Budget does not include

any significant increases or decreases

from the FY 2004 appropriation for

NMAO that are related to meteorological data collection.

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (DOD)

The DOD total budget request for

FY 2005, excluding NPOESS funding,

is $542.1 million which represents a

funding decrease of 4.9 percent from

FY 2004. Specific highlights for each

of the military departments are

described below:

U.S. Air Force.

U.S. Air Force (USAF) resources

for meteorological support fall into

several categories: general operations, investment and research,

Defense Meteorological Satellite

Program (DMSP) operations, and

DMSP supporting research. The

total USAF request for FY 2005,

including DMSP, is $328.4 million.

General Operations: The operations portion of the FY 2005 budget

request is $295 million and funds

day-to-day environmental support to

the DoD, including the active and

reserve components of the Air Force

and Army, nine unified commands,

and other agencies as directed by the

Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Just

over 4,900 active duty and reserve

component military, civilian, and

contract personnel conduct these

activities at more than 290 locations

worldwide. Approximately 85 percent of personnel specialize in

weather; the remainder includes

communications, computer, administrative, and logistics specialists.

General Supporting Research:

The FY 2005 budget request for

supporting research is $16.5 million. The Air Force continues

development of the Space Weather

Analysis and Forecast System

(SWAFS). This project and other

research efforts will investigate the

electrodynamics of the Sun and

Earth's magnetosphere, ionospheric

dynamics, mesoscale meteorology,

visible and infrared properties of the

environment, and cloud parameterization and prediction.

DMSP Operations: Though funding for DMSP comes from the Air

Force, this system is a major source

of space-borne meteorological data

for the military services and other

high-priority DoD programs.

DMSP environmental data is also

distributed to the National Weather

Service (NWS), National Environmental

Satellite, Data, and Information Service

(NESDIS), the Navy's Fleet Numerical

Meteorology and Oceanography Center
SECTION 2 13

(FNMOC), the Naval Oceanographic

Office (NAVOCEANO), and Air Force

Weather Agency (AFWA) according to the

Shared Processing Program agreement.

The DMSP operations and maintenance portion of the FY 2005 budget request is $16.1 million, the

majority of which is for on-orbit

satellite operations, long-haul communications, and one dedicated

command and control facility.

DMSP funds for 120 military and

civilian personnel associated with

the operation and sustainment of the

DMSP command, control, and communications segment.

DMSP Supporting Research: The

FY 2005 DoD R&D budget for

DMSP is $0.92 million for the continued development of system architecture, technology, critical sensors,

and algorithms.

U.S. Navy.

The U.S. Navy FY 2005 budget request

for meteorological programs is $160.8

million. The request includes $139.4 million for operational programs and $21.4

million for supporting research.

The Navy Meteorology and

Oceanography (METOC) program is

truly unique. Focusing support in the

environmentally complex coastal/littoral regions around the globe, Navy

METOC is required to provide battlespace awareness for the warfighter by

assessing of the impact of weather and

ocean phenomena on sensor and

weapon systems. Additionally, and

just as important, Navy METOC provides for safe flight and navigation in

support of Naval, joint, and combined

forces operating throughout the

world's oceans. This is done with a

cadre of highly trained military and

civilian personnel, schooled in both the

sciences and warfighting applications.

By teaming with, and leveraging the

efforts of other agencies and activities,

Navy METOC meets these challenges

in a most cost-effective manner, providing a full spectrum of products and

services with only about 5 percent of

the Federal weather budget.

The Navy METOC Program is

required to provide comprehensive and

integrated weather and ocean support

worldwide. The Oceanographer of the

Navy sponsors programs in four closely related disciplines - meteorology,

oceanography, geospatial information

and services, and precise time and

astrometry. All are used to protect

ships, aircraft, fighting forces, and

shore establishments from adverse

ocean and weather conditions, and to

provide a decisive tactical or strategic

edge by exploiting the physical environment to optimize the performance

and efficiency of platforms, sensors,

and weapons.

Owing to the crucial interrelationship

of the oceans and the atmosphere, the

Navy requires various oceanographic

products to provide the requisite meteorological services. In addition to aviation and marine METOC support, the

Navy provides a variety of unique services on demand, such as electro-optical,

electro-magnetic and acoustic propagation models and products, METOC-sensitive tactical decision aids, and global

sea ice analyses and forecasts.

Support to Navy operations is provided under the direction of the

Commander, Naval Meteorology and

Oceanography Command located at

the Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.

Naval METOC support starts with

sensing the battlespace physical environment and culminates with weapons

arriving on target and personnel operating in the battlespace without being

adversely affected by physical environmental phenomena. Operational

support for the Navy and Marine Corps

includes the day-to-day provision of

meteorological and oceanographic

(METOC) products and services. As

naval operations in the littoral

increase, Navy METOC support is

directed towards providing on-scene

capabilities to personnel that directly

furnish environmental data for sensor

and weapon system planning and

employment. These on-scene capabilities are key elements for enabling the

warfighters to take advantage of the

natural environment as part of battlespace management.

Navy METOC systems acquisition is

accomplished through the Program

Executive Office for Command,

Control, Communications, Computers

and Intelligence and Space (C4I and

Space) in San Diego, California.

Several major METOC operations support systems are being procured or

undergoing upgrades.

Navy METOC Research and

Development (R&D) is cooperatively

sponsored by the Oceanographer of the

Navy and the Chief of Naval Research.

This area is not generally system-specific; instead, Navy R&D efforts typically have applications to meteorological, oceanographic, and/or tactical systems. Navy's tabulation of budget data

includes R&D funding for basic

research, applied research, demonstration and validation, and engineering

and manufacturing development.

Projects initiated by the Navy and

Marine Corps, under sponsorship of

the Oceanographer of the Navy, transition from exploratory development to

operational naval systems. Such

efforts include advances in the Navy's

METOC forecasting capability,

enhancements to communications and

data compression techniques, further

development and improvement of models to better predict METOC parameters

in littoral regions, and an improved

understanding of the impact these

parameters have on sensors, weapon

systems, and platform performance.

As the U.S. Navy transforms under

SEAPOWER 21, increased emphasis

will be placed on the naval force's

capabilities for operational maneuverability, precise weapons employment,

indefinite sustainment and protection

of joint forces. The Navy METOC

Community continues to work closely

with research developers and operational forces to ensure that naval and
14 SECTION 2

joint force commanders will always

have the most accurate, timely, and

geo-referenced METOC information

available for successful operations.

U.S. Army.

U.S. Army estimates a requirement

for $42.3 million for operational support and $10.7 million in research and

development in FY 2005. The total

amount of money budgeted for weather support is estimated because the

costs to support the Air Force Combat

Weather Teams are normally part of

the overall G-3 or G-2 operating budget at the MACOM, Corps, Division, or

Brigade level, and do not have their

own program element or budget line.

Operational support is projected to

decrease approximately $20.8 million

over the FY 2004 expenditures,

research is estimated to decrease about

$5.4 million from the previous year,

and staffing increases moderately.

Budget reductions for the Integrated

Meteorological System (IMETS) and

the Meteorological Measuring Set -

Profiler (MMS-P) programs account

for the bulk of the projected decreases

in operational funding for the Army in

this year's report. The $5.4 million

decrease in research and development

reflects funding requested but not yet

approved for Army Research

Laboratory. Approval of these funds

would result in an overall R&D budget

roughly equal to that of last year.

Increases in staffing are a result of a

projected increase in ARYMET units

within FORSCOM.

Army monies for meteorology are

spent in four main areas: support to

U.S. Army Artillery Met Sections

(ARTYMET), support to U.S. Air

Force Combat Weather Teams at Army

locations, research and development

related to the Army mission, and the

development, production, and maintenance of Army meteorological systems.

U.S. Army Major Commands

(MACOMs) with Staff Weather

Officers and their associated Combat

Weather Teams provide the same support and services to Air Force weather

personnel that they normally provide

to Army personnel. This support is

provided at all levels within the

MACOM where Air Force Weather

personnel are assigned. Support to Air

Force Weather Teams includes the use

of facilities to house weather operations, medical support, access to training facilities, office supplies, utilities

and maintenance for weather facilities,

vehicles and tactical equipment, and

funding for official travel. Eighth U.S.

Army, U.S. Army Europe, U.S. Army

Pacific, Forces Command, and

Training and Doctrine Command all

provide this support to Air Force

weather personnel assigned at the

MACOM level and below.

Major portions of MACOM meteorological budgets go to support Artillery

Meteorology Sections, also known as

ARTYMET Teams, or Met Sections.

Artillery Met Sections release weather

balloons and track their movement to

measure both speed and direction of

upper level winds. Wind data are then

passed to the U.S. Army Artillery units

for firing computations. Artillery Met

Sections range in size from six personnel at a Light Division to twelve personnel at a Heavy Division. There are

twenty-five Met Sections in the Active

Component, with each Met Section

averaging four hundred balloon flights

per year. There are forty-eight Met

Sections in the Army National Guard

(ARNG), with each Met Section averaging approximately one hundred balloon flights per year. The ARNG's

forty-eight teams employ 288 part-time

personnel. Each of the Guardsmen

trains an average of 39 days per year,

equating to 31 FTE positions for this

report. Eighth U.S. Army, U.S. Army

Europe, U.S. Army Pacific, Forces

Command, and the Army National

Guard all support Met Sections.

Training and Doctrine Command

supports twenty-four military and

civilian personnel at the U.S. Army

Artillery School at Fort Sill,

Oklahoma. These personnel train

ARTYMET Teams on the use of the

AN/TMQ-41 Meteorological

Measuring Set. ARTYMET team

structures will be changing over the

next few years to support the Army's

new modularity concept. FORSCOM

is already making these changes to its

artillery sections, and other MACOMS

will follow as their forces transform to

the new units of action.

There were only minor variations

from last year's budget among the

MACOMs for operational support,

mainly due to annual cost of living

increases. One exception is

FORSCOM, which projects an

increase of nearly $3 million from the

previous year to support nine additional ARTYMET sections required under

Army modularity in FY 2005. Of the

$11.1 million budgeted, $10.85 million

will be used in support of FORSCOM

ARTYMET operations and $264,000

will be spent for supplies and travel for

Air Force weather teams supporting

FORSCOM units.

The Army Corps of Engineers - Civil

Operations has programmed funds in

FY 2005 for operational programs and

basic research related to meteorology.

The Army Corps of Engineers - Military

Operations has programmed funding

for meteorological research and development efforts related to soil moisture.

Space and Missile Defense

Command (SMDC) supports two main

meteorological missions. SMDC has

funding designated for the operational

support at the High Energy Laser

Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) for

contract services to operate and maintain the instrumentation, equipment,

and facilities to support the atmospheric sciences/meteorological mission.

SMDC also operates contract support

services to operate the Ronald Reagan

Missile Defense Test Site for operations

support and special weather programs.

Army Materiel Command (AMC)

will fund a variety of activities for

FY 2005, most of which fall into
SECTION 2 15

research and development and systems

acquisition. AMC will fund developmental and testing costs associated

with the IMETS. The IMETS budget

for FY 2005 underwent a $11.9 million

reduction to fund higher priority needs

within the Army. Normal program life

cycle issues reduced the Artillery's

Profiler budget by $11.8 million in

FY 2005. There was a planned purchase of only 3 Profiler systems in

FY 2005, compared to a purchase of 10

systems in the previous year. In addition, the Profiler RDT&E budget came

to an end in FY 2004, as Profiler transitioned to its production phase. Other

activities within AMC include Army

Research Laboratory, Battlefield

Environment Division, which will continue to operate an integrated program

of both basic and applied research.

The Army Research Office will continue basic research activities and will

maintain a relatively stable budget in

FY 2005. AMC's Field Assistance in

Science and Technology (FAST)

Activity will fund deployment of new

lightweight meteorological systems to

test in support of ARTYMET programs.

As a result of changes in the U.S.

Army Research Institute of

Environmental Medicine (USARIEM)

research program for FY 2004, there

was a significant reduction in expenditures on weather-related research.

That decrease was offset by funding of

an SBIR Phase II Plus to expand the

capabilities of a Microenvironmental

Sensor Package. FY 2005 funding for

weather-related research efforts at

USARIEM should decrease relative to

the FY 2004 Level due to completion

of the SBIR.

Headquarters, Department of the

Army, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2

employs two full-time meteorologists

for development of meteorological

policy; coordination of meteorological

support within the Department of the

Army and with other Department of

Defense and Federal agencies and

organizations; Department of the Army

Policy concerning weather; environmental services, and oceanographic

support to the Army (less those environmental services functions assigned

to the Corps of Engineers); and

Department of the Army policy concerning peacetime weather support and

point weather warnings. This office

also sponsors a company grade Army

liaison officer at the Air Force Weather

Agency (AFWA) in Omaha, Nebraska,

to serve in a consulting role to AFWA.

The Air Force provides one full time

Staff Weather Officer to serve as a liaison between Air Force Weather and the

Army Staff.

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND

SECURITY (DHS)

On March 1, 2004, the Department

of Homeland Security (DHS) assumed

primary responsibility for ensuring that

emergency response professionals are

prepared for any situation in the event

of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or

other large-scale emergency. This

entails providing a coordinated, comprehensive Federal response to any

large-scale crisis and mounting a swift

and effective recovery effort. DHS will

also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness, and educating

America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips

for citizens on how to respond in a crisis

will be given special attention at DHS.

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG).

All of USCG's funding for meteorological programs is for operations support. For FY 2005, the requested funding level is $17.0 million. (The Coast

Guard does not have a specific program and budget for meteorology--all

meteorological activities are accomplished as part of general operations.)

The Coast Guard's activities include

the collection and dissemination of

meteorological and iceberg warning

information for the benefit of the

marine community. The Coast Guard

also collects coastal and marine observations from its shore stations and cutters, and transmits these observations

daily to the Navy's Fleet Numerical

Meteorology and Oceanography

Center and NOAA's National Weather

Service. These observations are used

by both the Navy and NOAA in generating weather forecasts.

The Coast Guard also disseminates a

variety of weather forecast products

and warnings to the marine community via radio transmissions. Coast

Guard shore stations often serve as

sites for NWS automated coastal

weather stations, and the National Data

Buoy Center provides logistics support

in deploying and maintaining NOAA

offshore weather buoys.

The International Ice Patrol conducts

iceberg surveillance operations and

provides warnings to mariners on the

presence of icebergs in the North

Atlantic shipping lanes. Coast Guard

efforts in meteorological operations

and services have not changed significantly during recent years.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

(DOI)

The total DOI/BLM weather funding

request for FY 2005 is $2.4 million.

This amount is for meteorological

operations and the support of the

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Remote Automatic Weather Station

(RAWS) program. An additional $1.1

million is recovered each year through

reimbursable accounts with participating

agencies. Normal operations and maintenance of the RAWS program is approximately $900,000 yearly. (This includes

travel, transportation, utilities, services,

supplies, equipment and other non-labor

costs.) Changes in FY 2004 amounts

reflect corrected budget information.

Support of the RAWS program by

the BLM will continue in FY 2005, as

part of the Wildland Fire Agencies'

participation in Fire Weather activities

and the National Fire Danger Rating

System (NFDRS). In addition to

upgrading and maintaining fixed-site

RAWS, the BLM will address increas-
16 SECTION 2

ing demand for the use of mobile units

for both fire and non-fire applications.

Continued efforts will be made to

achieve an optimum balance of fixed

and mobile RAWS resources and support. Cooperation between DOI agencies and the USDA Forest Service

regarding combined meteorological

requirements for the National Wildland

Fire support functions is ongoing.

Interagency RAWS activity is coordinated at a working group level with representation by all participants, and will

continue to implement NFDRS standards to ensure the protection of both life

and property from wildland fires.

DEPARTMENT OF

TRANSPORTATION (DOT)

The DOT total budget request for

FY 2005 is $466.6 million which represents a funding decrease of 2.2 percent from FY 2004. The meteorological programs for the Federal Aviation

Administration and the Federal

Highway Administration, for FY 2005,

are described below.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

For 2005, FAA has requested a total

$459.6 million for the Aviation

Weather Programs including acquisition of new systems, operations and

support, and supporting research. The

actual funding for aviation weather in

FY 2004 was $473.2 million. The

$13.5 million decrease in FY 2005

constitutes a 2.9 percent reduction in

total funding. The changes are comprised of a) decreases in acquisitions of

$20.1 million (-21.5 percent) to $73.1

million, as systems are maturing to

field operations and some budgetary

fluctuations; b) increases in operations

and support of $9.0 million (+2.5 percent) to $361.0 million, reflecting

salary increases for air traffic specialists and maintenance personnel and in

logistics; and c) a decrease for aviation

weather research of $23.7 million to a

total of $21.5 million.

The funding changes reflect major

progress in the aviation weather programs bringing much automation to the

collection of weather observations

from remote sensors, to the dissemination of weather products, graphics and

decision making information available

for use by the air traffic facilities,

pilots, the aviation industry and general

aviation users. Specific programs that

will see a change in funding greater

than $2 million are listed below:

Programs Changes ($ Millions)

• Systems Acquisition:

•• Integrated Terminal Weather

System (ITWS) +3.4

•• Terminal Doppler Weather Radar

(TDWR) +5.3

•• Low Level Windshear Advisory

System (LLWAS) +2.7

•• Weather and Radar Processor

(WARP) -3.8

• Operations Support:

•• Equipment Maintenance 2.0

•• Flight Service Stations (FSS) 3.9

• Research:

•• Aviation Weather Research

Program (AWRP) -2.3

The AWRP will continue research

into understanding the geophysical

phenomenom in the atmosphere and

around airports that present hazardous

conditions for aircraft operations.

Among these are in-flight icing, turbulence, visibility, ceiling, convective

activity, tornadoes, etc. Additional

work will be done to improve models,

develop better graphics for decision

making information, and the impacts

of space weather.

Reimburseables and Interagency

Fund Transfers (information consistent

with Table 2-7).

The FAA will reimburse NOAA

$39.2 million for FY 2004. Included in

those funds are development of

enhancements and operational support

associated with the WSR-88D, ASOS

maintenance, the Center Weather

Service Units at all Air Route Traffic

Control Centers, the World Area

Forecast System, meteorology instructors at the FAA, and studies and

OFCM support. The FAA will reimburse the DOD a total of $3.2M for

supporting research.

Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA).

The total FHWA request for surface

transportation weather programs in FY

2005, is $6.95 million, all of which

will be used for supporting research

and special programs.

In 1999, the FHWA began documenting road weather data requirements,

which have served as the basis for the

majority of work in this area. This

work includes addressing the technical

aspects of the road transportation system (including environmental data collection, processing and dissemination)

as well as the institutional challenges

associated with system implementation.

These institutional challenges

encompassed coordination within state

and local Departments of

Transportation (DOTs) as well as

across the transportation and meteorological communities. With regard to

technical areas of interest, data collection efforts will include increased coverage of atmospheric and road condition observations, as well as incorporation of road weather data (e.g., pavement and subsurface observations) into

broader meteorological observation

networks. Better processing includes

the application of higher resolution

weather models and the development

of road condition prediction models

(e.g., heat balance models) that are

needed to develop the appropriate

road weather information.

A new DOT initiative entitled the

Nationwide Surface Transportation

Weather Observing System, or Clarus

for short, will develop and demonstrate a regional road weather observing network and, ultimately, nationwide data sharing capabilities. Clarus

will allow agencies to share quality

controlled environmental data, ultimately improving forecasts and
SECTION 2 17

value-added weather information

products, as well as supporting anytime, anywhere road weather information for all road and transit users.

A multi-year effort has been undertaken by the FHWA in cooperation

with six national laboratories to prototype and field test advanced decision

support tools for winter maintenance

managers. The Maintenance Decision

Support System (MDSS) prototype is

a decision support tool that integrates

relevant road weather forecasts, coded

rules of practice for winter maintenance operations, and maintenance

resource data to provide managers

with customized road treatment recommendations. The first functional

MDSS prototype was demonstrated in

Iowa in early 2003. During winter

2003-2004, the MDSS prototype was

successfully deployed in a second

demonstration. The current focus of

the MDSS project is targeted

enhancements to benefit other surface

transportation sectors, and deployment assistance to assure successful

technology transfer to the private sector, who can incorporate MDSS modules into their product lines.

The FHWA is researching how

transportation management centers

(TMCs) around the country integrate

road weather information into their

operations. The FHWA is documenting the types of road weather information received by TMCs, the means of

information delivery, how information needs change as the severity of a

weather event increases, and how that

information impacts traffic management decisions. The FHWA is also

investigating several other aspects of

traffic management with respect to

adverse weather, including traffic signal timing, traffic simulation modeling, and freeway operations. These

efforts will help FHWA advance the

state-of-the-practice in weatherresponsive traffic management.

These efforts described above, as

well as future activities captured in

the Road Weather Management program plan will be examined within the

context of two key reports published

in early 2004, and described below.

In 2002, the FHWA asked the

National Research Council (NRC)

Board of Atmospheric Sciences &

Climate to examine what needs to be

done from the research, development,

and technology transfer perspectives

to improve the production and delivery of weather-related information for

the nation's roadways. In March

2004, the NRC released a report,

"Where the Weather Meets the Road:

A Research Agenda for Improving

Road Weather Services," that recommended the creation of a focused,

national road weather research program lead by FHWA that brings

together the transportation and meteorological communities, identifies

research priorities, and implements

new scientific and technological

advances. NRC recommendations

included making better use of existing

road weather information and technologies to increase capabilities for

transportation research, establishing a

nationwide real-time road weather

observing system, developing observing capabilities to assess the accuracy

of road weather forecasts, improving

environmental sensor technologies,

and developing new means to effectively communication road weather

information to a wide range of users.

To strengthen relationships between

the meteorological and surface transportation communities, the FHWA

Road Weather Management Program

also co-sponsored the American

Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy

Forum on Weather and Highways in

November 2003, to discuss provision

of weather information to improve

highway operations, development of

strategies to effectively respond to

weather information, and policy issues

related to effective application of

weather services to the management of

the nation's highway system.

The forum brought together nearly

100 representatives from public, private, and academic sectors at Federal,

state, and local levels. The report

resulting from the forum, "Weather

and Highways: Report of a Policy

Forum," included several recommendations including long-term congressional funding to develop a national

road weather research, development,

and applications program; close coordination of Federal and state DOTs to

improve the safety and efficiency of

highways during adverse weather; and

establishing a national road weather

data collection, processing, and dissemination system.

Based upon recommendations in the

AMS and NRC reports, the FHWA has

partnered with the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) to achieve shared goals for a

safer and more efficient surface transportation system. By working together

the agencies can take advantage of the

other's investments and expertise as

well as promote improved surface

transportation weather training, products, and services. A near-term goal of

the new partnership is the introduction

of new products, services and training

to improve the application of weather

information to surface transportation

operations. Significant investments

beyond current budget levels will be

needed to address all of the recommendations in the two reports.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

AGENCY (EPA)

All of the EPA's funding of meteorological programs is for supporting

research. The anticipated funding

level in FY 2005 for directed meteorological research is $9.0 million, which

is slightly more than the final FY 2004

funding level of $8.7 million.

Currently, increased attention is

being paid to the effects of airborne

toxins and fine particulate matter on

human health. In addition, to promote

excellence in environmental science
18 SECTION 2

and engineering, EPA established a

national fellowship program and substantially increased its support for

investigator-initiated research grants.

The increase in funding for grants

(with reliance on quality science and

peer review) and for graduate fellowships (to support the education and

careers of future scientists) will provide for a more balanced, long-term

capital investment in improved environmental research and development.

The funding for the grants program

will remain about the same in FY

2005, as in FY 2004. This program

will fund research in areas including

ecological assessment, air quality,

environmental fate and treatment of

toxins and hazardous wastes, effects of

global climate change on air quality,

and exploratory research. The portion

of these grants that will be awarded for

meteorological research during FY

2005 cannot be foreseen, but it is

probable that the grant awards will

increase the base amount of $9.0 million listed above for directed meteorological research.

In collaboration with NOAA, EPA is

continuing its development and evaluation of air quality dispersion models

for air pollutants on all temporal and

spatial scales as mandated by the

Clean Air Act as amended in 1990.

Research will focus on indoor, urban,

mesoscale, regional, and multimedia

models, which will be used to develop

air pollution control strategies, and

human and ecosystem exposure

assessments. There will be increased

emphasis placed on meteorological

research into regional and urban formation and transport of air contaminants in support of the revisions to the

National Ambient Air Quality

Standards and homeland security.

Increased efficiency of computation

and interpretation of results are being

made possible by means of supercomputing and scientific visualization

techniques.

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS

AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

(NASA)

For FY 2005, NASA requests a total of

$247.6 million. The majority of this

funding ($245.1 million) is for supporting research.

These funding levels are composed

of the estimated meteorology share of

the supporting research and analysis

programs as well as Earth Observing

System (EOS) and Earth Probe instruments, EOS science, and the EOS Data

Information System elements of the

NASA Office of Earth Science budget.

In parallel with deploying EOS, NASA

Earth Science Enterprise is looking

ahead to determine what will be the

important Earth science questions in

the next decade, and which require

NASA's leadership to be answered.

Drawing on existing reports of the

National Academy of Sciences and the

state of progress in current scientific

endeavors, ESE developed a Research

Strategy for 2000-2010. This strategy

articulates a hierarchy of one overarching question, five broad subordinate

questions and twenty- three detailed

questions. For each, the Research

Strategy defines the observational

requirements, which in turn provide

the basis for definition of candidate

missions to be pursued. An early, high

priority in this time frame is the

National Polar-orbiting Operational

Environmental Satellite System

(NPOESS) Preparatory Program

(NPP), which will serve to provide

continuity with the Terra and Aqua

missions as well as a demonstration of

instruments for the converged weather

satellite program. NASA and the

Integrated Program Office (IPO) jointly fund the NPP mission. The IPO

consists of representation from the

three agencies participating in

NPOESS: NASA, the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Air Force. NASA plans to

continue to work towards the success

of the EOS Terra, AQUA, AURA and

IceSAT missions. In addition, NASA

plans to deliver a functioning data and

information system to support the processing, archival, and distribution of

data products from these missions.

NASA also funds a $71.3 million

program of weather-related research

for aviation safety.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC)

The NRC planned expenditure of

$120,000 in FY 2005, is for meteorological operations to continue technical

assistance for the analysis of atmospheric dispersion for routine and postulated accidental releases from

nuclear facilities, and the review of

proposed sites for possible construction of new nuclear power plants.

The meteorological support program

in the NRC is focused primarily on

analyzing and utilizing meteorological

data in atmospheric transport and dispersion models. These models provide

insight on plume pathways in the nearand far-fields for building wake and

dispersion characteristics to perform

dose calculations on postulated releases to the environment. Meteorological

information is used as input to the

probabilistic safety assessment, the

assessment of the radiological impacts

of routine releases from normal operations, the assessment of other (nonradiological) hazards that may impact

safe operation of the facility, and the

assessment of design or operational

changes proposed for the facility.

Additionally, after a hiatus of some

25 years, the nuclear power industry

has expressed an interest in seeking

site approvals for new nuclear power

plants. Three early site permit applications have been received and are currently under review. These reviews

will also consider regional climatology

and local meteorology. In addition to

its internal review activities, the NRC

may seek assistance from other Federal

agencies to support its safety reviews.
SECTION 2 19

AGENCY FUNDING BY BUDGET CATEGORY

Table 2.2 depicts how the agencies plan to obligate their funds for

meteorological operations broken

down by "budget category." The

two major categories are

"Operations Support" and

"Systems Acquisition." To a large

degree, these categories correspond to non-hardware costs

(Operations Support) and hardware costs (Systems Acquisition).

For agency convenience in identifying small components that do

not fit into these two major categories, a third category is added

called "Special Programs."

Programs that provide support to

several government agencies such

as the Air Force's DMSP are listed

on a separate line.

In FY 2005, Operational Costs

requested are $2.73 billion with a

total of $1.76 billion (64.5 percent) for Operations Support,

$948 million (34.7 percent) for

Systems Acquisition, and

$23.2 million (0.8 percent) for

Special Programs.

Table 2.3 describes how the

agencies plan to obligate their

funds for meteorological supporting research according to budget

categories. The agencies' supporting research budgets are subdivided along similar lines--Research

and Development (non-hardware),

Systems Development (hardware),

and Special Programs (for those

items that do not easily fit into the

two major categories).

For FY 2005, agencies will obligate a total of $442.9 million in

Supporting Research funds in the

following manner: $365 million

(82.4 percent) to research and

development and $78.0 million

(17.6 percent) to Systems

Development.

AGENCY FUNDING BY SERVICE CATEGORY

Table 2.4 summarizes how the agencies plan to obligate operational funds

for basic and specialized meteorological services; Table 2.5 is a similar

breakout for supporting research

funds.

Table 2.4 reveals the distribution of

FY 2005 operational funds: basic

meteorology services receiving

60.8 percent; aviation 19.9 percent;

marine 4.6 percent; agriculture/

forestry 0.5 percent; general military

services 14.0 percent; and other specialized services accounting for 0.3

percent. Table 2.5 shows the distribution of supporting research funds

among the services with basic meteorology receiving 19.1 percent, aviation

21.3 percent, marine 4.9 percent, agriculture and forestry 6.2 percent, general military 5.6 percent, and the remaining 42.8 percent dedicated to other

meteorological services.

The definitions of specialized and

basic services are described below:

Basic Services.

Basic services provide products that

meet the common needs of all users

and include the products needed by

the general public in their everyday

activities and for the protection of

lives and property. "Basic" services

include the programs and activities

that do not fall under one of the specialized services.

Specialized Meteorological Services.

Aviation Services. Those services

and facilities established to meet the

requirements of general, commercial,

and military aviation. 

Marine Services. Those services

and facilities established to meet the

requirements of the DOC, DOD, and

DOT on the high seas, on coastal and

inland waters, and for boating activities in coastal and inland waters. The

civil programs which are directly

related to services solely for marine

uses and military programs supporting fleet, amphibious, and sea-borne

units (including carrier-based aviation

and fleet missile systems) are included.

Agriculture and Forestry Services.

Those services and facilities established to meet the requirements of the

agricultural industries and Federal,

state, and local agencies charged with

the protection and maintenance of the

nation's forests.

General Military Services. Those

services and facilities established to

meet the requirements of military user

commands and their component elements. Programs and services which

are part of basic, aviation, marine, or

other specialized services are not

included.

Other Specialized Services. Those

services and facilities established to

meet meteorological requirements

that cannot be classified under one of

the preceding categories; such as,

space operations, urban air pollution,

global climate change, and water

management.

PERSONNEL ENGAGED IN METEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS

Table 2.6 depicts agency staff

resources in meteorological operations. The total agency staff resourcesrequested for FY 2005 is 14,620. This

total represents a decrease of 1.1 percent from FY 2004.
20 SECTION 2
SECTION 2 21
22 SECTION 2
SECTION 2 23
24 SECTION 2

TABLE 2.6 PERSONNEL ENGAGED IN METEOROLOGICAL OPERATIONS

(Units are Full Time Equivalent Staff Years)*

% of FY 2005

AGENCY FY 2004 FY 2005 % CHANGE TOTAL

Agriculture 236 229 -3.1 1.6

Commerce/NOAA (Subtotal) 5,787 5,716 -1.2 39.1

NWS 4,725 4,654 -1.5 31.8

NESDIS 870 870 0.0 6.0

OAR 32 32 0.0 0.2

NOS 106 106 0.0 0.7

NMAO 54 54 0.0 0.4

Defense 5,123 5,055 -1.3 34.6

Air Force (Subtotal) 3,314 3,221 -2.9 22.0

Air Force Weather 3,195 3,101 -3.0 21.2

DMSP 119 120 0.8 0.8

Navy 1,524 1,494 -2.0 10.2

Army 285 340 16.2 2.3

Homeland Security (Subtotal) 108 108 0.0 3.0

USCG 108 108 0.0 3.0

Interior/BLM (Subtotal) 28 28 0.0 0.2

Interior 26 26 0.0 0.2

Reimbursed** 2 2 0.0 0.0

Transportation (Subtotal) 3,608 3,590 -0.5 24.6

FAA 3,605 3,587 -0.5 24.5

FHWA 3 3 0.0 0.0

EPA 0 0 0.0 0.0

NASA 0 0 0.0 0.0

NRC 1 2 50.0 0.0

TOTAL 14,783 14,620 -1.1 100.0

* Numbers of personnel are rounded to nearest whole number.

** "Reimbursed" are personnel funded by other agencies.
SECTION 2 25

Table 2.7 summarizes the reimbursement of funds from one agency to another during FY 2004. Agencies routinely

enter into reimbursable agreements

when they determine that one agency can

provide the service more efficiently and

effectively than the other. While specific amounts may vary from year-to-year,

the pattern shown is essentially stable

and reflects a significant level of interagency cooperation.

Department of Commerce. NWS

will reimburse DOT $2,500 for Alaska

housing utilities. NASA will receive

$22,000 for stratospheric studies.

NESDIS will transfer a total of

$164 million to NASA for procurement and launches of polar-orbiting

($74 million) and geostationary ($90

million) satellites.

Department of Defense. The Air

Force will reimburse DOC a total of

$4.16 million for operations [e.g.,

OFCM support ($140,000), Lightning

Data ($676,000), NCEP operations

($14,000), Shared Processing Network

($101,000), WSR-88D support

($2,382,000), HAWCNET support

($70,000), COMET training development ($175,000), geomagnetic data

($156,000), and IPO support

($216,000)] and $227,000 to UPOS for

supporting research. In addition, the

Air Force will reimburse NASA

$160,000 for technical data and USGS

$250,000 for the purchase of a magnetometer. The Navy will reimburse

DOC $344,000 for basic climatological analysis and forecasting, and interagency coordination. The Army reimbursements to DOC/NOAA include

$450,000 from COE to NWS for maintaining precipitation reporting stations

The Army TRADOC will also reimburse the AF Air Combat Command

$60,000 for operations and maintenance of weather systems. Finally, the

U.S. Geological Survey will be reimbursed by COE $510,000 for operations and maintenance of hydrologic

and precipitation reporting stations.

Department of Transportation. The

FAA will reimburse NOAA $39.2 million for FY 2004. Included in those

funds are development of enhancements and operational support associated with the WSR-88D, ASOS maintenance, the Center Weather Service

Units at all Air Route Traffic Control

Centers, the World Area Forecast

System, meteorology instructors at the

FAA, and studies and OFCM support.

The FAA will reimburse the Air Force

a total of $2,800,000 and the Navy

$446,000 for supporting research.

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA). The Air

Force will be reimbursed a total of

$2.373 million--$2.204 million for

observations, forecasts, and operations/maintenance of weather infrastructure and replacement of upper air

systems at Trans-Atlantic Abort

Landing Sites and $169 million for

operation and maintanence of weather

towers at Edwards AFB, CA. NOAA’s

NWS and OAR will receive $15,000

and $59,000 respectfully for upper air

analysis and research; National Data

Buoy Center will receive reimbursements of $133,000 for the operation of

two data buoys.

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA). NOAA's Air Resources

Laboratory (ARL) will receive

$6.5 million for development, evaluation, and application of air quality dispersion models; and for provision of

meteorological expertise and guidance

for EPA policy development activities.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

(NRC). The NRC enjoys a unique

relationship with the DOE as a result

of the Energy Reorganization Act of

1974. The act realigned the Atomic

Energy Commission into a regulatory

organization-NRC and a research and

promotional organization-ERDA

(which was subsequently absorbed into

DOE). As a result, the NRC has access

to the DOE national laboratories for

technical assistance activities. This

assistance, while not a reimbursable

agreement, results in the transfer of

funds from NRC for specific technical

assistance by DOE laboratories. In

FY 2004, the NRC expects to task

DOE laboratories and the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration's National Climatic

Data Center at a funding level of

$50,000.

INTERAGENCY FUND TRANSFERS

FACILITIES/LOCATIONS FOR TAKING METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

Table 2.8 indicates the number of

facilities/locations or platforms at

which the Federal agencies carry out

(or supervise) the taking of various

types of meteorological observations.
26 SECTION 2

TABLE 2.7 INTERAGENCY FUND TRANSFERS FOR METEOROLOGICAL

OPERATIONS AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH

FY 2004 Funds ($K)

Estimated or Planned

Agency Funds Agency Funds Supporting

Transferred from: Transferred to: Operations Research

Commerce/NOAA DOT/USCG 2.5

NASA (Polar satellite acquisition) 74,000

NASA (Geo satellite acquisition) 90,000

NASA Stratospheric Research 22

Defense/Air Force DOC/NOAA/OFCM 140

DOC/NOAA/OAR/SEC 156

DOC/NOAA/LDS 676

DOC/NOAA/NCEP 14

DOC/NOAA/SPN 101

DOC/NOAA/NWS 2,382

DOC/NOAA/NWS 70

DOC/NOAA/COMET 175

DOC/NOAA/OGP/UPOS 227

DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/IPO 216

DOI/USGS 250

NASA 160

Defense/Navy DOC/NOAA/NCDC 179

DOC/NOAA/OFCM 165

Defense/Army DOC/NOAA/NWS 450

DOI/USGS 510

DOD/USAF/ACC 60

Transportation/FAA DOC/NOAA 31,840 7,404

DOD/USAF 2,800

DOD/USN 446

NASA DOD/USAF/45th SW 2,204

DOD/USAF/Edwards AFB 169

DOC/NOAA/NDBC 133

DOC/NOAA/NWS 15

DOC/NOAA/OAR/FSL 59

EPA DOC/NOAA/ARL 6,500

NRC DOE/PNNL 50
SECTION 2 27

No. of Locations

TYPE OF OBSERVATION/AGENCY (FY 2004)

Surface, land

Commerce (all types) 841

Air Force (U.S. & Overseas) 130

Navy (U.S. & Overseas) 72

Army (U.S. & Overseas) 39

Marine Corps (U.S. & Overseas) 13

Transportation (Flight Service Stn) 8

Transportation (Lim Aviation Wx Rptg Stn) 114

Transportation (Contract Wx Obsg Stn) 189

Transportation (Auto Wx Obsg Stn) 198

Transportation (Road Wx Obsg Stn) 2,149

Transportation (Auto Sfc Obsg Sys, fielded) 569

Homeland Security (USCG Coastal) 50

Interior 470

Agriculture 1412

NASA 1

Surface, marine

Commerce (SEAS-equipped ships) 140

Commerce (Coastal-Marine Autom Network) 65

Commerce (NOAA/NOS/PORTS) 6

Commerce (Buoys--moored) 64

Commerce (Buoys--drifting) 21

Commerce (Buoys--large navigation) 10

Commerce (Water-level gauges) *175

*Number of which have meteorology sensors 59

Navy (Ships with met personnel) 29

Navy (Ships without met personnel 289

Homeland Security (USCG Cutters) 231

NASA 2

Upper air, balloon

Commerce (U.S.) 86

Commerce (Foreign, Cooperative) 22

Air Force, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 12

Air Force, Mobile 23

Army, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 10

Army, Mobile 95

Navy, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 16

Navy, Mobile(U.S. & Overseas) 46

Navy, Ships 29

Marine Corps, Mobile 10

NASA (U.S.) 1

Atmospheric Profilers

Army 7

NASA 1

No. of Locations

TYPE OF OBSERVATION/AGENCY (FY 2004)

Upper air, rocket

Army (U.S. & Overseas) 2

Doppler weather radar (WSR-88D) sites

Commerce (NWS) 120

Air Force (U.S. & Overseas) 29

Army (U.S. & Overseas) 2

Transportation 12

Doppler weather radar (Not WSR-88D) sites

Air Force (Transportable) 3

Army 2

Navy (Fixed) 9

Marine Corps (Mobile) 10

Off-site WSR-88D Processors (PUPs)

Commerce (NWS) 0 (use AWIPS)

Air Force 140

Navy 24

Army 5

Marine Corps (U.S. & Overseas) 9

Transportation 25

NASA 1

Airport Terminal Doppler weather radars

Transportation (Commissioned) 45

Army (not airfield--Test Range/USAREUR) 2

Conventional radar (non-Doppler) sites

Commerce (NWS) 0

Commerce (at FAA sites) 27

Air Force, Fixed (U.S. & Overseas) 3

Air Force, Remote Displays 2

Air Force, Mobile Units 17

Marine Corps, Mobile units 15

Transportation (FAA (WSP)) 34

Weather reconnaissance (No. of aircraft)

Commerce (NOAA) 3

Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) 10

Geostationary meteorological satellites (No. operating)

Commerce (planned config of 2) 2

Polar meteorological satellites (No. operating)

Commerce (planned config of 2) 2

Air Force 4

Navy GFO (1 in orbit, status TBD)

TABLE 2.8 FACILITIES/LOCATIONS FOR TAKING METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

SECTION 3

The National Weather Service

(NWS) has the principal responsibility

for planning and operating the basic

climate, hydrologic, and weather services and certain specific applied services. The NWS provides climate,

water, and weather warnings and forecasts for the United States (U.S.), its

territories, adjacent waters, and ocean

areas to help protect life and property

and enhance the national economy.

NWS data and products form a

national information data base and

infrastructure which can be used by

other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global

community. 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 U.S. and its possessions.

• Develops and operates national

meteorological, hydrological, climate, space weather and oceanic

service systems.

• Performs applied meteorological,

hydrological, space environmental

and climate research.

• Assists in developing community

awareness and educational materials and programs concerning

weather-related natural disasters.

• Participates in international

hydrometeorological and space

weather 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 providing weather

observations and services to aviation.

• Reorganization Plan 2 of 1965

placed the "National Weather

Service" 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 climate, water, and

weather prediction services; including

watches, warnings, advisories, and

forecasts 24 hours a day, seven days a

week. These services are provided

through a national network of

122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs),

13 River Forecast Centers (RFCs), and

one space weather forecast center (as

of October 1, 2004) that collect data,

prepares local warnings and forecasts,

and disseminate information to the

public both directly through NOAA

Weather Radio, and indirectly through

the mass media. Forecast and warning

services prepared at WFOs are derived

in part from prediction guidance prepared by the 13 RFCs and the nine

National Centers for Environmental

Prediction (NCEP). These centers are:

Hydrometeorological Prediction

Center, Storm Prediction Center,

Aviation Weather Center, Environmental Modeling Center, Tropical

Prediction Center, Climate Prediction

Center, Space Environment Center,

Ocean Prediction Center, and NCEP

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 NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations (NMAO).

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

SECTION 3 DOC 29
30 DOC SECTION 3 

Central Operations.

Continually improving the accuracy,

timeliness, and accessibility to prediction services is largely a result of

research and development both within

the NWS and externally from universities and private corporations.

Public Weather Services.

The NWS Public Weather Service

Program provides forecast, warning,

and response services to the public,

private meteorological firms, broadcast meteorologists, and those responsible for public safety, including

Federal, state and local emergency

managers and planners. NWS forecasters at WFOs routinely issue forecasts for every location in the Nation

for sky cover, maximum and minimum

temperature, wind speed and direction,

precipitation, and hazardous weather

information at least two times per day.

NWS forecasters at WFOs issue shortduration watches and warnings for

severe weather such as tornadoes and

severe thunderstorms, as well as longduration watches, warnings, and advisories for hazardous winter weather

conditions, high wind events, dense

fog, and temperature extremes.

Additionally, NWS forecasters provide

forecasts in response to nuclear hazard

accidents or hazardous material spills.

Aviation Weather Services.

The NWS provides a broad range of

services in support of the aviation

community. The WFOs prepare

Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs)

four times a day, with amendments as

needed, for more than 565 public-use

airports in the U.S. and its territories in

the Caribbean and northwest Pacific.

These offices also produce about 241

individual route-oriented forecasts

three times a day for the 48 contiguous

states and over the Pacific Ocean.

NCEP's Aviation Weather Center

(AWC) and the Alaska Region's Alaska

Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU), and

WFO Honolulu prepare area forecasts

three or four times daily describing

general aviation weather conditions

over the lower 48 states, the Gulf of

Mexico, Caribbean Sea, Alaska,

Hawaii and coastal waters respectively. These three specialized offices

also issue in flight advisories and

warnings of hazardous weather conditions associated with thunderstorms,

icing, turbulence, and strong, low level

winds. The AWC also prepares forecasts of significant aviation weather

over the continental U.S. four times a

day for flight levels from the surface to

25,000 feet.

NWS Center Weather Service Units

located in each of the 21 Federal

Aviation Administrations (FAA) Air

Route Traffic Control Centers provide

direct meteorological support to en

route centers, Terminal Radar

Approach Controls, airport towers, and

Automated Flight Service Stations.

The NWS provides a service to international aviation as one of the

International Civil Aviation

Organization's (ICAOs) two World

Area Forecast Centers. NCEP's

Environmental Modeling Center supplies global gridded model data of temperature, winds, and humidity twice a

day for flight levels from 5,000 to

45,000 feet. The AWC prepares forecasts four times a day of globally significant thunderstorms, tropical

cyclones, severe squall lines, moderate

or severe turbulence and icing, and

cumulonimbus cloud associated with

the above, from 25,000 to 63,000 feet.

The forecast charts also include information on volcanoes, radiological

releases, jet streams and tropopause

heights. This information is transmitted by the International Satellite

Communications System with coverage in the Americas, Caribbean, western portions of Europe, the Pacific, and

eastern Asia.

Within the framework of the international airways volcano watch, the

NWS and NCEP share management

responsibility for operating the

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers

(VACC) in Washington, DC. NWS

also operates a VACC in Anchorage,

Alaska.

The NWS, working closely with the

FAA's Aviation Weather Research

Program, developed new experimental

and operational forecast products

designed to improve aviation hazard

forecast capabilities zero to six hours

into the future (Figure 3-DOC-1).

New icing and turbulence products

for meteorologists and end users

became operational in FY 2004.

Improved software tools to increase

the number of terminal airports covered by a forecast are also under development.

Marine Weather Services.

The NWS Marine Weather Program

is the lead for the nation's marine and

coastal weather services. Programs

include warnings, forecasts, and advisories for coastal waters, offshore, high

seas, and near-shore and open waters

of the Great Lakes. It leads programs

for tropical cyclone, coastal flood,

severe convective coastal weather, and

coastal hazards such as high surf, rip

currents, and tsunamis. NWS forecasters at 46 coastal and marine WFOs, in

collaboration with NCEP's Ocean

Prediction Center and Tropical

Prediction Center, provide a range of

weather services focused on the

expanding and weather-sensitive U.S.

coastal population and those responsible for its safety.

The program develops plans, policy

and procedures for the delivery of

marine and coastal weather products

and services from the coastal WFOs,

the Ocean Prediction Center, the

Tropical Prediction Center, and the

Central Pacific Hurricane Center. It

ensures marine and coastal forecast

training needs are met. The program

works with the Office of Science and

Technology to prioritize tropical,

marine and coastal science and technology development and approve new

or improved product designs, and with

the Office of Operational Systems to

ensure the collection of marine and
SECTION 3 DOC 31

coastal observations and the delivery

of marine and coastal products to

users. The program creates internal

and external partnerships, collects and

validates marine and coastal service

and mission needs, solicits feedback

on products and services and validates

whether these meet the needs.

The program works with NOAA's

National Environmental Satellite,

Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), the U.S. Navy, and the U.S.

Coast Guard (USCG) to provide ice

warning and advisory services through

the joint National Ice Center; with the

U.S. Navy, the USCG, the U.S.

Maritime Administration, and the

Corps of Engineers to safely operate

the nation's Marine Transportation

System; with the Department of

Defense, Federal Emergency

Management Agency, and Corps of

Engineers to provide tropical cyclone

services; with the USCG, Navy, Air

Force, and private entities to disseminate weather to mariners; with

NOAA's National Ocean Service

(NOS) on the PORTS and TIDES programs; and with the World

Meteorological Organization to provide services to the international community. It also works in cooperation

with NOAA's Office of Response and

Restoration, the Department of

Defense, and Department of Homeland

Security for forecasting services for

hazardous material spills, marine area

search, rescue, and recovery operations, and security needs.

Fire Weather Services.

NWS offices provide routine presuppression and wildfire weather support to Federal and state land management agencies. NWS forecasters at

WFOs provide routine fire weather

forecasts, forecast support for the

National Fire Danger Rating System,

and site specific forecasts during the

local fire season over roughly threequarters of the nation. The NWS

deploys a national cadre of speciallytrained Incident Meteorologists

(IMETS) to large wildfires and coordination centers for on-site weather support. IMETs use weather instrumentation, telecommunications, and display

equipment to aid in on-site forecast

preparation and briefings. In the early

morning, NCEP's Storm Prediction

Center issues one and two-day fire

weather outlooks that highlight areas

with critical and extremely critical fire

potential based on the state of the fuels

(trees, brush, grasses), and critical

weather parameters. In addition, areas

where significant lightning activity

accompanied by less than 0.1 inch of

precipitation (dry lightning) is forecast

are highlighted.

Tsunami Warnings.

Tsunami watches, warnings, and

information bulletins for the Pacific

Ocean and Hawaii are prepared by the

Richard H. Hagemeyer Pacific

Tsunami Warning Center in Ewa

Beach, Hawaii, and for the west coast

of the continental U.S. and Alaska by

the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami

Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska.

NWS collects and analyzes observational data from an international network of seismological observatories,

sea-level observing stations, and deepocean tsunami detection buoys which

operate on a cooperative basis. The

centers use these data to prepare and

disseminate watches, warnings, and

information bulletins to international

customers, WFOs, Federal and state

disaster agencies, military organizations, private broadcast media, and

other agencies involved with warning

the public.

Climate Services.

Climate prediction products and

other services relate to the period of a

week out to one year, including seasonal forecasts and threat assessments.

The climate services program provides

the strategic vision for climate services

at NWS, oversees the program including the newly instituted regional and

local climate services programs, and

serves as steward of the climate

observing system. It maintains strong

ties with other countries; across

Figure 3-DOC-1. Current Icing Potential (CIP) Product. The FAA's Aviation

Weather Research Program and the NWS developed this graphical icing product, updated every 3 hours, and available for user selected altitudes across the

contiguous U.S.
32 DOC SECTION 3 

NOAA lines, specifically through the

NOAA Climate Program Office; with

Federal agencies; the university community; and the private sector and

encourages collaborative arrangements

among the Regional Climate Centers

(managed by NOAA/NESDIS), the

State Climatologists, and NWS WFOs

and regional headquarters to tailor climate forecasts for local users.

Hydrologic Services.

The 122 WFOs, 13 River Forecast

Centers (RFCs), and NCEP's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center work

as a team to minimize loss of life and

property damage from flooding and to

meet the water service needs of our

Nation. RFC hydrologists use a modeling system called the NWS River

Forecast System (NWSRFS) to produce forecast time series of discharges

or river stages at approximately

4,000 locations along the nation's

rivers (Figure 3-DOC-2). RFCs also

provide long-term water supply forecasts used by water managers in the

western U.S., where decisions about

water allocation and use are particularly critical now, with much of the

West suffering through a long-term

drought.

WFOs work cooperatively with the

RFCs to monitor the major river systems around the clock. Using

advanced Doppler radar (NEXRAD)

and telemetered rain gauge observations, WFOs continuously monitor the

threat of flash flooding and urban

flooding, to allow them to provide

timely flood watches and warnings to

protect life and property.

The NWS partners with a variety of

Federal and State Agencies to provide

hydrologic services. For example, the

NWS works very closely with the U.S.

Geological Service (USGS), the U.S.

Army Corps of Engineers, the Natural

Resources Conservation Service

(NRCS), the Bureau of Reclamation,

and the Bureau of Land Management

on a variety of water related issues

including stream gauging, support of

flood fighting activities, river and

water supply forecasting, and water

management. Observations provided

by the USGS are critical to the success

of the NWS Hydrologic Services

Program. The NRCS furnishes snow

measurements that are combined with

advanced snow modeling and analysis

provided by NOAA's National

Operational Hydrologic Remote

Sensing Center to support joint NWSNRCS water supply forecasting in the

western U.S

The NWS is implementing the

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction

Service (AHPS) which produces

hydrologic forecasts with lead times

ranging from days to months. AHPS

builds on the existing NWS infrastructure, including AWIPS, NEXRAD, and

NWSRFS. AHPS also provides

Ensemble Streamflow Prediction, a

feature that allows the NWS to quantify forecast uncertainty. This lets

decision makers apply risk-based

analyses as they respond to flooding,

and as they try to balance competing

demands on water supply, especially

during periods of drought.

Flash floods, typically caused by

intense, small-scale convection, are the

leading cause of flood fatalities.

Another AHPS capability, known as

Flash Flood Monitoring and Prediction

(FFMP), combines high-resolution

Figure 3-DOC-2. Map showing status of river conditions throughout the Nation. This map is included on the primary

AHPS Web page and it provides access to more detailed local information on river conditions, including observations

and forecasts at specific locations along rivers, as well as expected impacts that could result from flooding.
SECTION 3 DOC 33

radar rainfall observations with

Geographic Information System (GIS)

technology to provide more accurate

and much more precise flash flood

forecasts. The added precision provided by FFMP greatly reduces the

false alarm rate of flash flood forecasts, making them more credible and

leading to better public response,

which will ultimately save lives.

AHPS services are provided as a

suite of Web pages

(weather.gov/water), that feature userfriendly menus and maps which allow

users to zoom in to areas of interest.

Clicking on an area of interest on the

national map brings the user to a map

of the NWS WFO serving that area

which provides more detailed information on river conditions.

AHPS also opens opportunities to

improve NOAA's analysis and forecast

capabilities related to coastal water

conditions, through joint efforts with

other components of NOAA (e.g.,

National Ocean Service, Office of

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research).

Observations.

Observations form the basis for forecasts and the monitoring and evaluation of the environment. Differing

applications and requirements are

associated with each of these functions. Forecast applications associated

with watch and warning functions

must be served immediately, while

real-time availability is not a significant factor for climate monitoring.

The range of differing applications will

dictate how future instrument deployments will be conducted. This poses a

constant challenge to the optimization

of resources placed into in situ and

remotely sensed observation platforms.

The fundamental application of

observations is to deliver better products and improve services. This

demands the link between improved

services and observing systems be well

defined. We need to determine the

gaps in observations to meet varied

requirements, emphasizing the importance of metadata and sensor calibration continuity. Coordinated efforts

within the Federal community

throughout all aspects of observations

development, dissemination and use

are needed for efficiently utilizing of

resources.

The NWS approach for improving

observations consists of several

efforts:

• Make better use of data from

observing systems that currently

exist;

• Extend the system life of current

observing systems to postpone

technical obsolescence;

• Replace obsolete observing systems;

• Implement new observing technologies and communication systems that better meet the data needs

of our customers; and

• Strengthen the link between user

requirements and technology

research and development.

The NWS manages programs that

produce observations in support of a

wide range of customers, such as the

aviation, climate monitoring and

research communities. As part of its

responsibility the NWS inspects all

surface weather observing stations and

certifies equipment and observers. The

NWS headquarters establishes policy

for observations and standards and

coordinates with other Government

agencies and international organizations.

NOAA's Cooperative Weather

Observer Network (COOP), is the

Nation's largest and oldest weather network (Figure 3-DOC-3). Modernizing

the COOP is closely related to the

President's Climate Change Research

Initiative, providing a richer source of

data to improve weather and climate

forecasting and to contribute to climate

change research. The COOP network

is the primary source for monitoring

U.S. climate variability over weekly to

interannual time frames. These data

are also the primary basis for assessments of century-scale climate change.

The modernized COOP network will

add to NOAA's vision of an-end-toend monitoring program that "takes the

temperature" of the earth's systems.

NOAA is also developing and implementing a Climate Reference Network

Figure 3-DOC-3. Map showing locations of current Cooperative Weather

Observer Network (COOP). Interactive web site can be found at

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/coop/wfo-rfcmap.htm
34 DOC SECTION 3 

(USCRN), which will complement the

COOP.

National Centers for Environmental

Prediction.

Over the last several decades, NWS

has made major improvements in forecasting synoptic scale (large scale,

slowly evolving) weather. Further

improvements will be realized in the

severe weather and flood warnings

program as a result of improvements in

higher resolution, centrally prepared

weather guidance products out to

Day 5, 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.

While the NWS field structure

focuses more on warnings and short

range forecasts, NCEP serves a

broader, national mission where

national centers provide products

based on output from numerical models, statistical adjustments to model

fields, and value added products prepared by national center forecasters.

This NCEP product suite is transmitted

to the WFOs in digital form, where

forecasters use the products to prepare

local forecasts.

NCEP is organized into seven science based, service oriented centers

that generate environmental prediction

products and two central support centers that develop and operate numerical

models -- the basis for NWS predictions. NCEP delivers analyses, guidance, forecasts and warnings for

weather, ocean, climate, water, land

surface and space weather to the nation

and world. NCEP provides sciencebased products and services through

collaboration with partners and users

to protect life and property, enhance

the Nation's economy and support the

Nation's growing need for environmental information. Each service center depends on the observational infrastructure, the data assimilation systems, the numeric modeling function,

and the application of model output

statistics to produce value added forecast guidance products for NWS field

offices and other users.

Storm Prediction Center. The Storm

Prediction Center (SPC) focuses on

hazardous weather events, such as

severe thunderstorms, tornadoes,

extreme winter weather, and excessive

precipitation with emphasis on the first

few hours of the forecast period. All

Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm

Watches issued anywhere in the contiguous U.S. come from the SPC.

Also, the SPC prepares Mesoscale

Discussions which are technical discussions of developing mesoscale features and their impact on hazardous

weather. For longer time periods, the

SPC produces the Convective Outlook

which are one, two and three day forecasts of the probability and intensity of

both non-severe and severe thunderstorms (including tornadoes). The

SPC also issues one and two day

National outlooks for areas with critical and extremely critical fire potential

out to two days.

Hydrometeorological Prediction

Center. The Hydrometeorological

Prediction Center (HPC) provides

forecast, guidance, and analysis products and services (1) to support the

daily public forecasting activities of

the NWS and its customers, and (2) to

provide tailored support to other government agencies in emergency and

special situations. As part of this mission, HPC prepares Quantitative

Precipitation Forecasts (QPF) used by

the RFCs to develop local river and

flood forecasts and by WFOs to

develop local rainfall, snow and ice

forecasts. The HPC provides special

QPFs and coordinates with other

Federal agencies, such as the Federal

Emergency Management Agency

(FEMA), during major flood events.

The HPC also provides an array of

analyses and forecasts out to seven

days of frontal systems, pressure patterns, temperature, and precipitation

for use by WFOs and the private

weather community. Additionally,

HPC serves as the backup to the

National Hurricane Center.

Aviation Weather Center. The NCEP

experts for aviation meteorology are

concentrated at the Aviation Weather

Center (AWC). The AWC provides

weather warnings, advisories and forecasts to the aviation community under

an international agreement through the

International Civil Aviation

Organization. The AWC provides

wind, and flight hazards (e.g., icing,

turbulence) forecasts for flight planning and en route aircraft operations

for the U.S., the Gulf of Mexico, the

Caribbean Sea, the Atlantic and Pacific

routes in the Northern Hemisphere and

some routes in the Southern

Hemisphere. The AWC also produces

guidance products used by WFOs to

support airport terminal forecasts.

Thus, the AWC produces large scale,

global aviation functions centrally,

while the WFOs customize local aviation products based on centralized

guidance provided by the AWC and

local observations.

Environmental Modeling Center.

The Environmental Modeling Center

(EMC) improves NCEP's numerical

climate, water, and weather predictions

through data assimilation and computer modeling. To provide mesoscale

predictions (thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, etc.),

ocean predictions and global weather

and climate predictions, EMC develops, adapts, improves, and monitors

data assimilation systems and global,

regional and mesoscale models of the

atmosphere, land surface, ocean, and

atmosphere/ocean/land systems. The

EMC uses advanced modeling methods developed internally and cooperatively with universities, the international scientific community, NESDIS,

NOAA laboratories, and other government agencies. As an example, EMC

is a partner in the newly created

NASA/NOAA Joint Center for
SECTION 3 DOC 35

Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA)

designed to accelerate the use of

research and operational satellite data

in NCEP operational models. The

EMC integrates research and technology through collaborative model

development projects. These interactions serve as an efficient and effective

interface between NCEP and the scientific community that develop ideas,

numerical models, and forecast techniques to implement model improvements and improve NWS products.

The EMC conducts applied research

and technology transfers and publishes

research results in various media for

dissemination to the world meteorological, oceanographic, and climate

community. EMC also participates in

ongoing interactive research programs

such as the U.S. Weather Research

Program's (USWRP) Hurricane at

Landfall project and the community

Weather Research and Forecast (WRF)

model. Furthermore, EMC is participating in the Winter Storm

Reconnaissance Program in the Pacific

through targeted observations aimed at

improving forecasts across the country.

EMC research, coupled with increased

model resolution, has resulted in a

number of improvements in the10 Km

Meso Eta model precipitation, the 12

Km Meso Eta topography and winds,

and hurricane track forecasts.

Climate Prediction Center. The

Climate Prediction Center (CPC) provides operational monitoring and prediction of global and regional climate

variability, with emphasis on applied

research and partnerships, to improve

understanding of the global climate

system, weather and climate links,

extremes and trends. CPC develops

and maintains data bases for determining current and historical climate

anomalies and trends, and provides

analyses and assessments of their origins and linkages to the global climate

system. CPC products and services

cover time scales ranging from next

week (days 6-10) to seasons and out to

a year in advance, and cover land,

ocean, and atmosphere extending into

the stratosphere. CPC's products

include probabilistic long range outlooks for temperature and precipitation, the multi-agency U.S. Drought

Monitor, a drought outlook, and El

Niño Southern Oscillation discussions

and outlooks, among many others.

WFOs, as well as the public, private

industry, and the national and international research community use CPC

products and climate services.

Space Environment Center (a center

of the NWS as of October 1, 2004).

The Space Environment Center (SEC)

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 to the public, its U.S.

Air Force partners, and vendors of

value-added services specific predictions of the space weather activity

level for the next three days and more

general predictions up to several weeks

in advance, as well as weekly summaries of observed solar terrestrial

conditions. SEC serves as the international World Warning Agency for the

International Space Environment

Service (ISES). It exchanges international data- solar wind, X-ray, sunspot,

corona, magnetic, and ionospheric

measurements-in real-time and, from

these data, provides 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.

Ocean Prediction Center. The Ocean

Prediction Center (OPC) provides

atmospheric and oceanographic warning, forecast, and analysis products and

services for the North Atlantic and

North Pacific (north of 30 degrees)

(Figure 3-DOC-4) as part of the NWS

mission of protecting life and property

and enhancing economic opportunity.

As part of this, OPC handles U.S.

international meteorological obligaFigure 3-DOC-4. United States High Seas Forecast Areas of Responsibility.
36 DOC SECTION 3 

tions to marine interests under the

International Convention for Safety of

Life at Sea (SOLAS). The OPC provides weather and sea state warnings

and forecasts for the high seas of the

Northern Hemisphere north of 30

degrees for planning and operational

purposes. OPC warnings and products

go directly to ships and are vital for the

protection of life and property at sea.

The OPC also coordinates forecasts

with and provides forecast guidance to

WFOs with coastal responsibilities. 

Tropical Prediction Center/National

Hurricane Center. The NCEP experts

in the area of tropical meteorology are

concentrated in the Tropical Prediction

Center (TPC)/National Hurricane

Center (NHC). TPC/NHC services

include advisories, watches, and warnings for tropical cyclones in the North

Atlantic and eastern North Pacific hurricane basins including the portions of

the coastline threatened by such

storms. In addition, TPC forecasters

provide marine analyses and forecast

products for the same areas of responsibility, south of about 31 north latitude

and a portion of the southeast Pacific.

The TPC/NHC provides guidance,

coordination, and tropical weather

expertise to WFO forecasters, the

media, and private industry.

NCEP Central Operations. The

NCEP Central Operations (NCO) is

responsible for NCEP operations,

including access to real time data, and

its quality control and use in numerical

weather prediction systems, as well as

the workstations used by NCEP forecasters to access model output and

other data necessary for producing

guidance products. The NCO provides

management, procurement, development, installation, maintenance, and

operation of all computing and communications related services that link

individual NCEP activities together.

The NCO is the focal point for establishing and executing policies, standards, procedures, and documentation

for computing and communications

within the entire NCEP organization.

The NCO maintains and manages the

supercomputer and runs the computer

applications that generate all NCEP

model products. The NCO leads the

technical transition between the

research and development of numerical weather and climate prediction

models and their operational use on the

NCEP computer systems. 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 high

performance computer systems, forecaster workstations, personal computers and a user service that support all

NCEP centers. NCO has recently

shown significant improvement at reliably getting products to customers.

Other NWS Offices with National

Responsibilities. In addition to the

NCEP centers, there are two other

offices that provide National products.

They are the Alaskan Aviation Unit

and the WFO Honolulu/Central Pacific

Hurricane Center.

Alaskan Aviation Unit. The Alaskan

Aviation Unit (AAU) provides weather

forecasts to the aviation community

under an international agreement

through the International Civil

Aviation Organization (ICAO). The

AAU provides wind, temperature, and

flight hazards (e.g., icing, turbulence)

forecasts for flight planning and

enroute aircraft operations for Alaska

and surrounding areas

(Figure 3-DOC-5).

WFO Honolulu/Central Pacific

Hurricane Center. WFO

Honolulu/Central Pacific Hurricane

Center (CPHC) provides products in

aviation, marine, and tropical cyclone

areas. In aviation, WFO Honolulu provides wind, temperature, and flight

hazards (e.g., icing, turbulence) forecasts for flight planning and enroute

aircraft operations for the central north

Pacific from 140° W to 160° E longitude and in the Oakland Flight

Information Region south of 30° N latitude through ICAO international

agreement. The office handles international meteorological obligations to

marine interests under the International

Convention for Safety of Life at Sea

(SOLAS). WFO Honolulu provides

weather and sea state warnings and

forecasts for the high seas of the central north and south Pacific south of

30° N latitude. CPHC issues tropical

cyclone advisories, forecasts, watches,

and warnings for the central north

Pacific including Hawaii.

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, water,

and climate services to the public.

Meteorological Research. The NWS

conducts meteorological research to

develop, test, evaluate, and improve

numerical models and analysis/forecast techniques for weather and climate prediction including:

• Techniques for predicting

mesoscale phenomena (e.g., heavy

precipitation, tornadoes, and severe

thunderstorms).

• 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.

• Techniques to improve prediction

of seasonal to interannual climate

variability and their impacts on

weather variability

Hydrologic Research. The NWS

develops, implements and operationally supports improved hydrologic,

hydraulic and hydrometeorological

models and manages hydrologic data

and enhanced quality control procedure to support national flood and

water resources forecasting. Research
SECTION 3 DOC 37

encompasses the following areas:

• Improvements to the Ensemble

Streamflow Prediction (ESP) system and its complementary models

in the NWS River Forecasting

System. Research, development

and implementation of improved

ESP procedures which improve

forecast accuracy and quantify

uncertainty at all time scales.

• Specialized flood and flash flood

forecasting procedures using linked

hydrologic, hydraulic and meteorological models. Major research

areas include developing distributed hydrologic models that use

high resolution precipitation data

from the NWS radar network,

improvement of cold region

processes in watershed models, and

assimilation of data to improve initial conditions. Highly specialized

hydraulic models for routing river

flows will also provide information

for generating maps of inundated

areas.

• Development of improved multisensor precipitation estimates for

input estimates for input into operational hydrologic and atmospheric

models. Radar, rain gauge and

satellite rainfall estimates are

merged to produce optimum rainfall analyses.

• Development of verification methods to assess the added-value of

new science and technology to the

customer.

Space Weather Research. Research

and development at SEC emphasizes

understanding of the fundamental

physical processes governing the

regime from the solar surface, through

the interplanetary medium, into the

magnetospheric-ionospheric regions,

and ending in Earth's upper atmosphere. These processes are manifest in

the climatology and disturbances of

Earth's magnetic field, the ionosphere,

the charged particle populations at

satellite orbits, and the atmospheric

density at high altitudes (including

low-Earth orbit). This applied research

is focused on areas where advanced

applications can be devised and prototyped to improve the specification and

forecast of conditions in the space

environment by developing and implementing models and indices, as well as

by obtaining and processing new

observations.

• Developing of the first dynamic,

global ionospheric model to use

ensemble Kalman filter techniques

to assimilate data every 15 minutes.

Disparate data from widely dispersed sources will enable the

model output to be useful to radiocommunicators and GPS and

LORAN users.

• Developing of models to characterize and predict geomagnetic storm

intensity development, spatially

and temporally.

Support for Collaborative Research

with the Academic Community and

Other Partners. The Collaborative

Science, Technology, and Applied

Research (CSTAR) program was

established to bring NWS-supported

collaborative activities with the acaFigure 3-DOC-5. Two products available from the Alaska Aviation Weather

Center are an Aviation Weather

Clickable map (top, left) and Forecast

Surface map (lower, right).
38 DOC SECTION 3 

demic community into a structured

program and to create a cost-effective

transition from basic and applied

research to operations and services.

The CSTAR Program issues requests

for proposals through which colleges

and universities compete for 1-3 years

of research funding. CSTAR supports

shorter-term research activities with

colleges and universities through the

NWS/Cooperative Program for

Operational Meteorology, Education,

and Training (COMET) Outreach

Program. The NWS also funds specific applied research grants and cooperative agreements directly in support

of hydrology and meteorology

research needs.

Training. The NWS provides training to its workforce in support of the

NWS mission and to enhance the professional and scientific development of

its staff. Training deficiencies and

requirements are identified and

addressed via the National Strategic

Training and Education Plan (NSTEP)

process which is described in NWS

Instruction 20-102, available at

http://www.nws.noaa.gov/directives/020/pd02001002a.pdf

The NWS provides staff training

through a variety of in-residence and

distance learning techniques. Handson, in-residence training is provided at

three professional training facilities.

The NWS Training Center (NWSTC)

in Kansas City, Missouri, provides

technical, hydrologic and management/leadership training; the Warning

Decision Training Branch (WDTB) in

Norman, Oklahoma, provides training

on improving situational awareness

and how to integrate remotely sensed

data toward improving the warning

decision process; and the Cooperative

Program for Operational Meteorology,

Education and Training (COMET) in

Boulder, Colorado, provides advanced

meteorological and hydrometeorological education. These facilities along

with other groups also provide distance

learning, Internet modules, teletraining, webcasts and CD-ROM based

training for access by the NWS workforce to ensure currency with the latest

software, hardware and forecasting

techniques.

In addition to providing the technical

training cited above, the NWS is also

working to expand its Leadership

Academy. The goal of the NWS

Leadership Academy is align the

development of NWS staff with the

advancement of science and technology to enable NWS to lead, perform,

and serve with competitive advantage.

The Academy is founded on a sequential and progressive approach designed

to develop people and improve performance. From entry into the agency

to senior career status, employees will

be able to take advantage of courses

and processes that are part of a powerful management and leadership learning environment.

Finally, the NWS is working to

develop an organized curriculum to

train the knowledge, skills, and abilities of all positions within the NWS.

This will be structured in the form of a

Corporate University which will be

integrated as part of a proposed NOAA

University.
SECTION 3 DOC 39

The National Environmental

Satellite, Data, and Information

Service (NESDIS), part of the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), manages

U.S. civil operational environmental

satellite systems, as well as the three

NOAA National Data Centers

(NNDCs) that develop global,

national, and regional databases that

support meteorology, oceanography,

geophysics, and the space environment. 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. The

merger of the former National

Environmental Satellite Service

(NESS) and the Environmental Data

and Information Service (EDIS)

formed NESDIS.

NESDIS procures, launches and

operates two types of satellites to provide worldwide environmental data

and information products and services

to Federal agencies, state and local

governments, and private users. These

are the Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) and

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).

Currently NESDIS is operating five

polar orbiters. NOAA-16 and NOAA17 are classified as the primary "operational" satellites, and are part of the

new series of polar orbiters -- with

improved sensors, that began with the

launch of NOAA-15 in May 1998, followed by NOAA-16 on September 21,

2000, and finally, the newest, NOAA17, launched June 24, 2002. The

NOAA-12, NOAA-14 and NOAA-15

satellites continue to transmit data as

stand-by satellites. The POES satellites are constantly circling the Earth in

an almost north-south orbit, passing

close to both poles. The orbits are circular, with an altitude between 830

(morning orbit) and 870 (afternoon

orbit) km, and are sun synchronous.

One satellite crosses the equator at

10:00 a.m. local time, the other at 2:00

p.m. local time. The circular orbit permits uniform data acquisition by the

satellite and efficient control of the

satellite by the NOAA Command and

Data Acquisition (CDA) stations

located near Fairbanks, Alaska, and

Wallops Island, Virginia. Operating as

a pair, these satellites ensure that data

for any region of the Earth are no more

than six hours old. Each satellite orbits

the Earth 14 times per day, collecting

global data for atmospheric and surface measurements in support of shortterm weather forecasting and longerterm global climate change research.

NOAA also manages the command,

control, and communications function

of the Department of Defense's

(DOD's) Defense Meteorological

Satellite Program (DMSP) constellations.

An agreement finalized with the

European Organization for the

Exploitation of Meteorological

Satellites (EUMETSAT) gives

EUMETSAT responsibility for the

morning segment of the polar environmental mission (circa 9:30 a.m. LST),

with U.S.-provided payload instruments and sensors, beginning in 2006.

Thus, upon inception of this operational arrangement, NOAA will operate the afternoon mission while

EUMETSAT will support the morning

mission. Under this joint mission,

upgraded instruments will be flown

that will result in improvements for the

user community. For example, the

High Resolution Infrared Radiation

Sounder (HIRS) instrument will be

upgraded resulting in improved atmospheric sounding information. The

Advanced Very High Resolution

Radiometer (AVHRR) global one-kilometer data will be available enhancing

the usefulness of this data for fire

detection, CoastWatch, and other

applications that require higher resolution. It also provides the opportunity

to utilize new sensor data from

EUMETSAT instruments, in preparation for future NPOESS support.

On October 3, 1994, NOAA, DOD,

and the National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA) combined the nation's military and civilian

environmental satellite programs to

create an Integrated Program Office

(IPO), to develop, manage, acquire,

and operate the national polar-orbiting

meteorological satellite system, subsequently designated the National Polarorbiting Operational Environmental

Satellite System (NPOESS). The IPO

is organizationally located within

NOAA and is headed by a System

Program Director responsible to the

NPOESS Executive Committee. This

committee, which consists of the

Under Secretary of Commerce for

Oceans and Atmosphere, the Under

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE, DATA, AND INFORMATION SERVICE
40 DOC SECTION 3 

Secretary of the Air Force, and the NASA

Deputy Administrator, serves as a board

of directors to ensure that overall program plans also meet the individual needs

of the three participating agencies.

The IPO concept provides each of

the participating agencies with lead

responsibility for one of three primary

functional areas. NOAA has overall

responsibility for the converged system and is responsible to the IPO for

satellite operations. NOAA is also the

primary interface with the international

and civil user communities. DOD is

responsible to support the IPO for

major systems acquisitions including

launch support. NASA has a primary

responsibility for facilitating the development and incorporation of new costeffective technologies into the converged system. Although each agency

provides certain key personnel in their

lead role, each functional division is

staffed by tri-agency work teams to

maintain the integrated approach. The

first operational satellite and ground

system will be delivered by the shared

system performance prime contractor,

Northrop Grumman, and is expected to

be available late in this decade depending on when the current U.S. polar

satellite assets are exhausted.

NPOESS will provide standard

meteorological data, oceanographic,

environmental, climatic, space environmental remote sensing information,

as well as continue providing surface

data collection and search and rescue

capability. The IPO, in consultation

with the NOAA and DMSP program

offices, is also studying additional potential cost effective approaches to maximize user satisfaction during the transition to NPOESS while guaranteeing continued non-interrupted data services.

The first NPOESS launch is planned

for 2009. However, the NPOESS system is a launch-on-demand system.

Based on this strategy, the first

NPOESS satellite, referred to as C1,

should be available in 2008 to support

any potential on-orbit or launch failure

of existing U.S. polar satellites.

However, based on the latest revisions,

the new launch date for C1 is

November 2009. Additionally, due to

damage to N', a replan effort is currently underway (see Table 3.1).

NESDIS is also responsible for operating two Geostationary Operational

Environmental Satellites (GOES),

referred to as GOES East and GOES

West. Each satellite views nearly one

third of the Earth's surface. The GOES12 (East) satellite is positioned at 75°

W longitude and the equator and monitors North and South America and

most of the Atlantic Ocean. The

GOES-10 (West) satellite is positioned

at 135° W longitude at the equator and

monitors North America and the

Pacific Ocean basin. The two operate

together to provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for effective and extensive data analyses.

GOES East and West circle the Earth

in a geosynchronous orbit, which

means they orbit the equatorial plane

of the Earth at a speed matching the

Earth's rotation. This allows them to

hover continuously over one position

on the Earth's surface. The geosynchronous plane is about 35,800 km

(22,300 miles) above the Earth, high

enough to allow the satellites a fulldisc view of the Earth.

Because they stay above a fixed spot

on the surface, they provide a constant

vigil for the atmospheric "triggers" of

severe weather conditions such as tornadoes, flash floods, hailstorms, and

hurricanes. When these conditions

develop, the GOES satellites are able

to monitor storm development and

track their movements. Additionally,

as part of a NOAA bilateral agreement

with Japan, GOES-9 has been provided to the Japanese Meteorological

Agency to replace a Japanese geostationary satellite. This will ensure

Pacific geostationary satellite coverage

for Japan, the U.S. and our allies.

Finally, GOES-11 is being stored in

orbit as a replacement for GOES-12 or

GOES-10 in the event of failure of

either of these systems.

ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE

SERVICES

Office of Satellite Operations. 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.

OSO took over the command, control, and communications function of

the DOD's DMSP constellation in

1998. The mission of DMSP is to provide meteorological and special sensor

data to users in support of worldwide

DOD missions. DMSP is now operated from the SOCC at Suitland,

Maryland. SOCC is the primary center

for normal operations, mission planning, engineering, launch and early

orbit support, and anomaly resolution.

A new ground system was developed

for DMSP called the Integrated Polar

Acquisition and Control Subsystem.

Office of Satellite Data Processing

and Distribution. The Office of

Satellite Data Processing and

Distribution (OSDPD) directs the

operations of NESDIS central ground

data processing facilities. It processes

and distributes data from NOAA and

non-NOAA environmental satellites

and generates automated and interpretative products for various government

agencies, private industry and educational institutions. Key customers

include the National Weather Services,

Department of Defense, Federal

Aviation Administration, NASA,

Worldwide Meteorological Watch

Offices, EPA, foreign meteorological

agencies, U.S. airlines and universities.

OSDPD exploits data from NOAA

polar and geostationary environmental

satellites, foreign (European, Japanese,
SECTION 3 DOC 41

and Indian) operational satellites as

well as domestic and foreign research

satellites. The latter includes NASA's

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

(TRMM), NASA's Quick

Scatterometer (QuikSCAT), Earth

Observing System satellites (including

Aqua, Terra, and Aura missions),

Japan's ADEOS-II, and the DOD's

Satellite Based Wind Speed and

Direction System (WindSAT) mission.

OSDPD products are used in real

time in the production of forecasts and

warnings of severe environmental

events such as tornados, thunderstorms, flash floods and hurricanes.

Some OSDPD products, such as vertical temperature and moisture profiles,

cloud tracked wind speed and direction, and snow cover, are routinely

integrated into numerical weather prediction forecast models on a global

scale. These products often provide key

model input parameters where routine in

situ measurements are not available.

OSDPD satellite products are generated and distributed to a diverse user

community for a broad range of environmental applications. The operational satellite data distribution networks provide user access to real-time

or near real-time environmental data

and information. Quality assurance

procedures are used to systematically

evaluate and characterize the satellite

products and services. This applies to

both the fully automated products such

as GOES-derived geophysical parameters (e.g., vertical wind profiles, bulk

moisture and atmospheric stability

indices, etc) and POES-derived parameters (e.g., channel brightness temperatures, precipitation estimates, vegetation indices, sea-surface temperature,

temperature and moisture profiles,

etc), as well as the value-added interpretive or analyzed products used to

support disaster mitigation and warning services for various Federal agencies and the international community.

The latter category includes products

such as tropical storm position and

intensity, fire points and smoke extent,

quantitative precipitation estimates for

flash flood warnings, and volcanic ash

plume extent and height. OSDPD

works closely with its partners in the

customer-supplier chain to ensure the

most effective and timely implementation of its satellite data products and

services. Working with NESDIS

research organizations such as The

Office of Research and Application

(ORA) on the supplier side, and with

government (primarily NWS), educational and other organizations on the

customer side, new and enhanced

product generation algorithms are

tested, evaluated, and implemented

when deemed sufficiently validated

and operationally useful. In partnership with other agencies and internal

NESDIS organizations, new technologies are investigated and periodically

deployed to satisfy emerging user

requirements.

OSDPD distributes these environmental satellite products to the NWS

Advanced Weather Interactive

Processing System (AWIPS), National

Centers for Environmental Prediction

(CNEP) and Weather Forecast Offices

(WFOs), and other Federal, state, and

private sector organizations through

dedicated satellite processing and

server configurations, or through the

NOAAPORT satellite point-to-multipoint broadcast facility. The satellite

data and products transmitted via

NOAAPORT include remapped

imagery, satellite precipitation estimates, highdensity wind

direction and

speed projections at various

atmospheric

levels, GOES

satellite

imagery, and

volcanic ash

advisory messages. Over

one hundred

universities receive satellite data and

products supplied via NOAAPORT.

NOAAPORT also delivers GOES and

POES products in near real-time to the

AWIPS. AWIPS is the NWS display

and analysis workstation used in NWS

national centers and field sites to integrate and display satellite data, model

output, in situ observations, and radar

and wind profiles used in the production of hydro-meteorological analyses

and forecasts. In addition, OSDPD

serves the NWS's NCEPs as a backup

for NOAA GOES data via the Man

Computer Interactive Data Access

System (McIDAS) and as a primary

source to NCEP of NOAA POES and

non-NOAA geostationary satellite

data. OSDPD also utilizes various

websites to disseminate satellite data

and products. For example, one site

(www.ssd.noaa.gov) provides information and products on a multitude of

OSDPD operational product areas

including: worldwide tropical cyclone

analyses, volcanic ash analyses, heavy

precipitation analyses, snow/ice cover,

and smoke and fire analyses. High

quality imagery and derived products

are extremely popular during hurricane

season. Another OSDPD website provides satellite imagery of significant

environmental events such as oil spills,

icebergs, hurricanes, and fires

(www.osei.noaa.gov). Satellite data in

digital scientific format are also available from one site (gp16.wwb.noaa.gov/)

and several datasets are made available in

Geographic Information System (GIS) for-
42 DOC SECTION 3 

mat through www.gis.ssd.nesdis.noaa.gov/

NESDIS continues to support the

Cospas-Sarsat Program through provision of satellites, ground stations, and

alert data distribution services. The

Cospas-Sarsat program consists of

Russia, the U.S., France, and Canada

providing the space segment and 29

other countries providing ground systems to relay distress alerts and participate in the management of the program. NESDIS operates and maintains

the U.S. SARSAT Mission Control

Center and fourteen Local User

Terminals as ground stations.

The Local User Terminals receive

121.5/243/406 MHz emergency beacon signals directly from the satellites

and process the information to provide

the location of distress transmissions.

In 2000, Cospas-Sarsat decided to terminate satellite processing of

121.5/243 MHz signals beginning

February 1, 2009. This decision was

made in response to guidance from the

International Civil Aviation

Organization and the International

Maritime Organization. These two

specialized agencies of the United

Nations are respectively responsible

for international aviation and maritime

search and rescue standards. The use

of new emergency beacons that can

use the Global Positioning System

(GPS) to provide an accurate position

continues to increase. Seven of the last

fourteen 406 MHz beacon models

approved are able to use GPS to transmit their position.

National Ice Center. The U.S.

National Ice Center (NIC), under sponsorship of the U.S. Navy, NOAA, and

the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), is

tasked with providing the highest quality operational global, regional, and

tactical scale sea ice analyses and forecasts, tailored to meet the requirements

of U.S. national interests. NIC ice

products are produced in a digital

workstation environment using data

from polar orbiting satellites,

ship/shore station reports, drifting

buoys, meteorological guidance products, ice model predictions, and government partners

including foreign

ice services. The

primary remotely

sensed data

sources used for

global and

regional-scale

ice mapping are

visible and

infrared imagery

from the POES

AVHRR (1.1km

spatial resolution) and the

DMSP

Operational

Linescan System (0.55km spatial resolution). In areas of extensive cloud

cover, the NIC utilizes Special Sensor

Microwave Imager (SSM/I) sensor

data (19 and 37 GHz channels)

processed using the

Calibration/Validation and NASA

Team ice concentration algorithms.

These algorithms produce 25km griddled mosaic ice maps that are instrumental in the production of NIC

weekly composite Arctic/Antarctic ice

maps. Higher resolution ice analysis

products, used to ensure the safety of

navigation and protect life and property at sea, are dependent upon the

availability and use of Synthetic

Aperture Radar (SAR) data from the

Canadian RADARSAT.

RADARSAT's ScanSAR wide mode

produces a 500km wide swath with

100m spatial resolution. Images are

processed at four different ground stations and transferred to the NIC via

dedicated communication lines or via

the Internet within six hours of acquisition. The NIC science team, which

assists in the transition of pertinent scientific research to operations, is

presently working on the transition of

real-time SSM/I sea ice products to the

NIC operations floor, conducting an

evaluation of current SSM/I-derived

sea ice algorithms, and the use of SSM/I

data for initializing and evaluating the

Polar Ice Prediction System (PIPS).

Routine NIC ice guidance products

include regional-scale ice maps, annotated satellite imagery, short and longterm ice forecasts, and legacy ice information and ice climatology.

Specialized support services include

specific regional support, ship route

recommendations, pre-sail ship briefings, aerial ice reconnaissance, and

ship rider support. Specific sea ice features analyzed include ice edge position, ice concentration, ice thickness,

form or floe size, ice motion, areas of

compression and heavy surface deformation, and the location/orientation of

open water or thin ice-covered leads.

Ice products are disseminated via the

Internet (www.natice.noaa.gov) as

simple electronic charts in Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format,

GIS-compatible coverages (ESRI

ARC/INFO .e00 export format), and in

the World Meteorological

Organization (WMO) digital standard

for Sea Ice in GRIDDED (SIGRID,

SIGRID-2) format. Date and time of

data acquisition as well as the percentage of each data type used in all ice

analyses are documented in a metadata

narrative.

Another of the NIC's responsibilities

is oversight of the U.S. Interagency
SECTION 3 DOC 43

Arctic Buoy Program (USIABP). The

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 seven government agencies and/or programs. These

organizations include: the Naval

Oceanographic Office, Office of Naval

Research (ONR), NASA, National

Science Foundation (NSF), and

NOAA's NESDIS, OAR, and Office of

Global Programs (OGP).

Office of Research and Applications.

The Office of Research and

Applications (ORA) provides guidance and direction for NESDIS

research and applications activities. It

coordinates the efforts of the Climate

Research and Applications Division,

Atmospheric Research and

Applications Division, and Oceanic

Research and Applications Division.

These divisions conduct studies on

the use of satellite data to monitor

environmental characteristics and

change and develop algorithms to produce satellite products for applications

to operational weather and ocean

analyses and 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 nearreal-time and long-term studies.

Additionally, ORA through division

participation, actively educates others

on technology transfer programs

through scientific presentations, technical reports, Internet-based tutorials,

and training workshops at domestic

and international sites.

The Joint Center for Satellite Data

Assimilation (JCSDA). The JCSDA is

formalized by a Memorandum of

Agreement between NOAA and

NASA, with affiliated partnerships

with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force.

This cooperative agreement will allow

NOAA, NASA, and DOD to work

together to take advantage of their

combined science and technology

resources in order to accelerate the use

of existing and new satellite data. The

JCSDA will provide a focal point for

joint research and development of

common models and infrastructure

among its partners. As a result of its

collaborative nature, the JCSDA will

allow NOAA to improve numerical

weather and climate prediction through

the optimal use of data from existing

satellites and to prepare for the incoming flood of new data from advanced

satellite instruments such as NPOESS

that will be launched during the next

five to six years.

The JCSDA is tasked with developing new and powerful techniques to

assimilate data into numerical weather

prediction (NWP) and numerical climate prediction models. JCSDA activities directly support the missions of

NASA, NOAA, and as DOD as well as

those of other organizations who share

or rely on NOAA's environmental

assessment, prediction, and stewardship mission. In addition, through its

partnership and coordination with

DOD and other agencies, the JCSDA

will enhance the Nation's ability to

respond to increase data reporting and

data sharing needs brought on by the

renewed emphasis on homeland

defense and national security concerns. 

The initial projects within the

JCSDA will focus on fully exploiting

uses of current satellite data. As a part

of efforts to facilitate the transition

from research into operations, early

projects will focus on maturing the

process of transitioning these data into

operations and developing tools to support future assimilation projects. Six

initial scientific priorities have been

identified:

1. Develop a community-based

radiative transfer model (CRTM) to be

utilized by the JCSDA partners in their

data assimilation systems. In next few

years, the accuracy and capability of

the JCSDA CRTM will be significantly

improved by including additional

physical processes (e.g., atmospheric

scattering) and better numerical techniques and better surface emissivity

models to allow more satellite data

which is affected by surface to be properly assimilated.

2. Develop the data thinning and

configuration technology and methodology that will allow faster and efficient delivery of advanced satellite

data to major NWP centers in the U.S.

and other international partners.

3. Advance the techniques to

assimilate satellite data in cloudy and

precipitation regions by improving

radiative transfer models and NWP

cloud prediction scheme, thereby significantly increasing the fraction of

satellite data being ingested into the

assimilation systems.

4. Improve uses of satellite land

products (e.g., green vegetation fraction, snow cover, snow pack parameters, surface albedo, land, and sea surface temperature) in NWP models.

5. Improve use of satellite data in

ocean data assimilation by providing

assimilated ocean data sets to the community for research purposes and providing access to and support of an
44 DOC SECTION 3 

operational ocean data assimilation

system.

6. Assimilate satellite derived

aerosol, ozone and trace gas products

to improve forecasts of visibility and

health index with the state-of-the-art

air quality forecast model including

chemical and biological process.

In addition, the JCSDA has a long

term strategic goal of improving the

transfer of data assimilation research

into operations by fostering common

data assimilation code components,

including techniques for specifying

observation errors, background error

co-variances, and data selection and

reduction.

The JCSDA approach is already generating measurable accomplishments.

Recent accomplishments include:

1. Improved radiative transfer

techniques.

• Microwave land emissivity

model implemented in NCEP operational global data assimilation system

(GDAS).

• Community fast radiative

transfer model implemented operationally in the GDAS.

• More AMSU-A data are used

over land, snow and sea ice conditions

2. Improved uses of current satellite

data.

• More Advanced Microwave

Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) data are

used over land.

• Increased use of High

Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder

(HIRS) and AMSU-A data in stratosphere.

• SSM/I, TRMM precipitation

products AMSU cloud liquid water

GOES-10 Infrared Radiation (IR) radiances QuikSCAT winds.

3. More satellite data being used in

NCEP operational models.

• SSM/I, TRMM precipitation

products.

• AMSU cloud liquid water.

• GOES-10 IR radiances.

• QuikSCAT winds.

• Moderate Resolution Imaging

Spectroradiometer (MODIS) winds.

Polar Satellite Program. The primary mission of the Polar-orbiting

Operational Environmental Satellite

(POES) System is to provide daily

global observations of weather patterns

and environmental measurements of

the Earth's atmosphere, its surface and

cloud cover, and the proton and electron flux at satellite altitude. Since the

beginning of the POES program, environmental data and products acquired

by its satellites have been provided to

users around the globe. These satellites increase the accuracy of weather

forecasting by providing quantitative

data required for improved numerical

weather forecast models. Currently,

the two primary operational spacecraft

are NOAA-16 and NOAA-17.

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 of emergency

beacons operating at 121.5 or 243 or

406 MHz. In addition to taking thermal images of the earth's surface and

atmosphere, the NOAA polar-orbiting

satellites carry sounder instruments to

provide vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and moisture.

POES satellites carry four primary

instrument systems: the AVHRR; the

TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder

(TOVS); the Space Environment

Monitor (SEM); and the Solar

Backscatter Ultra-Violet Instrument

(SBUV/2). The 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/3 series of instruments, which

began with NOAA-15, measures in six

spectral channels (0.63, 0.86, 1.6, 3.75,

10.8 and 12 μm) with a nominal spatial

resolution of 1.1 km and global resolution of roughly 4 km. Though the

AVHRR/3 measures 6 channels, only 5

are transmitted in the data stream at

any one time; the 1.6 and 3.75μm

channels are time shared. The

AVHRR/3 provides stored and directreadout radiometer data for day and

night cloud cover, sea surface temperatures, vegetation indices, fire detection, and snow and ice mapping.

TOVS is comprised of the HIRS and

the AMSU.

The HIRS/3 is a discrete-stepping,

line scan instrument designed to measure scene radiance in 20 spectral bands

to permit the calculation of the vertical

temperature profile from Earth's surface to about 40km. Multi-spectral

data from one visible channel

(0.69μm), seven shortwave channels

(3.7 to 4.6μm), and twelve long wave

channels (6.5 to 15μm) are obtained

from a single telescope and rotating filter wheel containing twenty individual

filters. An elliptical scan mirror provides cross-track scanning of 56 increments of 1.8μm. The mirror steps rapidly (<35 msec), then holds at each

position while the 20 filter segments

are sampled. This action takes place

each 100 msec. The instantaneous

field of vision (FOV) for each channel

is approximately 1.4μm in the visible

and shortwave IR, and 1.3μm in the

long wave IR band that, from an altitude of 833km, encompasses an area of

20.3km and 18.9km in diameter,

respectively, at nadir on the Earth.

Each AMSU-A instrument is composed of two separate units: (a)

AMSU-A2 with two channels at 23.8

and 31.4GHz and (b) AMSU-A1 with

twelve channels in the range of 50.3 to

57.3GHz and one channel at 89.0GHz.

The AMSU-B has five channels with

frequencies centered on 89, 150,

183±1, 183±3, and 183±7Ghz, respectively. AMSU-B, provided by the
SECTION 3 DOC 45

United Kingdom Meteorological Office,

produces soundings of humidity from the

surface to 200 millibars (mb).

AMSU-A has a nominal FOV of 3.3°

(48km on surface at nadir) and AMSUB a field of view of 1.1° (16km on surface at nadir). AMSU-A (AMSU-B)

samples 30° (90°) Earth views, covering ±48.95° from the sub-satellite

point. In addition, the specialized

89GHz channel, with the capability to

"see" through high and mid-level

clouds to low-level precipitation producing clouds, is utilized to determine

the position and structure of tropical

cyclones on a global scale. The

AMSU-A1 uses two antenna systems,

providing observations in the twelve

oxygen band channels (3-14) for

retrieving the atmospheric temperature

profile from the Earth's surface to

about 42km, or from 1000 to 2 mb.

The remaining three channels (1 and 2

from A2 and 15 from A1) aid the

retrieval of temperature soundings by

correction of surface emissivity,

atmospheric liquid water, and total precipitable water. These window channels also provide information on precipitation, sea ice, and snow coverage.

The SEM measures solar proton

flux, alpha particle and electron flux

density, and energy spectrum and total

particulate energy distribution at

spacecraft altitudes. 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 NOAA-16 and NOAA-17 POES

carry the SBUV/2. The SBUV/2

instrument 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

evaluation, calibration, and validation

activities took place for the new

(SBUV/2) with the launch and successful checkout of NOAA-17. A new

ozone profile retrieval algorithm

(Version 8) is under development at

NASA. As soon as it becomes available, NOAA will begin to incorporate

it in its SBUV/2 processing systems.

Monitoring of global ozone will continue with the SBUV/2 instruments on

NOAA-14, NOAA-16, NOAA-17, and

with the TOVS instruments on NOAA14, NOAA-15, NOAA-16, and

NOAA-17. Experimental ozone products at high temporal resolution are

also being produced from the GOES-8

sounder channels. Monitoring is limited to North America. Preliminary

results show the GOES total ozone values are comparable to amounts from

the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer

and ground-based measurements.

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, Command and Data

Acquisition (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 CDA's 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 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, calibration, and quality control parameters.

The data processed by the CEMSCS

are used for environmental products

and operational weather predictions

that are disseminated to users throughout the world.

The POES Data Collection (and

location) System (DCS) is provided

through an international cooperative

agreement with the Centre National

d'Etudes Spatiales of France and is

called the Argos DCS. The system

provides a means to locate and collect

environmental data from fixed and

moving platforms; i.e., polar ice flows,

ocean buoys, birds, mammals, etc. in

near-real time. The Argos DCS supports operational and research related

environmental applications, e.g. meteorology, oceanography, and protection

of the environment, with the majority

of users being government/non-profit

agencies and researchers. An instrument upgrade to incorporate a downlink message capability, called the

Argos Advanced Data Collection

System (ADCS), is planned for the

NOAA-N' satellite and the NPOESS

constellation. The Argos ADCS program will also incorporate other international satellite programs, such as the

European Organization for Exploration

of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) METOP satellite series.

The Argos DCS operates on the

NOAA POES constellation and was

established through a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with France in

1974. NOAA for the U.S. and the

Centre Nationale d'Etudes Spatiales

(CNES) for France are the lead agencies for this international cooperative

agreement. CNES provides for the

development and delivery of the Argos

DCS instrument. NOAA provides
46 DOC SECTION 3 

spacecraft integration/launch services,

downloads stored mission data via

NOAA CDA facilities and provides

pre-processed data delivery. Data

post-processing and delivery to customers is the responsibility of CNES,

which through a subsidiary maintains

distribution centers located in Toulouse,

France and Largo, Maryland.

The Argos DCS is a space-based,

data telemetry system that provides a

global means to locate and collect

environmental data from fixed and

moving, low-power transmitters; i.e.,

polar ice flows, ocean buoys, birds,

mammals, etc. in near-real time (15

mins - 3 hrs). The Argos DCS transmits data for operational and research

related environmental applications,

e.g. meteorology, oceanography and

protection of the environment, with the

majority of users being

government/non-profit agencies and

researchers. Argos DCS customers are

engaged in over 1000 programs operating approximately 15,000 data collection platforms in 72 counties.

The Argos DCS program continues

to develop international partnerships

and will incorporate Argos instruments

on other international satellite platforms, such as the European

Organization for Exploration of

Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) to fly Argos DCS on the METOP

satellite series (2005-2010). Future

instrument developments include the

incorporation of a downlink message

capability, scheduled to fly on the

NOAA-N' satellite and the NPOESS

constellation (2009-2018). This new

capability, in response to customer

requirements, will provide the opportunity for new and novel uses of the

Argos DCS.

Geostationary Satellite Program.

Two operational geostationary satellites, GOES-12 (75° W) and GOES-10

(135° W), provide coverage of virtually the entire western hemisphere for

operational environmental sensing of

the Earth. Additionally, GOES-9 is

now located over the western Pacific.

The GOES-9 imager replaced the

GMS-5 of the Japanese Meteorological

Agency as of April 1, 2003. The

sounder is operating in an experimental mode. The projected launch schedule

and associated instruments for geostationary satellites are shown in Table 3.1.

The GOES satellites host an imager

capable of detecting atmospheric, sea

surface, and land properties in five

spectral bands including the 3.9μm and

12.0μm wavelengths. However,

beginning with GOES-12, the 12.0μm

channel is replaced with a 13.3μm

channel, with the goal of achieving

more accurate cloud height assignments for mid- and upper-level atmospheric satellite wind-velocity estimates. Unfortunately, this trade-off

notably impacts the SST retrievals by

eliminating the capability for daytime

split-window retrievals, increasing the

rms error by about 0.5C. Also, the spatial resolution of the water vapor channel is improved to 4km from 8km.

GOES satellites transmit all five

spectral bands simultaneously, providing the user community with continuous views of atmospheric measurements in various wavelengths, each

with its own atmospheric, land, and

ocean application. GOES spacecraft

were designed for flexible scanning of

the Earth; a variety of scans or sector

coverage can be scheduled. For example, the full-earth disk is normally

scanned once every 3 hours and

requires about 30 minutes to complete

the entire scan. Depending on requirements to monitor environmental hazards on the Earth's surface or in the

atmosphere, 30-minute periods in

between the full-disk scans may be

scheduled as a mixture of 15-minute

intervals (routine operations) or 71⁄2-

minute interval (severe storm operations) rapid scans over the contiguous

U.S. To further support mesoscale and

microscale analyses, 1000 km x 1000

km areas can also be scanned at 1-

minute intervals, to capture rapidly

developing and dynamic environmental phenomena. The five channels and

respective resolutions are as follows:

• Channel 1 (Visible, .55μm to 

.75μm) - 1 km

• Channel 2 (Infrared, 3.8μm to

4.0μm) - 4 km

• Channel 3 (Water Vapor, 

6.5μm to 7.0μm) - 8 km (4 km

starting with GOES M)

• Channel 4 (Infrared, 10.2μm 

to 11.2μm) - 4 km

• Channel 5 (Infrared, 11.5μm 

to 12.5μm) - 4 km

The GOES sounder instruments,

consisting of 19 spectral channels, are

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. In routine

operations, GOES-12 and GOES 10

provide hourly sounding coverage.

The GOES SEM collects data for

warnings of solar activity. This block

of instruments is more extensive than

on POES. 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. GOES-12 has the

Solar X-Ray Instrument that provides

near-real time x-ray images of the sun.

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
SECTION 3 DOC 47

TABLE 3.1 PROJECTED SATELLITE LAUNCH SCHEDULE

POLAR-ORBITING SYSTEM GEOSTATIONARY SYSTEM

Satellite Designator Planned Launch Date* Satellite Designator Planned Launch Date*

NOAA-N CY 2005 GOES N CY 2004

METOP-2 CY 2005 GOES O CY 2007

NPP CY2006 GOES P CY 2008

NOAA-N’ CY 2007** GOES Q Cancelled

NPOESS-C1 CY 2009, 2010 GOES R CY 2012

METOP-1 CY 2010

NPOESS-C2 CY 2011

NPOESS-C3 CY 2013

METOP-3 CY 2014

NPOESS-C4 CY 2016

NPOESS-C5 CY 2018

NPOESS-C6 CY 2019

*Launch date depends on performance of prior spacecraft and is subject to change.

** A replan effort is underway due to accidental damage to N’.

NOAA Instruments for NOAA Polar-Orbiter and METOP Series

AVHRR - Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

SEM - Space Environment Monitor

SBUV - Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (NOAA PM mission only)

HIRS - High Resolution Infrared Sounder

DCS ARGOS - Data Collection System

AMSU-A - Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A

AMSU-B - Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-B

SARP - Search and Rescue Processor

SARR - Search and Rescue Repeater

MHS - Microwave Humidity Sounder (NOAA-N/N' and METOP)

Instruments for NPOESS Series

VIIRS - Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite

CMIS - Conical Microwave Imager/Sounder

CrIS - Cross-track Infrared Sounder

ATMS - Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder

OMPS - Ozone Mapper/Profiler Suite

SES - Space Environment Suite

DCS - Data Collection System

SARSAT - Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System

ERBS - Earth Radiation Budget Sensor

TSIS - Total Solar Irradiance Sensor

ALT - Altimeter (Dual Frequency radar altimeter)

Instruments for GOES-Next Series

Imager

Sounder

SEM - Space Environment Monitor

SXI - Solar X-Ray Imager (GOES M and N)

EUMETSAT Unique Instruments for METOP Series Satellites

ASCAT - Advanced Scatterometer

GOME - Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment

GRAS - GPS Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding

IASI - Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer
48 DOC SECTION 3

tide gauges, seismometers, buoys,

ships, and automatic weather stations.

In support of NOAA missions, GOES

DCS data are used in weather forecasts

and warnings, reservoir control, and

flood monitoring. While the GOES

DCS is a critical element for national

and international meteorological and

hydrological programs, the NWS

WSR-88D program relies on the DCS

data as a vital input for calibration and

validation. Tsunami watches and

warnings for the Pacific Ocean are prepared using the Data Collection

Platform data transmitted via GOES

DCS. The GOES DCS program

touches all aspects of our lives in supporting water quality, air pollution, and

global environmental monitoring.

The GOES Search and Rescue

Satellite Aided Tracking (SARSAT)

System is capable of providing an

immediate distress alert, unlike the

POES satellite SARSAT transponders

which must come within line of site of

a Local User Terminal, in order to

relay the distress beacon back to the

U.S. SARSAT Mission Control Center

(USMCC). Newer state of the art

COSPAS SARSAT distress beacons,

utilizing the Global Positioning

System (GPS), now have the capability

to provide location information in the

distress message relayed by GOES to

the USMCC.

NESDIS continues to improve user

access to its operational satellite products and services using new communications technologies including the

Internet. One important on line access

system, managed and operated by

OSD is the Comprehensive LargeArray Data Stewartship System

(CLASS). The CLASS

(www.CLASS.noaa.gov) provides

satellite data access, display, and electronic transfer. Available data types

include AVHRR, ATOVS, DMSP (special sensor), and RADARSAT (authorized subscription users). While developed as an independent system, the

CLASS serves as NOAA's initial interoperable interface to NASA's Earth

Observing System Data and

Information System (EOSDIS). After

the phase out of the GOES TAP system

in 1998, many users now rely on

GOES sectorized images, mapped to

standard AWIPS grids, available in

near real time at www.goes.noaa.gov.

Near real time images and interpretive

analyses of tropical storms and hurricanes worldwide, ash from volcanic

eruptions within the western hemisphere, heavy precipitation in the U.S.

which cause flash flooding or blizzards, wildland fires and smoke within

the U.S., and northern hemisphere

snow boundaries are located at

www.ssd.noaa.gov. Specially

enhanced and annotated imagery and

image loops of environmental events,

such as flooding, hurricanes and other

severe storms, volcanic eruptions,

fires, and dust storms are available

from www.osei.noaa.gov. This web

site was set up for use by the news

media and general public, and to provide once or twice per day satellite

views of an environmental event for

Federal, state, and international governments and agencies. Also supporting the media, scientific organizations,

and Federal and state agencies is a specially designed web site featuring visualizations of satellite data, found at

www.nnvl.noaa.gov/.

INTERNATIONAL AND INTERAGENCY SUPPORT FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

International Charter. NOAA, on

behalf of the U.S., is a signatory to the

International Charter for Space and

Major Disasters, and implements for

the U.S. This past year, NOAA was

certified as an official Emergency onCall Officer (ECO) by the Executive

Secretariat of the International Charter

and began a rotation as the lead

Charter agency providing secretariat

services, policy leadership, and

Charter activities coordination. 

The International Charter aims at

providing a unified system of space

data acquisition and delivery to those

affected by natural or man-made disasters through authorized users. Each

member agency (six space agencies

representing Europe, France, Canada,

India, Argentina and the U.S.) has

committed resources to support the

provisions of the Charter and thus is

helping to mitigate the effects of disasters on human life and property. An

authorized user can call a single number to request the mobilization of the

space and associated ground resources

of the six space agencies to obtain data

and information on a disaster occurrence.

World Summit on Sustainable

Development (WSSD) Follow-up.

NOAA plays a key leadership role in

the Committee on Earth Observation

Satellites (CEOS) WSSD Follow-up

Programme's module addressing

Disaster Management and Conflicts.

To address the priorities outlined at the

WSSD and the specific references to

satellite applications, NOAA and other

CEOS members are putting together a

program plan to increase awareness in

the applications and utilization of

Earth observation data in developing

countries for disaster management and

conflicts, as well as to assist in the

establishment of infrastructure and

communications in support of disaster

management and conflicts. The module on Disaster Management will be

initiated this year.

U.S. Interagency Collaboration.

NOAA is a member (and chair) of the

U.S. Subcommittee on Disaster

Reduction (SDR), which provides a

unique Federal forum for information

sharing; development of collaborative

opportunities; formulation of scienceand technology-based guidance for

policy makers; and dialogue with the

U.S. policy community to advance

informed strategies for managing disaster risks. The SDR, through the U.S.

President's National Science and

Technology Council, released an

interim report entitled Reducing
SECTION 3 DOC 49

Disaster Vulnerability Through

Science and Technology, which identified critical opportunities to reduce

future loss of life and property as a

result of disasters. The report identifies several important themes relevant

to disaster reduction and speaks to

resources, opportunities, and gaps in

science and technology needed to support disaster management.

Integrated Global Observing

Strategy(IGOS) Geohazards Theme.

As Co-Chair of the IGOS in 2003,

NOAA played a key role in facilitating the formal adoption and recent

publication of the IGOS Geohazards

Report. This report looks at global

geohazards observation requirements and outlines an integrated

implementation mechanism and

action plan for filling the observation gaps over the coming decade. It

also examines the impacts of geohazards on society, discusses the

roles of implementation by stakeholders, addresses data management

issues, and analyses the critical gaps

in capacity building and infrastructure. More information is available

at http://ioc.unesco.org/igospartners/Geohazards.htm.

CEOS Disaster Management

Support Group (DMSG) Legacy.

NOAA led the DMSG effort within

CEOS with an objective to support

natural and technological disaster

management on a worldwide basis

by fostering improved utilization of

existing and planned Earth observation satellite data. Particular emphasis was placed on working closely

with space agencies, international

and regional organizations, and commercial organizations on the implementation of these recommendations. Hazards addressed include

drought, earthquake, fire, flooding,

landslides, oil spill, sea ice, and volcanic hazards. The Final Report of

the DMSG, published in 2002, can

be accessed at

http://disaster.ceos.org/.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Recent advances in numerical

weather prediction (NWP) models,

both at NOAA/NCEP’s Environmental

Modeling Center (NOAA/NCEP/EMC)

and other major International NWP

Centers, require higher quality satellite-derived winds, particularly over

the traditionally data void oceanic

regions of the globe. The NESDIS

GOES East and West wind processing

suites are totally automated and use a

series of geostationary satellite images

to derive wind estimates. The automated winds algorithm uses an objective pattern matching technique to estimate velocity, and satellite water vapor

and infrared brightness temperature

data to assign heights to these derived

wind estimates. The automated quality

control of image registration is also an

important component of the NESDIS

GOES- East and West winds processing suite. Approximately 20,000 clouddrift and water vapor motion wind vectors are derived from both satellites for

each cycle and distributed to

NOAA/NCEP/EMC and to the Global

Telecommunications System (GTS).

NOAA/NCEP/EMC uses these operational NESDIS wind products in their

global and regional data assimilation/numerical forecast systems. NESDIS recently completed the effort to

reformat the winds in WMO-sanctioned Binary Universal Form for the

Representation of Meteorological Data

(BUFR) format. Current work

involves the investigation of a slow

bias seen in water vapor winds.

The newest satellite wind products

include the low-level, high-density visible satellite winds. During the daylight hours, visible channel data can be

used to track cloud motions. The

GOES visible imagery offers high horizontal resolution (1 km) and frequent

image sampling (15-30 minutes nominally; higher in special rapid scan

modes). The visible channel can

depict lower tropospheric cumuliform

tracers in areas not covered by opaque

cirrus. In terms of tropical cyclones,

visible winds can depict the low level

flow in the outer storm vortex region,

which is an important area in assessing

storm motion. The GOES satellites

have an atmospheric sounder that

includes two water vapor channels

centered at 7.0μm and 7.3μm. These

sounder channels can be employed as

surrogate imagers to track water vapor

features radiating from the lower layers of the troposphere. The weighting

function of the 7.0μm channel peaks

around 450mb and the weighting function of the 7.3μm channel peaks

around 550mb. Water vapor winds

generated from these two channels will

compliment the imager-based clouddrift and water vapor winds, resulting

in an improved three-dimensional

depiction of the wind field. The implementation of these new algorithms and

the visible wind products into the operational environment at NESDIS began

in 1999. These wind products can be

viewed at orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes

and cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/tropic/real-time.

Digital sounding and winds files are

available through a GOES computer

server within OSDPD.

Atmospheric Moisture and Stability

Products. Research continues to

improve the atmospheric moisture and

stability products from the GOES-12

and GOES-10 sounder instruments.

Precipitable water for three layers of

the atmosphere: surface to 900 hPa;

900-700 hPa; and 700-300 hPa are

computed from the soundings. Total

precipitable water (TPW) for the entire

atmospheric column, from the earth's

surface to the "top" of the atmosphere,

is also computed. These precipitable

water products are particularly valuable for the short-term forecasting of

precipitation, locating those environments favorable for heavy precipitation and flash floods, thunderstorms,

and fog. Hourly updates of this information provide useful information for

the NOAA/NCEP/EMC regional data
50 DOC SECTION 3 

assimilation systems and for weather

forecasters in the field.

NOAA/NCEP/EMC currently uses the

GOES precipitable water retrievals as

input to Eta Data Assimilation System

(EDAS), which provides the initialization for the Eta, forecast model. NESDIS is currently aiding

NOAA/NCEP/EMC with running

global and regional model impact

analyses to improve and optimize the

use of the GOES derived products in

numerical weather prediction schemes.

As of July 8, 2003, the hourly cloudtop information from the GOES

sounder data are being assimilated into

the operational NCEP’s Eta Data

Assimilation System (EDAS). The

regional Eta model joins the Rapid

Update Cycle (RUC) model as two

operational models assimilating GOES

sounder cloud information to help

improve the initial moisture and cloud

field. At present, a blended GOES,

SSM/I, and model-derived product is

being evaluated. In addition, a precipitable water product has been developed from the POES AMSU sensor

and is presently operational. In the

near future, the blended product will

include the AMSU-derived precipitable water. In addition to the moisture products, numerous atmospheric

stability indices can be computed from

measurements made by the GOES

sounder instrument. Two stability

indices, the lifted index (LI) and

Convective Available Potential Energy

(CAPE) index, are computed on a routine basis. Since these indices are produced hourly, sequential images of

these derived quantities clearly show

the diurnal and dynamic changes associated with weather events.

So, in addition to providing

these data to NOAA/NCEP/EMC

for use in numerical weather prediction models, the graphical representation of these products

allows for the looping of the products in time. This capability aids

NWS forecasters in the field, for example, to understand the time evolution of

severe storms. Because channel noise

has improved with each successive

sounder instrument it is anticipated

that the GOES sounder moisture and

stability products with a horizontal resolution of approximately 50 km, will

be generated at a high horizontal resolution of approximately 10 km

(Figure 3-DOC-6).

The increased horizontal resolution offers exciting possibilities

for enhanced use of these products

in mesoscale forecasting. For

example, it improves the depiction

of gradients in the retrieved products, such as moisture and atmospheric stability, which focuses

attention to a localized area of

interest. These products can be

viewed at orbitnet.nesdis.noaa.gov/goes and

cimss.ssec.wisc.edu. Digital versions of these products are available from POES and GOES computer servers within OSDPD.

Tropical Cyclone Monitoring. NESDIS continues to improve upon satellite-based techniques for estimating

tropical cyclone positions and intensities, and for describing the internal

structure of these storms. Sensors,

such as AMSU and TRMM, among

others, are being incorporated into the

NESDIS operational tropical program,

which supports the NWS and DOD

hurricane programs. Real-time

imagery and NESDIS tropical text

messages can be viewed at

www.ssd.noaa.gov/SSD/ML/realtime.html.

Research is also being performed to

Figure 3-DOC-6. GOES-12 retrieved total preciptable water products at 50 km resolution (left) and 10 km resolution

(right)
SECTION 3 DOC 51

improve the forecasts of tropical

cyclone formation and intensity

change by making better use of satellite observations.

Precipitation Estimates. The HydroEstimator (H-E)--a fully automated

adaptation of the semi-manual

Interactive Flash Flood Analyzer

(IFFA)--produces estimates of instantaneous precipitation rate based on

GOES infrared data every 15 minutes.

The H-E adjusts its computed rain

rates for moisture availability, subcloud evaporation, orographic uplift,

and other factors using Eta model

fields. The resulting estimates are also

the basis for 0-3 hour nowcasts of precipitation via an algorithm for extrapolating cell movement and development

called the Hydro-Nowcaster. Other

techniques being tested include the

GOES Multi-Spectral Rainfall

Algorithm (GMSRA), which uses four

of the five GOES Imager channels for

more precise rain area identification,

and a combined GOES and microwave

rainfall algorithm (developed at

NRL/Monterey) which uses

microwave-based rainfall estimates to

modify its calibration. Real-time

graphics from all three of the above

techniques can be accessed at

http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/

arad/ht/ff/index.htm, and real-time validation statistics for these algorithms

are available at http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/ht/ff/validation/validation.html. The H-E is now also

available to NWS field forecasters via

AWIPS. In addition, an improved

AMSU-B rain-rate algorithm is being

implemented, and a new precipitation

algorithm has been developed using

the AMSR-E. The AMSU-B products

are available at http://orbitnet.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad2/MSPPS/index.

html, including global long-term estimates for climate monitoring and

analysis. Finally, the POES-based

microwave algorithms from the

microwave sensors are being utilized

to produce automated 24-hour Tropical

Rainfall Potential (TRaP) forecasts

worldwide (Figure 3-DOC-7). Realtime TraP graphics can be accessed at

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/

PS/TROP/trap-img.html.

Microburst Products. Several experimental microburst and convective

wind-gust products are being tested.

These products, including the Wind

Index (WINDEX) to compute maximum possible convective wind gusts

and the Theta-e Deficit (TeD) and Dry

Microburst Index (DMI) to compute

the potential for wet and dry

microbursts, respectively, utilize

sounder data from both GOESEast/West. They are produced hourly

and can be viewed at www.orbitnet.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/fpdt/mb.html

In addition, a new wet microburst

index product, designated as the Wet

Microburst Severity Index (WMSI) is

being developed and will be implemented in the suite of GOES

microburst products. The WMSI

assesses the potential severity of wet

microbursts by summarizing the physical processes of convective storm

development and downburst generation. The WMSI algorithm incorporates such parameters as CAPE, to represent the process of updraft formation, and Theta-e Deficit (TeD), to represent down burst development.

Low Cloud and Aircraft Icing

Products. Fog and low clouds are a

major source of air traffic delays and

aircraft accidents. A nighttime, twochannel IR product from GOES has

been developed to show regions where

low ceilings (<1,000 ft) are likely to be

found. This product is used to signal

deteriorating weather conditions

before they are reported by airport

weather stations. Fog products for the

Continental U.S. and Alaska are available on the Web hourly at: http://orbitnet.nesdis.noaa.gov/

arad/fpdt/fog.html.

Areas of "super-cooled" water

clouds that can result in hazardous aircraft icing are detectable from GOES

by means of an experimental, multiFigure 3-DOC-7. Tropical Rainfall Potential (TRaP) forecast for Hurricane Claudette (left) and corresponding Stage IV

radar/raingauge estimates (right) for the 24 hours ending 1200 UTC 16 July 2003.
52 DOC SECTION 3

spectral product that uses a combination of several IR temperature and visible brightness thresholds. A recent

innovation has combined this icing

image with the GOES cloud-top height

analysis to create an ICing Enhanced

Cloud-top Altitude Product (ICECAP)

(Figure 3-DOC-8). The icing products

are provided hourly day and night for

the Continental U.S., Alaska, and the

East Pacific at http://orbitnet.nesdis.noaa.gov/arad/fpdt/icg.html.

Geostationary Sea Surface

Temperatures. GOES-12 and GOES10 are proving capable of producing

SST measurements over most of the

Western Hemisphere nearly continuously. The accuracy and spatial resolution achieved with the GOES measurements are close to that achieved

from the polar orbiting platforms, and

GOES has a unique advantage of high

temporal sampling frequency.

Unfortunately, the trade-off of replacing the 12.0μm channel with a 13.3μm

channel notably impacts the SST

retrievals by eliminating the capability

for daytime split-window retrievals,

increasing the rms error by about 0.5C.

For the SST determination, the frequent sampling by GOES makes a

more complete map of SST possible

after clouds have moved on.

Additionally, a change in scene temperature over a short period of time

may indicate the presence of clouds,

thereby enhancing cloud detection.

The abundance of GOES observations helps to maintain a balance

between high-quality, cloud-free

observations and good geographical

coverage of SST estimates. For the

first time, GOES is enabling quantification of the diurnal variation of a

radiometrically determined SST over

large areas and long time periods. This

quantification may have important

implications in both numerical weather

prediction and climate monitoring.

NESDIS has been producing the

GOES SST hourly in an experimental

configuration since December 1998,

from both GOES East and GOES

West. A global SST product is produced every three hours; regional SST

products are generated every hour.

These products are operational and can

be accessed as digital files from the

GOES computer servers within OSDPD.

Volcanic Ash and Fire Monitoring.

A new technique has been developed

to mitigate the loss of the 12μm IR

band on GOES-12 to help track hazardous volcanic ash clouds. The technique uses IR channels centered at

10.7μm, 13.3μm, and 3.9μm. Several

recent eruptions of Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat in the eastern

Caribbean have shown that this new

product is helpful in monitoring ash

cloud emissions, even at night. The

GOES-12 ash product can be viewed

for several volcanically active regions

at http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/

and http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.gov/

arad/fpdt/volc.html.

The analysis of Moderate Resolution

Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)

data from the NASA Terra and Aqua

spacecraft has also yielded valuable

information about optimum detection

of volcanic ash using several spectral

bands. A three-channel combination

product based on the 8.6μm, 11μm and

12μm bands has been developed that

provides effective discrimination of

ash or sulfur dioxide gas with minimal

false alarms. This algorithm could be

applied to future products from

NPOESS and GOES-R, which will

have similar spectral bands. Ash cloud

advisory statements are provided by

NESDIS to the aviation community

over southern North America and

northern South America, through the

Volcanic Ash Advisory Center

(VAAC) in Camp Spring, Maryland.

GOES infrared and visible images,

aerosol and sulfur dioxide products

from NASA's Total Ozone Mapping

Spectrometer (when applicable), and

operational volcanic ash products for

the Washington VAAC area of responsibility are found at http://www.

ssd.noaa.gov/VAAC/washington.html.

Fire and smoke monitoring algorithms are being developed to automatically detect fires and to monitor their

growth and the associated smoke coverage. GOES East spectral channels at

Figure 3-DOC-8. Areas of potential aircraft icing observed by GOES Imager

are color-coded according to the estimated maximum cloud top height in

3,000 foot intervals, based on information from the GOES Sounder.
SECTION 3 DOC 53

4μm and 11μm have been used to

assess trends in South American burning practices over the past 6 years

(1995-2000); GOES detected the most

fire pixels in the tropical rain forest

ecosystem in 1995. The application to

clear sky human-initiated burning in

South and Central America is now

being adapted to monitor cloudy sky

lightning and clear sky human-initiated

fires in the Canadian provinces and the

continental U.S.. The continual monitoring from GOES (as often as every

71⁄2 minutes) can assist firefighters to

plan evacuation and suppression activities. Studies with Brazil are underway

to predict smoke transport and air pollution and health alerts for major cities.

An AVHRR fire detection algorithm

has been developed for use in monitoring fire and smoke outbreaks around

the world. All these new techniques

will be used to improve the current

operational fire and smoke product

(Figure 3-DOC-9) used by the NWS

Storm Prediction Center (SPC) in their

fire outlook product and other users of

fire and smoke detection such as the

EPA, Forest Service, state and local

agencies. Real time imagery of GOES

and POES imagery in support of SPC

can be found at:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/FIRE/.

A GOES Products and Services

Catalog is available on line at

http://orbit-net.nesdis.noaa.

gov/arad/fpdt/goescat_v4/. An up-todate list and description of operational

and experimental products with links

to the real-time products are available

from this web page. The Polar

Products and Services Catalog is under

development.

NPOESS "test bed" data sets. ORA

scientists continue to play an important

role in the evaluation of proposed contractor sensor design and retrieval

methods during the ongoing selection

process for NPOESS. ORA scientists

have created a variety of "test bed"

data sets that are being used in the

algorithm evaluation process. This is

accomplished through participation in

operational algorithm teams with the

long-term goals of assuring capability

to meet the requirements of all

Environmental Data Records. Ozone

evaluation, calibration, and validation

activities took place for the new

SBUV/2 with the launch and successful checkout of NOAA-17. A new

ozone profile retrieval algorithm has

been developed by NASA and is now

incorporated into SBUV/2 processing

systems. Monitoring of global ozone

will continue with the SBUV/2 instruments on NOAA-14, NOAA-16 and

NOAA-17, and with the TOVS instruments on NOAA-14, NOAA-15,

NOAA-16, and NOAA-17.

Experimental high temporal ozone

products are also being produced from

the GOES-12 sounder channels.

Monitoring is limited to North

America. Preliminary results show the

GOES values are comparable to

amounts from the Total Ozone

Mapping Spectrometer and groundbased measurements.

Land Surface Parameters for Use in

Weather Forecast Models. Satellitederived fields of land surface characteristics are being produced operationally for use in NWP models. These

include radiation products delivered in

near real-time as forcing variables; surface characteristics, such as fractional

green vegetation and albedo, that specify model lower boundary conditions;

and validation quantities, such as surface temperature. These products are

meant to help the NWP models maintain better soil moisture fields which in

turn results in better near surface temperature and humidity forecasts, and

better precipitation forecasts. These

fields now include POES-based

(SSM/I and AMSU) estimates of surface emissivity, snow cover, sea-ice

extent and concentration, land surface

skin temperature, and soil wetness.

Development of snow depth is underway.

Plans are in the making to develop

the AMSU-A Snow Water Equivalent

(SWE) product for operational use.

Forward models for surface emissivity

at various microwave frequencies have

been developed and are being tested in

the forecast models. Algorithms to

determine clear sky ice surface temperFigure 3-DOC-9. Probable fires appear as sharp white "spots" in the

Reflectivity and Infrared images. These images are considered "raw" data,

with no analysis of fires and/or smoke. To view official analyses by NOAA

meteorologists, see the Hazard Mapping System Fire and Smoke Product.
54 DOC SECTION 3 

atures have been developed and delivered to Atmospheric Environment

Service, Canada for evaluation. New

techniques such as automatic edge

detection and incorporation of new

sensors such as AMSU and NASA's

MODIS are in development to improve

operational production of daily snow

and ice extent products. These products are delivered as digital files to

NWP models and to the NWS Climate

Prediction Center and other users.

Graphical imagery of operational

northern hemispheric snow cover can

be found on the Internet at

www.ssd.noaa.gov/SSD/ML/realtime.html #SNOW.

Clouds from AVHRR. Algorithms

are being developed, tested, and validated for determining cloud optical

and microphysical properties from

imager data such as the AVHRR.

These algorithms are in addition to

those already developed which estimate amounts and types for each

observed cloud layer. The four cloud

types are: L - Liquid Water Clouds; M

- Mixed Phase Clouds; G - Glaciated

Clouds (opaque); and H - High Ice

Clouds (semi-transparent). Knowledge of cloud properties is important

for both climate-scale and shortmedium range forecasts. Accordingly,

algorithms and processing systems to

estimate cloud properties from imager

data are being developed for both

applications. Assimilation of cloud

properties into NWP models is an

objective of NCEP for improving

short-medium range forecasts. Other

applications of this work include the

validation of simulated scenes to be

used for the evaluation of new algorithm and instrument designs that is

supported by the IPO. In addition, new

algorithms are being developed to produce optimal estimates of cloud properties from both imager and sounder

data, such as the merge of AVHRR and

TOVS data.

Aerosols. Aerosol retrievals from an

improved and extended unique

Pathfinder Atmosphere (PATMOS)

BUOY Dataset were analyzed to optimize the procedure used in the aerosol

correction SST retrievals. Based on

the results, a new aerosol correction

algorithm for SST has been developed

and delivered to OSDPD for the use

with NOAA-16 and -17 data. The new

correction algorithm uses aerosol optical depth in AVHRR/3 channel 2 (0.83

μm) only. The PATMOS-BUOY

match up data set was also used for an

extensive evaluation of the singlechannel 3rd generation algorithm for

aerosol retrieval from AVHRR. This

aerosol algorithm has now been implemented in the operational aerosol

observations (AEROBS) obtained

from the AVHRR instrument onboard

the NOAA 16 and 17 satellites. The

algorithm uses an improved treatment

of atmospheric and surface effects, and

provides aerosol optical depth data in

three channels at 0.63, 0.83 and 1.6μm.

The single-channel 3rd-generation

algorithm has also been implemented

at NASA/LaRC in the Clouds and

Earth's Energy System (CERES)

Single Satellite Footprint TOA/Surface

Fluxes and Clouds (SSF) processing of

aerosol optical depth from the MODIS

instruments on the Terra and Aqua

satellites. Aerosol data from this algorithm is produced in addition to the primary MODIS multi-channel retrievals.

The single-channel retrievals serve as

backup for the primary product. They

also provide continuity with earlier

AVHRR aerosol retrievals, and facilitate the quantification of improvements offered by multi-channel

retrievals over single-channel ones. A

comparison of the two aerosol products shows an overall good agreement

on a global scale. This implies that the

simple single-channel algorithm performs well relative to the more sophisticated and comprehensive MODIS

multi-channel algorithm. The major

differences between the two products

appear to be related to the differences

in cloud screening and identification of

glint regions that lead to differences in

sampling. The lessons learned from

these and follow up comparisons will

be applied to improve the current operational algorithm, and in the risk

reduction of aerosol retrieval from

Visible Infrared Imager/Radiometer

Suite (VIIRS) on the NPOESS satellites. The feasibility of aerosol optical

depth retrieval from GOES over most

of South and North America has also

been demonstrated. A comparison of

GOES-retrieved aerosol optical depth

with that observed at the AErosol

RObotic NETwork (AERONET) ground

stations showed good agreement.

Long-term Monitoring of NOAA-15

AMSU-A Performance. Since the

launch of the NOAA-15 satellite, the

AMSU-A level 1B data have been captured from the CEMSCS and stored on

optical disks. These data are used for

off-line characterization of the instrument radiometric performance on

orbit. Over 20 important radiometric

parameters are extracted or calculated

from the AMSU-A 1B data. NESDIS

has already demonstrated that the noise

in the observations in all channels is

lower (better) than that required by the

specifications and, in some channels, it

is lower than estimates based on prelaunch test results. NOAA will continue compiling long-term trends of all

the parameters to provide a better

understanding of the instrument performance. The PC-based software

developed for evaluating these data

will be improved for better efficiency

in processing the data.

Calibration of the Visible and NearInfrared Channels of the AVHRR. The

AVHRR flown on POES is recognized

as an invaluable resource for satellitebased studies of the Earth system. The

long-term records of geophysical products such as the Normalized Difference

Vegetation Index (NDVI), columnar

aerosols over the oceans, cloud morphology, and short-wave radiation

budget play a central role in climate

and global change studies by providing
SECTION 3 DOC 55

a means to study the environment continuously. It is thus very important to

characterize and document the in-orbit

performance of the AVHRR flown on

the polar orbiters. Toward this end, a

very comprehensive program of postlaunch calibration and characterization

of the AVHRR has been implemented

to ensure the accuracy, continuity, and

viability of the various AVHRRderived geophysical products, with

particular attention paid to the visible

(Channel 1: 0.58 - 0.68 μm), and nearinfrared (Channel 2: 0.72 - 1.1 μm;

Channel 3A: 1.58 - 1.64 μm) channels

which do not have any onboard calibration devices. The major program

elements are:

(a) development of an optimal

vicarious post-launch calibration technique, utilizing radiometrically stable

calibration sites, model simulations of

the radiation measured by the sensors,

and simultaneous radiation measurements by the AVHRR and by calibrated spectrometers onboard aircraft; 

(b) enhancement of available

vicarious calibration techniques to

improve attainable radiometric calibration accuracies beyond ±5 percent;

(c) evaluation of the feasibility of

using the International Space Station

(ISS) as a platform to calibrate satellite

sensors, in general, using radiometers

on the ISS traceable to the National

Institute of Standards and Technology

(NIST);

(d) establishment of the AVHRR

as a traveling calibration standard to

monitor the performance of sensors,

such as the imager on the GOES, the

visible channel of the High-resolution

Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS),

the Moderate-resolution Imaging

Spectrometer (MODIS), and various

sensors to be flown on ENVISAT; and 

(e) design of optimal onboard and

vicarious calibration techniques for the

visible and near-infrared sensors

planned under the NPOESS. The relevance and importance of these activities has been recognized by the

national and international user community, as evidenced by the appreciation

and endorsement of the Working

Group on Calibration and Validation

(WGCV) and the Global Observing

Systems Space Panel (GOSSP).

To ensure global access to the results

of the AVHRR calibration program,

and recognizing the importance of the

AVHRR-derived products to national

and international programs, such as the

International Satellite Cloud

Climatology Project (ISCCP), the

International Geosphere Biosphere

Programme (IGBP), the Global

Climate, Ocean, and Terrestrial

Observing Systems, and to benefit

from sensor calibration research elsewhere, active liaison, and collaboration

in some instances, has been established

with researchers in NASA, NIST,

EUMETSAT, China Meteorological

Administration, Beijing, China;

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,

United Kingdom; National Space

Development Agency, Japan; the

NOAA-NASA Pathfinder Program;

several space agencies and remote

sensing laboratories outside the U.S., and

academia both in the U.S. and abroad.

Calibration of Geostationary

Operational Environmental Satellite

Instruments. The GOES ground-system calibration processing was modified to accommodate the changes in

spectral locations and field-of-view

sizes of the Imager channels that

became effective with GOES-12.

Additional processing changes are

being developed to accommodate the

further changes that will be made to

the Imager on GOES-N. The most

notable of these is a tenfold increase in

the time the Imager spends viewing its

blackbody for calibrating its infrared

channels. The increase is intended to

improve calibration precision.

On Nov. 24, 2003, the operational

calibration processing in the GOES

imager's infrared channels was modified to deal with artificial depressions

in measured brightness temperatures

that occurred in the hours near local

midnight. These depressions, reaching

a maximum of approximately 1K (for a

scene at 300K), were most pronounced

in the infrared channels at the shortest

wavelengths. It is believed they were

caused by effects of solar heating in the

calibration measurements. The processing modification, which invokes a

statistical technique to calculate the

calibration coefficients near midnight,

succeeded in minimizing the artificial

brightness-temperature depressions. In

addition to calibration, the product

processing algorithms for several products will have been modified to accommodate the new channel configuration.

FY 2004 saw considerable progress

in the on-orbit calibration of the

Imager's visible channel. This channel, lacking an on-board calibration

device, can only be calibrated vicariously, i.e., with targets external to the

satellite. Reported results from two

such targets using eight years of observations of a stable Earth target (the

Grand Desert in Sonora, Mexico), estimated that the responsivity of the

GOES-8 Imager's visible channel

degraded an average of 5.8% per year.

From routine observations of approximately 60 stars, the visible-channel

responsivity was estimated at degradations of 4.86 (0.08%) for the GOES-8

Imager (from 10/19/95 to 4/1/03) and

5.56 (0.18%) for the GOES-10 Imager

(from 1/4/01 to 11/6/03). The difference between the GOES-8 degradation

rates from the two methods is a topic

of current research.

More information on GOES calibration topics, including the GOES-12

Imager channel changes, the correction

for the midnight infrared-channel calibration errors, and the star- and desertbased vicarious calibrations of the visible channel, can be viewed at

www.oso.noaa.gov/goes/goes-calibration/index.htm 

Pathfinder. Climate data sets of

cloud amount, aerosol optical thickness (AOT) over the oceans, and the
56 DOC SECTION 3 

Earth's radiation budget for clear and

cloudy skies have been retrospectively

generated from over 17 years of

AVHRR data as part of the NOAANASA Pathfinder program. An

improved data set spanning the period

from July 1981, through the end of

1999, was completed in 2000. This

data set is being utilized to study the

relationship between the variation in

global mean values of the absorbed

solar radiation and variation in aerosol

amount caused by major volcanic

eruptions. The influence of the aerosol

amount on variations in the global SST

is also under investigation. The analysis of time series of anomalies of the

cloud radiative forcing has been shown

to correlate well (spatially and temporally) with El Niño events. A second

reprocessing of the entire data set is

being proposed, where multiple-layered cloud data will be used. Land surface and ocean products such as the vegetation index and the SST will be added.

Ocean Surface Winds. Calibration

and validation studies are performed

by ORA for all new operational ocean

surface wind data streams. Product

refinement and development activities

are currently underway to improve

ocean wind-vector retrievals in the

high wind speed regime, as well as precipitation regimes, where current

retrieval algorithms underestimate the

wind speeds. There are several satellite-based active and passive

microwave sensors planned for launch

in the near future from which NOAA

would have the opportunity to obtain

near real-time data streams. One of

these sensors will be the first demonstration of the passive polarimetric

technique, which is the technique

being relied on in the NPOESS design

to meet the nation's ocean surface wind

vector requirements.

High-Resolution Coastal Winds and

Storm Signatures from Synthetic

Aperture Radar. ORA scientists are

currently developing techniques for

deriving high-resolution (1 km or less)

winds from synthetic aperture radar

(SAR) imagery, and using these

derived winds to study ocean surface

wind signatures of atmospheric fronts

and storms. By sensing variations in

ocean surface roughness on the centimeter scale, SAR sensors can image

storms, atmospheric waves (such as

mountain lee waves), island and mountain wakes and vortex streets, gap

flows, atmospheric fronts, and barrier

jets. Application demonstrations are

currently underway to provide highresolution winds, imagery, and other

SAR-derived products to operational

agencies for evaluation. By the year

2007, there will be as many as five

wide-swath SAR satellites. If data

acquisition and sharing arrangements

can be established to obtain access to

SAR imagery from these new sources,

frequent routine SAR coverage of U.S.

coastal areas will be possible. This

increased coverage will allow use of

SAR-derived marine and atmospheric

products for operational purposes.

Ocean Color. Several programs at

ORA are involved in satellite ocean

color research. The Marine Optical

Buoy (MOBY) Project develops,

deploys, and maintains the MOBY off

of the coast of Lanai, Hawaii, to measure visible and near-infrared radiation

entering and emanating from the

ocean. The resulting measurements

support the initialization and vicarious

calibration of international and

national ocean color sensors, such as

the Ocean Color and Temperature

Sensor, the Sea-Viewing Wide-Fieldof-View Sensor, and the recently

launched Moderate Resolution

Imaging Spectroradiometer. The

Marine Optical Characterization

Experiment (MOCE), MOBY's sister

project, involves the collection from

ship of in situ measurements of these

and other parameters relevant to ocean

color in the surrounding region. Data

from both sampling platforms furnish

time-series of bio-optical measurements that is employed to track sensor

drift, define bio-optical relationships,

validate satellite-derived products, and

develop ocean color algorithms. In

addition to MOBY and MOCE, programs exist at ORA to routinely evaluate the accuracy of NESDIS operational ocean color products and to

develop algorithms for remotely

detecting and predicting the presence

of noxious marine biota, such as harmful algal blooms.

Coral Reef Watch is NOAA's Early

Warning System for Coral Reef

Health. Like the rest of the world,

most of the U.S. coral reef systems are

threatened due to pollution, over-fishing, and thermal bleaching. This threat

includes almost all of Florida and

Puerto Rico reefs, nearly half of

Hawaii's reefs, and an unknown, but

significant, fraction of reefs in the U.S.

Pacific Territories. The widely distributed and isolated locations of many

coral reefs preclude normal monitoring

practices. In 1998, NESDIS established an experimental capability using

POES satellites to conduct thermal

bleaching surveillance of coral reefs on

a world-wide basis. This experiment

demonstrated remarkably accurate

capabilities for early warning of thermally-induced coral reef bleaching

conditions over all global tropical

ocean regions, resulting in a series of

special International Workshops on

Satellite Monitoring of Coral Reefs

being convened in June 1999, January

2001, and June 2003. In 2002, NESDIS successfully transitioned two

existing experimental satellite reef

health monitoring products into viable

operational web-based products, in

particular the Coral Reef HotSpot, an

SST anomalies product, and an accumulated heat stress product. In

October 2003, NESDIS declared the

experimental coral bleaching monitoring products operational. These operational products include SST anomalies,

HotSpots, Degree Heating Week

(DHW) Charts and Tropical Indices

page, and serve as excellent and useful
SECTION 3 DOC 57

tool for monitoring the potential coral

bleaching events. Operational supports for these coral bleaching products are provided at NESDIS on a 24-

hour, seven-day basis. In addition, the

Coral Reef Watch (CRW) program

provided support to NOAA's Coral

Reef Information Service (CoRIS) promoting U.S. leadership in the emerging

global "Virtual Coral Reef Ecosystem

Monitoring Laboratory," and continues

to provide support solid scientific basis

for the development of future monitoring and assessment products and/or

capabilities.

CoastWatch. NESDIS has responsibility for CoastWatch Program

Management. This program managed

in conjunction with other NOAA Line

Offices makes satellite data products

and in situ data from NOAA environmental buoys available to Federal,

state, and local marine scientists and

coastal resource managers. Data from

the AVHRR on NOAA's polar orbiting

spacecraft are collected at Wallops

Island, Virginia, and at Fairbanks,

Alaska. These data are processed on

NOAA computers in Suitland,

Maryland, using a set of NOAA-developed multi-channel atmospherically

corrected algorithms for determination

of SST. Data are then mapped

(Mercator Projection) and sectored to

predefined coordinates specified for

each of the CoastWatch regions.

Digital, high-resolution data products

(1 km/4 km in a CoastWatch Binary

Format) are then passed daily to

CoastWatch Regional Nodes in the

eastern U.S. (i.e., Southeast, Great

Lakes, Northeast, Gulf of Mexico, and

Caribbean). For Regional Nodes in the

Pacific region, CoastWatch local data

acquisition and processing capabilities

are in La Jolla, California; Anchorage,

Alaska; and Honolulu, Hawaii. The

Internet is used as the primary

telecommunications pathway for digital data distribution. Once products

are delivered to the CoastWatch

Regional Nodes they become immediately available for local use. An evergrowing number of Federal, state, and

local organizations are establishing a

formal relationship with local

CoastWatch Regional Nodes for routine timely access to CoastWatch

image products. More information

about CoastWatch is available on the

Internet at coastwatch.noaa.gov/

COASTWATCH/. Finally, The Coast

Watch AVHRR products are have

undergone a modernization effort.

These products are now in a new format (Hierarchical Data Format (HDF))

and use new processing software

which has improved the earth locations

of the products. CoastWatch has recently

expanded, making available ocean color

and ocean surface winds, as well as

microwave SST, data and products.

NOAA NATIONAL DATA CENTERS (NNDC)

The NESDIS is responsible for the

management of the NNDCs. The

NNDC's consist of three data centers:

the National Climatic Data Center

(NCDC) located in Asheville, North

Carolina, the National Geophysical

Data Center (NGDC) located in

Boulder, Colorado, and the National

Oceanographic Data Center (NODC)

located in Silver Spring, Maryland

(www.nndc.noaa.gov).

The NNDCs were established to be

the Nation's primary repository for

NOAA data. Since their inception, the

role of the data centers has expanded in

response to the introduction of new

technologies useful to the centers and

available to the users. Originally

designed to archive only NOAA data,

these centers now hold environmental

data from a variety of sources, to

include other U.S. government agencies, such as DOD and NASA, foreign

governments, universities and cooperatives, and numerous commercial

research programs.

The three NNDCs are responsible

for the Scientific Stewardship of the

Nation's environmental data, and

developing and operating the associated ingest, monitoring, quality control

processing, access, archive, analysis

and assessment, creation of climate

data records (CDRs), and other product generation systems in support of

their national and international commitments and users.

The NNDCs archive and provide

access to numerous types of data.

Each type of data provides a unique

perspective for use in climate, oceanographic, space weather, and other geophysical research. It is often the combination of many of these data sets that

lead to new discoveries and products

that support activities, such as weather

forecasting, risk (hazards-public safety

and economic) mitigation, weather

impact assessments, and climate

assessments and predictions.

Data sets are typically divided into

the method of collection: Remote

(Satellites), Airborne, and in situ (surface: land and ocean). in situ includes

radar, radiosonde, manual and automated surface observing systems,

fixed and drifting buoys, etc.

Observational data must be accompanied by comprehensive and complete

station history data, referred to as

metadata, as well as other ancillary and

auxiliary documentation describing the

data processing procedures (quality

control and assurance) used prior to

and after archiving the data.

Climate monitoring, evaluation, and

prediction are critical to economic sustainability and environmental stewardship, as well as planning and responding to the quality of life changes that

society will encounter in the 21st century and beyond. The challenge facing

the NNDCs is not only ingesting and

processing very large volumes of new

data, but also the convenient and

timely access to the data and information. Millions of paper pages and thousands of feet of microfilm/microfiche

of recorded instrument measurements

and other information dating back hundreds of years are currently under the
58 DOC SECTION 3 

stewardship of the NNDCs. Over the

past 50+ years, many observations

have been stored in digital form. There

is now in place a program to convert

analog records to digital form. The

process will take many years to complete.

The development of a new generation of satellites over the next ten years

(NASA's Earth Observing System

(EOS), Next Generation Geostationary

Operational Environmental Satellite

(GOES), and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental

Satellite System (NPOESS)), the

Initial Joint Polar System

(IJPS)/MetOp, and the enhancement of

the operational Weather Surveillance

Radar-1988 Doppler (WSR-88D) present major data management (stewardship and customer access) challenges

to the NNDCs.

To meet these challenges, the

NOAA/NESDIS organization has

developed the Comprehensive Large

Array-data Stewardship System

(CLASS) program that will provide a

significant portion, but not all, the

funding resources required to improve

and maintain the information technology (IT) infrastructure required to support the mandated scientific data stewardship responsibilities for these

incredibly large volumes of data

(Figure 3-DOC-10).

NATIONAL CLIMATIC DATA

CENTER.

The National Climatic Data Center

(NCDC) is a designated Federal

Records Center. It is the officially designated National archive for weather

and climate data and information and

is the world's largest archive of climate

data. The NCDC produces and maintains numerous data sets, products,

assessments, and services many thousands of customers with data and products worldwide. The NCDC operates

World Data Centers for both

Meteorology and Paleoclimatology.

National and global data sets and

assessments are produced that support

economic and environmental decisions

and plans affected by climate variations and change. The NCDC

describes the climate of the U.S.

through monthly and annual State of

the Climate reports. The NCDC is collocated with the U.S. Air Force

Combat Climatology Center and the

U.S. Navy Fleet Numerical

Oceanography and Meteorology

Detachment. These three organizations make up the Federal Climate

Center, which together fulfill much of

the Nation's climatological requests.

The vision of the NCDC is to be the

most comprehensive and accessible

source of quality climate and weather

related data and information services

and to be an objective authority on climate monitoring.

The mission of the NCDC is to provide stewardship and access to the

Nation's resource of global climate and

weather related data and information,

and assess and monitor climate variation and change.

The basic functions performed by

the NCDC necessary to achieve the

mission include: acquisition (ingest of

observations and data) and quality

assurance processing, providing access

for new and historical (archived) data,

archiving of data and information

(long-term data stewardship), and

assessments (climate monitoring).

NCDC Operational Programs

• Long-term stewardship (archive

and access) of the Nation's weather and

climate data, as part of the Federal

Records Retention System. The

NCDC is an approved Agency Records

Center and operates under the National

Archives and Records Administration

(NARA) Federal Records Center

guidelines and policies for managing

weather and climate data records and

information.

• Scientific Data Stewardship functions inherent to the mission of the legislatively designated Nation's Climate

Data Center. These include developing

and operating the associated ingest,

monitoring, quality assessment processing, access, archive, analysis and

assessment, creation of climate data

records, and other product generation

systems in support of national and

international commitments.

• National partnerships with Federal

Figure 3-DOC-10. Projected growth of data from major systems that will

require processing and storage.
SECTION 3 DOC 59

agencies (such as the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration,

Department of Defense,

Environmental Protection Agency,

Department of Agriculture,

Department of Energy, Department of

State, National Science Foundation,

U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Global

Climate Research Panel), many state

agencies, all the NOAA Line Offices,

Regional Climate Centers, State

Climatologists, universities, and many

others. These partnerships contribute

to the collection, quality assurance

processing, and access to regional and

national observing networks, to climate monitoring, to the national climate assessments, and to a National

Climate Services Program.

• International partnerships with the

WMO, International Council of

Scientific Unions, World Data Centers,

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate

Change, United Nations Educational,

Scientific and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), and other nations through

bilateral and multilateral agreements.

Examples are the World Data Center

for Meteorology (archiving the data

collected by internationally sponsored

research programs and actively

exchanging climate data with foreign

countries to support research and other

activities) and the World Data Center

for Paleoclimatology (assembling,

archiving, and providing access to

global paleoclimatic data derived from

worldwide tree-rings, stalactites and

stalagmites, coral samples, pollen and

macro-fossils, lake and bog sediments,

marine sediments, ice cores, and other

geological and biological sources).

• Maintaining and updating national

and global baseline data sets and climate data records that are used for

monitoring, evaluation, analyses, and

assessments of climate variation and

change on global and regional scales.

Examples of these data sets include the

Global Historical Climatology Network,

the U.S. Historical Climatology Network,

the Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere

Data Set, the Comprehensive Aerological

Reference Data Set, and the Monthly

Climate Data of the World.

• Customer Service. Customers can

access data, information, and products

through a variety of means, such as

real-time and near real-time digital

access and retrieval of new and

archived historical observations

through E-Commerce web enabled

capabilities (Internet), as well as

through traditional methods, i.e.,

phone, e-mail, fax, and letters. Digital

access, retrieval, and delivery of data

on-line and in a robotic storage system

via the Internet is the primary and preferred customer service capability.

Data and information can also be

delivered on magnetic media (tape and

disk), hard copy (paper and microfilm),

electronic downloads, and staged for FTP

transfers. Many of the NCDC assessments, peer reviewed journal articles,

published papers, and conference reports

are also available on-line.

NCDC Supporting Research

The NCDC engages in an active

research program to support the operational programs. Examples are:

Scientific Data Stewardship

Program. This program provides an

approach to maximizing the performance, quality, and utility of climate

observing systems, data, and information so that the "scientific integrity and

long term utility" of climate records for

a broad range of users will be ensured.

Five fundamental principles provide

the framework for this program:

(1) ensure Observing System

Quality during the design phase and

real-time monitoring of performance; 

(2) develop an end-to end

Climate Processing System that

includes the timely ingest, quality

assurance processing, immediate

access to new and long-term access to

historical records, and the long-term

safeguarding of the climate records for

future generations;

(3) provide Basic Information

Technology (IT) support;

(4) document Earth System

Variability through monitoring and

evaluation of present, future, and past

observations; and

(5) enable and facilitate Future

Research through periodic analysis

and assessment of new and historical

records. Research activities supporting this program include:

Digital Access and Retrieval of

Data and Information. Significant

progress has been made to digitally

ingest data in near real-time and make

these data available to users within

hours instead of days or weeks from

on-line disk and robotic tape storage

systems. Improved access to the Next

Generation Internet high-speed communication capabilities have accelerated the amount of data delivered

directly from the field to the NCDC at

the time or soon after the time near the

time of observation. Data are now

available from 10 to 400 times faster

than ever before. One example of a

very successful NWS-NESDIS-NCDC

collaboration is the real time direct

digital ingest and access to WSR-88D

Level II data through NGI connections

with 124 NWS sites. New and historical data are now accessible digitally by

users from on-line disk and robotic

tape storage systems, and a visualization capability is also available. The

NCDC also receives on a daily basis

the WSR-88D Level III data digitally

from a NWS Central Collection facility.

Digital Health of the Network

Monitoring (Observing System

Performance Indicators). The purpose

of the Network Monitoring process is

to improve the quality of new observations and the fidelity of the historical

archives by providing real-time information on the health and status of

NOAA's observing networks (Figure

3-DOC-11). The fully developed system will continually monitor and

assess the state of these networks with
60 DOC SECTION 3 

the intent of providing feedback that

could either lead to improvements in

the network or changes in analysis

techniques to account for problems in

the network. Anomalies and systematic performance problems are evaluated and reported to the network manager. The outcome will be improved

observing system performance and

higher quality data records. In most

cases, these data quality issues can be

identified and corrected before the data

are incorporated into the historical

archives and associated data bases.

The NWS Cooperative Observer

(COOP) Network and the U.S. Climate

Reference Network (USCRN) are regularly monitored and the plan is to add

other networks, such as ASOS, Upper

Air, etc. The USCRN program has a

more rigorous operational daily monitoring system of hourly performance

(See www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/hofn/

global-insitu.html).

Assessments and Reports. A series

of regular reports are released regarding several key climate issues of concern to the Nation. For example, the

NCDC releases a monthly and annual

State of the Climate for the U.S. and

the North American Drought

Monitoring Report which is a collaborative effort between Canada, Mexico,

and the U.S. (See www.ncdc.noaa.gov/

oa/climate/ research/monitoring.html).

Continuing study of the identification

and blending of key parameters from

satellite, radar an in situ observing systems will lead to a new generation of

quality Climate Data Records.

Understanding and knowledge, as well

as new products and services for

research and practical economic and

environmental uses, will be derived

from this progressive approach to maximizing the true value of observations.

U.S. Climate Reference Network

(USCRN). The Ten Climate

Monitoring Principles described in the

National Research Council Report,

Adequacy of Climate Observing

Systems

(1999), are

being used to guide the design, deployment, and life cycle management of the

USCRN (Figure 3-DOC-12). The

USCRN is the first U.S. observing system built with the primary purpose of

providing climate-quality measurements. Data from the fully deployed

network of ~ 110 stations will quantify

the variance in surface air temperature

and precipitation on a national scale.

The USCRN climate-quality observations avoid the time-dependent biases

typically experienced with other surface observing networks. The USCRN

is becoming the Nation's Benchmark

Network by providing a standard to

which satellite, weather radar, and

other surface systems (e.g., ASOS,

COOP, mesonets, etc.) observations

can be validated and verified. In

essence, the USCRN is providing the

means to enhance the quality and confidence in other observations, as well

as contribute to rehabilitating existing

historical databases and data sets. This

will produce a significant increase in

the volume of climate quality data and

information that can be used in assessing past climate trends and change, as

well as contribute to the present and

future climate monitoring, evaluation,

and forecast tasks. (See

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/crn.html )

NOAA Operational Model Archive

and Distribution System (NOMADS).

NOMADS is a collaborative approach

to provide access and data analysis

capabilities for model and other data.

The NCDC, in partnership with the

NCEP and the Geophysical Fluid

Dynamics Laboratory, initiated this

project to address a growing need for

remote access to high volume Global

Climate Model and Numerical

Weather Prediction model data. The

NOMADS team has partnered with

existing and development activities

including CLASS, National

Oceanographic Partnership Program's,

National Virtual Ocean Data System,

Figure 3-DOC-11. A network monitoring system provides

real-time information on the health and status of NOAA's

observing networks.
SECTION 3 DOC 61

the Department of Energy's Earth

System Grid, and the Thematic

Realtime Environmental Data

Distributed Services developed

through the National Science

Foundation (Figure 3-DOC-13).

NOMADS is a pilot project that uses

a distributed client-server framework

of data servers together with emerging

technologies to access data stored in

heterogeneous formats at geographically distributed repositories.

NOMADS provides, for the first time,

long-term stewardship of numerical

and climate model runs and provides

the regional modeling community with

the data necessary to initialize local

models. NOMADS also provides the

tools necessary to inter-compare model

and observational data sets from

around the world. Currently there are

nine working NOMADS systems

across the nation serving data in the

distributed framework. (See

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/model/modelresources.html )

Climate Database Modernization

Program (CDMP). Digital databases

of wind speed and direction, precipitation, temperature, and pressure are far

more useful than paper and microfilm

records. These databases support

many disciplines, including economic

research, engineering, risk management, and passive (solar, wind) energy

enterprises. The CDMP addresses

access and utilization issues. The

Program's goal is to make non-digital

(paper/film) historical climate data

digitally accessible and retrievable online via the Internet. The conversion of

paper and microfilm records to digital

databases and data sets will provide

access to either optically scanned

images of records or data manually

keyed into digital data bases. Many of

these records are being merged with

the more recent digital databases

extending the digitally accessible and

retrievable time series to many

decades, as well as hundreds of years

in some cases. Forty million documents have been imaged and many

thousands of observations manually

keyed or digitized from the merchant

and military ship records, America's

military forts, U.S. cities, lighthouses,

weather ships, and other sources.

However, approximately two thirds of

the paper and film-based climate data

remain to be digitized. The CDMP

provides an unprecedented and unique

opportunity to "rescue" valuable climate data dating back into the 1700s

that are in jeopardy of permanent loss

due to the deterioration of the paper

and microfilm media (See

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/

oa/climate/cdmp/cdmp.html).

NOAA Paleoclimatology Program.

Paleoclimatic data is an important segment of documenting and reconstructing annual to century scale records

leading to climate records dating back

10s and 100s of millennia. The incorporation of this program into the functions and activities of the NCDC

enhances the identification and understanding of climate change and variation. The NCDC Paleoclimatology

Branch cooperates with many countries in research projects that combine

the global paleoclimate database with

the instrumental record to extend the

climate record back in time for climate

model verification and climate change

studies. Objectives of the program are

to cooperate with researchers in academia, NOAA and other agencies and to

conduct original research to describe

the global patterns of annual-to-millennial scale climate change, to understand the causes of climate change, to

separate man-induced climate change

from natural variability, and to validate

the models that are used to predict

future climates. (See

www.ncdc.noaa.gov/paleo/paleo.html)

Comprehensive Large Array-data

Stewardship System (CLASS).

CLASS is the NOAA implementation

program for an improved architecture

for archiving and servicing large-volume data (Figure 3-DOC-14).

Advances in technology, including

faster network access, web-based

interfaces, and emerging discovery and

analysis tools, will provide a one-stop

capability to access the NOAA large

array data sets. The CLASS objective

is to establish a web-enabled browse,

order, and retrieval delivery system

that will enhance and increase the

availability and accessibility of satelExisting Sites Planned sites

Figure 3-DOC-12. U.S. Climate Reference Network existing and planned sites.
62 DOC SECTION 3 

lite, radar, and other data and derived

products to customers worldwide. The

CLASS integrated storage and webbased access and servicing system

design incorporates many of the features and capabilities of the current

Satellite Active Archive system built

for the POES data stored on a robotic

system located in Suitland, Maryland.

The CLASS program has established

dual sites, one in Asheville, North

Carolina, and another in Suitland,

Maryland. NOAA POES and GOES

data are currently available via the

CLASS interface. CLASS data and

product enhancements will be implemented in phases called campaigns.

The major campaigns planned include

GOES, POES, WSR-88D, NPOESS

Preparatory Program, NPOESS, Earth

Observing System Long Term Archive

and the European Meteorological

Operational Satellite Program (See

www.saa.noaa.gov/ nsaa/products/welcome).

Air Quality Forecasts. NCDC

recently began archiving NOAA's Air

Quality Forecasts. The Air Quality

Forecasts are forecast guidance of

one-hour and eight-hour averaged

ground-level (surface) ozone concentration. The guidance will be produced

twice-a-day, for hourly intervals

through midnight on the following day

(48 model hours), seven days a week

for the northeastern U.S. initially, then

gradually will include the entire U.S.

by 2009. The NOAA/NWS will provide the data. These data provide

ground-level ozone forecast guidance

for state and local air quality forecasters, and help the public limit adverse

effects from poor air quality. This

forecast guidance would help meet a

Congressionally directed national air

quality forecast capability. These data

will have received a high measure of

quality control through computer and

manual edits. (See www.arl.noaa.

gov/ready/aq.html)

NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHIC

DATA CENTER

The National Oceanographic Data

Center (NODC) (www.nodc.noaa.gov)

manages the world's largest collection

of publicly available oceanographic

data. NODC holdings include in situ

and remotely sensed physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic data

from coastal and deep ocean areas.

NODC customers reuse this data to

answer questions about climate, and

ocean and coastal phenomena.

Specifically, NODC data archive and

access responsibilities support climate

research and operational ocean observing system activities as follows:

• NODC performs ocean profile

data management for internationally

coordinated global ocean observing

systems such as the Argo Ocean

Profiling Network and the Global

Temperature-Salinity Profile Program

(GTSPP) in cooperation with applicable JOINT WMO/IOC Technical

Commission for Oceanography and

Figure 3-DOC-13. NOMADS is a pilot project and cooperative effort involving six public and private organizations. NOMADS will provide data access

and analysis capabilities for model and other data.
SECTION 3 DOC 63

Marine Meteorology (JCOMM) committees. NODC's objectives are (1) to

safeguard versions of the Argo and

GTSPP near real-time and retrospective data and information and (2) to

provide high quality data to a wide

variety of users in a timely and useful

manner. The Argo and GTSPP data

system present an excellent opportunity to improve ocean and climate

forecasting, with consequent benefits

for the protection of life and property

and effective planning for the effects of

seasonal to inter-annual climate variability.

• NODC produces regular updates

of the World Ocean Data Base and

World Ocean Atlas. The most recent

version, 2001, includes over seven million profiles of scientifically quality

controlled ocean temperature, salinity,

oxygen, plankton, pigment, and nutrient data. The Atlas presents statistics

and objectively analyzed fields for

one-degree and five-degree squares

generated from World Ocean Database

2001, observed and standard level

flagged data. The ocean variables

included in the atlas are: in situ temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen,

apparent oxygen utilization, percent

oxygen saturation, dissolved inorganic

nutrients (phosphate, nitrate, and silicate), chlorophyll at standard depth

levels, and plankton biomass sampled

from 0 - 200 meters depth. Further

information on both products are available at: www.nodc. noaa.gov/OC5/indprod.html.

• The NOAA Marine Environmental

Buoy Database (http://www.nodc.

noaa.gov/BUOY/buoy.html) is one of

the largest and most frequently used

data archives maintained by the

NODC. This database holds wind,

wave, and other marine data collected

by the NOAA National Data Buoy

Center (NDBC) from moored buoys

and Coastal-Marine Automated

Network (C-MAN) stations.

Parameters reported by both buoys and

C-MAN stations include air temperature and pressure, wind speed and

direction, wind gust, and sea surface

temperature.

• NODC is developing a capability

to provide public access to consistently-processed, climate-capable

satellite datasets and applying them to

various scientific problems. The first

products provided in 2003, were

Pathfinder reprocessed 9 km and 4 km

sea surface temperatures. For further

information see www.nodc.noaa.gov/

sog/.

NOAA/NODC Library.

NODC houses the NOAA Central

Library (www.lib.noaa.gov/) which

supports weather and climate research

programs by providing a variety of

information services, including:

• Access to print and electronic verFigure 3-DOC-14 Scientific Data Stewardship -- Observations for Climate.
64 DOC SECTION 3 

sions of American Meteorological

Society journals.

• Access to Meteorological and

Geoastrophysical Abstracts (desktop

access at the Silver Spring campus).

• Desktop access to Web of Science

at several NOAA sites.

• Assistance in obtaining site

licenses for 169 National Weather

Service field sites for electronic access

to Monthly Weather Review and

Weather and Forecasting.

• Archival of historic collections of

the Weather Bureau.

• Data rescue of hundreds of volumes of meteorological data publications in danger of loss.

NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL DATA

CENTER

National Geophysical Data Center

(NGDC) (www.ngdc.noaa.gov) staff

archive, assess, and provide access to

satellite and ground-based observatory

data from national and international

programs supporting research in meteorology, climatology, and space

weather as well as solar-terrestrial

physics, snow and ice, marine geology

and geophysics, and solid earth geophysics. The National Snow and Ice

Data Center (NSIDC) is an affiliated

partner with NGDC. World Data

Centers for Solar-Terrestrial Physics,

Marine Geology and Geophysics,

Snow and Ice, and Solid Earth

Geophysics under the auspices of the

International Council of Scientific

Unions are operated by the two

national centers. NGDC also hosts the

secretariat for the Scientific

Committee for Solar-Terrestrial

Physics. Research activities focus on

satellite remote sensing to assess the

long-term changes of the land surface,

the space environment, snow cover,

and sea ice.

Long-term archive responsibilities

for the nation are provided by NGDC

activities.

• The Solar-Terrestrial Physics

Division manages the sole archive of

space weather data from GOES, POES

and DMSP satellites. NGDC maintains the only archive of raw data

records and Visible Infra-Red (VNIR)

imagery collected on DMSP satellites

for meteorological, oceanographic and

Earth surface studies. The space

weather ground-based archives focus

on data used in NOAA's space weather

forecasts, warnings and alerts.

• NSIDC manages cryospheric data

from both ground-based and satellite

instruments. These data stewardship

and scientific stewardship activities for

satellite and ground-based data include

processing, management, analysis and

quality assessments.

Online Web-based access services to

these large databases continue to

evolve at NGDC. Data discovery,

browsing, and delivery are fairly

mature functions. Data directories are

managed by relational database management systems available to most

search engines. Almost all of the data

sets reside in robotic libraries and are

accessible online, however some data

sets are easier to browse, display and

use than others. NGDC has several

projects as part of the NESDIS program to digitize and make accessible

the most important records in the huge

historical archive. Interactive displays

of multi-disciplinary data sets and data

mining are under development and

NGDC has embarked on an environmental scenario generator project to

mine information from the archives

and to use the mined information to

launch a numerical simulation of the

atmospheric and space environments.

DMSP program prepares calibrated

and geo-referenced records from the

raw data records recorded by the scientific instruments on DMSP satellites.

Data sets include visible, infrared and

microwave imagery, microwave

soundings and in situ measurements of

the space environment. DMSP F-16

launched in October 2003 has a new and

improved microwave imager/sounder.

User services are provided through the

Space Physics Interactive Data Resource

(spidr.ngdc. noaa.gov/spidr/).

Research activities focus on the use

of the visible and infrared imagery

recorded at night, a unique monitoring

capability of DMSP satellites. In 2004,

a major effort was undertaken to digitize the nighttime visible imagery to

record changes in population and economic vitality over the 30 years of the

archive.

GOES, POES and DMSP satellite

data of solar activity and the near Earth

space environment managed by NGDC

provide the long-term monitoring of

space weather conditions. These data

record the Earth's magnetic field, the

electrically charged environment, and

solar x-rays from geosynchronous and

polar sun-synchronous altitudes.

DMSP F-16 has two new space

weather instruments that remotely

image the characteristics of the ionosphere. Data from ground-based

observatories recording solar activity,

ionospheric characteristics and geomagnetic variations complement,

enhance and provide ground truth for

the satellite measurements. Solar

Geophysical Data containing solar and

space weather data is published

monthly. The space weather program

at NGDC archives measurements of

total solar and solar spectral irradiance

for use in climate studies

(spidr.ndgc.noaa.gov/spidr/). Tabular

listing of ionospheric parameters and

ancient solar images are part of the

digitizing and access program.

National Snow and Ice Data Center

The National Snow and Ice Data

Center (NSIDC) at the University of

Colorado, which is affiliated with

NGDC, manages several cryosphericrelated data archives of interest to

meteorology and climatology. These

data sets include a collection of historical photographs of glaciers, temperature, pressure and position data from

drifting buoys placed on the central

Arctic pack ice, and data from the

NOAA snow cover and DOD-NOAA

sea ice chart digitizing projects.
SECTION 3 DOC 65

NSIDC provides data management

services for a variety of cryospheric

research programs sponsored by

NASA and NSF. In addition, NSIDC

has developed gridded sea ice products

(sea ice concentrations and multi-year

ice fraction) based on passive

microwave data collected by NASA

and DMSP satellites. NSIDC is

acquiring snow cover, glacier and sea

ice records from the former Soviet

Union. Online services are available at

www.nsidc.colorado.edu.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

Environmental Remote Sensing.

Operational meteorological satellite systems provide a unique

opportunity to monitor features on

or near the Earth's surface, sometimes on a nightly basis. The

DMSP nighttime imagery are used

to locate sources of visible and

infrared emissions including city

lights, lightning, wildfires, flaring

gas, and boats. Research projects

use the city lights to infer such

diverse parameters as population

density, economic vitality, and

carbon dioxide emissions. More

information is available at

dmsp.noaa.gov/dmsp.html (Figure

3-DOC-15).

Wildfires Monitored from Space.

DMSP Operational Linescan

System imagery offer a unique

opportunity to monitor wildfires

because each satellite records

nighttime visible emissions covering the entire globe each day.

Instruments designed to detect

clouds also "see" wildfires--many

of which burn in very remote

areas. NGDC has developed a

unique capability to capture the

nighttime emissions from both

large and small wildfires. The system has been used to assist operationally by the Operational

Significant Event Imagery and by

firefighters in developing countries. More information is available at dmsp.noaa.gov/dmsp .html.

Space Weather. The Space

Weather program at NGDC conducts original research in space

physics with an emphasis on space

weather and climate applications.

Research focused on numerical

modeling of the ionosphere and

magnetosphere is conducted with

resident and visiting scientists

from the U.S. and other countries.

A data-driven modeling project to

build the first space climatology

has begun. The project, which is

designed similarly to the NCEPNCAR re-analysis project, will

construct the distribution of particles and electromagnetic fields in

the near-Earth space environment

over an extended period of time

(Figure 3-DOC-16).

Cryospheric Research at NSIDC.

NSIDC research interests cover a

broad spectrum of climate-cryosphere interactions using a variety

of observing techniques with special emphasis on arctic regions and

satellite-born instruments. Their

projects study the long-term

record of snow and ice in the arctic, in the sea and in mountainous

regions, as well as the hydrology

of the southwestern U.S.

Algorithms to detect snow, frozen

ground and sea ice in passive

microwave images recorded on

DMSP and NASA satellites have

been developed at NSIDC. They

have developed models that

describe the physical and mechanical properties of snow and ice in

glaciers and avalanches. Another

Figure 3-DOC-15. Impervious Surface Area - A Unique Earth Surface Product

Derived from Meteorological Satellite Data. The impervious (or paved) surface area was determined from the calibrated nighttime lights from DMSP, the

roads database prepared by DOC, and the urban areas database prepared from

Landsat data by the USGS. A database of the fraction of the area of each cell

within the grid was determined by researchers at NGDC. The total area is

approximately equal the state of Ohio.
66 DOC SECTION 3 

area of special interest and study is

the interaction between sea ice and

the ocean and atmosphere. More

information is available at

www.nsidc.org (Figure 3-DOC-17).

Figure 3-DOC-16. Space Climatology. NGDC researchers use the archive of POES, DMSP, ground-based observatory,

and ground-based indices to drive physical models of the near Earth space environment. An assimilation of ionospheric

electric fields during the recovery of a major magnetic storm is shown (top right). Physical model outputs for the Earth's

magnetosphere (middle) and ionosphere (bottom right) from the climatology are shown. Note the significant increase in

the density due to heating and lifting of the ionosphere at about 60 degrees north where the electric field maximum

occurs.
SECTION 3 DOC 67

Figure 3-DOC-17. The State of Sea Ice in the Arctic. Researchers at NSIDC use DMSP microwave imagery to determine and monitor the edge and concentration of sea ice in the Arctic. This figure shows the median edge and change in

concentration of ice within each grid cell for September 2002 (left) and 2003 (right). The extent of sea ice in the Arctic

is shrinking at an estimated rate of 2.9% per decade. This product is prepared by NSIDC,

http://nsidc.org/sotc/sea_ice.html.

SECTION 3 DOC 69

OFFICE OF OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC

RESEARCH LABORATORIES

Programs within the Oceanic and

Atmospheric Research (OAR)

Laboratories support various National

Oceanic and Atmospheric (NOAA)

meteorological, oceanographic, and

space science missions. The activities

of OAR laboratories are oriented

toward providing the scientific and

engineering understanding, tools, and

techniques that form the basis of

improved oceans, weather, water, and

climate services.

Special emphasis is placed on

improving severe weather, flood, and

hurricane warnings and forecasts and

on improving the utilization and dissemination of data and information.

Severe weather events include flash

floods, strong winds, thunderstorms

(including tornadoes, lightning, and

hail), heavy snowstorms, extreme cold

and heat, drought, and geomagnetic

storms. The key contributions to

improved hurricane forecasts fall

under the "Hurricanes at Landfall"

(HL) focus of the U.S. Weather

Research Program (USWRP). They

include more accurate prediction of

track, intensity, surface winds, rainfall,

and human impacts. Improving flood

forecasts fall under the component of

USWRP labeled "Improving

Quantitative Precipitation

Forecasting." In pursuit of improved

utilization and dissemination of data,

the OAR laboratories conduct both inhouse and cooperative research with

other NOAA organizations, government agencies, joint institutes, universities, and the private sector. In addition, OAR laboratories conducts

research to improve routine weather

forecasts and improve the ability to

forecast regional air quality and atmospheric deposition.

A significant focus of OAR in the

weather and air quality area is the

development of operational testbeds

under the auspices of the USWRP.

These testbeds are the mechanism

through which research is transitioned

to operations. It is recognized by the

USWRP that since NOAA is one of the

forecast mission agencies in the program, and the program goals are predominantly operational ones, its most

significant role in the USWRP is to

provide the infrastructure and capabilities to efficiently and effectively test

research products in an operational

environment. The testbeds are the

Joint Hurricane Testbed, the Mesoscale

Numerical Weather Prediction

Testbed, and the Joint Center for

Satellite Data Assimilation. These

testbeds are operated in partnership

with other USWRP agencies. OAR's

role is to provide directed research and

operational testing, in partnership with

the National Weather Service (NWS).

In addition, the development of the

Weather Research and Forecasting

(WRF) modeling architecture, also

under the auspices of the USWRP, will

provide a common modeling structure

to be shared by most of the testbeds

and between the research and operations communities. Several OAR laboratories are involved in the WRF

development in partnership with the

NWS and other USWRP agencies.

OBSERVING TECHNOLOGY

Two OAR laboratories in Boulder,

Colorado, and one in Norman,

Oklahoma, are heavily involved with

developing new environmental observing system technologies.

1. The Environmental Technology

Laboratory (ETL) in Boulder,

Colorado, develops and evaluates new

remote-sensing concepts and systems.

This development and the associated

environmental research directly support the Nation's forecasting and warning services.

2. The Forecast Systems Laboratory

(FSL) in Boulder, Colorado, takes

promising new scientific and engineering technologies from the research

arena, helps develop them into mature

engineering systems, and transfers

these technologies to NOAA operations and the private sector.

3. The National Severe Storms

Laboratory (NSSL), located in

Norman, Oklahoma, develops new remote

sensing systems and assists in the transfer

of these technologies to the NWS.

FSL is investigating the use of superpressure balloons in the stratosphere as

a platform for monitoring and observing the environment. Among the balloons' capabilities would be atmospheric soundings. The trajectory of the

balloons could be controlled to some

extent by adjusting their altitude so as

to take advantage of the vertical shear.

The balloons would carry compact,

lightweight sondes whose locations

could be tracked as they fell toward the

surface. The balloons would comprise

a moderately priced global system.

A number of engineering tests have

already been performed at altitude by

piggybacking on a zero-pressure balloon launched by the Physical Science

Laboratory at New Mexico State

University and with launches near the

Oregon coast. Telemetry was received

line-of-sight from a distance of over

200 miles, the storage batteries were

charged by solar panels, the proper

thermal environment was maintained

during the daytime heating cycle, and the

instrument package was successfully

recovered after descent by parachute.

In a related balloon development

effort, the Idaho Falls Division of the

Air Resources Laboratory (ARL) is

refining its constant-level "smart" balloon, intended to serve as a marker of

parcels of air moving across the countryside and permitting samples to be

made of the changes occurring in its

composition. The Idaho Falls Division
70 DOC SECTION 3 

is also active in the development of

high wind speed sensors, such as those

used on aircraft and for studies of hurricanes. A specialized probe to measure turbulence during hurricanes is

now nearing completion, as a joint

project with the Oak Ridge Division of

ARL. The Oak Ridge Division continues to lead in the development of specialized sensors for measuring atmospheric turbulence. Their systems are

now widely used for measuring the

efficiency of coupling between the air

and the surface, and have recently been

selected for instrumenting the latest

generation of research aircraft, manufactured in Italy.

ETL and FSL will continue development of new sensors and innovative

techniques for combining observing

systems synergistically and economically. Efforts include developing tools

and techniques to integrate the data

from surface-based and satellite-borne

profiling systems for more effective

use of these data in forecasts. In support of this effort, ETL has recently

added a satellite remote sensing group

that uses data from various environmental satellites to study air-sea interaction processes, the global hydrological cycle including water vapor and

precipitation, and the Earth's radiation

budget.

ETL has demonstrated that tornadoes

can be detected well before touchdown

by listening for their unique infrasonic

signatures. Infrasonic antennas

located in the central U.S. have been

used to detect and locate numerous tornadoes. Verification of these tornadoes

has been provided by Doppler radar

and visual sightings. This research

effort is continuing and it is proposed

that a network of these inexpensive

infrasonic systems be deployed at

WSR-88D sites to enhance early detection capability.

Icing is a weather hazard that occasionally causes aviation disasters,

especially in winter. In-flight icing

forms on wings and other exposed surfaces as an aircraft flies through clouds

that contain super-cooled liquid water

droplets. Leveraging earlier work with

polarization-sensitive cloud radars,

ETL designed a new ground-based

cloud radar and radiometer system to

monitor clouds in the vicinity of airports and to provide automated warnings of icing conditions aloft. This

instrument is the Ground-based

Remote Icing Detection System

(GRIDS). In addition, FSL continues

to perform research and analysis to

improve aviation forecasts. 

ETL is developing an airborne

Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer

(PSR) designed to provide higher resolution measurements of sea state quantities, including surface winds. ETL is

also investigating the possibility of

measuring soil moisture by L-band

radiometers.

Starting in 2003, ETL and CMDL

have been working together establish a

new Arctic Atmospheric Observatory

in North East Canada as a part of the

Studies of Environmental Arctic

Change (SEARCH) Program. The

Canadian Observatory is being

designed to mirror many of the cloud,

aerosol and radiation measurements

that are already made in Barrow,

Alaska. Since North East Canada and

Barrow, Alaska are in markedly different Arctic regimes the long-term measurements from these sites will be complementary in providing information to

monitor Arctic atmospheric changes.

Long-term data from these sites will be

used to improve short-term and longterm forecast models, and improve

satellite measurement of meteorological phenomena in the Arctic regions.

ETL is engaging in a comprehensive

observation program to improve operational weather forecast and planned

climate model treatments of boundary

layer forcing processes. This work

centers on development and application of observing technologies for surface fluxes and key boundary-layer

variables (profiles of temperature,

humidity, wind, and cloud properties).

Ship-based measurement systems have

been developed and are now used routinely on NOAA research vessels to

investigate model accuracies in the

marine boundary layer. Recently,

land-based systems have been developed and deployed. One point of

emphasis is linking observed cloud

properties (obtained with mm-wavelength cloud radars and microwave

radiometers) to cloud effects on surface turbulent and radiative fluxes (this

approach is termed cloud forcing).

Ship-based and satellite retrievals of

cloud and flux properties are being

used. ETL is compiling a large data

base to allow climatologically-oriented

studies of model parameterizations.

Future plans include expanding the

observational capabilities to add scanning mm-radar capabilities for investigation of precipitation initiation (a critical issue in triggering deep convection

in model domains).

The ETL satellite applications group

has developed new techniques for

monitoring atmospheric properties

over the ocean surface including air

temperature and specific humidity.

Retrievals of these quantities were

improved through novel use of satellite

atmospheric sounders in combination

with passive microwave imaging

radiometers. The products are being

applied to improved global estimates

of the flux of heat between the ocean

and atmosphere. ETL is also producing a new satellite-derived sea surface

temperature product through the blending of infrared and passive microwave

data. The technique takes advantage of

the complementary strengths of the

two sensor types. The product has significant meteorological applications

through its use as an input to numerical
SECTION 3 DOC 71

weather forecast and climate models.

The NSSL is known for its development of observational capability, both

remote and in situ, and in particular for

its role in the development of the

Weather Surveillance Radar-1988

Doppler (WSR-88D) radar. NSSL is

presently working to improve the

WSR-88D software algorithms used

by the NWS forecasters and is exploring ways to enhance the WSR-88D

hardware using dual polarization techniques. Most weather radars, including the WSR-88D radar, transmit radio

wave pulses that have a horizontal orientation. Polarimetric radars (also

referred to as dual-polarization radars),

however, transmit radio wave pulses

that have both horizontal and vertical

orientations. The horizontal pulses

essentially give a measure of the horizontal dimension of cloud (cloud water

and cloud ice) and precipitation (snow,

ice pellets, hail, rain) particles while

the vertical pulses essentially give a

measure of the vertical dimension.

Since the power returned to the radar is

a complicated function of each particle

size, shape, and ice density, this additional information results in improved

estimates of rain and snow rates, better

detection of large hail location in summer storms, and improved identification of rain/snow transition regions in

winter storms. The first step in the

processing is to prototype a new Radar

Data Acquisition (RDA) unit for the

WSR-88D capable of processing the

additional information to produce the

dual polarization information. In

March 2002, dual polarized data were

collected using the NSSL’s WSR-88D

research radar located on the NSSL

Norman, Oklahoma campus. NSSL is

assisting the NWS with the next step,

the development of a generalized dualpolarization solution for their network

of WSR-88D radars.

NSSL researchers are adapting SPY1 radar technology currently deployed

on Navy ships for use in spotting

severe weather. Early tests of the

phased array radar system have proved

promising, and the technology has the

potential to improve the NEXRAD

system for all weather radar applications. Using multiple beams and frequencies that are controlled electronically, phased array radar reduces the

scan time of severe weather from six

minutes for WSR-88D radar to only

one minute, producing quicker updates

of data, and, thereby, potentially

increasing the lead-time for tornado

warnings well beyond the current average of 11 minutes (Figure 3-DOC-18).

Other technology being developed at

NSSL will extend leadtimes even farther.

TROPICAL ATMOSPHERIC

RESEARCH

The Tropical Dynamics and Climate

Program of the Aeronomy Laboratory

(AL) is using precipitation profilers to

study the structure, evolution and variability of precipitating cloud systems

in the tropics and elsewhere.

Precipitation measurements can be

made with sufficient vertical resolution

to categorize precipitation in deep and

shallow convective systems and in

stratiform conditions. A recent focus

of research with profilers has been to

provide ground validation research in

support of satellite precipitation measurement missions such as the NASA

Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission

(TRMM). These observations have

provided important information on the

vertical structure and temporal evolution of precipitating cloud systems during TRMM Ground Validation field

campaigns. The profiler observations

have been made available to the

TRMM Science Team and can be

viewed on the AL web page

(www.al.noaa.gov). The observations

made during the field campaigns are

the subject of collaborative research

with other TRMM researchers with an

emphasis on the use of profilers to calibrate scanning radars used for TRMM

ground validation research and the use

of profilers to retrieve drop-size distributions and related precipitation

parameters of interest to the TRMM

Science Team. Validation of drop-size

distributions used in algorithms is key

to improving the retrieval of rainfall

estimates from the TRMM satellite

data. The profiler-based precipitation

research described above also can be

used to provide calibration of

NEXRAD scanning radars as has

recently been demonstrated for

Melbourne, Florida. In related activities the Aeronomy Laboratory has

teamed with the Environmental

Figure 3-DOC-18. The rapid scanning ability of phased array radar has the

potential to significantly increase the average lead times of tornado warnings.
72 DOC SECTION 3 

Technology Laboratory (ETL) in

hydrometeorological studies in relation to the PACJET campaign on the

west coast and also is working with

ETL on microphysical process studies

utilizing profilers in the North

American Monsoon Experiment

(NAME).

SEVERE WEATHER ANALYSIS

AND FORECASTING RESEARCH

The National Severe Storms

Laboratory (NSSL) focuses on

research to better understand severe

weather systems and their associated

hazards, such as tornadoes, hail, high

winds, heavy rain and snow, lightning,

and ice storms with the goal of helping

the National Weather Service (NWS)

improve forecasts and warnings. The

parameters of storm development and

intensification are identified and studied by incorporating observations from

WSR-88D radar, satellites, remotesensing wind profilers, instrumented

aircraft, and lightning-location networks. NSSL's research includes

assessment and improvement of

numerical models to forecast severe

weather systems.

NSSL provides significant technical

and scientific support, with a focus on

research and development, for the

NWS’s WSR-88D radar program. In

2003, NSSL continued to develop

techniques, in cooperation with the

NWS, to forecast and warn of weather

hazards to aviation and the general

public. The Joint Polarization

Experiment (JPOLE) was conducted in

the spring of 2003, with the overarching goals of testing the engineering

design and determine the data quality

of the polarimetric WSR-88D radar,

demonstrating the utility and feasibility of the radar to operational users,

and collecting data and information

that could be used to perform a

cost/benefit analysis. Knowledge

gained from the Verification of the

Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes

Experiment (VORTEX) campaigns in

the mid- and late-1990's, 1998's

Mesoscale Convective System (MCS)

Electrification and Polarimetric Radar

Study (MeaPRS) and the 2000

Intermountain Precipitation

Experiment (IPEX) provided new

understanding of severe thunderstorms, storm electrification, winter

weather, and tornadoes and lead to

improved methods to detect, model,

and predict these storms (Figure 3-

DOC-19).

NSSL works closely with the NWS

WSR-88D Radar Operations Center

(ROC). NSSL's involvement with the

project to re-host the Radar Product

Generator to an open systems computation platform (ORPG) was completed in November 2001. The ORPG

system will ease the incorporation of

new software applications and allow

for integration of new hardware technology into the radar system resulting

in less time needed for technology

transfer. The NWS's ORPG deployment for 170 total radar sites, both

operational and non-operational, began

August 2001, and ran through 2002. In

2004, the ROC and NSSL worked

together to extend a prototype research

project that provided high-resolution

Level II WSR-88D radar data to universities, government users, and private companies to a national level.

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 state-of-the-art

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.

NSSL is collaborating with NWS and

FSL to integrate some of NSSL's

advanced single and multi-radar display capabilities into AWIPS.

FSL will continue efforts toward

effective assimilation of diverse observational data into numerical prediction

models. Data from the Aeronautical

Radio Incorporated (ARINC) Aircraft

Communications, Addressing, and

Reporting System (ACARS); WSR88D radars; and weather satellites,

especially Geostationary Operational

Environ-mental Satellite (GOES), are

frequent and provide unprecedented

resolution, in the vertical or the horizontal dimension, or both. These data

Figure 3-DOC-19. Schematic diagram of a thunderstorm 

(Source: NSSL’s VORTEX Project web site)
SECTION 3 DOC 73

are being more fully exploited in the

Local Analysis and Prediction System

which provides highly detailed analyses and forecasts over areas hundreds

of kilometers on a side, and the

Mesoscale Analysis and Prediction

System, the basis for operational and

frequent short-term forecasts for the

lower 48 states. The system has been

incorporated into the AWIPS system

and is being used by a number of other

agencies, not only for various regions

of the U.S., but for a number of regions

throughout the world.

OAR 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

NSSL is participating directly in training programs, such as COMET in

Boulder, Colorado, and the WSR-88D

Operational Support Facility in

Norman, Oklahoma.

A multi-year program of coastal

meteorology research continues at the

Pacific Marine Environmental

Laboratory (PMEL). This program

also involves ETL and NSSL, the

Seattle NWS Forecast Office, the

National Center for Atmospheric

Research (NCAR), and the University

of Washington. Support for the program is also being provided by the

Office of Naval Research. This

research improves understanding of

the effects of prominent terrain on

West Coast weather, with the ultimate

goal of providing improved forecasts

of coastal winds, precipitation, sea

state, and storm surges. The emphasis

is 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 involves special field

observations and diagnostic studies

using experimental numerical simulations. Field work featuring a NOAA

WP-3 research aircraft in the 1990s,

for example, has yielded meteorological data for the Pacific Northwest coast

with low-level winds of up to 85 knots,

in the vicinity of strong fronts and, in

one case, an intense, landfalling low

pressure system. The case studies

from this work provide immediate

insights on the influences of the coastal

terrain on landfalling storms, and high

quality data sets for numerical model

initialization and validation. Followup field programs in FY 2001, and FY

2004, focused on cloud and precipitation processes using special observations from research aircraft and landbased radars. The results are providing

information on how to improve forecasts of Northwest U.S. weather.

MESOMETEOROLOGY AND

PRECIPITATION FORECASTING

AND WARNING RESEARCH

NSSL develops techniques to

improve short-term forecasts of significant weather events. Through detailed

case studies and regional climatologies, scientists have developed diagnostic tools and aids for operationally

forecasting thunderstorms, lightning,

flash floods, and large mesoscale convective storms complexes. Experiments such as the Mesoscale

Convective Vortices (MCV)

Electrification and Polarimetric Radar

Study (MeaPRS) in 1998 and the

Severe Thunderstorm Electrification

and Precipitation Study (STEPS) in

2000, were conducted to improve the

science behind the technology.

MeaPRS was specifically designed to

investigate mesoscale convective systems electrification processes and

ways to enhance understanding of

polarimetric radar measurements in

preparation for possibly upgrading the

NWS radars in the future. STEPS was

designed to improve our understanding

of how severe storms become electrified and to better understand how variations in lightning flash type and flash

rate relate to severe storm classification and storm evolution. Other studies underway are focused on the precipitation structure of mesoscale convective systems, the interactions

between mesosconvective systems and

the larger environment, the use of

satellites to infer storm development

and rainfall, short-range ensemble

forecasting techniques, and winter

storm forecasting procedures.

NSSL will continue to investigate

various model convective parameterization schemes, along with techniques

to improve model initialization

through four-dimensional data assimilation in 2002. Also in 2002, NSSL

conducted an experiment called the

International H2O Project (IHOP).

IHOP was a field experiment over the

Southern Great Plains (SGP) of the

U.S. The chief aim of the 2002 IHOP

campaign is improved characterization

of the four-dimensional (4-D) distribution of water vapor and its application

toward improving the understanding

and prediction of convection. The

SGP region is an optimal location due

to existing experimental and operational facilities, strong variability in

moisture, and active convection.

NSSL is working with the NWS Storm

Prediction Center (SPC) to improve the

nation's ability to forecast severe weather

and to enhance severe winter weather

guidance products. Data collected during

the Intermountain Precipitation

Experiment (IPEX) campaign held in

2001 should help (Figure 3-DOC-20).

The data are being analyzed by NSSL,

SPC and University of Utah scientists.

Figure 3-DOC-20. The OU Doppleron-Wheels and the NSSL mobile laboratory take measurements of a snowstorm in Idaho during IPEX.
74 DOC SECTION 3 

The IPEX field and research program

was designed to improve the understanding, analysis, and prediction of

precipitation and precipitation

processes in complex terrain. Data

analysis of IPEX continues in 2005.

Day and night during the month of

May 2003, a crew of NOAA NSSL and

National Center for Atmospheric

Research (NCAR) scientists and

University of Oklahoma and New

Mexico Institute of Mining and

Technology students and faculty,

scrambled to get in position beneath

thunderstorms to launch balloons to

measure temperature, pressure, humidity, and the electric field profile of

storms as part of TELEX, the

Thunderstorm Electrification and

Lightning Experiment. The broad

objective of TELEX is to learn how

lightning and other electrical storm

properties are dependent on storm

structure, updrafts, and precipitation.

This information will point to new

ways for the National Weather Service

to use lightning observations to

improve forecasts and warnings of

hazardous weather. TELEX also took

advantage of new sensors, the KOUN

radar in Norman, OK (a WSR-88D

radar modified with polarimetric

parameters to provide information

about the particle size and water phase

of precipitation), and the Oklahoma

Lightning Mapping Array (LMA). The

OK-LMA is a network of ten stations

in central Oklahoma that continuously

maps the structure of all types of lightning in three-dimensions out to a range

of 75 km and in two-dimensions out to

a range of 200 km. 

Mesoscale Dynamics at the

Geophysical Fluid Dynamics

Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton, New

Jersey, 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.

(Figure 3-DOC-21).

The FSL implemented a Rapid

Update Cycle (RUC) at NCEP eleven

years ago, in 1994. The RUC gave a

new analysis of surface and atmospheric conditions every three hours as

well as short-range predictions for the

next 12 hours. This information is useful to forecasters at local NWS offices

around the country and also supports

commercial and general aviation.

A higher-resolution, higher-frequency version of the RUC was implemented at NCEP in April 2002. This

new version operates at 20-km horizontal resolution with 50 vertical levels and provides updates every hour,

thus, incorporating information from

virtually all high frequency data

sources: hourly wind profiles; WSR88D velocity azimuth displays;

ACARS reports (up to 65,000 per

day); cloud-drift winds and estimates

of total precipitable water vapor from

the GOES satellites; and surface observations. The new RUC also includes

explicit forecasts of cloud droplets, ice

crystals, raindrops, snowflakes, and

graupel (snow pellets). This improves

forecasts of precipitation type. The

RUC exploits a new, multi-level soil

and vegetation model to improve forecasts at and near the earth's surface.

Along with NCAR, NCEP, and the

university community; FSL is collaborating on the development of a new

mesoscale model, the Weather

Research and Forecast (WRF) model.

The goal is to have the WRF model

become a community model and a tool

both for experimental and operational

prediction, thus paving the way for

quick realization of research advances

in forecast dissemination to the public

and industry.

The Air Resources Laboratory

(ARL) is also involved in the development of new models for operational

use by NCEP. The main focus is on

mesoscale models and in the developFigure 3-DOC-21. GFDL’s 3-D model depiction of Hurricane Floyd
SECTION 3 DOC 75

ment of new capabilities for data

assimilation. In particular, the new

generation of mesoscale models (such

as the WRF model referred to above)

will require advanced descriptions of

the coupling between the air and the

surface, a matter that is being studied

intensively in ARL programs involving

closely interacting measurement and

modeling activities. To this end, ARL

maintains the nation's surface radiation

network (SURFRAD), data from

which are now routinely employed to

test both forecast mesoscale models

(such as the Eta model) and satellite

outputs. ARL conducts research on the

surface energy balance and on the spatial variability of surface fluxes using

aircraft. In addition, ARL serves as the

provider of the NCEP modeling capability to address situations of atmospheric dispersion, such as of emissions

from sources like volcanos, industrial

enterprises, and nuclear accidents. In

recent work, ARL is developing a new

system for forecasting the dispersion

of smoke from forest fires, in collaboration with the Association of South

East Asian Nations, the U.S. Forest

Service, and The Mediterranean Centre

for Environmental Studies Foundation. 

HURRICANE ANALYSIS AND

PREDICTION RESEARCH

The Hurricane Research Division's

mission is to advance the understanding and prediction of hurricanes and

other tropical weather. HRD's research

is based on a combination of models,

theories, and observations, with particular emphasis on data obtained with

research aircraft. The goals of this

research are to:

• Advance the prediction of tropical

cyclone intensity change by improving

understanding of the processes that

modulate internal storm dynamics and

storm interactions with the atmosphere

and ocean;

• Improve the prediction of tropical

cyclone tracks by enhancing understanding of the interactions between a

tropical cyclone and its environment

through an optimal analysis of field

observations;

• Improve the understanding of and

ability to predict tropical cyclone frequency and intensity on intraseasonal,

interannual, decadal and longer time

scales; and

• Enhance the ability to diagnose

and predict the impact of tropical

cyclones on life and property through

wind, rain, waves, and storm surge.

These goals are accomplished by:

• Designing and conducting

research experiments in a hurricane to

collect and provide data for research

and applications; 

• Analyzing these data sets and publishing the research in the refereed literature; 

• Developing new technology and

applications based on this research to

improve NOAA's products; and

• Providing outreach to the public

through the WWW, conferences, presentations, and other means.

Much of HRD's research is based on

the in situ and remotely-sensed observations in the inner core of tropical

cyclones and their surrounding environment. These observations are primarily collected in an annual field program using the two NOAA turboprop

aircraft and jet operated by the NOAA

Aircraft Operations Center (AOC).

The field program is used to carry out

scientific experiments designed to

address the goals stated above. Data

sets gathered by these experiments,

combined with dynamical and statistical models and theoretical development, range from global to microscale,

forming the cornerstone of research in

HRD. Because of this extensive field

experience, HRD scientists are recognized internationally for their knowledge of tropical cyclones as well as

their expertise in technological areas

such as airborne Doppler radar, dropsondes, cloud microphysics, and airsea interaction, to name a few. These

assets make HRD unique worldwide, and

provide NOAA a unique capability.

HRD coordinates its programs with

other NOAA organizations, e.g.,

NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center

(AOC) and the National Center for

Environmental Prediction (NCEP),

and in particular with the

Environmental Modeling Center

(EMC) and Tropical Prediction

Center/National Hurricane Center

(NHC). HRD maintains active

research programs with, and receives

funding from, other governmental

agencies, in particular, the Department

of the Navy's Office of Naval Research

(ONR) and the National Aeronautics

and Space Agency (NASA).

In program areas where it is beneficial to NOAA, HRD arranges cooperative programs with scientists at the

NCAR, and at a number of universities. The highest priority experiment

in 2004, is the Coordinated Boundary

Layer Air-Sea Transfer (CBLAST)

experiment focused on improving

numerical model parameterization of

the air-sea transfer of energy that fuels

the storms. HRD also integrated two

recent NASA field experiments and a

fifth Convective and Moisture

Experiments (CAMEX-5), is being

proposed in 2005. Work is underway

with U.S. and International partners on

plans for the African Monsoon

Multidisciplinary Activity (AMMA) in

2006.

The current HRD research staff consists of 26 full-time employees and 10

employees working under a cooperative joint agreement with the

University of Miami (CIMAS). Links:

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/

Under the USWRP and its participating agencies, OAR, NWS, and NESDIS established a Joint Hurricane

Testbed (JHT) at the Tropical

Prediction Center in Miami, Florida. It

is anticipated that the JHT will continue to grow in FY 2005, as more

resources become available. This testbed is where the hurricane research

will be evaluated for operational use and

those research products passing the test
76 DOC SECTION 3 

will be handed off to operations.

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 earlier).

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.

AIR QUALITY RESEARCH (ARL)

The principal mission of the ARL is

to improve the capability to forecast

changes in air quality and atmospheric

deposition. Deposition is the factor

that links the pollutant characteristics

of the air with the terrestrial and

aquatic environments. ARL's research

focuses on the lower atmosphere,

where the atmosphere is in direct contact with other media-- aquatic, terrestrial, and biospheric. The core of ARL

research relates to studies of the atmosphere as a component of the total environment. Much of this work is in collaboration with other parts of NOAA

(principally NCEP) and with other

agencies, such as EPA, DOE, and the

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, and specializes in the

development of high-technology airborne instrumentation (for both aircraft

and balloons).

The Special Operations and

Research Division (SORD), 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 prepared-ness and emergency response activities. SORD also

serves as the main NOAA facility

working with the Cooperative Institute

for Atmospheric Studies and Terrestrial

Applications (CIASTA) of the

University of Nevada system.

ARL operates two national networks

that direct research attention on the

needs of the next generation of predictive models. The Atmospheric

Integrated Research Monitoring

Network (AIRMoN) is a nested-network with sites of varying complexity

addressing evolving scientific issues of

wet and dry deposition from the atmosphere. A major current item for scientific attention is the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen compounds and its

role in promoting eutrophication of

ecosystems, primarily coastal. The

ARL-run Integrated Surface Irradiance

Study (ISIS) serves as the national

array of monitoring stations for solar

radiation (and ultraviolet-B) with a

subset of more advanced stations (the

SURFRAD array) where both incoming and outgoing radiation components

are monitored. Many of the

SURFRAD stations are augmented

with instrumentation to measure fluxes

of sensible heat, latent heat, momentum, and carbon dioxide. Thus, the

SURFRAD program is evolving into

one of complete energy balance with

supporting data on carbon dioxide

exchange. This work forms an intersection with the new flux measurement

networks in the U.S. and overseas,

referred to as "Ameriflux" and

"Fluxnet." All of this work is coupled

with ARL research on atmospheric

aerosols and with the development of

new automatic methods for measuring

cloud cover.
SECTION 3 DOC 77

Much of ARL's research focus is on

expressing air surface exchange

processes in numerical models. To this

end, ARL scientists have been instrumental in developing methods for

describing an air surface exchange

appropriate for use with model grid

cells of several tens of kilometers on a

side. To test the aerial integration

capabilities, ARL has instrumented aircraft of the NOAA fleet (a DeHavill

and Twin Otter) to measure all of the

eddy fluxes as well as a number of

trace gas exchange rates. This instrumented aircraft has been used in several field experiments and has already

demonstrated that considerable error can

result when local values are inappropriately taken to represent larger areas.

ARL also provides forecast support

to NOAA's emergency response systems with emphasis on chemical,

nuclear, and volcanic events. For this

application, ARL develops and couples

advanced dispersion models with the

forecast products of the NWS to provide a basis for trajectory and dispersion calculations. The models in question are now widely accepted. The

Hazardous Atmospheric Release

Model (HARM) is operationally

employed at a number of DOE locations. The ARL Hybrid Single Particle

Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory

(HYSPLIT) model is now operational

in many countries, including China

and Australia, as the national dispersion forecasting capability. It also

serves the NWS in this role.

Registered users can also access HYSPLIT products via the Internet. HYSPLIT is the major product employed in

the operations of the Regional

Specialized Meteorology Center

(RSMC) set up as a joint undertaking

of ARL and NCEP under the auspices

of the World Meteorological

Organization (WMO). The WMO/

RSMC is the source of dispersion

products in the event that a pollution

plume (in this case, radioactive)

crosses international boundaries.

The provision of dispersion forecasts

by ARL scientists extends to two specific areas of special relevance - the

Nevada Test Site and the Idaho

National Engineering and

Environment Laboratory. ARL maintains staffs of dedicated dispersion

meteorologists at each location, where

site-specific models are developed and

run using data generated by dedicated

regional networks of meteorological

sensors.

The Aeronomy Laboratory coordinates an air quality research effort-- the

Health of the Atmosphere research.

NOAA's Health of the Atmosphere

research is focused on the atmospheric

science that underlies regional and

continental air quality, with the goal of

improving our ability to predict and

monitor future changes, leading to

improved scientific input to decisionmaking. AL, ARL, CMDL, FSL,

PMEL, and ETL participate in the

research. The Health of the

Atmosphere research goals are:

• Characterize regional ozone

episodes--characterize the factors that

cause poor air quality in regions of the

U.S. where excessive levels of groundlevel ozone and fine particle pollution

are occurring. In summer 2002, a

major field investigation was carried

out to characterize air quality in the

New England region. Ground-based

measurements, ship and aircraft measurements, forecasting, and modeling

analyses were applied in the research.

Among the processes investigated

were the role of nighttime chemistry in

the formation of ozone pollution, the

role of the sea-breeze/land-breeze circuit in influencing New England's air

quality, and the role of the marine

boundary layer as a conduit for the

movement of pollutants throughout the

region.

• Document trends in air quality--

help evaluate predicted atmospheric

responses to changes in emissions (i.e.,

the ongoing measurements provided

by the AIRMoN and the ozone profiling networks).

• Develop a better understanding of

the fundamental science underlying the

processes responsible for the formation

and distribution of fine particles in the

atmosphere to improve the atmospheric predictive capability that links

sources of fine particles and their precursors to human exposure and visibility impairment.

In future Health of the Atmosphere

research, the OAR Laboratories will

integrate their meteorological, chemical, and forecasting expertise to build

an assessment and prediction capability for regional air quality that incorporates the influence of multipletimescale meteorology/climatology.

While the ambient levels of pollutants

like ozone and fine particles are clearly

dependent on pollutant emissions, a

large fraction of the variation in those

levels is driven by meteorology, both

in the short term and longer term.

Therefore, the key to assessing both

the intended long-term improvements

in air quality and the more-episodic

variations lies in understanding not

only the atmospheric linkages between

emissions and concentrations, but also

in understanding the coupled chemical

and meteorological processes. This

"chemical meteorology" research will

extend the current program focus on

emissions/concentration linkages to

include a predictive understanding of

the role of synoptic, seasonal/interannual, and longer-term meteorological/climatological changes on the

chemistry of the lower atmosphere.

Research efforts will also focus on an

evaluation and improvement of the

tools used to forecast future air quality

and the observing systems needed to

evaluate their skill.

This approach will be used in the

Summer 2004 New England Air

Quality Study (NEAQS), which will

build on the groundwork laid by the

scoping study done as NEAQS 2002.

Observations will be made from an

array of platforms that includes a
78 DOC SECTION 3 

dozen aircraft, the NOAA research

vessel Ronald H. Brown, and several

ground sites in New England and Nova

Scotia. The research, which is being

led by NOAA and the University of

New Hampshire and involves several

U.S. and international partners, will

help provide the solid science to underpin the region's future efforts to

improve air quality for its citizens.

NEAQS 2004 will also help provide

the scientific understanding needed for

a new air quality forecasting capability

that NOAA's Office of Oceanic and

Atmospheric Research and NWS are

developing in partnership with the

EPA. The forecast guidance is being

launched in summer 2004 in New

England in conjunction with the

NEAQS mission.

The Air Quality Research

Subcommittee (AQRS) of the

Committee on Environment and

Natural Resources (CENR) provides

interagency collaboration at the U.S.

Federal level. NOAA co-leads the

AQRS. On the broader international

arena, the coordinating body is the

North American Research Strategy for

Tropospheric Ozone (NARSTO), a trilateral public/private partnership

focused on ozone and particulate matter research in the U. S., Canada, and

Mexico. 

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. ETL participated

in field programs in FY 2002, designed

to develop a deeper understanding of

climate variability and source pollutants in the New England region

(Atmospheric Investigation, Regional

Modeling, Analysis and Prediction

(AIRMAP) and New England Pilot

Study (NEPS), and to investigate the

composition of air masses along the

Pacific coast of North America as part

of the Intercontinental Transport and

Chemical Transformation (ITCT) program. ITCT is a coordinated international research program designed to

address the question, "How does the

transport of chemicals from one continent influence the air quality in other

continents, as well as regional and

global climate?" ETL will be deploying a number of lidar systems and wind

profiler radars in support of these programs.

SPACE ENVIRONMENT SERVICES

AND THE SPACE ENVIRONMENT

CENTER

NOAA and the Air Force jointly

operate the National Space Weather

Operations (SWO) group in NOAA's

Space Environment Center (SEC) in

Boulder, Colorado. The SEC, working

closely with the Air Force Weather

Agency (AFWA), 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, DOE,

NASA, Department of Transportation

(DOT), Department of Commerce

(DOC), Department of Interior (DOI),

the National Science Foundation

(NSF), commercial users, and the

research community to:

• Optimize the operation of technical systems that are adversely affected

by disturbances in the space environment;

• Protect astronauts and aircraft passengers and crew from harmful radiation; and

• 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, upsets in satellites, and disruptions in power distribution networks.

The U.S. Air Force operates a space

weather operations center at AFWA to

provide space weather support, including products from the SWO group, to

DOD assets. The AFWA operates and

maintains the solar observing network

with sites at Palehua, Hawaii;

Learmonth, Australia; San Vito, Italy;

Ramey, Puerto Rico; Sagamore Hill,

Massachusetts; and Holloman Air

Force Base, New Mexico. The

AFWA's space weather operations

group at Offutt Air Force Base,

Nebraska, shares space weather data

and support responsibilities with its

civilian counterpart at SEC.

SEC serves as the international

World Warning Agency for the

International Space Environment

Service (ISES) (Figure 3-DOC-22). It

exchanges international data- solar

wind, X-ray, sunspot, corona, magnetic, and ionospheric measurements--

in real-time and, from these data, provides 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. There is also a substantial and rapidly growing customer

base in the private sector.

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

Monitor (SEM) on GOES and the

polar-orbiting NOAA satellites. Data

are collected, stored, and displayed for

analysis and products and distributed

to outside customers primarily via the

Internet (www.sec.noaa.gov), by the

NWS Family of Services, the NOAA
SECTION 3 DOC 79

Weather Wire, and digital data links

(primarily operated by other agencies).

Radio broadcast, mail, and recorded

telephone messages are available to

users as well.

Research and development at SEC

emphasizes understanding of the fundamental physical processes governing

the regime from the solar surface,

through the interplanetary medium,

into the magnetospheric-ionospheric

regions, and ending in Earth's upper

atmosphere. These processes are manifest in the climatology and disturbances of Earth's magnetic field, the

ionosphere, the charged particle populations at satellite orbits, and the

atmospheric density at high altitudes

(including low-Earth orbit). SEC

research is focused on areas where

advanced applications can be developed and prototyped to improve space

weather services, whereby the Nation

is served through alerts and warnings

of those conditions that can be often

hazardous to technological systems in

space and on the ground, and human

activities in space.

Solar Terrestrial Models and Theory:

SEC work is also devoted to research

on Earth's space environment and the

application of this research to space

weather operations. The staff has

expertise spanning from solar physics

to Earth's upper atmosphere, and maintains close collaborations throughout

the research community. They publish

regularly in scientific journals, and

work directly with the SEC SWO

group and the Systems Division to

develop state-of-the-art capabilities for

the NOAA/SEC forecast center.

Solar Terrestrial Instrumentation and

Data: The group ensures that space

environment data are processed, validated, interpreted, and disseminated in

an efficient, effective, and timely fashion. The group develops analysis tools

for working with data from a variety of

spacecraft, including the NOAA geosynchronous and polar orbiters, and

spacecraft in the solar wind. Data

access is provided through customized

data-analysis routines and individualized displays. In addition to enhancing

the utility and value of the primary

data through research and analysis, the

group explores sources of new data

and improved monitoring to support

services.

Solar Influences and Imaging: SEC

conducts research into understanding

processes on the Sun and the effects of

solar activity on the near-Earth space

environment. The group leads in the

development of techniques to process

and interpret both ground-based and

space-based solar imagery, and has

special expertise in solar X-ray imaging. To support space weather operations, the staff examines both short and

long-term solar influences on human

Figure 3-DOC-22. Coronal holes appear as dark areas of the corona when

viewed in ultraviolet light. This large hole area seen here on 10 September

2002 had a direct impact on Earth. Coronal holes are often the source of strong

solar wind gusts that carry solar particles into space. This one spewed a large

stream of charged particles out to our magnetosphere and beyond. Solar wind

streams take 2-3 days to travel from the Sun to Earth, so it probably originated

from the Sun about 9 September. On September 11, the solar wind was erratic

but definitely increased in velocity and density. Spaceweather.com reported

that a moderate geomagnetic storm from the solar wind stream triggered aurora

11 September that were visible from the higher latitudes on Earth.

The magnetic field lines in a coronal hole extend out into the solar wind

rather than coming back down to the Sun's surface as they do in other parts of

the Sun. Although they are usually located near the poles of the Sun, coronal

holes can occur other places as well. 

(SOHO web site: soho.nascom.nasa.gov/pickoftheweek/old/12sep2002/index.html)
80 DOC SECTION 3 

activities in space and on the ground.

Satellites: Developing space environment monitoring instrument specifications, receiving and validating data

from these instruments, analyzing and

presenting data, and archiving data in

the National Geophysical Data Center

(NGDC) are all aspects with which the

SEC is involved. The SEM instruments on the GOES and the Polarorbiting Operational Environment

Satellite (POES) are among SEC's

major responsibilities. The SEM suite

on POES includes energetic particle

monitors and Solar Backscatter

UltraViolet (SBUV) instrument. The

SEM instruments on GOES include

magnetometers, energetic particle

monitors, and solar x-ray intensity

measurements. In addition, SEC cooperates with other agencies' satellite

missions to provide real-time space

weather information. These include

the NASA missions: WIND, ACE, and

IMAGE. SEC always emphasizes

improvement of space weather observations.

Solar X-Ray Imager: A Solar X-ray

Imager (SXI) telescope was launched

in 2001, checked out, and put in onorbit storage aboard the GOES-12

satellite; it became operational in April

2003. The SXI provides images of the

solar atmosphere on time scales of an

image every minute. The SXI telescope, based on recent research instruments flown on American and

Japanese satellites, enables observations of the three-dimensional structure

of solar disturbances as they develop

and propagate in the solar atmosphere.

The new instrument fills an important

gap in the ability to model and predict

space weather disturbances as they

propagate from the Sun to Earth. SXI

images are available on SEC's website

now (www.sec.noaa.gov); automatically derived, immediate flare locations based on SXI images will be

available there in FY 2005.

GOES N,O,P satellites: SEC will be

completing full implementation of the

ingest, processing, analysis, and distribution of data from the new instruments that allow measurements of the

environment immediately surrounding

the satellite. The measurements will

improve the capability to specify conditions that can interrupt or

disable satellite operations.

The use of models being

developed in the research

community and evaluated

for operational use in SEC

will allow the new measurements to be extrapolated throughout nearearth space. With the combination of new measurements and models, the

environment can be specified at any location for the

hundreds of satellites in geosynchronous orbit around

Earth.

Expanded use of the

NOAA Space Weather

Scales and New Products:

Use of the NOAA scales

for classifying space

weather disturbances continues to increase. Several new alert

categories have been developed and

implemented to make use of the scales

in response to users who find the scales

offer more useable information than

previous, often overly technical alerts.

New products: in early FY 2005:

SEC expects to offer, every 15 minutes, a product specifying the total

electron content (TEC) on vertical ray

paths over the continental U.S. (USTEC). The model which produces the

product has been developed by SEC's

University of Colorado collaborators.

Accurate specification of the ionosphere is of great interest to GPS users

and to HF radio communicators; also,

the flare location product mentioned

above will be on line in FY 2005.

SEC will participate directly in interagency programs directed at improving

our understanding of the space environment. These include the Living

With a Star (LWS) Program (a NASA

program), three cooperative campaigns

covering the Sun, Earth's magnetic

field, and the ionosphere, and NASA's

exploration program to put astronauts

on the Moon and Mars.

Use of Global Positioning System

(GPS) to measure the ionosphere:

SEC, in cooperation with NOS'

National Geodetic Survey, NESDIS'

NGDC, and OAR's FSL, will continue

to develop a capability to measure the

ionosphere, including its electron content and height, through use of the

DOD Global Positioning System

(GPS). By recording thousands of

GPS signals each day and using data

assimilation techniques that allow the

end measurements to be inverted to

describe the medium through which

the signals passed, the ionosphere can

be mapped, and predicted, in greater

detail than with current measurement

systems. This work drives the new

US-TEC described above.

VOLUNTARY OBSERVING SHIP

(VOS) PROGRAM:

Global Drifter Program. The

Atlantic Oceanographic and
SECTION 3 DOC 81

Meteorological Laboratory (AOML)

manages the deployment of drifting

buoys around the world, deploying

some 300 new drifters annually and

tracking nearly 700. Using research

ships, VOS, and U.S. Navy aircraft,

Global Lagrangian Drifters (GLD) are

placed in areas of interest. Once verified operational, they are reported to

AOML's Data Assembly Center

(DAC). Incoming data from the drifter

are then placed on the Global

Telecommunications System (GTS)

for distribution to meteorological services everywhere. The primary goal of

this project is to assemble and provide

uniform quality control of sea surface

temperature (SST) and surface velocity

measurements. These measurements

are obtained as part of an international

program designed to make this data

available in an effort to improve climate prediction. Climate prediction

models require accurate estimates of

SST to initialize their ocean component. Drifting buoys provide essential

ground truth SST data for this purpose.

The models also require validation by

comparison with independent data

sets. Surface velocity measurements

are used for this validation.

Southern Hemisphere Drifting Buoy

Program. In support of Global Climate

Observing System (GCOS) requirements, OAR, in cooperation with

NWS, the Office of Global Programs

(OGP; housed within OAR), AOML,

and the Scripps Institution of

Oceanography, maintains a network of

approximately 100 meteorological

drifting buoys in the Southern

Hemisphere. The buoys measure

atmospheric pressure at sea-level, air

temperature, surface sea water temperature, and surface currents.

Observations are obtained through the

ARGOS data collection and platform

location system on-board the NOAA

polar-orbiting satellites. The buoys are

a subset of the Global Drifter Program

(see above).

The Tropical Atmosphere

Ocean/TRIangle Trans-Ocean buoy

Network (TAO/TRITON) array consists of approximately 70 Autonomous

Temperature Line Acquisition System

(ATLAS) and TRITON moorings in

the tropical Pacific Ocean, telemetering oceanographic and meteorological

data to shore in real-time via the

ARGOS satellite system. Designed to

improve detection, understanding, and

prediction of El Niño, TAO/TRITON

is a major component of the El

Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO)

Observing System, the Global Climate

Observing System (GCOS), and the

Global Ocean Observing System

(GOOS). The array is supported primarily by the U.S. (NOAA) and Japan

(JAMSTEC) with contributions from

France (IRD) and Taiwan (NTU). The

mooring array is maintained by the

TAO Project Office located at Pacific

Marine Environmental Laboratory

(PMEL) in Seattle, Washington, which

has responsibility for project management and logistics. The mooring array

operations are being transferred to

NWS. These buoys provide climate

researchers, weather prediction centers, and scientists around the world

with real-time data from the tropical

Pacific. El Niño (the warm phase of

the ENSO cycle) is associated with a

disruption of the ocean-atmosphere

system in the tropical Pacific and has

important consequences for weather

around the globe.

The Pilot Research Moored Array in

the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) is a

project designed as an extension of the

TAO array into the Atlantic. The purpose of PIRATA is to study oceanatmosphere interactions in the tropical

Atlantic that are relevant to regional

climate variability on seasonal, interannual and longer time scales. It consists of an array of 12 Autonomous

Temperature Line Acquisition System

(ATLAS) moorings similar to those

deployed in the Pacific. Planned

expansion of the PIRATA array into

the hurricane genesis region of the

Atlantic will allow for a better understanding of ocean-atmosphere interactions on hurricane development and

enhanced predictions of hurricane formation.

ARGO--Global Array of Profiling

Floats. The ARGO array will deploy a

global array of 3,000 profiling floats to

better understand and forecast climate.

ARGO floats are free-drifting profiling

floats that spend most of their life

"parked" at 1,000 or 2,000 meters

depth, regularly surfacing to make

temperature and salinity profile measurements. Observations are made in

real-time.

As of June 2004, 1250 ARGO floats

have been deployed. The Argo array is

part of the Global Climate Observing

System/Global Ocean Observing

System GCOS/GOOS) and is a major

contributor to the WCRP's Climate

Variability and Predictability

Experiment ( CLIVAR) and the Global

Ocean Data Assimilation Experiment

(GODAE). Along with satellites,

ARGO helps initiate the oceanic

equivalent of today's operational

observing system for the global atmosphere.

Ocean Reference Stations. The

Ocean Reference Station network is a

planned network of 29 operational

ocean moorings that measure high

quality air-sea fluxes of heat, moisture,

and momentum. These in situ fluxes

will then be used to make regional

assessments of flux components from

numerical weather prediction models

and satellites. The network currently

has 2 operational moorings; a partnership with the National Science

Foundation's ORION program will

greatly enhance the capacity of the network.

SECTION 3 DOC 83

The National Ocean Service (NOS)

monitors, assesses, and forecasts conditions in the coastal and oceanic environment to maintain a healthy, safe, and

economically productive coastal and

oceanic environment for present and

future generations. NOS is the primary

civil agency within the Federal government responsible for the health and

safety of our nation's coastal and

oceanic environment. NOS acquires

water levels, currents, winds, and other

physical oceanographic and meteorological data, and distributes these data

and circulation predictions as elements

of an integrated NOS program to provide a comprehensive science-based

suite of information products required

by the marine transportation community to ensure safe and efficient marine

transportation, including the transport

of oil and other hazardous materials.

NOS also provides coastal oceanographic and meteorological products

required by the National Weather

Service (NWS) to meet its short-term

weather and forecasting responsibilities, including tsunami and storm surge

warnings. NOS manages several

observing systems and programs, however three in particular are heavily linked

to the capability of NOAA to meet

weather and water needs of the nation.

National Water Level Observation

Network (NWLON). NOS manages

the NWLON, 175 stations located

along the coasts of the U.S. and the

Great Lakes, from which water level

data, as well as other oceanographic

and meteorological data, are collected

and disseminated. NWLON provides a

number of NOAA and other Federal

programs with data and supporting

information, such as the NOAA

Nautical Charting Program, NWS

Tsunami Warning System, NWS storm

surge warning/forecast activities, and

the Climate and Global Change Program.

An event triggered or manually triggered NWLON modification is now

operational that allows emergency

"Tsunami Warning" GOES transmissions to NWS when the water level

exceeds a specified high/low limit or

when the rate of change between the

standard 6-minute water level values

exceeds a specified value. A similar

event triggered modification is also

operated for the NWS storm surge

warning program when expected elevations are predicted or observed during

coastal storms and hurricanes.

Although not all NWLON stations are

presently equipped with meteorological

sensors, an increasing number of stations are each year. Water level and

meteorological data are automatically

formatted into bulletin format for inclusion into the NOAA AWIPS pipeline.

Physical Oceanographic Real-Time

System (PORTS®). PORTS® is a

decision support tool which improves

NATIONAL OCEAN SERVICE

Figure 3-DOC-23. New York/New Jersey PORTS: Bergen Point Composite.
84 DOC SECTION 3

the safety and efficiency of maritime

commerce and coastal resource management through the integration of

real-time environmental observations,

forecasts, and other geospatial information. PORTS® measures and disseminates observations and predictions of

water levels, currents, salinity, and

many meteorological parameters, e.g.

winds, barometric pressure, and visibility, needed and requested by the

mariner to navigate safely. Highway

and railroad bridge mounted "Air Gap"

sensors for water level detection are

presently being developed and are

included in future plans for PORTS®.

The 10 existing PORTS® systems

come in a variety of sizes and configurations, each specifically designed to

meet local user requirements.

PORTS® are partnership programs in

which local operating partners fund the

installation and operation of the measurement systems. The largest of NOS's

existing installations is comprised of

over 26 separate instruments. The

smallest consists of a single water level

gauge and associated oceanographic

and meteorological instruments, i.e.

winds, barometric pressure, etc. (Figure

3-DOC-23). Regardless of its size,

each PORTS® installation provides

information that allows shippers and

port operators to maximize port

throughput while maintaining an adequate margin of safety for the increasingly large vessels visiting U.S. ports.

In addition, prevention of maritime

accidents is the most cost effective

measure that can be taken to protect

fragile coastal ecosystems. One major

oil spill, e.g. EXXON VALDEZ, can

cost billions of dollars and destroy sensitive marine habitats critical to supporting coastal marine ecosystems.

PORTS® provides information to

make navigation safer, thus reducing

the likelihood of a maritime accident,

and also provides the information necessary to mitigate the damages from a

spill, should one occur. An extensible

PORTS® can be integrated with other

marine transportation technologies

such as Electronic Chart Display

Information Systems (ECDIS) and

Vessel Traffic Systems (VTS).

The integration of PORTS® technology and numerical circulation models

allows nowcasts and predictions of

parameters within the boundaries of the

models even at locations where physical measurements are not available.

The Chesapeake Bay Oceanographic

Forecasting System (CBOFS) is an

NOS project that provides forecasts of

total water level within the Bay in addition to the astronomical tidal prediction. The New York/New Jersey Harbor

nowcast/forecast model came on line in

2003 and will be followed by a

Houston/Galveston Bay nowcast/forecast

model in 2004. Also, ongoing research

will enable PORTS® or similar systems to incorporate biological and

chemical sensor systems and forecast

models as required and integrate the

information with circulation measurements to provide information on transports of materials in the ecosystem

essential for effective marine resource

management and homeland security.

Continuous Real-Time Monitoring

System (CORMS). CORMS was

designed to operate on a 24hour/7 days

a week basis to ensure the accuracy of

tide and current observations acquired

via the NWLON and PORTS® programs. CORMS improves the overall data

quality assurance of real-time measurements, reduces NOAA's potential liability

from disseminating inadequate data, and

makes the observations more useful for

all applications. CORMS ingests realtime data from all field sensors and systems, including the operational nowcast/forecast models, determines data

quality, and identifies and communicates the presence of invalid or suspect

data to real-time users/customers who

rely on the data. CORMS is especially

vigilant during storm and tsunami

events to ensure the full set of products

and services is being disseminated in a

timely fashion. An advanced version of

this system, CORMS AI, is presently in

developmental stages (Figure 3-DOC24).

Figure 3-DOC-24. PORTS sites in the New York and

New Jersey linked by CORMS.
SECTION 3 DOC 85

NOAA Marine and Aviation

Operations (NMAO) operates a wide

variety of specialized ships and aircraft

to support NOAA mission goals.

NOAA's ship fleet includes oceanographic and atmospheric research vessels. NOAA's aircraft fleet includes

aircraft that collect environmental and

geographic data essential to NOAA

hurricane and other severe weather and

atmospheric research; and aircraft that

conduct aerial surveys for hydrologic

research for forecasting flooding

potential from snow melt.

NOAA Ships Supporting

Meteorological Activities.

• NOAA Ship RONALD H.

BROWN, an oceanographic and

atmospheric research platform, is the

largest vessel in the NOAA fleet (274

feet). With its instruments and sensors,

RONALD H. BROWN (Figure 3-

DOC-25) travels worldwide supporting scientific studies to increase our

understanding of the world's oceans

and climate. An advanced meteorological scientific Doppler radar makes the

ship a unique attribute to the research

fleet.

• NOAA Ship KA'IMIMOANA

(Figure 3-DOC-26) primarily supports

the research programs of NOAA's

Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean Project

(real-time data from moored ocean

buoys for improved detection, understanding and prediction of El Niño and

La Niña). These research programs are

designed to improve our understanding

of the role of the tropical ocean in the

world's climate. The ship deploys,

recovers, and services deep sea moorings that measure ocean currents,

ocean temperatures, and atmospheric

variables, throughout the equatorial

Pacific Ocean. In addition to data from

these moorings, the ship measures

upper ocean currents, surface salinity,

carbon dioxide content, and takes

upper air atmospheric soundings while

underway.

The KA'IMIMOANA and RONALD

H. BROWN annually support the

Tropical Atmospheric Ocean (TAO)

Array by servicing approximately 60

ATLAS and current meter moorings in

the central and eastern equatorial

Pacific.

NOAA Ship RONALD H. BROWN

participated in a 2004 Saharan Dust

cruise. The NOAA Center for

Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS) TransAtlantic Saharan Dust Aerosol and

Ocean Science Expedition mission

provided a set of critical measurements

to characterize the impacts and microphysical evolution of Saharan dust

aerosol transport across the Atlantic

Ocean. The research conducted aboard

the BROWN studied the impacts longrange transport of Saharan dust has on

regional atmospheric chemistry and

climate in the tropical Atlantic and

eastern seaboard of the US, as well as

trying to discover any observable statistical trends that can link Saharan

dust to public and environmental

health issues in the eastern US

seaboard and Caribbean. Global transport of dust has been acknowledged as

a significant factor in atmospheric

radiative balance, atmospheric oxidizing capacity, the deposition of limiting

nutrients into the upper ocean, transport of fungi and microorganisms, and

in the indirect aerosol effect via cloud

modification.

NOAA Aircraft Supporting

Meteorological Activities.

NOAA Gulfstream G-IVSP

(N49RF) - provides scientists with a

platform for the investigation of

processes in the upper troposphere.

With its high-altitude capability, the GIV is a critical tool for research leading

to improvements in hurricane intensity

forecasts. The G-IV aircraft (Figure 3-

DOC-27) is also beginning to be used

for air chemistry studies and other

research in the upper troposphere.

The NOAA G-IV annually supports

Hurricane Synoptic Surveillance missions where the aircraft flies in the

environment surrounding hurricanes at

altitudes up to 45,000 feet. This mission is designed to collect, process, and

transmit vertical atmospheric soundings

in the environment of the hurricane.

The principle tool used for this task is

the GPS dropwindsonde. The dropsonde (Figure 3-DOC-28) is released

NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations

Figure 3-DOC-25. NOAA Ship

RONALD H. BROWN

Figure 3-DOC-26. NOAA Ship KA'IMIMOANA
86 DOC SECTION 3 

from the G-IV measuring and transmitting back to the aircraft the pressure,

temperature, humidity, and GPS

Doppler frequency shifts as it descends

to earth. The Doppler shifts are used to

compute the horizontal and vertical

wind components. After analysis and

processing of the dropsonde data the

information is transmitted to the

National Centers for Environmental

Prediction and the National Hurricane

Center for inclusion into the global and

hurricane model runs to provide the

hurricane forecasters real-time observations depicting the synoptic patterns

surrounding the hurricane. Recent

estimates of the improvement in hurricane track predictions is between 20

and 30 percent, and these improvements have resulted in savings of $10

million or more per hurricane in warning and preparedness costs.

The NOAA G-IV annually supports

the Winter Storm Reconnaissance

Program in an effort to improve forecasts released 24-96 hours before a

winter storm. The G-IV in conjunction

with an Air Force Reserve's WC-130

collects atmospheric data for severe

winter storms originating over the

Pacific Ocean that will seriously

impact the continental U.S. and

Alaska. Both planes act in tandem

departing from Alaska and Hawaii to

capture data north and south of the jetstream simultaneously. The Winter

Storm Reconnaissance Program has

already seen up to a 20 percent

increase in forecast accuracy on average. Accuracy for individual targeted

events has been increased by as much

as 60-80 percent in 24-96 hour forecasts during past missions.

The NOAA G-IV was used by the

NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory to conduct the Pacific Sub-tropical Jet Study

in 2004 during the Winter Storm

Reconnaissance Mission to investigate

the transport of ozone in the vicinity of

the Pacific jetstream. Data from

ozone-measuring instruments was

combined with the dropwindsonde

data gathered during the mission to

help researchers unravel the jetstream's

complex effects on the atmosphere.

The mission helped scientists learn

more about the factors that affect

ozone abundance in the air that eventually arrives at the U.S. West Coast,

which influences air quality in that

region. Measurements have indicated

that this ozone has been increasing in

recent years.

A third mission for the G-IV over the

Pacific in 2004 during the Winter

Storm Reconnaissance Mission

involved validating and calibrating

space-borne instrument measurements

from the Special Sensor Microwave

Imager/Sounder, launched for the

Defense Meteorological Satellite

Program. Once validated, these satellite measurements offer vertical soundings through the lower atmosphere of

temperature and moisture over broad

swaths of ocean and land as they orbit

the Earth. These data in turn greatly

help to initialize weather forecast models with accurate initial conditions.

NOAA WP-3 Orions (N42RF &

N43RF) - participate in a wide variety

of national and international meteorological, oceanographic and environmental research programs in addition

to their use in hurricane research and

reconnaissance. These aircraft (Figure

3-DOC-29) are equipped with an

unprecedented variety of scientific

instrumentation, radars and recording

systems for both in situ and remote

sensing measurements of the atmosphere, the earth and its environment.

The aircraft research and navigation

systems provide detailed spatial and

temporal observations of a wide range

of atmospheric and oceanic parameters.

The NOAA P-3's annually fly hurricane research and reconnaissance missions providing storm data to the

National Hurricane Center, transmitting flight level data, dropwindsonde

measurements, as well as radar images

via its aircraft-satellite data link. The

P-3's also augmented the Air Force

Reserve 53rd Weather Reconnaissance

Squadron WC-130 aircraft during particularly active storm periods when

tasking requirements exceed their

available resources.

Each year one of the NOAA P-3's

participates in a hurricane awareness

tour of at least five cities along the US

Figure 3-DOC-27. NOAA

Gulfstream G-IVSP

Figure 3-DOC-28. GPS dropsonde

Figure 3-DOC-29. NOAA WP-3

Orions
SECTION 3 DOC 87

coastline. It alternates annually

between cities along the East Coast, or

cities along the Gulf Coast. Personnel

from NOAA's Aircraft Operation

Center, working with a team of hurricane experts from NOAA's National

Hurricane Center, provide guided tours

of the hurricane research aircraft.

Additionally, FEMA's Regional

Emergency Managers, the Red Cross,

and local emergency personnel provide

coordinated information and demonstrations.

One NOAA P-3 annually supports

the Ocean Winds experiment which

collects airborne surface wind measurements under the harshest of weather

conditions during the summer hurricane season, and during the winter.

The objective of this project is to

improve our understanding of the limitations and capabilities of different

microwave remote sensing techniques

for ocean surface wind vector

retrievals. Microwave remote sensing

instruments are flown aboard the aircraft to characterize the atmosphere

and ocean surface in various environmental conditions.

A NOAA P-3 participated in the

2004 North American Monsoon

Experiment (NAME) which was an

internationally coordinated, joint

Climate Variability and Predictability -

Global Energy and Water Cycle

Experiment (CLIVAR-GEWEX)

process study aimed at determining the

sources and limits of predictability of

warm season precipitation over North

America. It focused on observing the

key components of the North

American monsoon system within the

context of the land surface-atmosphere-ocean annual cycle. The Gulf of

California has been identified as a key

moisture source for precipitation in the

U.S. NAME was part of the NOAA

Climate Variability and Predictability -

Variability and Predictability of the

American Monsoon System (CLIVARVAMOS), U.S. CLIVAR Pan

American research, and GEXEX

Americas Prediction Project.

A NOAA P-3 is scheduled to participate in the 2005 Atmospheric Rivers

Project, which supports the objectives

of NOAA's Weather-Climate

Connection program with it's focus on

water resources by documenting

atmospheric rivers that are critical to

both the global water cycle and to

storm prediction. The pre-coldfrontal-low-level jet (LLJ) in landfalling extra-tropical cyclones that

approach the West Coast of the U.S.

each winter plays a critical role in

transporting water vapor into the

coastal mountains, resulting in orographic enhancement of precipitation

that can generate devastating flooding.

NOAA AC690A Turbo Commander

(N53RF) and NOAA AC-500S Shrike

Commander (N51RF) are used annually to conduct snow water equivalent

surveys throughout the northern U.S.

and southern Canada. During operational airborne snow surveys (Figure

3-DOC-30), the data are processed in

the aircraft in real-time and the snow

water equivalent estimates are sent up

to three times daily from each aircraft

to the National Operational Hydrologic

Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) office.

Upon receipt at the NOHRSC, the data

are automatically processed and formatted, sent to the NWS satellite

broadcast network, and received by

each of the NWS field offices in less

than 5 minutes of transmission from

each survey aircraft. Data collected

during snow survey missions, including observed ground and weather conditions, are used by the National

Weather Service and other agencies to

forecast river levels and potential

flooding events due to snowmelt water

runoff. Hydroelectric power interests

and other water supply managers also

use the data to regulate water storage

and delivery.

Joint Ship and Aircraft Support of

Meteorological Activities.

NOAA deployed the RONALD H.

BROWN and a NOAA P-3 working in

combination with ground sites and

other aircraft to determine how the

transport of chemicals from one region

or continent influence the air quality

and climate forcing in other regions

and continents in the New England

North Atlantic (NENA) 2004 joint

regional air quality and climate change

study. These observations were paired

with diagnostic chemical, meteorological, and radiative models to assess and

improve forecasting and prediction

tools. The study focused on air quality

along the Eastern Seaboard and transport of North American emissions into

the North Atlantic.

Figure 3-DOC-30. NOAA AC-500S

Shrike Commander during snow 

survey mission.

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES

Air Force Weather (AFW) provides

high-quality, mission-tailored terrestrial and space environment observations, forecasts, and services to the

United States Air Force (USAF),

United States Army (USA), and a variety of United States Government

(USG) departments and agencies. (See

Section 3, United States Army, for

details of AFW support to the Army.)

AIR FORCE WEATHER

ORGANIZATION

AFW services and support are organized under

the functional management of the Director of

Weather (AF/XOO-W),

Directorate of Operations

and Training (AF/XOO),

Deputy Chief of Staff for

Air and Space Operations

(AF/XO), Headquarters

Air Force (HAF). The

Director of Weather oversees USAF-wide training,

organizing, and equipping of AFW units to

include the following functions:

• Development of doctrine, policies,

requirements, and standards for

weather support

• Evaluation of weather support

effectiveness

• Management of officer, enlisted,

and civilian career fields

• Development and implementation

of mid- to long-range plans for the

organization, equipment, manpower,

and technology necessary to meet

future USAF and USA weather

requirements

• Advising Air Staff and subordinate

headquarters functional managers

regarding manpower, career field,

personnel utilization, training,

operations policy and procedures,

and technology acquisition

• Advocating and fielding standardized weather equipment

AFW, a Total Force organization,

employs over 4,900 active and reserve

component (Air Force Reserve (AFR)

and Air National Guard (ANG)) military, civilian, and contract personnel at

more than 290 locations worldwide.

AFW's active component is organized

to mirror the three levels of military

operations: strategic, operational (theater), and tactical.

AFW's strategic weather units are

centers of expertise for providing timely, accurate, and relevant strategiclevel terrestrial and space weather

products necessary to

effectively plan and conduct military operations.

The centerpiece of the

strategic level, as well as

the DOD Center of

Excellence for meteorological satellite imagery,

is the Air Force Weather

Agency (AFWA), Offutt

AFB, Nebraska, a field

operating agency (FOA)

reporting directly to

AF/XOO-W. AFWA

plans and produces a

wide range of terrestrial

and space weather products and provides dedicated climatology, strategic

weather, and space environment forecast support to Special Operations

Forces (SOF) and the National

Intelligence Community (NIC). The

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE WEATHER PROGRAMS

The Department of Defense (DOD) operates a military environmental service system to provide specialized worldwide meteorological, space environmental and oceanographic analysis and prediction

services in support of military forces. This system directly supports all phases of military operations,

from strategic planning to tactical operations. While the Army and Marine Corps each have a small

specialized weather support capability, the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command and Air

Force Weather are the primary sources of military weather products. The military weather services contribute to the national and international weather observing capability by taking conventional observations on land and at sea where there are no other conventional weather observing capabilities and where the observations are most needed to meet military requirements. In addition, DOD maintains specialized observing capabilities,

such as the Defense Meteorological Satellite and Global Weather Intercept Programs, to meet unique military requirements. Observational data are sent by military communications networks to military and civil facilities in the United

States and overseas.

UNITED STATES AIR FORCE

SECTION 3 DOD 89
90 DOD SECTION 3

agency consists of a strategic processing center collocated with a functional

management headquarters, two subordinate centers (the Air Force Combat

Climatology Center (AFCCC) and the

Air Force Combat Weather Center

(AFCWC)), and 17 detachments and

operating locations. AFWA also provides backup support to five national

weather centers. AFCCC, Asheville,

North Carolina, provides centralized

climatological database services, produces specialized weather-impact

information for DOD and allied

nations, and warehouses and distributes atmospheric science-related technical information. From Hurlburt

Field, Florida, AFCWC transitions

technology to tactical-level weather

units while developing operational

concepts and tactics, techniques, and

procedures.

Eight Operational Weather

Squadrons (OWS) form the backbone

of AFW's operational level. Each

OWS provides or arranges for operational-level weather forecast products

and support for units assigned and/or

deployed into its area of responsibility

(AOR). These AORs are depicted in

Figure 3-DOD-1. When collocated,

OWS personnel also support the commander and staff of Numbered Air

Forces (NAFs), Air Operations Centers

(AOCs), and United States Army

Echelons Above Corps (EAC). In

addition, OWSs provide flight weather

briefings to aircrews operating within

their AOR without home station support or as requested by a tactical-level

weather unit. Moreover, OWSs provide theater-scale, tailored environmental information to guide development of mission execution forecasts

(MEF) by active and reserve component combat weather teams (CWTs).

OWSs also produce and disseminate

terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs),

weather watches, warnings, and advisories, planning and execution area

forecasts, and other operational products to CWTs and other users using the

OWS Production System Phase II

(OPS II). In addition to its dissemination function, OPS-II facilitates integration of strategic-level products and

indigenous data to automatically and

manually generate weather forecast

products.

CWTs, located at base and post level,

take and disseminate local observations and develop tailored MEFs at the

tactical level based on centrally produced guidance. CWTs also act as

"eyes forward" for OWSs. CWTs

deploy with hand-held Kestral observFigure 3-DOD-1. Areas of Responsibility for Air Force Weather’s Operational Weather Squadrons.
SECTION 3 DOD 91

ing kits, the TMQ-53 semi-automated

observing system for semi-permanent

sites, and in some cases, tactical

weather radars.

Approximately 100 weather personnel serve as AFR individual mobilization augmentees (IMAs) assigned to

various active AFW units at all levels.

IMAs typically train one day each

month and for an additional two weeks

each year.

The ANG traditional program consists of 33 weather flights, ranging in

size from 13 to 25 personnel, who meet

monthly to train for their wartime mission. These units provide weather

information to Army National Guard

and United States Army Reserve units

as well as ANG flying units. In addition, the ANG performs peacetime

weather operations at locations where

the ANG is responsible for airfield

support. The Weather Readiness

Training Center (WRTC) at Camp

Blanding, near Starke, Florida, is also

operated by the ANG to provide Army

tactical skills training not available

elsewhere in the Air Force. 

AFW is currently engaged in reengineering the AFR and ANG weather

forces to more closely align operations

with active duty forces. Total Force

AFW personnel enhance the effectiveness of ground, air, and space operations worldwide by providing flight

weather briefings, air/ground radio

services, and tailored observations,

forecasts, watches, warnings, and advisories.

AFW Five Core Processes

To fulfill its global mission of providing timely, accurate, and relevant

weather information, AFW maintains

and continually improves on its five

core processes: data collection, analysis, forecasting, product tailoring, and

dissemination. The following paragraphs provide more information on

each of these areas.

Weather Data Collection. Weather

data collection integrates the spectrum

of remote and fixed sensors into a single meteorological sensing and instrumentation approach for battlefield and

in-garrison operations. Data collection

in the space environment is discussed

in the Space Environmental Services

section. AFW personnel take observations essential for effective military

operations and for weather analysis

and forecasting. Weather personnel at

both AF and Army locations (fixed and

tactical) make observations available

to local users and transmit them to military and civil locations throughout the

world. Upper air observations provide

vital input to numerical weather analysis and prediction models. United

States and foreign rawinsonde reports

are primary sources and are supplemented with military and civilian pilot

reports. The Observing System 21st

Century (OS-21) program will provide

a much-needed, state-of-the-art lifecycle replacement for Air Force

observing equipment. OS-21 includes

five different configurations: fixed,

deployable, remote, manual, and upper

air. The manual configuration is

intended for tactical operations and

continues the improvements begun

under the Manual Observing System

and Tactical Meteorological Observing

System Modification programs. AFW

began fielding the fixed-base automated observing system and will continue

to do so over the next 2-3 years. The

remaining configurations will be

upgraded or replaced after fielding of

fixed-base automated systems nears

completion.

Weather radar data is a principal

source of information needed to produce severe weather warnings. Within

the Continental United States

(CONUS), AFW uses the WSR-88D.

DOD, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and DOC/NWS operate and maintain the WSR-88Ds within CONUS, and the AF operates and

maintains those overseas. The AF has

begun a transition from stand-alone

legacy Principal User Processors

(PUPs) to the network-connected open

architecture Open PUPs (OPUPs) at

some local installations and at all

United States-based OWSs, allowing

these regional forecasting centers

access to real-time WSR-88D radar

data at locations for which they have

remote forecasting responsibility.

Tactical Weather Radars (TWR) provide a capability for worldwide military contingency operations at

deployed locations and at select fixed

locations overseas.

The Defense Meteorological

Satellite Program (DMSP), which provides volumes of cloud, upper air, and

space environmental data, is a vital

source of global weather data used to

support combat operations. On-board

sensors provide AFWA and the Navy's

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and

Oceanography Center (FNMOC) with

visible, infrared, and microwave

imagery of the entire globe, temperature and moisture sounding data, electrically-charged particle fluxes, and

other specialized space environment

data. DMSP also supplies direct, realtime readout of regional imagery and

mission-sensor data to DOD landbased and shipboard terminals located

worldwide (Figure 3-DOD-2).

Figure 3-DOD-2. DMSP captures

Aurora Borealis, over the midwest;

the aurora was pushed toward the

equator by a November 4, 2003 geomagnetic storm. (AFWeather website)
92 DOD SECTION 3

The present DMSP satellite series

(Block 5D-2) uses the Operational

Linescan System (OLS) to provide visible and infrared imagery to distinguish between clouds, ground, snow,

and water. The DMSP also flies the

Special Sensor Microwave temperature (SSM/T) and water vapor

sounders (SSM/T-2). Processing algorithms convert the sensed data into vertical temperature, moisture, and height

profiles of the atmosphere, providing

key data for numerical analysis and

forecasting. The Special Sensor

Microwave Imager (SSM/I) observes

rainfall, ocean surface wind speed,

cloud and soil moisture, ice conditions,

and other environmental data. The

Special Sensor for Ions and Electrons

(SSIES), Special Sensor

Magnetometer (SSM), and the

Precipitating Electron and Ion

Spectrometer (SSJ), each providing

vital inputs to space weather models,

measure the space environment on the

topside of the ionosphere in situ. The

Block 5D-3 spacecraft began service in

2004 with the launch of DMSP

Flight 16. These new spacecraft will

add several new capabilities:

enhanced microwave imaging and

atmospheric temperature/moisture

sounding through the Special Sensor

Microwave Imager/ Sounder (SSMIS);

new auroral boundary and electron

density measuring capability through

the Special Sensor Ultraviolet

Spectrographic Imager (SSUSI); and

profiles of upper-atmospheric temperature, electron content, and species densities through the Special Sensor

Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI).

AFW continues to participate in the

refinement of requirements for the

National Polar-orbiting Operational

Environmental Satellite System

(NPOESS). NPOESS will replace the

existing DMSP and NOAA polar-orbiting satellite programs beginning in

2010 and is a joint DOD, DOC, and

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) program. A

new ground terminal system will also

provide a direct readout capability for

tactical users similar to that of the

DMSP. AFW also expects to gain

operational experience as well as benefit from the risk reduction planned

with the NPOESS Preparatory

Program planned for launch in 2006.

In addition to DMSP polar-orbiting

data, AFWA receives stored data from

the DOC's Polar-orbiting Operational

Environmental Satellite constellation

and real-time high-resolution data

from the DOC's Geostationary

Operational Environmental Satellite

(GOES) East and West; the European

Union's Meteosat-5, -7, and -8 geostationary satellites; and GOES 9, currently filling the Far East geostationary

orbit until Japan launches the Multifunctional Transport Satellite

(MTSAT). NESDIS receives test data

files from India's INSAT-3A and

KALPANA-1 (formerly METSAT-1)

geostationary satellites. AFWA plans

to accept this data via the Shared

Processing Program (SPP) once data

geolocation is improved to the appropriate level. AFWA currently receives

data from NASA's Tropical Rainfall

Measuring Mission (TRMM), Quick

Scatterometer (QuikSCAT), and

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) via the SPP.

To receive real-time visible, infrared,

and microwave imagery and other nonimagery weather data from both polarorbiting and geostationary satellites,

AFW implemented the Joint METSAT

Imagery, Software, and Terminals

(JMIST) concept. JMIST leverages

network and satellite communications,

direct read-out terminals, and client

applications to provide ready access

and manipulation capabilities for

advanced low-orbiting satellite

imagery from numerous agencies, to

include the USAF, United States Navy,

and NASA.

The Air Force Reserve Command's

53rd Weather Reconnaissance

Squadron (53 WRS), also known as the

"Hurricane Hunters," provides another

means of collecting vital meteorological data, especially in and around tropical cyclones. Their specially

equipped WC-130 aircraft collect temperature, moisture, wind, pressure, and

visually observed information at the

aircraft location as well as vertical profiles of the atmosphere collected by

dropsondes. Hurricane Hunter aircraft

penetrate the eyes of tropical cyclones

to provide the National Hurricane

Center a very accurate center fix location as well as other meteorological

parameters, including sea level pressure (Figure 3-DOD-3). In addition to

the tropical cyclone reconnaissance

mission, the 53 WRS collects meteorological information to improve wintertime West Coast forecasts and to support scientific field programs when

possible. Visit 53 WRS web site at

http://www.hurricanehunters.com/.

Analysis and Forecasting. AFWA is

the AF's strategic production center for

weather analyses and forecasts while

the OWSs are the theater-scale production centers for AF and Army operations. AFWA uses networked computer systems and an interactive graphics

and imagery system to implement a

"build-and-apply" concept.

Worldwide conventional weather data

are relayed to AFWA and combined

with civil and military meteorological

Figure 3-DOD-3. Aircraft radar

shows the eye of Hurricane Claudette

is 25 nautical miles wide and the wall

cloud is weakest in the northeast

quadrant (53 WRS website)
SECTION 3 DOD 93

satellite data to construct a real-time,

integrated environmental database.

Computer programs further process the

data to construct models of the atmosphere and forecast its future behavior.

Manual tailoring of the data is critical

for application to warfighters' specific

needs. The interaction between forecaster and machine is accomplished

using the Satellite Data Handling

System (SDHS) at the strategic center,

the OWS Production System (OPS-II)

at the operational level, and the N-TFS

at the tactical level.

AFWA has organized forecast operations to achieve greater flexibility and

focus on primary missions. Forecasts

are generated in the agency's Global

Weather Center Division, which consists of four production branches:

Special Support Operations, Space

Weather, NIC Weather, and

Meteorological Satellite Applications.

The Special Support Operations

Branch (SSOB) acts as an OWS for

SOF and provides worldwide missiontailored forecasts to Joint SOF operations. The branch acts as a clearinghouse for unique data requests from

the SOF community; provides tailored

meteorological information for end-toend special operations planning at

United States Special Operations

Command, component commands, and

theater special operations commands.

The SSOB is continually involved in

global military operations to include

Operations ENDURING FREEDOM

and IRAQI FREEDOM. The SSOB

generates a myriad of products ranging

from air refueling forecasts, to detailed

mission control forecasts, to weather

impacts for SOF operations, and distributes this information via secure

media. Additionally, the SSOB

includes the American Forces Network

Weather Center which provides worldwide, broadcast-quality public weather

services and planning forecasts

through the American Forces Radio

and Television Service to over 800,000

DOD and Department of State personnel and family members stationed

overseas.

The Space Weather Operations

Center (Space WOC) provides worldwide general and tailored analyses,

forecasts, advisories, and warnings of

space weather phenomena that affect

military operations and NIC activities.

The Space WOC supports all DOD

Services using space weather measurements from an integrated, global network of ground- and space-based sensors. Data sharing and forecast coordination exists between the NOAA

Space Environment Center (SEC) in

Boulder, Colorado, and the Space

WOC and results in a synergistic capability to reach both military and civilian operators. Due to an increasing

dependence on space-based systems

such as precision-guided munitions,

satellite communications, and modern

guidance and radar systems, space

environmental impacts are a key and

growing field critical to military operations. The reliance on the Global

Positioning Systems (GPS) and its vulnerability to ionospheric storms compel military planners and commanders

to apply an awareness of space environmental information to all phases of

military operations.

The NIC Weather Branch provides

weather information that includes

detailed global cloud analyses and

forecasts to the intelligence community. The branch employs the NIC

Weather Operations Cell that provides

worldwide mission-tailored planning

and execution forecasts for NIC agencies at security levels up to Top

Secret/Sensitive Compartmented

Information (TS/SCI). The branch

also serves as the focal point for

AFWA Special Access Program (SAP)

requirements; ensures the NIC and

other SCI and SAP meteorological

requirements are integrated into

AFWA programs; monitors and evaluates accuracy and timeliness of centralized weather services to the NIC; and

interfaces with the DOD and NIC

regarding weather services and

exploitation of weather information.

The Meteorological Satellite (METSAT) Applications Branch provides

operational imagery analyses production, technique development, technology insertion, and product improvement. The branch produces rapid

response, tailored METSAT imagery

and evaluation for DOD contingency

operations and generates automated

METSAT imagery products for webbased distribution to DOD users. The

branch tracks and classifies tropical

cyclones for the DOD Joint Typhoon

Warning Center (JTWC) and the DOC

National Hurricane Center; serves as

the DOD focal point for volcanic ash

plume detection, advisories, and trajectory forecasts; and provides hot back

up for both JTWC satellite operations

and the DOC's Washington Volcanic

Ash Advisory Center. The METSAT

Applications Branch produces worldwide snow and ice cover analyses to

update and refine the snow depth database and also provides tailored snow

depth and dust event analyses in contingency areas. During Operation

IRAQI FREEDOM, branch imagery

specialists provided high-resolution

analyses of oil fire initiation points for

smoke plume dispersion forecast

model products. These smoke plumes

impacted both air and land operations.

Advance notice allowed mission planners to modify operations to maximize

mission effectiveness. The branch also

develops new capabilities to display

and visualize satellite imagery on

workstations and infuses state-of-theart techniques into improved imagery

analysis ensuring high-quality products.

The Global Theater Weather

Analysis and Prediction System

(GTWAPS) program has improved

interaction of the strategic, operational-level, and tactical-level forecasting systems. The key software component of the GTWAPS program is a theater analysis and forecast model,
94 DOD SECTION 3

Mesoscale Model version 5 (MM5),

which provides fine-scale forecast data

with improved accuracy

(Figure 3-DOD-4). During Operations

ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI

FREEDOM, AFWA initiated various

model window locations and resolutions as mission requirements dictated.

The highly responsive nature of the

MM5, and the way AFWA employs it,

permitted new contingency windows

to be operational within hours.

Advancements in cloud modeling have

enabled GTWAPS to produce high-resolution products that became a mainstay of weather data during the continuing global war on terrorism. Used by

Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

(UAV), Global Hawk UAV, and spacebased reconnaissance operators, these

products allowed decision-makers to

choose the most effective reconnaissance platform to maximize mission

effectiveness. MM5 is routinely provided by AFWA to the NOAA National

Centers for Environmental Prediction

(NCEP), where it is a backup to their

Eta model.

On-going modernization initiatives

at AFWA include the Space Weather

Analysis and Forecasting System

(SWAFS) and the Weather Data

Analysis (WDA) program. SWAFS

will integrate additional space weather

data sources and execute next-generation space weather models for DOD

and NIC operations. WDA will continue the modernization of AFWA as

the strategic center component of the

Air Force Weather Weapon System

(AFWWS). The reengineered AFWA

will provide component-based and

standards-compliant hardware, software tools, a central 4-D database, and

a classified processing environment to

modernize the AFWWS communications and data processing infrastructure. WDA provides a significant

increase in the database capacity and

capability by standing up Joint

DOD approved METOC database segments that will begin an era of

Common Operating Environment

compliance and interoperability

among data sharers.

WDA through the use of the METOC

segments and the Joint METOC

Broker Language for web services will

improve the interoperability with DOD

command and control (C2) and command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance, and

reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems by

providing a common interface to

request the wide range of weather data

and products. In addition WDA developed components (to include the

Consolidated Dissemination Capability)

are reusable within the OWS. This

reusability will allow OWS-unique

data to become part of the overall

AFWWS 4-D database.

OWSs provide theater-scale battlespace forecasts; drop zone, range, and

aerial refueling track forecasts; finescale target forecasts; and airfield forecasts and warnings for AF and Army

installations within their AOR. Their

primary tool is OPS-II, which ingests

data and strategic center information,

and creates and disseminates theaterscale products. 

Product Tailoring/Warfighter

Applications. Starting at the strategic

level, AFW progressively focuses and

tailors weather information, leading to

individual mission-specific forecasts at

the CWT level. For example, although

still an emerging system, AFW personnel already provide detailed turbulence

forecasts for the Global Hawk highaltitude reconnaissance system. 

The Forecasting System 21st

Century (FS-21) program is the vehicle

for providing necessary computer

hardware and software throughout all

levels of AFW (AFWA, OWSs, and

CWTs). OPS-II is the backbone of

OWS production, a hybrid system of

databases, servers, and workstations

encompassing the hardware and software necessary to produce and disseminate forecast products to CWTs.

N-TFS provides garrison and deployed

CWT personnel with the meteorological tools to manipulate and disseminate

graphical and alphanumeric products

Figure 3-DOD-4. Joint Air Force and Army Weather Information Network

(JAAWIN) provide reachback capability for deployed combat weather teams.

This 3-hour forecast of surface winds over Southwest Asia was generated from

AFWA’s 45-km MM5 (AFWA Website)
SECTION 3 DOD 95

(satellite imagery, graphical forecast

products, weather forecasts, advisories, briefings, observations, etc.) to

Army and AF operational, C2, and

support forces worldwide. N-TFS provides weather personnel the ability to

use the same system in "peace and

war," providing a "first in" and sustainment weather forecast capability to

combat weather units across the globe.

Additionally, N-TFS ingests data from

AF and indigenous observing sources,

which then are forwarded to

OWSs/AFWA for further dissemination and incorporation into centrally

produced models. Data from the NTFS, combined with satellite imagery

from the Small Tactical Terminal

(STT), provide the essential capability

required for deployed weather units to

meet operational requirements

(Figure 3-DOD-5). AFW is currently

working toward a single workstation

that integrates both the Army's

Integrated Meteorological System

(IMETS), the AF's N-TFS, and provides the interface capability for C2

systems.

The Joint Environmental Toolkit

(JET) is expected to enhance warfighter awareness of the natural battlespace

environment by ensuring accurate,

timely, and consistent terrestrial and

space weather data and impacts are

available and accessible by appropriate

personnel and processes. JET will fulfill this role by providing a single common forecaster interface to the virtual

Joint METOC Database (JMDB) for

use at all levels of the AFWWS support structure. JET integrates with

Joint and coalition C4ISR/Mission

Planning (MP) systems by enabling

machine-to-machine exchange of

METOC data and information to meet

operational planning and execution

requirements. Furthermore, JET

enhances the accuracy and utility of

terrestrial/space weather and oceanographic data, information, and operational impacts by enabling the forecaster and/or forecast process to incorporate Geographic Information System

(GIS) capabilities (to include a standard high-resolution topographic database), forecasting rules of thumb, operational thresholds, and more into forecasts and weather impact products.

Contract award for JET is planned

for July 2004 with award to two contractors for a 15-month fly-off. The

down select to one contractor is projected for October 2005 with fielding

of the first increment to begin in

Spring 2006. Expected delivery of all

JET capabilities is FY 2011.

Tactical Decision Aids (TDAs) provide warfighters an automated way to

"visualize" environmental impacts on

operations. These tools, which continue to be integrated into command and

control systems and mission planning

systems, include Target Acquisition

Weapon Software (TAWS) and

InfraRed Target Scene Simulation

(IRTSS). All are modular programs

developed by the Air Force Research

Laboratory (AFRL) with additional

assistance from the Navy's Space and

Naval Warfare Systems Command, the

Navy Research Laboratory (NRL), and

the Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

TAWS provides a joint mission-planning tool to combine platform,

weapon, target, background, and

weather impacts to depict three-dimensional target acquisition and lock-on

range versus time. This includes preFigure 3-DOD-5. 48th Combat Weather Team Forecaster, checks the satellite

dish alignment on the small tactical terminal. This dish receives satellite pictures every 30 minutes from a geostationary earth orbiting satellite 22,000

miles above Europe (AFWA website).
96 DOD SECTION 3

diction of environmental impacts on

night vision goggles and low lightlevel systems used by air, naval, and

ground forces to execute nighttime

operations, including search and rescue missions (Figure 3-DOD-6).

IRTSS uses detailed terrain information and multispectral imagery with

TAWS processing to generate forecast

target scene images for mission

rehearsal. The Joint Environmental

Exploitation Segment (JEES) uses

environmental data with TAWS modules to automatically generate missionimpact forecasts for large-scale planning efforts such as Air Tasking Order

preparation. JEES, TAWS, Night

Vision Goggles Operations Weather

Software (NOWS), and IRTSS integrate environmental impacts into the

mission execution forecasts for C2 and

MP systems from 0-72 hours prior to

mission execution. The TDA program

continues to add weapons systems, targets, and other features at the request

of users from each military service.

During Operations IRAQI FREEDOM

and ENDURING FREEDOM, the

WarWeather program provided additional targets requested specifically for

application with TAWS and IRTSS

systems to support operations.

Additional decision aids in development include a common rules-based

decision aid (Army, Navy and Air

Force participation) based on the Army

Integrated Weather Effects Decision

Aid (IWEDA) and Airborne Laser

(ABL) Atmospheric Decision Aid

(ADA) to support ABL development

and operations. Developments in

coordination include a common Radio

Frequency (RF) system performance

prediction capability based on Navy

software.

The space weather branch produces tailored forecasts to model space weather

impact to High Frequency (HF) and

Ultra-HF satellite communications.

These products leverage space weather

expertise at AFWA for all theaters. A

point-to-point communication forecast

can be tailored to provide users the optimal HF frequencies to employ between

two locations. Also, signal fades due to

space weather on UHF SATCOM links

provide valuable planning information to

improve command and control functions.

Dissemination. AFW dissemination

employs a variety of media to meet the

needs of users worldwide. High-speed

communications between large DOD and

civilian processing centers facilitate sharing of data, high-resolution satellite

imagery, and output from numerical

weather prediction models. Additional

circuits provide a subset of these data to

OWSs.

Forecaster-developed products and

gridded data sets are distributed from

AFWA via the Communications FrontEnd Processor (CFEP) to base and post

weather stations around the globe

using dedicated circuits and the

Internet. Alphanumeric data, including

surface, upper-air, space weather, and

pilot reports, are also collected and distributed via the Automated Weather

Network (AWN), Very Small Aperture

Terminal (VSAT) satellite communications system, and the DOD's NonSecure Internet Protocol Router

Network (NIPRNET). The AWN, consisting of sophisticated data collection,

message creation, and dissemination

software, is a global communications

network used for alphanumeric terrestrial and space weather data. The

AWN supports DOD as well as federal

and foreign meteorological, space, and

aviation centers.

DOD data is also received from

DOD-operated HF radio receiver sites

strategically positioned around the

globe to intercept weather broadcasts.

These broadcasts originate from

nations that do not routinely make data

available through World Meteorological Organization (WMO) channels.

AFWA receives alphanumeric

weather data, parses it according to

data type, eliminates duplicate reports

from different sources, and creates specially tailored bulletins. Some of these

bulletins are sent to the large processing centers to provide the input data for

global, regional, and fine-scale forecast models. Other bulletins are redisFigure 3-DOD-6. Target Acquisition Weapon Software (TAWS) integrate

meteorological conditions and environmental parameters to enhance the mission planning process and increase aircrew situational awareness for mission

execution.
SECTION 3 DOD 97

tributed to end-users over dedicated

circuits, NIPRNET, and satellite

broadcast facilities.

AFW operates a website on the

NIPRNET known as the Joint Air

Force-Army Weather Information

Network (JAAWIN). JAAWIN provides worldwide access to numerical

model forecast graphics, satellite

imagery, forecaster-in-the-loop (FITL)

graphics, and text bulletins. Additional

products are available to classified

users via JAAWIN-Secret (JAAWIN-S)

and JAAWIN-Sensitive Compartmented Information (JAAWIN-SCI).

Joint Weather Impacts System

(JWIS) offers another means of making tailored weather information available to DOD users. JWIS provides a

link to weather information from both

AF and Navy sources for exploitation

by command and control systems and

applications. AFW successfully

demonstrated JWIS during Joint

Expeditionary Force Experiment 2000

and integrated an initial capability into

the Combined Air Operations CenterExperimental in 2001.

Finally, AFW continued to enhance

its presence on the AF Portal, an initial

"one-stop gateway" capability to provide weather and other information to

any AF user or activity. AFW will continue expanding its presence on the AF

Portal in FY 2005.

Unique Requirements. A special

aspect of the military weather mission

is the need to provide decision assistance to commanders and resource

managers as well as operational units.

To fulfill this requirement, designated

AFW personnel serve as part of the

staff of operational AF, Army, and joint

force units. In this capacity, AFW personnel identify all weather-sensitive

areas of the operation, monitor the

weather service provided in these

areas, and provide expert advice to

mitigate weather impacts on either

training or combat operations.

Products and data are tailored to the

needs of weapon systems being developed or used; command and control

systems; Army firing units; research,

development and evaluation; testing,

training and deployment of military

forces; and contingency operations.

This effort helps ensure that AF, Army,

and joint force units fulfill their missions regardless of the weather and

results in efficient use of weather

resources by gearing them to specific

requirements.

Army weather requirements are completely integrated into the AF's overall

mission concept (Figure 3-DOD-7).

The Army trains and educates AF personnel on Army organizations, concepts of operations, and the weather

sensitivities of Army operations and

equipment. AFW units are aligned and

integrated with the Army intelligence

organization. Weather products are

tailored to be pertinent to and directly

usable by Army personnel and are integrated into Army C2 systems. The AF

programs mobile and fixed meteorological equipment. AFW personnel

currently serve with echelon above

corps, corps, divisions, separate

brigades, aviation brigades, armored

cavalry regiments, ranger regiments,

and Special Forces groups (as well as

subordinate battalions deployed at forward operating bases). The AF normally provides observations at all

command levels identified above;

however, as the Army undergoes transformation to units of employment and

units of action, AFW will transform its

Army support organization appropriately. The Army Forward Area

Limited Observing Program (FALOP)

and the Army artillery meteorology

(ARTYMET) program augment the AF

observations in the tactical environment.

The AF provides meteorological and

space weather products to the nation's

space and missile programs including a

wide range of weather observing services at the AF Eastern Range and the

Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The AF

also provides tailored forecasting for

NASA's manned and unmanned

launches and for commercial launches

from KSC. The AF also provides specialized meteorological information to

the AF Western Range at Vandenberg

AFB, California, and the Pacific

Missile Range, which includes Point

Mugu and San Nicholas Island,

California, and Barking Sands,

Hawaii. In addition, the AF provides

environmental information to the

White Sands Missile Range, New

Figure 3-DOD-7. AF combat weather personnel, trained to support of Army

operations, prepare to launch a pilot balloon to collect upper level winds.
98 DOD SECTION 3

Mexico, the Kwajalein Missile Range,

Republic of the Marshall Islands, and

other DOD research and test facilities.

The AF furnishes environmental

information to DOD Special Strategic

Programs, the President, Secretary of

Defense, the National Military

Command System, and the National

Security Agency. Tailored environmental products are disseminated to

these users worldwide.

The AF also provides agrometeorological output to the United States

Department of Agriculture's Foreign

Agricultural Service and other similar

users. The output provided includes

diagnostic soil hydrology and other

meteorological output pertinent to crop

growth and yield estimation as well as

trafficability and rudimentary flooding

estimations.

AFCCC provides climatic data and

specialized products to the AF, Army,

and other government agencies.

Typical climatic information satisfies

requirements for assessments of natural environmental effects on military

plans, weapon systems, facilities, and

intelligence activities. AFCCC collects, quality assures, and applies

worldwide surface and upper air observations, satellite-derived soundings,

numerical model output such as global

gridded surface and upper air model

data, a global three-dimensional cloud

analysis (worldwide merged cloud

analysis), a global analysis of snow

cover, and other specialized environmental data sets. AFCCC produces

standard climatic summaries of meteorological phenomena for points

around the globe. Examples include

the Operational Climatic Data

Summary and the Wind Stratified

Conditional Climatology. Analysts are

also available to produce tailored products to meet specific requirements.

AFCCC employs the Atmospheric

Slant Path Analysis Model to produce

vertical profiles for any point on earth

for any time since 1985. Modeled climatologies are produced using the

Advanced Climate Modeling and

Environmental Simulations model.

AFCCC is co-located with the

National Climatic Data Center to facilitate cooperation and data exchange.

AF/XOO-W is the DOD Air and

Space Natural Environment Modeling

and Simulation Executive Agent

(ASNE MSEA). The director executes

this responsibility through the ASNE

MSEA office, a division within

AFCCC (AFCC/SM). The executive

agent is responsible for ensuring modeling and simulation developers and

users have the tools, infrastructure, and

databases necessary to represent the air

and space natural environment.

Figure 3-DOD-8. Solar optical and radio telescopes at Ramey, Puerto Rico and Learmonth, Australia (lower left).
SECTION 3 DOD 99

AFCCC/SM sponsors research and

development and fields technology at

AFCCC, the designated operational

center providing tailored atmospheric

data for modeling and simulation. In

cooperation with the National

Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and

the Defense Modeling and Simulation

Office (DMSO), AFCCC/SM also

sponsors ongoing research to develop a

similar capability to provide tailored

on-demand representations of the

space environment.

SPACE ENVIRONMENTAL

SERVICES

AFWA is the sole source of DOD

space environmental information and

partners with the NOAA SEC to meet

the nation's military and civilian space

weather needs. Many DOD systems

are affected by space weather phenomena occurring in the near-Earth environment. Space weather impacts fall

into three general categories: ionospheric effects on radars, GPS, and

C4ISR systems; the effect of highenergy charged particles and radiation

belt enhancements on the operation

and serviceable lifetime of orbital platforms; and the effect of geomagnetic

storming on C4ISR, radar, GPS accuracy, and electrical power generation.

AFWA provides a suite of automated

and manually tailored space weather

products to operators susceptible to

these impacts.

Sources of Space Environmental

Information

A combination of ground- and spacebased space weather data are available

to forecasters providing space environmental situational awareness and tailored information for military operations.

Ground-based data provides highly

accurate point source verification and

specification of the near-Earth environment. AFWA operates the Solar

Electro-optical Observing Network

(SEON), a network of solar optical and

radio telescopes at Sagamore Hill,

Massachusetts; Holloman AFB, New

Mexico; Palehua, Hawaii; San Vito,

Italy; and Learmonth, Australia. These

systems provide 24-hour observations

of solar phenomena at optical and

radio wavelengths (Figure 3-DOD-8).

A worldwide (primarily Northern

Hemisphere) network of ground-based

ionosondes and other sensors provide

ionospheric data. AFW manages

17 automated Digital Ionospheric

Sounding Systems (DISS) to measure

electron density profiles in the ionosphere. NASA's Jet Propulsion

Laboratory (JPL) operates a complementary global network of sensors

deriving ionospheric line-of-sight

Total Electron Content (TEC) from

GPS signals and provides this data to

AFWA's Space WOC. In addition, the

United States Geological Survey

(USGS) operates a network of groundbased magnetometers, primarily in the

Northern Hemisphere, which provide

critical measurements of the geomagnetic field and its variances to the

Space WOC. AFWA receives JPL and

USGS data from the SEC.

Space-based data enables global coverage and theater-wide situational

awareness of the near-earth environment. The GOES meteorological

satellites provide real-time solar X-ray,

charged energetic particle, and geomagnetic data made available through

the SEC. The Solar X-Ray Imager

(SXI), which became operational 30

January 2003, aboard GOES-12, monitors solar emissions in the extreme

ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray portions

of the solar spectrum and provides near

real-time display at AFWA and the

SEC. DMSP, NOAA, and other DOD

geostationary satellites provide

charged energetic particle data in lowEarth and geosynchronous orbits.

Additionally, AFW leverages spacebased data from NASA and other agencies. For example, NASA's Advanced

Composition Explorer satellite provides real-time solar wind data critical

for forecasting geomagnetic disturbances and their impact to warfighter

communications.

Space weather models transform

observational data into useful specification and forecasts enabling leaders,

Figure 3-DOD-9. Single-Frequency GPS Receiver Error Map (visualized by

HQ AFWA) 
100 DOD SECTION 3

planners, and operators to achieve

asymmetric advantage through information superiority and improved space

situational awareness. AFWA uses a

suite of state-of-the-art space weather

models to specify current solar and

global characteristics, extrapolate

space weather phenomenon to areas of

the globe where observations are not

currently available, and to forecast

future conditions. These models use

available observations and include

both climatology-based and physicsbased algorithms. Examples of model

output informational products include

the Single-Frequency GPS Receiver

Error maps (Figure 3-DOD-9), UHF

Satellite Communication Scintillation

maps (Figure 3-DOD-10), HF

Illumination maps (Figure 3-DOD-11),

and Radar Auroral Clutter maps.

These products assist warfighters in

determining and mitigating space

weather impacts to their systems as

well as in exploiting enemy space

weather susceptibilities for asymmetrical advantage. More detailed descriptions of both the available observations

and current models can be found in

Chapter 2 of the National Space

Weather Program Implementation

Plan, Second Edition, available from

the Office of the Federal Coordinator

for Meteorology.

Mainstreaming Space

AFW continues efforts to "mainstream" space weather for both

providers and users. DOD's increasing

reliance on systems affected by space

weather, continuing expansion of operations into space, and the AF's designation as executive agent for space

indicates space weather will become

increasingly important. Once fully

mainstreamed, weather information

users at all levels should think of space

weather as quickly as they do terrestrial weather. The AFW goal is to create

a seamless, real-time depiction of the

entire natural environment from the

mud to the sun by planning, programming, and budgeting for space weather

initiatives. AFW is taking steps to

standardize space weather operations,

improve space weather training for

both providers and users, integrate

both space and terrestrial environmental situational awareness into users'

decision architectures, and improve

interaction with end users. AFW recognizes the need to better collect

reports of space weather impacts on

operations in order to demonstrate the

value and utility of total environmental

situational awareness, including space

weather. To this end, AFW is reaching

out to non-traditional users such as

communicators, aeromedical services,

and airlifters to solicit their assistance

in collecting space weather impacts.

RESEARCH INITIATIVES

The overarching objective of the AF

meteorological and space environmental research and development (R&D)

program is to provide capability

designers, operational weather personnel, and weather information users

with the technology and tools to gain

and maintain the advantage over a

potential adversary. Documented

R&D requirements in the atmospheric

sciences are articulated in the AFW

Mission Support Plan and in the

Mission Area Plans of the AF major

commands. Space environment R&D

is targeted to meet the DOD's space

weather requirements as summarized

in the National Security Space

Architect's Space Weather Architecture

Study as well as the National Space

Weather Program Implementation

Plan, Second Edition. AFW also

strives toward improvements through

cooperative research and development

agreements with for-profit companies.

In meteorological R&D, the AF is

improving cloud depiction and forecasting (CDF) techniques by doubling

the resolution, integrating geosynchronous METSATs into the cloud analysis, using a new cloud interpretation

scheme, and blending numerical

weather prediction with forecast cloud

advection techniques. The AF has

transitioned key advances in tactical

decision aids into operations, permitting improved forecasting of electrooptical system performance and generation of cloud and target scene visualizations for training, system develop- Figure 3-DOD-10. UHF Satellite Communications Scintillation Map (visualization by HQ AFWA)
SECTION 3 DOD 101

ment, and mission rehearsal. In addition to internal efforts, AFW will continue to rely on collaboration and

leveraging of efforts with other federal

meteorological agencies, research labs,

and universities to further improve

CDF system performance and meet

other research needs.

Mesoscale Modeling for Air Force and

Army Operations

Efforts have continued for combining the MM5 and Land Surface Model

(LSM) for use by AF and Army operations. The LSM analyzes the current

state of the land surface to provide

information to both DOD and civilian

agencies, and through coupling with

MM5, will improve forecasting performance in the low levels of the

atmosphere. This allows AFW to provide better forecasts for low-level aircraft operations, the dispersion of

aerosol contaminants, and the employment of precision-guided munitions. It

also allows for assessment of trafficability for ground forces. The advances

achieved in the LSM are also being

carried over into Weather Research and

Forecast (WRF) model development,

another area of AFWA participation in

research. AFWA is closely collaborating with the National Center for

Atmospheric Research (NCAR),

NOAA's NCEP, NOAA's Forecast

Systems Laboratory (FSL), the

University of Oklahoma's Center for

the Analysis and Prediction of Storms,

and others in WRF development.

WRF is the next generation community model expected to replace MM5.

AFWA is preparing to fully implement

WRF operationally in 2005 and will

continue with sponsorship and funding

of development at NCAR and FSL,

test and evaluation of real-time runs of

the WRF prototype, and will lead the

LSM Working Group while participating in others.

Through a joint Air Force-Navy

effort, AFWA and FNMOC were

awarded a $3 million grant from the

DOD High Performance Computing

Modernization Office in 2004 to establish an operational test and evaluation

center for the WRF modeling framework. Additionally, each organization

gains status as a DOD High

Performance Computing Distributed

Center. The WRF Operational Test

Center (OTC) will greatly enhance

DOD's ability to efficiently incorporate

state-of-the-science modeling technologies into operations. The end

result will be never-before-seen predictive accuracy of fine-scale weather

features crucial to DOD operations.

The plan is to install a cutting-edge

IBM supercomputer suite at each

weather center split into two identical

subsystems. The distributed WRF

OTC subsystems will be virtually integrated using high-speed communications networks, thus allowing operational simulations with real-time

weather data from each center. After

rigorous test and evaluation, the specialized WRF configurations that perform optimally for DOD and serviceunique mission needs will be implemented at AFWA and FNMOC.

Atmospheric Optical Turbulence

Electro-optical (EO) systems are

adversely affected by optical distortions caused by thermal or refractive

turbulence. As the sophistication of

current and next-generation military

systems grows, the requirement for

more detailed knowledge of fine-scale

(meters or less) atmospheric behavior

also grows. The Airborne Laser (ABL)

program is one such capability whose

performance is highly dependent on

the variations of the meteorological

conditions that produce optical turbulence. The AF program in atmospheric optical turbulence measurements

and modeling seeks to address these

needs. Researchers used a balloonborne turbulence sensor mated to a

standard radiosonde to obtain measurements, producing data and empirical

models that are the basis for ABL system specification. Balloon-borne

measurements were made in conjunction with airborne stellar scintillometer

measurements to understand the relation between atmospheric structure and

path-integrated optical effects. The

turbulent scalar spectrum was also

Figure 3-DOD-11. HF Illumination Map (visualized by HQ AFWA).
102 DOD SECTION 3

sampled using balloon-borne highbandwidth sensors. As part of an international program, aircraft measurements of temperature and velocity turbulence have been made in different

locales worldwide. Horizontal measurements by the aircraft augment the

vertical profiling by balloons to assist

in the development of the detailed

knowledge required by new EO systems.

Atmospheric Optical Opacity

Air-and space-borne reconnaissance

systems are adversely affected by optical distortions caused by clouds, fog,

haze, and other airborne particles. As

the sophistication of current and nextgeneration military systems grows, the

requirement for more detailed knowledge of smaller scale (meters or less)

atmospheric behavior also grows. The

AF's Cloud Depiction and Forecast

System II (CDFS-II) program seeks to

address these needs (Figure 3-DOD-12).

Radar Analysis using Digital Terrain

Elevation Data (DTED), MM5 data,

and Advanced Propagation Model

(APM) Prediction Software

(RADMAPS)

Through the University Partnering

for Operational Support (UPOS) program, Johns Hopkins University

Applied Physics Laboratory

(JHUAPL) has developed RADMAPS,

an application to assess and forecast

anomalous propagation for ground-,

airborne-, and sea-based radars.

RADMAPS uses DTED from the

National Geospatial Agency (formerly

known as the National Imaging and

Mapping Agency) along with a newly

developed and unique MM5 capability

to forecast radar refractivity in the

lower atmosphere, and the APM (a

model developed by Space and Naval

Warfare Systems Command) to predict

atmospheric and terrain effects on

radar performance.

United States Weather Research

Program (USWRP)

USWRP's mission is to accelerate

forecast improvements of high-impact

weather and facilitate full use of

advanced weather information. AFW

first entered into discussions with

USWRP in 2001 to explore expanded

participation in the program. The program currently focuses on land-falling

hurricanes, heavy precipitation, and

socio-economic impacts. AFW is

eager to leverage future efforts in the

areas of observing and assimilation

strategies in data-sparse regions and

urban forecast issues to increase

warfighters' abilities to anticipate and

exploit the weather. AFW is already

committed to the USWRP-affiliated

community development of the WRF

model and will continue its USWRP

involvement during the coming fiscal

year.

University Partnering for Operational

Support (UPOS)

AFW continued to collaborate

through the UPOS program with

JHUAPL, the University of Alaska at

Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and

ARL. UPOS provides a link between

university research and the DOD operational community and is currently

focused on near-term forecasts of

ground, tropospheric, ionospheric,

magnetospheric, and solar weather.

The goals of UPOS are to provide an

alternate path for rapid transition of the

best-applied research ideas to the

warfighter and to raise awareness of

DOD operational needs within the academic community. The partnership

delivers prototype operational products to AF and Army sponsors. The

UPOS Steering Committee, which

includes the AF Director of Weather,

meets semiannually to review progress

and approve new projects. UPOS

includes warfighter exercise support to

demonstrate utility of products through

web-based, non-operational access as

Figure 3-DOD-12. CDFS II analysis of the northern hemisphere. These cloud

products provide mission planners a complete picture of the battlespace from

ground to upper atmosphere.
SECTION 3 DOD 103

well as collecting direct user feedback

for faster updates of the prototype systems. Some examples of UPOS tropospheric weather work include finescale polar numerical weather prediction, operational volcanic plume forecasting, and electromagnetic propagation forecast maps generated from

MM5 output. Examples of space science work include high frequency

radar and communication propagation

to predict the area a transmitter can

illuminate, forecasting coronal mass

ejections, and improving determination of solar events that will cause militarily significant space weather effects

on and near Earth.

Air Force Research Laboratory

(AFRL)

In other space weather research,

AFRL programs focus on ionospheric

impacts to radio frequency systems,

space particle specification and forecast, solar disturbance prediction, and

neutral density effects on Low-Earth

Orbit (LEO) spacecraft. Working

closely with the DMSP System

Program Office (SPO) at the Space and

Missile Center (SMC) under a

Memorandum of Agreement, AFRL

supports the development and upgrading of operational space weather sensors, models, and software products to

include: space environment sensors on

the DMSP spacecraft; state-of-the-art

ground-based scintillation detectors;

total electron content sensors; Digital

Ionospheric Sounding System (DISS),

the Solar Observing Optical Network;

and the Operationalized Space

Environment Network Display suite of

web-based products. AFRL also conducts customer-supported R&D for

NPOESS, the Defense Modeling and

Simulation Office (DMSO), the

National Reconnaissance Office

(NRO), the Ballistic Missile Defense

Office (BMDO), the DOD High

Performance Computing Modernization Office, and NASA. This program

continues in 2004 to build improvements for future operational implementation.

In addition to the AFRL research

portfolio, AFW collaborates with others in the space weather community to

develop new techniques, models, and

systems for transition to operational

applications. These include the

Community Coordinated Modeling

Center, the Constellation Observing

System for Meteorology, Ionosphere,

and Climate (COSMIC), and the previously mentioned UPOS.

In conclusion, through a continuous

process of review and definition, the

AF documents its requirements for

research aimed ultimately at providing

timely, accurate, and relevant weather

information to the warfighter today

and in the future. In meteorological

R&D, AFW is committed to continued

development of the WRF model and

collaboration with others to the benefit

of the warfighter and the nation. Space

weather research will continue with a

strong program in 2005 at the AFRL,

as well as in leveraged programs such

as UPOS, to facilitate expediting needed capabilities to operations at minimum expense.

SECTION 3 DOD 105

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The United States Navy has the

unique military requirement to assess

meteorological and oceanographic

(METOC) impacts on naval, joint, and

combined operations. METOC support

begins by measuring the battlespace

physical environment and culminates

with safe, effective weapons systems

and sensor employment. The perspective is global, and historically focuses

on areas outside of the contiguous 48

states, but the emphasis is on wherever

the Fleet goes and includes force protection within the coastal waters of the

United States Developing METOC

forecasts and determining potential

effects on platform, sensor and

weapons systems require:

• collection of METOC data through

tactical and dedicated sensors

(including satellites);

• fusion and analysis of atmospheric

and oceanographic phenomena;

and

• use of meteorological and oceanographic information in tactical

decision aids and mission planning

systems.

Two major Navy Meteorology and

Oceanography (METOC) staff realignments occurred in 2003. The Office of

the Oceanographer of the Navy, formerly the Chief of Naval Operations

(CNO) N096, was realigned under

CNO N6/7, Warfare Requirements and

Programs, in December 2003 and is

now CNO N61 (Director, Space,

Information Warfare, Command and

Control/Oceanographer of the Navy).

The Commander, Naval Meteorology

and Oceanography Command

(CNMOC) was also realigned under

Commander, Fleet Forces Command

(CFFC) in October 2003. While operational requirements are coordinated

through CFFC, it is the Chief of Naval

Operations, through the Oceanographer of the Navy, who continues to

sponsor operational Navy METOC

support services and related research

and development (R&D). The Navy

METOC organization provides meteorological support services for Navy

and joint forces, meteorological products to the uniformed services and

other Government agencies, and

oceanographic support to all elements

of DOD. The Oceanographer of the

Navy sponsors programs in four closely related disciplines to provide worldwide, comprehensive, integrated

weather and ocean support - meteorology, oceanography, geospatial information and services, and precise time

and astrometry. All are used to protect

ships, aircraft, fighting forces, and

shore establishments from adverse

ocean and weather conditions, and to

provide a decisive tactical or strategic

edge by exploiting the physical environment.

Research and development is conducted by warfare centers, laboratories, and systems commands, through

sponsorship by the Chief of Naval

Research and the Oceanographer of the

Navy. To ensure that all research and

development supported by the

Oceanographer is in direct support of

the Naval Mission as established by

formal Navy Doctrine, the

Oceanographer has developed and

implemented a comprehensive framework to transition research to operations. The Naval Research Laboratory

(NRL) and the Program Executive

Office (PEO), C4I and Space are the

primary activities that manage naval

research and transition to operations,

and are supplemented by various universities, industry partners, and organizations under Navy contract. NRL

detachments are collocated with the

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and

Oceanography Center in Monterey,

California and with the Naval

Oceanographic Office at Stennis Space

Center, Mississippi. The PEO C4I and

Space Program Office (PMW-150) is

Navy's single program manager for

METOC system development and

acquisition (Figure 3-DOD-13).

UNITED STATES NAVY

Figure 3-DOD-13. At sea aboard USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) --

Lightning fills the horizon, and lights up the flight deck and Carrier Air Wing

Fourteen (CVW-14) aircraft parked on the ship's forward elevator and bow.

(United States Navy Photo)
106 DOD SECTION 3

METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES

United States Navy

Operational support within the Navy

is provided by elements of the Naval

Meteorology and Oceanography

Command (NAVMETOCCOM).

Navy METOC activities are involved

in worldwide collection of observations ashore, afloat and through remote

sensors, and in the assimilation and

processing of these observations on a

global basis to support analysis and

forecasting throughout the world.

The Fleet Numerical Meteorology

and Oceanography Center (FLENUMMETOCCEN), in Monterey,

California, provides global, regional,

and tactical observations, analyses, and

coupled air-ocean forecasts. Environmental data is acquired through links

with DOD and NOAA conventional

and remotely sensed data distribution

systems. By agreement between Navy

and Air Force, FLENUMMETOCCEN

is the primary DOD global numerical

weather prediction center, running the

Navy Operational Global Atmospheric

Prediction System (NOGAPS), developed by the Naval Research

Laboratory's Marine Meteorology

Division, also in Monterey. NOGAPS

provides global atmospheric predictions and drives a variety of ocean

models, including the global Wave

Watch III ocean wave model run at

FLENUMMETOCCEN. FLENUMMETOCCEN and the Naval Research

Laboratory, Monterey are also participants in the development of the

Weather Research and Forecasting

(WRF) model initiative with the other

federal Agencies.

In near-shore regions, the smallscale interactions between the atmosphere, underlying ocean, and nearby

land make it necessary to analyze and

predict the battlespace environment

with higher resolution and improved

physics. In addition to the global product suite, FLENUMMETOCCEN is

uniquely capable of providing highresolution coupled air-ocean products

on short notice for any location in support of global contingency military and

humanitarian operations. Navy's

Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere

Mesoscale Prediction System

(COAMPS) is an operational tactical

system featuring data quality control

algorithms; nested, non-hydrostatic

physics; explicit moisture physics;

aerosols; and improved data assimilation. Using lateral boundary conditions provided by NOGAPS,

COAMPS provides a high-resolution,

re-locatable, meteorological and

oceanographic prediction capability to

support joint littoral operations.

COAMPS is routinely run for Europe,

Southwest Asia, Western Pacific,

Central America, Western Atlantic, the

Continental United States, and the

Eastern Pacific. COAMPS is frequently run in other areas around the world

as requirements dictate. 

NOGAPS and COAMPS forecast

products are distributed via various

communications systems including the

Internet, either directly to Fleet customers, or through the Navy regional

METOC centers. The regional

METOC centers develop value-added

products and services tailored to specific operational requirements. As a

complement to numerical forecast

products, FLENUMMETOCCEN provides atmospheric and oceanographic

observations, satellite products, data

extracts, and data for tactical decision

aids. Additionally, FLENUMMETOCCEN is the designated National

"Core Processing Center" for remotely

sensed microwave products under the

Air Force/Navy/NOAA Shared Satellite

Processing Agreement. The FLENUMMETOCCEN web site for information is

https://www.fnmoc.navy.mil.

Since atmospheric conditions are

inherently coupled to oceanographic

conditions, the Navy's program in

meteorology is closely linked with

oceanography, which is the focus of

the Naval Oceanographic Office

(NAVOCEANO), Stennis Space

Center, Mississippi. NAVOCEANO's

primary responsibilities include the

collection, processing, and distribution

of oceanographic, hydrographic, and

other geophysical data and products.

NAVOCEANO disseminates products

from the world's first operational global layered ocean model - Naval

Research Laboratory (NRL) Layered

Ocean Model (NLOM). NAVOCEANO is the Navy's primary processing facility for NOAA polar-orbiting satellite data and is the National

"Core Processing Center" for satellitederived sea-surface temperature measurements, providing the global sea surface temperature data critically important to successfully running NOGAPS

and COAMPS. Additionally, NAVOCEANO is a DOD Major Shared

Resource Center, enabling creation of

the latest research and development

models on the most modern scaleable,

supercomputing architecture and facilitating transition from R&D to operational use. The NAVOCEANO web

site for information is

https://www.navo.navy.mil.

Tailored Theater and Regional Support

Theater and regional support are provided to forces ashore and afloat

through six regional centers delivering

METOC services within their broad

areas of responsibility (AORs). These

centers tailor services to theater

requirements, and manage and prioritize dissemination of numerical products from FLENUMMETOCCEN and

NAVOCEANO. Special products

needed to meet requirements of Joint

Force Commanders are also generated

by the regional centers. Additionally,

the Joint Typhoon Warning Center

(JTWC) (operated by Navy and Air

Force) is co-located with the Naval

Pacific Meteorology and

Oceanography Center in Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii. Examples of METOC products generated at regional centers

include high winds and seas warnings

for the world's oceans, tailored forecast

support for Navy, Coast Guard and
SECTION 3 DOD 107

NOAA ships at sea, and ship routing

services for ocean transits

(Figure 3-DOD-14).

The Naval Ice Center (NAVICECEN), located in Suitland, MD, provides tailored ice forecasts and analyses to DOD. The Navy (through NAVICECEN), NOAA, and the United

States Coast Guard, jointly operate the

National Ice Center (NIC). The NIC

provides ice analyses and forecasts for

the Arctic and Antarctic regions,

coastal United States waters, and the

Great Lakes to civilian and military

activities.

Local and Aviation Support

NAVMETOCCOM Facilities at

Whidbey Island, Washington, Naples,

Italy and Jacksonville, Florida, provide

aviation forecast services as well as

Fleet Operating Area (OPAREA) and

local forecasts and warnings for aircraft, ships, submarines and naval

bases and staffs. Additionally, there

are 28 NAVMETOCCOM detachments worldwide. Though the detachments are primarily situated at Naval

Air Stations for aviation safety of

flight forecasting, several are located

at Naval Stations in support of seagoing units. The detachments provide

METOC forecasting and warning services to DOD and allied units within

their local and functional areas of

responsibility. Facilities and detachments within the continental United

States use numerical products from

both FLENUMMETOCCEN and

NOAA's National Centers for

Environmental Prediction (NCEP).

Overseas Detachments and Facilities

use FLENUMMETOCCEN numerical

weather products, in addition to USAF

and foreign METOC products.

Additionally, FLENUMMETOCCEN

provides aircraft routing services for

military (primarily Navy) aircraft on

demand.

Over the next few years the Navy's

concept of operations for CONUS aviation weather support will shift from

one of mainly local onsite air station

support to netcentric weather support

provided from regional aviation hubs

at Norfolk, Virginia and San Diego,

California.

One detachment, at the National

Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC,

coordinates the Navy's Climatological

Program as part of the Federal Climate

Complex.

On-Scene Support

The Navy's permanent afloat

METOC assets are their OA Divisions,

embarked aboard aircraft carriers,

major amphibious ships and command

ships. The OA division's primary

objectives are safety of ships, aircraft

and embarked personnel, optimum tactical and planning support to on-board

warfare commanders, and tailored onscene products and services for the

assigned task force/group and Allied

units in joint, combined, or coalition

military and humanitarian operations

(Figure 3-DOD-15).

Deployable Mobile Environmental

Teams (METs) are the primary source

of on-scene Navy METOC support for

other forces afloat and forces deployed

ashore in remote operation areas.

These teams provide short-term, onscene services to DOD activities without organic METOC personnel, other

government agencies, and elements of

the armed forces of Allied nations during combined exercises or operations.

METOC products and services provided by these METS are tailored to each

unit's requirements, and include tactical METOC information and forecasts

for operations, weapon and sensor system employment and tactical decisionmaking, and climatological information for long-range planning.

Over the next few years Navy anticipates merging the OA Division and

MET personnel for manpower efficiency in our tactical support infrastructure. 

United States Marine Corps (USMC)

The mission of the Marine Corps

METOC Service is to provide meteorological, oceanographic, and space

environmental information, products,

and services required to support

Marine Corps operations and other

military operations. The Marine Corps

METOC support infrastructure is

designed to readily deploy and operate

Figure 3-DOD-14. The guided missile destroyer USS COLE (DDG 67)

encounters heavy seas while transiting across the Atlantic Ocean.

(United States Navy Photo)
108 DOD SECTION 3

in austere expeditionary environments.

It is capable of providing sustained,

comprehensive, and relevant METOC

support to all elements of a Marine Air

Ground Task Force (MAGTF), as well

as bases and stations of the supporting

establishment.

Organization

The Deputy Commandant for

Aviation, Headquarters, United States

Marine Corps (Code ASL-37) is the

cognizant office for Marine Corps

METOC support and requirements.

The Marine Corps METOC organization consists of two operational chainsof-command, one for supporting establishment METOC units and the other

for the Fleet Marine Force (FMF).

Supporting establishment METOC

units are located worldwide at Marine

Corp Air Stations (MCAS) and

Facilities (MCAF). These activities are

manned and equipped to provide direct

aviation METOC support and services

to host and tenant units at nine major

air stations in the continental United

States, one in Hawaii, and two in

Japan.

Within the FMF, Marines deploy and

employ as scalable, tailorable, combined-arms teams known as Marine

Air Ground Task Forces. There are

three sizes of MAGTFs. From smallest

to largest, they are: Marine

Expeditionary Unit (MEU), Marine

Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), and

Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF).

Additionally, Special Purpose

MAGTFs (SPMAGTFs) may be

formed to support operationally unique

situations and/or requirements. All

MAGTFs, regardless of size, share

four organizational elements that vary

in size and composition according to

the mission: Command Element (CE),

Ground Combat Element (GCE),

Aviation Combat Element (ACE), and

Combat Service Support Element

(CSSE). 

FMF METOC activities are organized, trained, and equipped to provide

tailored support, products, and services

to all combat elements of the MAGTF.

METOC support is focused towards

impacts on Expeditionary Maneuver

Warfare (EMW) operations, particularly Operational Maneuver from the Sea

(OMFTS). FMF METOC activities are

fully interoperable within joint force

operations as part of a service or functional component command. When

directed to stand-up as part of a Joint

Task Force Headquarters (JTF HQ),

they are capable of planning, coordinating, and leading joint METOC

operations. Marine METOC forces

can rapidly transition from precrisis

state to full operational capability in a

distant theater to provide on-scene support to MAGTF, combined, joint,

allied, and coalition operations and

other military operations as may be

directed (Figure 3-DOD-16).

FMF METOC assets are permanently assigned to Marine Expeditionary

Force Headquarters (MEF HQ),

Intelligence Battalions, Marine Wing

Support Groups (MWSGs), and

Marine Wing Support Squadrons

(MWSSs). There are three Marine

Expeditionary Forces strategically

positioned for global response. I MEF,

based in southern California and III

MEF, forward based in Okinawa,

mainland Japan, and Hawaii fall under

the control of the Commander, Marine

Forces Pacific. II MEF, located at

bases in North and South Carolina,

falls under the command of the

Commander, Marine Forces Atlantic.

MEF METOC personnel serve as special staff to the Commanding General

(CG) and are under the direction and

cognizance of the G-2 (Intelligence)

Division.

The three Intelligence Battalions in

the Marine Corps are co-located with

respective Marine Expeditionary Force

Headquarters. These battalions directly support the MEF G-2 and serve as

MAGTF intelligence centers during

operations. METOC is a vital part of

the intelligence estimate and is an

essential element that supports the

Marine Corps Rapid Response

Planning Process. METOC personnel

assigned to these commands provide

expertise, products, and services that

directly support the Intelligence

Figure 3-DOD-15. . Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Four Zero (VRC-40)

maintenance personnel prepare to move one of their C-2A Greyhound aircraft,

currently assigned to USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73), into the protection of a hangar as a large snow storm hits Crete, Greece.

(United States Navy Photo)
SECTION 3 DOD 109

Preparation of the Battlespace (IPB)

process by helping intelligence analysts to effectively evaluate, integrate,

and synchronize METOC effects for

both enemy and friendly courses of

action.

Marine Aircraft Wings (MAWs) conduct the complete range of air operations in support of the MEF, to include

anti-air warfare, offensive air support,

assault support, aerial reconnaissance,

electronic warfare, and control of aircraft and missiles. The MAW serves as

the principle headquarters for the ACE.

Most of the MAGTF's METOC support assets reside within the MAW,

specifically at the MWSG and its subordinate MWSSs. These assets are

organized, structured, and capable of

supporting a variety of MAGTF and

ACE-specific operations as defined by

the size, scope, and mission requirements. Dedicated METOC support is

available for all MAGTF elements

from within the MAW/ACE.

METOC Support Capabilities

Meteorological Mobile FacilityReplacement (MetMF(R)). The highest level of METOC support to the

MAGTF and ACE-specific operations

is the deployment of the MetMF(R).

The MetMF(R) provides a METOC

support capability similar to that found

in garrison METOC facilities, is normally deployed as part of MWSS to a

Forward Operating Base (FOB), and is

the only realistic option for large-scale

MAGTF operations. Once established

ashore, the MWSS may detach small

METOC support teams with portable

ancillary equipment to a forward base

in support of ACE units that are separated from the main airbase. This redeployment also provides the MetMF(R)

with a forward data collection capability that significantly enhances METOC

situational awareness and overall support efforts to the entire MAGTF. With

appropriate service personnel augmentation, the MetMF(R) is also capable

of serving as host for an in-theater

Joint METOC Forecasting Unit

(JMFU) during joint operations and

exercises.

METOC Support Team (MST).

MSTs are task organized and equipped

to provide a limited level of METOC

support to combat elements other than

the ACE (e.g. CE, GCE, and CSSE)

and can be assigned to support MEU

operations. It is capable of rapidly

deploying as part of a first-in level of

METOC support response to a crisis

and can be easily integrated into an Air

Contingency MAGTF (ACM).

Additionally, the MST can be assigned

to augment a JMFU during joint operations (Figure 3-DOD-17).

Each MWSS within the MAW is

structured and organized to provide

one MST that consist of one METOC

officer, two forecasters, and two

observers. When deployed, the MST

will normally be assigned to the G/S-2

(Intelligence) division/section of the

supported combat element or MEU.

The MST deploys with rugged, ancillary environmental collection and data

processing equipment. During operations they organically collect METOC

products, data, and information from

the nearest deployed MetMF(R), Navy

METOC OA Division afloat, host

nation or other METOC support organizations and agencies to satisfy

METOC information requirements.

Specialized METOC Support

The Marine Corps' Chemical

Biological Incident Response Force

(CBIRF) was established in 1996 as a

result of Presidential Decision

Directive (PDD) 39 to manage the consequences of Nuclear, Biological, and

Chemical (NBC) materials or weapons

used by terrorists. This national level

asset is part of the re-activated 4th

Marine Expeditionary Brigade - AntiTerrorism (MEB-AT) located at Indian

Head, Maryland. It is comprised of

specially trained and equipped Navy,

Marine, and civilian personnel who

can rapidly be forward deployed

and/or respond to a credible threat of a

Chemical, Biological, Radiological,

Nuclear, or High Yield Explosive

(CBRNE) incident in order to assist

local, state, or federal agencies and

designated Unified Combatant

Commanders in the conduct of consequence management operations.

Figure 3-DOD-16. Rain and heavy winds from Hurricane Isabel pound the

beach at Naval Station Norfolk, as the storm moves inland. Hurricane Isabel,

which cost the Navy nearly $130 million in damage in the Mid-Atlantic region

of the U.S., made landfall as a Category 2 storm near Cape Hatteras, N.C.,

approximately 100 miles south of Norfolk. (United States Navy Photo) 
110 DOD SECTION 3

Within the S-2 (Intelligence) section, a

permanently assigned METOC forecaster provides specialized NBC dispersion forecast products and services

that aid mission accomplishment of

this organization.

METOC Support Doctrine

Marine Corps Warfighting

Publication (MCWP) 3-35.7, MAGTF

Meteorological and Oceanographic

Support, provides more detailed information about the Marine Corps

METOC Service. An electronic copy

is available for viewing and downloading from the Marine Corps Combat

Development Command (MCCDC),

Doctrine Division web site at

https://www.doctrine.quantico.usmc.mil/.

MAJOR METOC SYSTEMS

The capability to provide near realtime global, regional, and local

METOC services to the Navy and

Marine Corps team requires a robust

and evolving set of leading edge technological tools. These tools are

embodied in the following systems:

Primary Oceanographic Prediction

System (POPS) II Upgrade (POPS II U)

The POPS II U operates complex

computer-based models of the world's

ocean and atmosphere, and disseminates METOC forecasts, charts,

imagery, and operational data sets to

support deployed Navy and DOD

forces worldwide. This data is essential to the safety of personnel and to the

operational effectiveness of the Navy's

operational platforms, sensors, and

weapons; including cruise and ballistic

missiles, ships, aircraft, radar, and

sonar. POPS II U prediction models

must provide horizontal resolutions of

1-5 kilometers, in near real-time, for

use in on-scene tactical decision aids

and systems. Thus, POPS II U provides tailored and timely predictions of

METOC conditions to assist in optimizing the tactical deployment of

United States sensor and weapon systems.

POPS II U produces and provides

critical, classified and unclassified

atmospheric and oceanographic guidance to Navy and DOD activities

worldwide on a demanding and

responsive, 24-hour/7-day schedule.

POPS II U is responsible for all

FNMOC operations, including the

supercomputing, communications

(including receipt of tens of thousands

of observations and transmission of

hundreds of model products), database

management, data assimilation and

distribution, and systems control/monitoring. It is the engine that runs all of

the Navy's global/regional/ tactical

atmospheric, oceanographic, wave,

ice, and tropical cyclone models.

POPS II U is a national system that

assimilates both classified and unclassified data. Classified observations

from the battlespace provide a rich

source of data that improves the initial

METOC analyses and ultimately the

METOC predictions. The capability to

process this type of highly sensitive

information in a wartime scenario is

unique to POPS II U. POPS II U also

produces and disseminates classified

and unclassified global/regional

atmospheric guidance that is used by:

• Navy for global ocean, regional

and tactical ocean/atmosphere/

wave/ice/tropical cyclone models

and distributed tactical forecast

systems,

• Air Force for regional atmospheric

models, cloud prediction systems,

and strategic decision aids as specified via the Navy/Air Force agreement,

• Joint Forces Command, Defense

Threat Reduction Agency and

Lawrence Livermore National

Laboratory for Weapons of Mass

Destruction (WMD) decision aids

and aid in contingency planning, 

• Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

for aid in contingency planning, 

• National Weather Service (NWS)

weather supercomputer back-up,

• Strategic Command for ballistic

missile support, 

• Presidential Support Unit for aid in

contingency planning.

Support to the operating forces is

provided principally through six geographically dispersed regional commands via direct connectivity through

DOD circuits. The primary source of

data to these regional centers is POPS

II U. Additionally, thousands of DOD

users receive their product support

directly from POPS II U via the creation of web enabled tactical applications. 

POPS II U is composed of a number

of different high-performance computer systems, including a 128 processor

Origin 3800, two 12 processor Origin

3400 file servers, and a 512 processor

Figure 3-DOD-17. An M-1A1 Abrams tank crew from Company B, 1st Tank

Battalion, 1st Marine Division settles in for the evening after a recent patrol.

The 70-ton tank stands a vigil on the side of the road to guard against any terrorist activity on the road (United States Marine Corps Photo).
SECTION 3 DOD 111

Origin 3800. POPS II U forms the primary basis of METOC support

throughout DOD. This capability

includes state-of-the-art decoders, data

management systems, quality control

algorithms, and data assimilation software for all types of METOC data

from all available sensors. These data

will support state-of-the-art numerical

weather, ocean, chemical/biological

dispersion and acoustic models, run in

multiple nested fashion from global

scale models at resolutions of tens of

kilometers to battlegroup/battlefield

models at resolutions of a few kilometers. The POPS II U system performance improvement objectives will optimize DOD METOC support in the following specific areas:

• Long and near real-time period

METOC support for warfighter

planning/decisions

• Aircraft routing services

• Safe and direct ship routing services

• Hurricane, typhoon and tropical

storm prediction

• Open ocean and coastal wave prediction

• Precipitation prediction

• Refractivity conditions/ducting

range

• Acoustics support

• Ballistic missile targeting support

• Search and rescue

• Chemical/biological/nuclear transport prediction

Distributed Atmospheric Modeling

Prediction System (DAMPS)

For centuries, military commanders

have looked to the weather for tactical

advantage. The Navy is currently the

nation's only military service that operates a distributed model in support of

tactical weather prediction. DAMPS

allows users to ingest high-resolution

data and on-scene observations into

regional and global model information

received from the Fleet Numerical

Meteorology and Oceanography

Center in Monterey, California. The

result is an on-scene weather model

that provides accurate weather predictions for an operating area within a

24-hour timeframe.

DAMPS uses real-time weather data

from ship and battle group observations, including parameters such as

wind, temperature, cloud, visibility

and radar data, and then incorporates

this data into its analysis. This analysis can be highly focused on any area

of interest. 

Naval Integrated Tactical Environmental System (NITES)

The Navy continued migration

towards a modular, interoperable suite

of systems to ingest, process, fuse, display, and disseminate METOC information and its impact on tactical operations. The program currently consists

of four seamless versions known as

NITES Versions I-IV. NITES will be

fielded through FY 2006. Navy is

reviewing various options for the follow-on system to NITES. The four

NITES versions are:

• NITES I. Provides Navy decisionmakers on major combatant ships

with METOC assessments and

forecasts, and integrates data with

sensor and weapon platform

parameters for system performance

assessments. Theater METOC

Centers use NITES I to provide

value-added products to fleet units,

and the numerical prediction guidance generated by FLENUMMETOCCEN.

• NITES II. Makes METOC data

and products available to Navy and

Marine Corps activities afloat and

ashore via the Global Command

and Control System-Maritime

(GCCS-M). The NITES II Object

Oriented Redesign (OOR) is the

basis for the Joint METOC

Segment of the new Global

Command and Control System

(GCCS) V4.0.

• NITES III. An unclassified forecast, briefing, and display system

tailored to Naval METOC shore

activities in support of aviation

operations.

• NITES IV. A portable system tailored to Mobile Environmental

Team (MET) and USMC

Meteorological Support Team

(MST) METOC requirements. 

Tactical Environmental Data Server

(TEDS)

TEDS is a storage and data management system for meteorological,

oceanographic and environmental

information whose architecture is built

around the Informix relational database management system (RDBMS).

It is the central engine in both the

Tactical Environmental Support

System (TESS) and the Navy

Integrated Tactical Environmental

System (NITES), providing data

access support to the full spectrum of

client applications and METOC models. The METCAST automated delivery software is used to facilitate the

subscription of new and updated TEDS

data, and the continuous on schedule

transport of TEDS data to client tactical decision aids, and applications by

means of the Internet

(Figure 3-DOD-18).

Tactical Environmental Data Services

(TEDServices)

TEDServices extends TEDS into the

era of Net Centric Warfare (NCW),

Sea Power-21, FORCEnet, Task Force

Web, and the Navy Enterprise Portal

(NEP) by means of a new Web

Services architecture as described in

the Oceanographer of the Navy's

Operational Concept 2002.

TEDServices provides a Data Oriented

Service (as defined by the Navy

Enterprise Application Developers

Guide (NEADG)) that supports both

the management and the bi-directional

transport of meteorological, oceanographic and other environmental information. The TEDS original RDBMS

architecture is being replaced with a

lightweight, forward deployed, data

cache, which offers warfighters,

METOC professionals, TDAs/applications and weapon systems immediate

access to the Virtual Natural
112 DOD SECTION 3

Environment (VNE). The VNE is a

4-dimentional representation of the

user-defined battlespace environment.

TEDServices' Clients will use a new

METOC Mission Rules Based Data

Order (MRBDO) process to subscribe

to relevant data by mission, platform,

TDA/application, parameter or product. The design tenants of

TEDServices include: Data Transport

(to reduce bi-directional bandwidth

use), Data Management (to simplify

data ordering and forwarded deployed

data administration), Data

Representation (to implement a unified

Geospatial Coordinate Process), and

DOD Joint Interoperability (to support

standards defined by the Joint METOC

Interoperability Board).

Environmental Satellite ReceiverProcessor (AN/SMQ-11 and

AN/FMQ-17)

These systems are the principal

Navy systems to acquire environmental data directly from satellites. There

are different equipment configurations

for ships (AN/SMQ-11) and shore sites

(AN/FMQ-17), and through their interface with NITES variants they provide

remotely sensed information to the

operator. The AN/FMQ-17 is capable

of receiving direct downloads from

geostationary and polar orbiting satellites, while the AN/SMQ-11 receives

only polar orbiting satellite data directly.

Automated Surface Observing System

(ASOS)

ASOS, a joint DOD, DOC, and DOT

leveraged program, supports aviation

and local area observing requirements

at Navy and Marine Corps stations

worldwide. ASOS helps assimilate

field meteorological parameters and

facilitates efficient entry of surface

aviation observations and synoptic

weather reports into national numerical

models. NAVMETOCCOM has certified a number of ASOS units at local

and remote USN/USMC airfields for

stand-alone use during off-duty hours,

when observers are not present to verify the official station observation.

Supplemental Weather Radars (SWR)

(AN/FPS-131 and AN/TPS-76)

The Navy has Supplemental Weather

Radars to provide Doppler weather

radar coverage at selected Navy and

USMC sites, mostly overseas, outside

of NEXRAD coverage.

Meteorological Mobile Facility

Replacement (METMF(R))

The METMF(R) is a transportable

system that houses meteorological support equipment for the Marine Air

Ground Task Force (MAGTF). This

8 x 8 x 20 foot van provides a fully

functioning weather office designed to

support Marine Corps expeditionary

airfield operations for 30 days without

resupply. It includes sub-systems for

data collection (local, remote and

upper air sensors), data processing,

satellite data ingest and display,

Doppler radar, communications, briefing support, and support for remote

forces. The METMF(R) is interoperable with the Marine Corps C4I systems

and METOC systems of the other

Services via the Global Command and

Control System (GCCS).

Naval Flight Weather Briefer (NFWB)

Naval Flight Weather Briefer

(NFWB) is a remote, web-based aviation weather briefing application that

can be used to provide formal DD

Form 175-1 and multiple established

("designated route") military weather

briefings. NFWB also provides pilots

with real-time weather briefings direct

to their ready-room or any web-browser worldwide.

NFWB allows United States Navy

and Marine Corps aviation forecasters

and pilots to simultaneously view the

same brief and value-added weather

graphics during briefings.

Additionally, NFWB provides pilots

with computer generated DD-175

Military Flight Plans or DD-1801

International Flight Plans for electronic submission to base Air Operations.

A global alphanumeric database is also

available to both the pilot and forecaster for the retrieval of Meteorological

Terminal Aviation Routine Weather

Reports (METAR observations) and

Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs)

by Station Identifier. Strategically

located web and data servers host the

NFWB software, web-based applications, and historical databases. Pilots,

forecasters, and Air Operations personnel simply login through an NFWB

web-interface.

Operational Products and Services

Optimum Track Ship Routing

(OTSR) and Optimum Path Aircraft

Routing System (OPARS) are advisory

services for fleet units. They are based

on NOGAPS, COAMPS and wave

forecast data, are tailored to the customer, and provide guidance to the

forecaster for the safe operation and

cost-effective routing of DOD ships

and aircraft, just as they have for nearly 30 years. OTSR and OPARS save

the operating forces of all services

approximately $57 million/year in

Figure 3-DOD-17. Flight deck personnel work to secure Carrier Air

Wing Nine (CVW-9) aircraft during a

rainsquall aboard USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) while operating in

the vicinity of the Marianas Islands

(United States Navy Photo)
SECTION 3 DOD 113

reduced fuel consumption and personnel costs.

The Navy METCAST/JMV system

is a PC-based software package used to

make FLENUMMETOCCEN numerical products available to front line

DOD users. All standard meteorological and oceanographic fields, synoptic

observations and basic DMSP satellite

imagery are also available.

MyWxmap ("My Weather Map") is a

web-based service from FNMOC that

allows military and civilian users

worldwide to access numerical output

of selected weather parameters

throughout the world. Because of continually emerging Internet technology,

a large subset of these products can

also be made available to the general

public at no additional cost. It will

eventually be integrated into various

Web portals now under development.

Since 1983, the Naval Regional

Meteorology and Oceanography

Center, in Norfolk Virginia has provided long-range forecasts in support of

Energy Conservation efforts at Naval

shore installations in the continental

United States. The services are primarily in the form of extended-range

(10 day) temperature forecasts provided to energy managers to assist in optimizing power plant operations.

Monthly temperature/degree day outlooks and long-lead (12 month) seasonal and precipitation forecasts are

also issued to assist in strategic planning of fuel purchasing and resource

allocation. Documented savings from

the Energy Conservation Forecast

Program exceed $62 million, with the

majority of savings resulting from

power plant steam/air conditioning

on/off recommendations and energy

resource/fuel allocation based on longlead forecast products. The program

has recently added a Pier Load

Forecast that is used by four Naval

Stations to help predict ship power

requirements. Customers include

128 Navy and Marine Corps facilities

and commands.

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

The Navy administers a diverse

research and development (R&D)

program, ranging from software

development to sensor engineering,

and processing, display, and distribution devices. Application of R&D

activities of other Services and federal agencies is always considered, and

use of existing government and commercial off-the-shelf items is emphasized.

The Navy is a world leader in the

field of numerical weather prediction

for marine environmental services.

Transitioning fundamental scientific

research, through additional development, into operational meteorological

and oceanographic models is key to a

successful numerical prediction program. This ongoing process includes

work at universities and the Naval

Research Laboratory's Marine

Meteorological Division to keep the

Navy Operational Global

Atmospheric Prediction System

(NOGAPS) and the Coupled

Oceanographic and Atmospheric

Mesoscale Prediction System

(COAMPS) at the leading edge of

technology. Development is also

underway to improve data assimilation, quality control, and management

techniques to support these models.

The Navy's suite of models also

includes phenomena such as waves,

tides, ice, tropical cyclone, and biological/aerosol transport.

The Navy R&D program in remote

sensing develops techniques to extract

tactically significant information in

the littoral regions of the world.

Sensors aboard existing satellites are

exploited to the greatest extent possible and plans are in place to incorporate new capabilities when introduced. Because many satellite-processing algorithms are designed for

use with tactical systems, expert or

rule-based processes are used where

possible to reduce human-intensive

interpretation.

INTERAGENCY COOPERATION

Navy and Air Force have long been

cooperating in DOD weather support,

and these efforts have led to such successes as the Defense Meteorological

Satellite Program and the Joint

Typhoon Warning Center. Recently,

the two services have reinvigorated

efforts to increase efficiencies in their

METOC programs through greater

cooperation, particularly in the area of

support to military Command and

Control (C2) and Intelligence,

Reconnaissance, and Surveillance

(ISR) systems. Working groups under

the direction of the Joint METOC

Interoperability Board (JMIB) continue

to develop a road map to build an

authoritative Four Dimensional Data

Cube (4-D Cube) for weapon and sensor systems, accelerate the development of common data base segments

and API's, and develop a common mapping tool kit. All of these efforts are

designed to ensure consistent, accurate,

relevant, and timely information for

both automated and human-in-the-loop

planning and decision systems.

To maximize efficiency and benefit

for Navy and NOAA cooperative

activities, an Umbrella Memorandum

of Agreement (MOA) between these

two agencies was updated and recently

signed in early 2004. Both agencies

continue to identify new areas of

potential cooperation and review existing agreements for conversion into

annexes to this MOA. Specific areas

include:

• Cooperative efforts in operational

numerical modeling, data

exchange, and mutual backup

between FLENUMMETOCCEN

and the National Centers for

Environmental Prediction (NCEP).

• Navy/NOAA/Coast Guard operation of the National Ice Center.

• Cooperative efforts between

FLENUMMETOCCEN and the

Pacific Fisheries Environmental

Laboratory of the National Marine

Fisheries Service.
114 DOD SECTION 3

• Air Force Weather Agency

(AFWA) / Navy (FLENUMMETOCCEN, NAVOCEANO) /

NOAA-NESDIS agreement on

shared processing of satellite data.

• Navy/NOAA agreement on ASOS

procurement and installation.

• Satellite altimetry data processing.

• Training cooperation through

Cooperative Program for

Operational Meteorology

Education and Training (COMET).

MOAs also exist between the

Department of Commerce, Department

of Transportation, and the Department

of Defense concerning procurement

and operation of NEXRAD.

Additionally, Navy is a DOD participant in the development of the

DOC/DOD/NASA converged National

Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).

Natural Disaster Mitigation

Navy METOC plays a vital role in

reducing the impact of natural disasters

to units both ashore and afloat. Severe

weather warnings are issued at Naval

facilities by the local NAVMETOCCOM activity when conditions warrant. For ships operating at sea without

METOC personnel embarked, tailored

enroute weather forecast messages

(WEAX) and high winds and seas

warnings provide commanding officers with advance notice of heavy

weather, and Optimum Track Ship

Routing (OTSR) forecasters monitor

ship movements and provide heavy

weather avoidance recommendations.

Tropical cyclones and even severe

winter storms provide even greater

challenges, as ships cannot generally

"ride out" storms in port without sustaining damage. Similarly, once they

get underway (or "sortie") ships must

steer well clear of the highest winds

and seas, to avoid personnel injuries

and damage and ensure their stability

limits are not exceeded. Storms of little consequence to the general public -

those that remain well out at sea - are

still of great concern to the Navy.

Because of the need to sortie ahead of

tropical cyclones, the Navy must make

decisions 3 to 5 days in advance of

potentially dangerous weather. Sortie

decisions are extraordinarily difficult

to make because of their high cost and

impact on personnel and operations.

In making these decisions, Fleet commanders must strike a balance between

the risks of staying inport versus the

cost and potential for damage at sea.

Additionally, naval exercises and ship

transits are often placed at risk by multiple tropical cyclone events, which

can make successful evasion extremely difficult.

Forecasts are provided to the fleet

commanders and their staffs by the

nearest NAVMETOCCOM activity

and/or afloat METOC personnel.

Within CONUS and adjacent ocean

areas, tropical cyclone forecasts in particular are closely coordinated with

those of the National Weather Service.

Overseas, local tropical cyclone warnings and forecasts are based on guidance provided by the Joint Typhoon

Warning Center (JTWC), Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii. The Commander of the

United States Pacific Command designated FLENUMMETOCCEN as the

alternate JTWC.
SECTION 3 DOD 115

ARMY TRANSFORMATION

The United States Army is undergoing a historical transformation from a

division-centered Army poised to fight

a cold war, to a smaller, brigade based

Army ready to engage in any conflict

around the globe. Not only is today's

threat to our security more complex

and more unpredictable than that of the

past, but it is one that could also arise

anywhere in the world. To meet this

threat, the Army's Campaign Plan

addresses three major areas:

• create a modular Army

• restructure the force, and

• stabilize that force.

Modularity will

be the most visible

aspect of Army

transformation to

the weather community at large.

Modular units will

be more compact

and more deployable than the current division sized

unit. Instead of

deploying at the

division level, the

future force will

deploy as brigade

units of action.

Each unit of action

will be self-contained and self-sustaining. This modular Army will fight

jointly with other services and with

coalition forces. The modular Army

will also be an expeditionary force,

capable of deploying anywhere in the

world and engaging any type of opposing force.

This transformation to a modular

Army dictates changes in both weather

support requirements and the means by

which weather is provided to units of

action. Weather teams will be resized

and will rely more on "reach back"

capabilities to obtain pertinent meteorological data. The Army and Air Force

are working together to determine the

optimal weather team sizing, equipment and communications capabilities

required to support these new modular

units of action.

OPERATIONAL EQUIPMENT AND

SUPPORT MISSIONS

Although it is transforming to a

modular force, the existing weather

support structure within the United

States Army is a mix of Army and

United States Air Force (USAF) personnel and equipment according to

Army-Air Force agreement (Army

Regulation (AR) 115-10/Air Force

Joint Instruction (AFJI) 15-157,

Weather Support for the United States

Army, 30 June 1996). This joint regulation describes the Service responsibilities and those of Major Army

Commands (MACOMs) within the

Army for providing weather support.

The United States Army provides

direct weather support to two Army

missions: upper air observations for

Field Artillery fire support, and limited

surface weather observations to support Army weapon systems forward of

Division tactical operations centers

(Figure 3-DOD-18). Air Force (AF)

Major Commands (MAJCOMs) provide operational weather services to

war fighting MACOMs in combat,

contingencies, and peacetime training.

United States Army Forces Command

(FORSCOM), United States Army

Europe (USAREUR), United States

Army Pacific (USARPAC), United

States Army Special Operations

Command (USASOC), Eighth United

States Army (EUSA), and United

States Army Training and Doctrine

Command (TRADOC) have AF

Weather personnel

providing daily

installation and tactical weather support. Army Artillery Meteorological

(ARTYMET)

Crews provide

direct upper air

observation support

to artillery units in

the same MACOMs.

During peacetime

training and activation, the Air

National Guard

(ANG) provides AF

operational weather

support to the

United States Army

Reserve (USAR)

and Army National

Guard (ARNG), collectively designated the Reserve Component (RC). In

addition, during exercises and contingencies, the ANG may augment the

active Army Combat Weather Teams

(CWTs).

The Army also provides the operational weather support to Army

Research Development, Test and

Evaluation (RDTE) ranges, centers,

and other research facilities using the

Developmental Test Command's

(DTC) Meteorological Teams (MET

UNITED STATES ARMY

Figure 3-DOD-18. Army Weather Support Architecture
116 DOD SECTION 3

Teams) and United States Army Space

and Missile Defense Command

(SMDC) contractors. DTC operational

support is established under Army Test

and Evaluation Command. SMDC

provides weather support to the Ronald

Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test

Site at Kwajalein Atoll through a

Meteorological Environmental Test

Support contractor.

The Army provides the tactical field

and communications equipment to

USAF CWTs for tactical operations.

The Integrated Meteorological System

(IMETS) is the United States Army's

tactical weather communication, intelligence, and information system providing digital weather support to the

commanders and staffs of tactical

units, from Echelons Above Corps

(EAC) to aviation battalions. The

Project Director for IMETS (PD,

IMETS) falls under the direction of the

Project Manager, Intelligence and

Effects and the oversight of the

Program Executive Officer, Command,

Control, Communications - Tactical

(PEO C3T). The Communications and

Electronics Command (CECOM) and

Army Research Laboratory (ARL)

provide fielding and technical support

to PD, IMETS and to Field Artillery

meteorology programs.

ARTYMET Crews are assigned to

Artillery units at Division level, to

Field Artillery Brigades, and to

Separate Brigades with a direct support

Artillery Battalion. Army soldiers regularly take tactical upper air observations to support Field Artillery units

during tactical training exercises, at

permanent Army Artillery Ranges, or

during the full range of combat missions. ARTYMET Crews also take

limited surface observations at tactical

locations on an "as needed" basis to

support artillery operational requirements.

ARTYMET Crews in the Active

Component (AC) and RC sections currently use the Meteorological

Measuring Set (MMS), AN/TMQ-41,

to take upper air observations during

tactical operations. It is a mobile,

upper air sounding system mounted on

a High Mobility Multipurpose

Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). The

MMS provides upper air data to the

Field Artillery Tactical Data System

for use in adjusting artillery fire, to

USAF CWTs, and to the Chemical

Officer for use in smoke and in

Nuclear, Biological and Chemical

(NBC) defense operations

(Figure 3-DOD-19). The United States

Army Field Artillery School

(USAFAS), Fort Sill, Oklahoma,

develops requirement documents and

is the combat and training developer

for meteorological equipment used for

Field Artillery support.

The Army provides supplemental,

limited surface observations when

required in tactical situations to support Army operations. When directed

by the Intelligence Officer (S2),

Intelligence personnel in the forward

combat areas take these observations.

Headquarters, Department of the

Army, Office of the Deputy Chief of

Staff, G-2, is responsible for Army

weather support policy. The Office of

the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3, is

responsible for validating and prioritizing weather support requirements and

programs to meet Army requirements.

In addition, an Army Intelligence

Officer at the Air Force Weather

Agency (AFWA) at Offutt AFB, NE,

serves as a consultant to AFWA for

Army weather requirements.

Army Operational Support provided

by the Air Force

Under AR 115-10/AFJI 15-157, the

AF is responsible for providing the

Army with the necessary manpower

and unique tactical and fixed weather

equipment to meet Army tactical and

garrison active component (AC) and

reserve component (RC) support

requirements. Army support manpower requirements are sourced from AF

active, reserve, and ANG weather

units. While direct support of the Field

Artillery remains an Army responsibility, and is supported by Army

ARTYMET teams, AF CWTs provide

supplemental information to artillery

crews in contingencies for areas

beyond direct ARTYMET observation

capabilities. The AF assigns AF

weather personnel to the war fighting

MACOMs at theater, corps, division,

armored cavalry regiments, aviation

brigades, separate brigades, and special forces groups/ranger regiments to

provide direct, on site weather support.

AF Operational Weather Squadrons

(OWSs) and Combat Weather Teams

(CWTs) provide garrison and tactical

weather warning, observing, forecasting, special support, and staff weather

officer (SWO) services to Combat,

Combat Support, and Combat Service

Support units throughout the peacetime/war continuum (Figure 3-DOD-20).

Peacetime garrison activities include

supporting flying operations at Army

Airfields and severe weather watch,

warning, and advisory services for aircraft and post resource protection. The

AF is responsible for installation, operation, and maintenance of standard AF

meteorological and observing equipment at Army Airfield Weather

Stations. Tactically, the Army is

responsible for vehicles, tactical communications, and weather effects criteria. The Army's Integrated Meteorological System (IMETS) is fielded for

these purposes and is operated by AF

CWTs. The Army also maintains

IMETS hardware and software, with

Figure 3-DOD-19. Accurate wind

profiles are essential for the Artillery

to engage their targets

(United States Army Photo).
SECTION 3 DOD 117

the AF maintaining AF software that

performs meteorological functions

within IMETS. IMETS uses AF meteorological software, but IMETS is

hosted on an Army vehicle, uses Army

tactical communications and Army

weather effects software. IMETS

baseline software is hosted on Army

Common Hardware and is Defense

Information Infrastructure Common

Operating Environment (DIICOE) and

Joint Technical Architecture - Army

(JTA-A) compliant. The Army provides other tactical equipment to AF

CWTs through an Army Table of

Organizations and Equipment (TOE).

The following paragraphs describe

weather activities within Army

MACOMs.

Eighth United States Army

USAF weather personnel assigned to

the 607th Weather Squadron (607 WS)

provide fixed and tactical weather support to 8th United States Army units.

607 WS provides garrison and tactical

weather observing, advisory, mission

forecast, special support, and staff

weather officer services during contingency, exercise, and armistice operations. 607 WS units provide direct, onsite support at eight 8th United States

Army installations and at deployed

locations. Support is focused on air,

ground, special operations, and other

combat and combat support missions.

In late FY 2002, 607 WS transferred

armistice theater forecast responsibility to the 20th Operational Weather

Squadron (20 OWS) at Yokota Air

Force Base in Japan. The 8th United

States Army Combat Weather Teams

are now primarily responsible for providing their customers with observations and tailored mission execution

forecasts based on 20 OWS overarching forecasts. Lead METOC support

during exercises and contingencies

remains with the 607 WS Combined

METOC Forecast Unit, in close coordination with 20 OWS. In FY 2005,

607 WS will continue to provide

78 trained weather personnel and will

require fixed and tactical weather sensing, data processing, and communications equipment. 8th United States

Army provides USAF weather units

needed garrison and tactical communications, tactical vehicles, MTOE and

CTA equipment, and operating funds

(for expendables, maintenance, etc.)

IAW AR 115-10/AFJI 15-157 (June

1996).

United States Army Europe and

Seventh Army

United States Army Europe

(USAREUR) and 7th Army require and

use Army resources to conduct meteorological services in direct support of

Army operations. These services

include collecting and disseminating

upper air observations for artillery support and collecting and disseminating

limited surface weather observations to

support all tactical units and operations.

The Air Force's 7th Weather Squadron (7 WS) provides USAREUR/7th

Army in-garrison and tactical weather

intelligence and support. This includes

observing services for in-garrison

operations, contingency and exercise

operations, staff weather officer services, and specialized support. The

United States Air Forces in Europe

(USAFE) Operational Weather

Squadron at Sembach AB, Germany,

provides operational-level forecast

products for the European Command

Area of Responsibility, to include all

USAREUR units. Combat weather

teams located at V Corps and its aviation assets, 1st Infantry Division and

its aviation brigade, 1st Armored

Division and its aviation brigade,

Southern European Task Force, and

7th Army Training Command, as well

as 7 WS supporting 7th Army, evaluate

and tailor these forecast products to

produce mission execution forecasts.

The mission of 7 WS and its

11 detachments and operating locations is to provide weather operations

packages to conform to the Army's garrison and war operations.

Additionally, 7 WS provide weather

operations to meet future Army transformation and modularity initiatives.

7 WS will match the deploying weather force structure to the mission that

USAREUR is called upon to execute.

7 WS will utilize "reachback" capabilities to the maximum extent possible to

minimize the deployed footprint without compromising weather operations.

Seven IMETS have been fielded

within USAREUR (V Corps, two divisions and their aviation brigades, and

two separate brigades. The IMETS is

geared to interface as a module of the

Army Battlespace Control System to

inject weather decision products into

the common battle picture for Army

commanders. IMETS Light (IMETS-L)

version will be fielded in October

FY 2005 to Aviation Brigades. This

version is designed to mirror the capabilities of the IMETS Vehicle mounted

configuration currently fielded, but is

much more flexible and more easily

deployed.

USAREUR provides supporting

USAF weather teams with tactical

vehicles, MTOE and Common Table

of Allowances (CTA) equipment and

operating funds (expendables, maintenance, etc.). Four ARTYMET sections

collect upper air observations for direct

use by field artillery units. The

Forward Area Limited Observing

Figure 3-DOD-20. Reliable wind

forecasts are necessary to ensure safety during airborne operations

(United States Army Photo).
118 DOD SECTION 3

Program (FALOP) consists of Army

personnel taking limited observations

at forward areas in the battlespace.

United States Army Special Operations

Command (USASOC)

Weather support to USASOC allows

commanders to improve efficiency,

effectiveness and safety of operations

for USASOC units. USASOC personnel use tactical weather kits to collect

limited weather data and provide limited scope meteorological observations

from permissive, semi-permissive and

uncertain environments in direct support of the Army. Army Special

Operations Forces collect weather data

at the deployed team level. These

observations are passed to operating

bases for use by Army commanders

and staff, as well as Air Force Special

Operations Command (AFSOC) and

Air National Guard (ANG) weather

personnel. AFSOC personnel providing direct support to USASOC units

are assigned to the 10th Combat

Weather Squadron (10 CWS), OL-A,

320 Special Tactics Squadron (STS),

OL-A 321 STS, and OL-A 353 Special

Operations Group. ANG personnel

providing direct support to USASOC

when activated are assigned to the

107th Weather Flight, Michigan ANG,

146th Weather Flight, Pennsylvania

ANG, and 181st Weather Flight, Texas

ANG. These weather units provide

garrison and tactical support to

USASOC units including the United

States Army Special Forces Command

and its seven subordinate Special

Forces Groups (SFC); the 75th Ranger

Regiment, the 160th Special

Operations Aviation Regiment, the

United States Civil Affairs and

Psychological Operations Command

(USCAPOC); and all SFG and regimental subordinate battalions, and two

separate aviation companies. Support

provided includes: climatology and

solar/lunar illumination tables and

studies; courses of action and mission

impacts analysis; weather watch/warning services; mission execution forecasts; flight weather briefings;

drop/landing zone forecasts; training to

Army Special Operations Forces;

training of host nation and indigenous

forces on conducting limited observation programs; surface, upper-air and

tactical radar observations; and

Foreign Internal Defense analysis, surveys and training. AFSOC Special

Operations Weather Teams (SOWTs)

provide the DOD's sole source for

high-fidelity Meteorological and

Oceanographic (METOC) intelligence

data collection from austere, denied,

hostile or semi-permissive areas of the

battlespace. AFSOC provides staff

weather support to USASOC, United

States Army Special Forces Command

(Airborne) and the United States Army

John F. Kennedy Special Warfare

Center and School.

USASOC plans and expends

resources for operational and administrative support to Air Force Special

Operations Command SOWTs providing meteorological service support to

USASOC components. USASOC provides funding for required training

beyond standard AF weather training,

office and deployable automation systems and connectivity to local networks; dedicated tactical communications systems; operations and maintenance/sustainment to support

USASOC requirements; funding for

Temporary Duty for USASOC requirements; and some organizational clothing and individual equipment.

Additionally, USASOC covers expenditures for tactical equipment items

such as NBC equipment; communications; Army developed and procured

meteorological equipment, power,

vehicles, and life support equipment

required to accomplish USASOC

weather support missions; and maintenance and supplies for USASOC provided equipment. Seventeen IMETS-L

have been fielded within USASOC.

IMETS-L provides a mobile automated weather data receiving, processing

and dissemination system to USAF

Weather Teams supporting SOF.

IMETS-L also provides digital weather

support, real-time tailored weather

information, forecasts, and weather

effects on friendly and hostile weapons

systems. USASOC also provides

funding for facilities, office space,

office furniture, and real property to

house supporting special operations

weather units, as well as secure storage

of required equipment.

United States Army Pacific

(USARPAC)

USARPAC uses Army resources to

conduct meteorological services in

direct support of Army operations.

These services include collecting and

disseminating upper air observations

for artillery support and collecting and

disseminating surface weather observations to support tactical units and

operations. There are three subordinate commands within USARPAC:

United States Army Hawaii

(USARHAW), United States Army

Alaska (USARAK), and United States

Army Japan (USARJ).

USARPAC provides supporting

USAF units with tactical vehicles,

MTOE and Common Table of

Allowances (CTA) equipment and

operations and maintenance funds.

The IMETS and New Tactical

Forecast System (N-TFS) have been

fielded within USARPAC as the primary meteorological equipment for

deployed operations. 25ID(L) was

also given two IMETS-L units ahead

of schedule for its yearlong deployment to Iraq. The IMETS and NTFS

reachback for data via Army provided

NIPRNET and SIPRNET conduits.

The 17th Operational Weather

Squadron (17 OWS) provides HQ

USARPAC with garrison and tactical

weather warnings, forecasts, special

support, and SWO services during

contingencies and humanitarian operations. Additional Combat Weather

Teams (CWTs) assigned to USARJ,

USARHAW - including the 25th ID(L)

- and USARAK, including 172 SIB,
SECTION 3 DOD 119

provide direct, on-site support at

5 USARPAC installations. The CWTs

also deploy with their customers providing tailored battlefield observations

and forecasts. Weather reengineering

has reduced the requirement for forward deployed weather personnel,

instead leveraging IMETS and other

recently fielded technology for reachback capability. The 17 OWS provides

regional weather support, allowing the

forward deployed forces to focus on

specific area and target forecasts.

The 20 OWS at Yokota AB, Japan,

provides operational-level forecast

products for the USARJ AOR, to

include all USARJ units. A 20 OWS

member serves as the USARJ's SWO.

In addition, specific resource protection support (i.e. weather advisories,

warnings, and watches) is provided for

Camp Zama, Japan. An AF CWT

assigned to the 374th Operational

Support Squadron at Yokota AB is

located at Camp Zama. It provides

observational support and produces

mission execution forecasts to support

aviation operations.

The 11th Operational Weather

Squadron (11 OWS) at Elmendorf

AFB, Alaska, provides operationallevel forecast products for the Alaskan

Command AOR, to include all

USARAK units (Figure 3-DOD-21).

The Commander, 11 OWS, serves as

the CG, USARAK's Staff Weather

Officer. Additionally, 11 OWS is

responsible for Terminal Aerodrome

Forecasts for Fort Wainwright, along

with resource protection weather support (i.e. weather advisories, warnings,

and watches) for Forts Wainwright,

Greely, and Richardson. The 11 OWS

provides flight weather briefing support, as required, to Army, Army

Reserve, and Army National Guard

aviation assets in theater. An AF CWT

(3 ASOS/WE) is collocated with the

172d Infantry Brigade (Separate)

(172d Stryker Brigade Combat Team

(172 SBCT) at Fort Wainwright and

the aviation assets of 4th Battalion,

123d Aviation Regiment. The

3 ASOS/WE provides weather support

for both tactical and garrison operations, observes the atmosphere and

evaluates, then tailors, forecast products to produce Mission Execution

Forecasts and staff briefings. After the

SBCT conversion, 172 SBCT will

include tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (T-UAVs), whose operators will

also be receive their weather support

from 3 ASOS/WE. The Alaska Army

National Guard operates the airfield at

Fort Richardson.

United States Army Forces Command

(FORSCOM)

Weather support to FORSCOM is

diverse and demanding. FORSCOM,

the Army's largest major command,

requires and uses Army resources to

conduct meteorological services in

direct support of Army operations.

These services include collecting and

disseminating upper air observations

for artillery support and collecting and

disseminating limited surface weather

observations to support all tactical

units and operations. FORSCOM consists of more than 750,000 Active

Component (AC), United States Army

Reserve (USAR) and Army National

Guard (ARNG) soldiers. These soldiers account for more than 80 percent

of the Army's combat power.

FORSCOM trains, mobilizes, deploys,

and sustains combat ready forces capable of responding rapidly to crises

worldwide. The AC component of

FORSCOM has nearly 200,000 soldiers. Third United States Army is the

Army component of United States

Central Command (USCENTCOM),

which is the Joint command responsible for Southwest Asia (SWA), the

Persian Gulf, and the Horn of Africa.

United States Army South (USARSO)

serves as the Army component to

United States Southern Command

(USSOUTHCOM). USARSO relocated from Fort Buchanan, Puerto Rico,

to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 2003

and became a FORSCOM major subordinate command October 1, 2003.

FORSCOM also commands three

Army Corps: I Corps at Fort Lewis,

Washington, III Corps at Fort Hood,

Texas, and XVIII Airborne Corps at

Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Together

they include six divisions, two

armored cavalry regiments, five separate brigades and a range of other corps

combat, combat support and combat

service support units. Two Continental

United States Armies (CONUSAs),

First United States Army and Fifth

United States Army, are responsible for

training, mobilization, and deployment

support to Reserve Component units in

FORSCOM. Another major subordinate command to FORSCOM, the

United States Army Reserve

Command (USARC), commands all

United States Army Reserve units in

the continental United States except

those assigned to Special Operations

Command. FORSCOM's Army

Reserve strength stands at approximately 196,000 soldiers. USARC

units are part of the Federal force and

make their primary contribution to

FORSCOM combat power in combat

support and combat service support

specialties such as medical, civil

affairs, transportation, maintenance

and supply.

Figure 3-DOD-21. Weather awareness is critical in situations such as

this survival skills training exercise in

Alaska. (United States Army Photo).
120 DOD SECTION 3

The ARNG provides FORSCOM a

balanced force of eight National Guard

combat divisions, 15 enhanced separate brigades, extensive combat support, and combat service support units.

The current FORSCOM ARNG

strength is approximately 367,000 soldiers.

Weather support to FORSCOM's AA

units comes from dedicated Air Force

weather teams aligned under three AF

Air Support Operations Groups

(ASOGs) within Air Combat

Command (ACC): 1 ASOG at Fort

Lewis, Washington; 3 ASOG at Fort

Hood, Texas; and 18 ASOG at Pope

AFB, North Carolina. A weather

squadron for each ASOG makes up the

CWT. Each Army division has their

own dedicated CWT. These CWTs are

aligned under an Air Support

Operations Squadron (ASOS) or one

of the weather squadrons, at their

respective installations. Corps and

division CWTs are authorized personnel and equipment to support a variety

of missions at the various Army echelons. Weather support at each Army

echelon is provided according to Army

Field Manual 34-81,/Air Force Joint

Pamphlet 15-127, Weather Support for

Army Tactical Operations. Currently,

there are nearly 350 Air Force weather

authorizations supporting various echelons across FORSCOM. These AFW

personnel provide garrison and tactical

weather warning, observing, mission

execution forecast, special support,

and SWO services during peacetime,

combat, contingency, exercise, or

armistice operations.

ACC weather units provide direct,

on-site support at 11 major Army

installations, including the National

Training Center at Fort Irwin,

California, and the Joint Readiness

Training Center at Fort Polk,

Louisiana, and at deployed locations.

Support is focused on air, ground, special operations, and other combat and

combat support missions.

FORSCOM provides supporting

USAF units with a Modified Table of

Organization and Equipment (MTOE)

and operating funds (expendables,

maintenance, etc.). ARTYMET

requirements in FORSCOM are

increasing from 17 to 26 sections in

FY 2005 due to modularity. These

6-person sections, comprised of Army

weather personnel, collect upper air

observations for direct use by field

artillery units.

The New Tactical Forecast System

(N-TFS) is the primary in-garrison and

tactical weather equipment for receiving graphics and alphanumeric data.

Data is received via the Very Small

Aperture Terminal (VSAT), Tactical

VSAT (T-VSAT), Non-Secure Internet

Protocol Router Network, and Secure

Internet Protocol Router Network. The

Small Tactical Terminal receives

Geostationary and polar orbiting satellite imagery from the GOES, GMS,

METEOSAT, DMSP, and NOAA

meteorological satellites. Nineteen

Integrated Meteorological Systems

(IMETS) and 15 IMETS-Lights,

developed by the Army Research

Laboratory, have been fielded within

FORSCOM. FORSCOM has also

fielded commercial Automated

Weather Observing Systems at Yakima

Training Center Washington, Fort

Campbell, Kentucky, and Georgetown

Bahamas.

Training and Doctrine Command

(TRADOC) Programs

Headquarters, TRADOC is responsible for the development and management of weather training programs,

Army and Joint weather support doctrine (concepts and field manuals), and

the establishment of requirement documents for Army tactical weather support. HQ TRADOC is the approval

authority for Army-AF weather doctrine, Army weather system requirements, and weather support policy.

Key mission area for the next few

years will be to coordinate weather

requirements as the Army transforms.

The IMETS continues as the state of

the art Army weather forecast system.

However, over the next few years its

capabilities will be consolidated into

the Air Force's Joint Environmental

Toolkit (JET) program. The Army will

retain research and development

efforts related to Army weather support and responsibility for interfacing

JET with Army Battle Command systems.

TRADOC Schools and Battle

Laboratories:

The United States Army

Intelligence Center and Fort

Huachuca (USAIC&FH) is the functional proponent for Army tactical

weather support. USAIC&FH represents the warfighter by collecting

Army weather support requirements

and developing solutions to satisfy

those requirements. A key component to providing weather support to

the Army is IMETS, fielded by the

Army and operated by Air Force

CWTs. The USAIC&FH Weather

Team advises the USAIC&FH,

ARL, and Air Force Weather (AFW)

on Army weather support issues and

helps develop solutions to meet both

active and reserve forces' weather

requirements. In addition, the

USAIC&FH Weather Team monitors

weather training to Intelligence and

AFW personnel supporting the Army

(e.g., the SWO Course and the Joint

Intelligence-Combat Training

Center). This year the USAIC&FH

Weather Team was expanded to five

members (three active duty Air

Force plus two government contractors) to support the new expanded

SWO Course. Over the last year, the

USAIC&FH Weather Team helped

provide weather support requirements as the Army transforms from

the Current Force to the Future

Force. The USAIC&FH Weather

Team continued to update and

expand the weather effects critical

threshold value database to be incorporated into the Integrated Weather

Effects Decision Aid (IWEDA).
SECTION 3 DOD 121

Finally, they updated the IMETS

requirements documents as the

IMETS program went through several acquisition milestones towards

approval by the Joint Requirements

Oversight Council.

The Air Force Staff Weather

Officer at the Army's Combined

Arms Center (CAC) is the primary

overseer of the Tables of

Organization and Equipment for

CWTs supporting Army operations.

The CAC SWO also arranges for and

provides environmental data, concepts of operation, and weather support guidance for various programs,

projects, and studies conducted by

the TRADOC System Manager for

Army Battle Command System, the

Battle Command Battle LaboratoryLeavenworth, and the TRADOC

Analysis Center. Development of

weather scripts and climatological

packages to support modeling and

simulation exercises of the Battle

Command Training Program

(BCTP), the Command and General

Staff College (CGSC) and the

National Simulation Center at Fort

Leavenworth is another key CAC

SWO task.

The United States Army Field

Artillery School (USAFAS), Fort

Sill, Oklahoma, is the proponent for

upper air meteorological support to

the Army. Artillery meteorological

crews, Active and Reserve, used the

AN/TMQ-50 to measure surface

weather parameters. Tactical reliability issues forced an Army-wide

'STOP-USE' of the AN/TMQ-50 at

the end of FY 2003. Artillery meteorological crews currently use manual surface instruments to measure

surface weather conditions. The

acquisition process has been initiated

to identify a replacement for the

AN/TMQ-50. The AN/TMQ-41

Meteorological Measur-ing Set

(MMS) is utilized to take upper air

observations. The MMS provides

weather data to the Field Artillery

Tactical Data System for ballistic

calculations; to USAF CWTs for

weather forecasting; and to the

Chemical Officer for obscurant

deployment, and Nuclear,

Biological, Chemical (NBC) defense

operations. TRADOC will work

with USAFAS to ensure these surface and upper air observations are

sent back to weather centrals where

they can be ingested into the military's newest meso-scale models.

Active unit's MMSs will be replaced

by the AN/TMQ-52 Meteorological

Measur-ing Set Profiler (MMS-P).

The MMS-P is scheduled to begin

fielding in early FY 2005. The

MMS-P is a suite of meteorological

sensors and associated

software/models which will provide

the Field Artillery with current

and/or expected weather conditions

at a point where the weapon munition is expected to engage a target

(Target Area Met).

The Engineer School (USAES),

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, coordinates weather support requirements for Terrain Analysis and

Topographic Engineering. USAES

develops methods of measuring and

forecasting state of the ground for

trafficability assessments using input

weather data fields. Their mission

also includes identifying, and documenting requirements to interface

meteorological and engineer battlefield systems. Due to force cuts,

USAES no longer has a full time

civilian meteorologist in the Terrain

Visualization Center, District of

Columbia, but does have an instructor at the Terrain School at Fort

Belvoir to teach weather effects on

cross-country mobility and engineer

missions.

The Army Aviation Center at Fort

Rucker incorporates weather instruction and procedures into rotary-wing

training programs in their mission

areas. The Center has requirements

for weather observations and USAF

forecast support at Cairns Army

Airfield, Troy Municipal Airport

(MAP), Alabama, and Andalusia

MAP, Alabama. Additionally, Fort

Rucker operates observing and communications equipment to relay

weather intelligence and resource

protection advisories to numerous

Army remote training sites. Two

active duty positions are allocated to

provide staff support for Army aviation and aviator training weather

issues in areas of curriculum, concept development and doctrine.

In FY 2004, ACC civilianized dayto-day operational weather support to

aviation operations at Fort Rucker and

surrounding satellite airfields. Under

the same contract ACCs provide

weather observing and/or forecasting

and briefing services for airfields at

Fort Belvoir, Fort Benning, Fort Knox,

Fort Leonard Wood, Fort Huachuca,

and Fort Sill.

Army National Guard (ARNG)

Artillery

The Army National Guard has 48

Meteorological Sections assigned to

artillery units at Division level, Field

Artillery Brigades, and in Separate

Brigades. The ARTYMET sections

provide upper air observations at least

39 training days each year supporting

artillery live fire during Annual

Training and monthly Inactive Duty

Training. The ARTYMET sections

support an average of 20 live fire training days and annually expend in excess

of 100 balloons per section. The

ARNG is in the process of modernizing to the Meteorological Measuring

Set (MMS), AN/TMQ-41A.

Army Corps of Engineers Civil

Operational Activities

The Corps of Engineers (COE) uses

a network of about 10,849 land-based

gauges. About 55 percent of the sites

collect meteorological data, 35 percent

a combination of hydrologic and meteorological data, and 10 percent hydrologic or water quality data. The Corps

funds or partially funds 58 percent
122 DOD SECTION 3

(6,350) of all the gauges it uses.

Meteorological gauges commonly

measure precipitation and temperature

as a minimum; most sites also measure

hydrological data. All data are used in

the regulation of COE dams and other

water projects used for flood control,

navigation, hydroelectric power, irrigation, water supply, water quality, and

recreation. The COE transfers funds to

NOAA/National Weather Service

(NWS) to collect and maintain precipitation information from 826 of meteorological sites. Similarly, COE transfers funds to the United States

Geological Survey to maintain precipitation data collection from 460 sites,

while the COE maintains the rest.

Seventy-five percent of all Corps sites

provide real-time data via satellite,

microwaves, meterbursts, landlines, or

radio. Data from COE gauging sites

are available to other federal, state and

local agencies. The National Weather

Service uses 100 percent of all Corps

data. Most of the data is also used by

other agencies.

United States Army Space and Missile

Defense Command (USASMDC)

The High Energy Laser Systems

Test Facility (HELSTF), an USASMDC directorate located on White

Sands Missile Range, is an Army

element of the DOD Major Range

and Test Facility Base with the mission of high-energy laser (HEL) test

and evaluation for future Army and

sister Service HEL weapons. In

addition to HEL systems test and

evaluation, extensive use has been

made of on-site laser systems to perform damage and vulnerability testing on laser-hardened materials,

missile and aircraft components, and

assorted battlefield equipment. The

atmospheric sciences/meteorological

mission is to support HEL testing by

providing measurements of atmospheric conditions that are extremely

important to propagation of any HEL

beam through the atmosphere.

Many unique meteorological instruments are maintained to support this

critical data collection for HEL testing, including sonic anemometers,

32 meter towers for scintillometers,

and a Lidar ceilometer (75,000 foot)

one of 2 in North America

(Figure 3-DOD-22). The HELSTF

meteorological team also supports

critical safety analysis of atmospheric dispersion for the very toxic laser

fuels used.

United States Army Kwajalein

Atoll (USAKA) is a subcommand of

USASMDC, which provides operational support for the Ronald Reagan

Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site

(RTS). The RTS (Figure 3-DOD-23)

meteorological services support contractor provides meteorological support for range activities including

missile operations within the atoll,

intra-atoll transportation (marine

and aircraft), remote island missile

launches including Wake Island, and

emergency operations support.

A full suite of surface and upper

air observing equipment is available

to support of these operations.

Three, fixed upper air sounding systems are located on Kwajalein and

Roi-Namur (Figure 3-DOD-23).

Two portable upper air systems can

be deployed to remote locations to

provide upper air soundings.

Additionally, one polarimetricDoppler S-band weather radar and

one Doppler C-band weather radar,

two DMSP/NOAA satellite receivers

(one mobile) both having McIDAS

display and management systems,

one geostationary satellite receiver,

and an intra-atoll mesonet and lightning detection network round out the

sensors available to RTS forecasters.

RTS, in cooperation with

NASA/GSFC, continues to support

global climate studies through the

Tropical Rainfall Measurements

Mission and the follow-on program

of Global Precipitation

Measurement and a smaller program

of monitoring the solar-earth radiation flux for NOAA/ERL.

Figure 3-DOD-22. High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) at

White Sands Missile Range provides the Army with range and test facilities to

conduct high-energy laser (HEL) test and evaluation for future weapon systems

(United States Army Photo).
SECTION 3 DOD 123

WEATHER SUPPORT FOR

RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT,

TEST, AND EVALUATION (RDTE)

Under Army-AF agreement, the

Army has responsibility for weather

support for research, development,

test, and evaluation (RDTE) to support

Army ground combat missions as

specified in AR 115-10/AFJI 15-157.

The Corps of Engineers (COE), and

the Army Materiel Command (AMC)

are the major contributors to weather

research. The Medical Research and

Development Command does research

related to soldiers performance in the

range of weather conditions expected

to be encountered in all theaters of

operations. The Army Test and

Evaluation Command (ATEC) is

responsible for operational meteorological support to Army RDT&E.

Corps of Engineers (COE)

The Corps of Engineers (COE) is

responsible for reviewing all emerging

Army systems for environmental

effects, as stated in Army

Regulation 70-1. The Topographic

Engineering Center (TEC), and the

Cold Regions Research and

Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), of

COE's Engineer Research and

Development Center (ERDC), develop

TDAs to interpret the impact of weather on terrain to enhance Army operations. TDAs are transitioned to the

Digital Topographic Support System

(DTSS).

Under its military mission, ERDC's

Cold Regions Research and

Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, NH

provides support to Army weapon systems RDTE with climatological studies on the effects of winter and all-season environments on Army operations.

CRREL conducts basic research in

sensor signal interaction with snow,

ice, and frozen soil, icing accretion on

surfaces and structures, deicing technologies, and cold regions surface-air

boundary process. CRREL develops

databases and models predicting the

state of the terrain supporting tactical

decision aids such as mobility analysis

and sensor performance. Other programs include weather effects on environmental research for military training lands, winter effects on acoustic

sensors, mine detection, helicopter preflight deicing and airborne icing avoidance, and estimating snow water

equivalence for predicting snow melt

runoff and potential for flooding.

Meteorological forcing of soil climate is being used by CRREL

researchers to investigate the use of

broadband infrared imagery, spectral

infrared measurements, and radar to

detect mines; including surface mines,

mines flush with the soil surface, and

buried mines. Placement of mines

flush with the soil surface and buried

mines change the soil radiometric signature. Detection of this change could

flag a potential mine location.

Investigators were able to detect disturbed ground after mine placement

using thermal infrared imagery.

Figure 3DOD24 shows, in the left

image, seven brighter, warm areas that

are round mines and irregular areas of

disturbed soil. Deeply buried mines

are not readily detected by thermal

infrared, but the disturbed soil from

placing mines is detectable shortly

after they are buried. One week later,

as shown on the right image of

Figure 3-DOD-24, areas of disturbed

soil are no longer readily detected by

thermal infrared imagery. Contrasts

between disturbed and undisturbed soil

have nearly disappeared as the soil

becomes radiometrically uniform over

time. Causes of these thermal contrasts, and the duration of detectable

thermal contrasts in disturbed soil as a

function of meteorological conditions,

are under investigation.

Army Materiel Command (AMC)

The Army Materiel Command

(AMC) is responsible for the design,

development, test, and evaluation of

equipment to satisfy requirements for

meteorological support equipment.

AMC provides climatological and

meteorological support to RDTE projects involving electro-optics and

obscurants. It is also responsible for

determining weather effects critical

threshold values and environmental

sensitivities of battlefield systems.

AMC has several Major Subordinate

Commands (MSCs) and elements carrying out weather research and development responsibilities including the

Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM), which has

responsibility for the Army's Research

Development and Engineering Centers

(RDECs) and the Army Research

Laboratory (ARL).

The Army Research Laboratory

Battlefield Environment (BE) Division

has an ongoing research program concerning flows within urban domains.

This program focuses on fine scale

meteorological fields in urban areas

and the resultant transport of chemicalbiological agents and other hazardous

materials. The BE Division also is

involved in multi-agency programs on

the detection and characterization of

chemical-biological agents.

The BE Division within the ARL

Computational and Information

Sciences Directorate (CISD), consists

of three Branches and one Center.

These span the two BE Division sites

at Adelphi, Maryland, and White Sand

Missile Range, New Mexico. The

Figure 3-DOD-23. USASMDC is

responsible for meteorological support to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic

Missile Defense Test Site in the

remote Kwajalein Atoll.

(United States Army Photo).
124 DOD SECTION 3

three branches combine basic and

applied research programs in the areas

of meteorological modeling in complex terrain, atmospheric aerosols and

contaminants, chemical/biological

transport and dispersion coupling to

planetary boundary layer processes,

electromagnetic and acoustic propagation, advanced decision aids and high

time/space resolution atmospheric

characterization. The Center focuses

on coordinating technology transition

of BE Division products for support of

Army weapons systems RDTE and

weather intelligence technology for

Battle Command and field artillery

systems. In addition, the Center also

provides liaison between Army weather R&D and the coupled programs at

the AFWA, Air Force Combat Weather

Center and the National Polar Orbiting

Environmental Satellite System

(NPOESS) Integrated Program Office

(IPO).

The BE Division and the PD-IMETS

office are partnering with the Air Force

in new programs such as the development of a common Joint

Environmental Toolkit (JET). The

Army IMETS Weather Effects

Workstation (WEW) and Air Force

NTFS soft-ware baselines are to converge and transition into a single baseline JET, by the end of FY05. The JET

baseline combines the AF forecast

functions with the Army's weather

impact Tactical Decision Aid applications and Army Battle Command

System interfaces.

The Boundary Layer Meteorology

Branch conducts a research program in

the micrometeorological and

mesoscale-gamma (small end of

mesoscale) processes and structure of

the atmospheric boundary layer at

scales generally smaller than a few

kilometers. This program focuses on

the interaction of the land-air interface

with wind fields, turbulence, and fluxes. Modeling of aerosol and chemicalbiological transport and dispersion in

the tactical environment are addressed,

including detailed modeling of the

boundary layer over complex terrain

and within urban domains. A range of

numerical weather models is

addressed, including hydrostatic, nonhydrostatic and diagnostic gridded

meteorological models. Diagnostic

model output is combined with near

real-time observations to produce rapid

refresh analyses as part of the

"Weather Running Estimate" being

developed for the Army Future Force.

These are verified against existing

numerical weather prediction models

and data.

The Army Research Office,

Research Triangle Park, North

Carolina, manages the Army's extramural basic research program in the

atmospheric sciences. These programs

are concerned with understanding the

dynamical and physical processes of

the atmospheric boundary layer at

scales of interest to the Army (millimeters to 10's of kilometers) through

measurements, simulations, and theoretical considerations. The basic

research program is conducted through

the peer-reviewed, individual investigator program and occasional special

initiatives. The focus of the research is

on the atmospheric processes and

effects of the atmospheric boundary

layer where the Army operates.

Objectives of the research are to develop, from first principles, the physical

basis for understanding the boundary

layer processes, thereby leading to better understanding of atmospheric

effects on soldiers, materials, and

weapon systems. The research examines dispersion of battlefield materials,

the effects of heterogeneous terrain

features on airflow, and the developFigure 3-DOD-24.

Thermal infrared

images taken at about

1100 hrs on

28 April 04 (left) and

4 May 04 (right)

showing signature

changes for disturbed

soil.

(United States Army Photo)
SECTION 3 DOD 125

ment of natural obscurations throughout the diurnal cycle. An essential element of the research is the development of instrumentation to measure the

volumetric fields of wind velocity,

temperature, and moisture of the

boundary layer at turbulence time

scales. Special funding areas are also

managed. The Defense University

Research and Instrumentation Program

(DURIP) provides funds for instrumentation needed to support ongoing

research activities. The Defense

Experimental Program to Stimulate

Competitive Research (DEPSCoR)

participation is a competition restricted

to universities in certain states that

compete for additional basic research

funds. Also basic research under the

Small Business Innovative Research

Program (SBIR) is managed for selected topics. A primary focus continues

on the analysis and understanding of

the stable boundary layer. New initiatives include acoustic tomography of

the atmospheric surface layer and

measurement and analyses of wind

fields in an urban area.

Communications Electronics Command (CECOM), a major subordinate

command of AMC, provides support to

developing and fielding weather programs through the following organizations: Logistics Readiness Center

(LRC), Research, Development and

Engineering Center (RDEC), Software

Engineering Center (SEC), and Safety

office.

The CECOM LRC is the level II

manager of the Meteorological

Measuring Set (MMS) program.

CECOM RDEC's Intelligence and

Information Warfare Directorate provides technical management and support to the Program Manager,

Intelligence and Effects and Program

Manager, Night Vision/Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target

Acquisition for the IMETS and the

MMS-Profiler. A brief description of

each of these programs shows

CECOM's involvement. 

Meteorological Measuring Set

(MMS), AN/TMQ-41. The MMS is an

upper air meteorological data collection, processing and dissemination system that provides data to the field

artillery and target acquisition users.

The system is a non-developmental

item (NDI). All Army AC and RC

units are equipped with the MMS. In

FY 1995, MMS production and fieldings started and continued through

FY 2003.

The Meteorological Measuring SetProfiler (MMS-P) AN/TMQ-52

System. The Meteorological Measurement Set-Profiler (MMS-P) is a major

improvement over the MMS. The

AN/TMQ-52 design will support the

new generation of artillery weapons.

The system will include frequent and

update meteorological messages that

enhances the meteorological validity

over a larger battle space than the current equipment. The MMS-P uses the

MM5 mesoscale meteorological model

to assimilate data from a variety of

sources to provide the best meteorological messages to the user in a timely fashion. The system receives data

from ground-based sources, radiosondes, and satellite-based sources, (such

as boundary data from communications satellites and, in a future program

block improvement, polar orbiting

meteorological satellites) through

onboard satellite receiving capability.

The data affects the operation of the

mesoscale meteorological model and

for post-processing of the data in order

to generate meteorological messages.

Finally, an operator interface, in conjunction with the message generation

and formatting software, facilitates

communication between the MMS-P

and all other systems that require interoperability with the MMS-P. Four

System Design and Development

(SDD) models have been produced.

Developmental testing has been successfully completed and Low Rate

Initial Production (LRIP) was

approved in FY 2003. The Profiler

system is currently scheduled for

Initial Operational Test and Evaluation

(IOTE) early FY 2005.

The Intelligence and Information

Warfare Directorate (I2WD),

Communications Electronics Research

& Development Engineering Center

(CERDEC), Research Development &

Engineering (RD&E) Command provides technical and acquisition support

to the Program Manager, Intelligence

& Effects to develop the Integrated

Meteorological System (IMETS).

The IMETS comes in two basic configurations known as the Vehicle

Mounted (AN/TMQ-40B/C/D) and

Light (AN/GMQ-36/36A/36B) groups.

The IMETS Vehicle Mounted group

has three variants, all with the same

function that differ only by vehicle,

shelter, and/or generator. The new

IMETS-Light (AN/GMQ-36A) will

replace the AN/GMQ-36 versions now

in production with a CHS-3 cost savings window base computer. The

AN/GMQ-36B is a Command Post

version that has all the functionality of

the AN/GMQ-36A.

Either the IMETS Vehicle Mounted

(Figure 3-DOD-25) or the IMETS

Light configuration can provide the

weather component of the Intelligence

Electronic Warfare (IEW) sub-element

of the Army Battle Command System

(ABCS). The IMETS provides commanders at all echelons with an automated tactical weather system that

receives, processes and disseminates

weather observations, forecasts, battlefield visualization, and weather effects

decision aids to all Army Tactical

Command and Control System

(ATCCS) Battlefield Functional Areas

(BFAs). IMETS can receive weather

information from (either United States,

European, Japanese, or Chinese civilian) geostationary satellites depending

on the system's location, civilian forecast centers, the AFWA, artillery meteorological sections and remote sensors.

IMETS processes and collates forecasts, observations, and climatological
126 DOD SECTION 3

data to produce timely and accurate

weather products tailored to the specific war-fighters needs. Significant

weather and environmental support to

war-fighters are the weather applications such as the automated tactical

decision aids and contours client.

These weather products display the

impact of the weather on current or

planned operations for both friendly

and enemy forces. Weather products

can also be overlaid on the Common

Operational Picture (COP) or Common

Tactical Picture (CTP) accessed by

using a browser, and is executed on the

users terminal through weather client

implementations.

Currently Fiscal Year 2004 efforts

are focused on: (1) ABCS 6.4 Good

Enough (GE) and Intra-Army

Interoperability Certification testing at

the Central Test Support Facility

(CTSF) and (2) Completion of the documentation and fabricating fabrication

of the AN/TMQ-40C/D systems. Both

of these systems, along with the

AN/GMQ-36 are on schedule to field

to units.

FY 2005 efforts will focus on the

ABCS 6.4 GE Operational Assessment

and fielding and the IMETS-Light

(AN/GMQ-36A/B) Materiel Release

and fielding decision, along with finishing the fielding efforts for the

AN/GMQ-361 to gaining units including the Stryker Brigade.

AN/TMQ-40B/C/D systems will also

be fielded during FY 2005.

AMC's Field Assistance in Science

& Technology (FAST) Activity provides rapid, successful technical solutions for the Warfighter. With Science

Advisors (senior AMC scientists and

engineers) located at Major

Commands throughout the world,

AMC-FAST provides support in a

wide range of technical areas. Recently

FAST was called upon to assist the

82d Airborne Division Artillery with

identifying lightweight meteorological

observation equipment. Currently, the

82d Division Artillery has units dispersed around the globe in support of

the Global War on Terrorism. During

the initial stages of deployment, these

units had no MET measuring capabilities due to the gross weight and cumbersome size of their MET observation

equipment.

AMC-FAST responded to this

request by identifying a lightweight

system called the Miniature

Meteorological Observation Kit (MiniMet Kit). The Mini-Met Kit is stored

in a hard-shell case for protection during air drop, vehicular transport or

storage. The three components of this

kit may be removed from the hardshell case and carried in one soldier's

Alice Pack for dismounted operations.

The kit consists of three pieces of

equipment that allow ARYMET teams

to observe current weather at the firing

site and to launch and track pilot balloons (PIBALS) in support of artillery

fires.

In their initial evaluation, the MET

section of the 82d Division Artillery

compared results obtained using the

Mini-MET kit with those obtained

from their older MET equipment.

Results were reported to be in good

agreement, with less than a 3 percent

discrepancy in all readings taken. This

new, lightweight weather observation

kit will provide the 82nd Division

Artillery with a MET capability that is

parachute deployable by one trooper.

In this manner, the Mini-MET Kit can

truly be viewed as a force multiplier.

As the XVIII Airborne Corps Field

Artillery has a similar need for accurate, lightweight, man-portable meteorological equipment, AMC-FAST

provided funding for 9 Mini-MET systems total; 4 to be evaluated in the field

by the 82d Division Artillery and 5 by

the XVIII ABN Corps Field Artillery.

This evaluation is currently underway.

It is anticipated that this AMC-FAST

project will yield enhanced capabilities

for the 82d Airborne Division Artillery

and the XVIII Airborne Corps Field

Artillery by providing them with a

robust means to rapidly and accurately

acquire the MET data needed to

increase early entry artillery accuracy

and lethality.

Figure 3-DOD-25. IMETS Mounted Configuration. (United States Army Photo)
SECTION 3 DOD 127

Army Test and Evaluation Command

(ATEC)

The Developmental Test Command

(DTC), a subordinate command of

United States Army Test and

Evaluation Command (ATEC), is

responsible for providing operational

meteorological support to eight Army

ranges and test sites. Under responsibilities established in AR 115-10/

AFJI 15-157, the DTC meteorological

units provide meteorological data collection and analysis, consultation, and

weather forecast and warning services

to support Army and other DOD

research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) activities at the eight

Army installations. Funding for the

Army RDT&E Meteorology Program

under Program Element 665702 is sufficient to maintain the basic meteorological support infrastructure at Army

RDT&E ranges and sites. However,

instrumentation needed to support

unique or test-specific requirements

generally must be funded by test sponsors. Because the majority of the operational meteorological support workforce at the Army ranges is or soon will

be eligible to retire, the Program

implemented a 2-year intern program

in FY 2004 to recruit and train entrylevel scientists and technicians to

ensure continuity in specialized meteorological support services as senior

employees begin to retire. 

The Army RDT&E Meteorology

Program has entered into a multi-year

working relationship with the National

Center for Atmospheric Research

(NCAR) to enhance "range scale"

(mesoscale to microscale) forecast and

analysis technology. The principal

product of this relationship is the FourDimensional Weather (4DWX)

System, which consists of a central

data archival/retrieval system for all

range and external meteorological and

model data, a high-resolution

mesoscale meteorological model, and

a variety of user-configurable displays.

The mesoscale meteorological model,

version 5 (MM5) is used operationally

in both predictive and analysis modes

to provide detailed information about

the past, current, and forecast structure

of the atmosphere over the Army's test

ranges. Recent 4DWX enhancements

include the implementation of MM5-

based real-time four-dimensional data

assimilation (RT-FDDA) capabilities

at the major Army test ranges and

development of Global Meteorology

on Demand (GMOD), a globally-relocatable mesoscale modeling system to

support Army RDT&E (including

DTC Virtual Proving Ground modeling and simulation) at locations other

than the Army ranges. Output from

mesoscale model forecasts and analyses is used as meteorological input to

atmospheric dispersion, noise propagation, ballistic trajectory, and other

range applications models to simulate

many tests and their associated

impacts. The 4DWX system contributes to improved test planning and

conduct, selection of more representative locations for test sensors, inclusion of realistic atmospheric effects in

virtual testing, and forensic analyses of

meteorological effects on test results.

The Chief of the Meteorology

Division at Dugway Proving Ground's

West Desert Test Center serves as the

Program Manager for Meteorological

Support to Army RDT&E. Under

Program Element 0605384, the

Division's Modeling and Assessment

Branch also provides the following

specialized services: (1) technical

assistance to the DTC operational

meteorological teams/branches; (2)

atmospheric model verification and

validation, including algorithm evaluation and the generation of validation

data sets; (3) chemical/biological (CB)

threat analysis studies for the Joint

Contact Point (Project DO49); and

(4) technical assistance to the DOD CB

defense modeling community in the

development of new CB hazard assessment models. Division employees also

serve on various national and international committees addressing issues

related to meteorological measurements, atmospheric dispersion modeling, and CB hazard assessment.

Army Medical Research and Materiel

Command

The United States Army Research

Institute of Environmental Medicine

(USARIEM) conducts basic and

applied research on the effects of heat,

cold, high terrestrial altitude and nutritional status on the health and performance of individual soldiers and combat

crews operating Army systems.

Applied research in thermal physiology and biophysical modeling is

directed towards improving soldier

performance and minimizing health

risks in climatic extremes. The sensitivity of the soldier to local weather

parameters (primarily ambient temperature, dew point, wind speed, and solar

radiation) defines an operational envelope for unimpaired human performance. The overall goals of USARIEM

weather-related research programs are

to develop methods to effectively monitor and, where possible, extend the

operational envelope for both training

and operational scenarios.

Weather-related research efforts

include the development and validation of automated methods to integrate

thermal strain prediction models with

real-time weather information

resources relevant to dismounted

infantry operations. Temporal and spatial scales of interest are meters to

kilometers and minutes to several

days. USARIEM is working with the

Army Research Laboratory Battlefield

Environment Division to implement

thermal models on Personal Digital

Assistant (PDA) devices and the

Integrated Meteorological System

(IMETS).

As part of the warfighter physiological status-monitoring (WPSM) program, USARIEM is investigating

methodologies needed to integrate

real-time local environmental data and

warfighter physiological data with pre-
128 DOD SECTION 3

dictive model processes. The effective

fusion of these two real-time data

streams will enable near term environmental strain and performance status

predictions for individual warfighters.

Research efforts in this area are intended to address capabilities identified in

the Operational Requirements

Document (ORD) for the Army's Land

Warrior program.

The availability of ground level

environmental data at high temporal

and spatial resolution continues to pose

a significant challenge for predictive

model development and validation. A

Phase II Small Business Innovative

Research (SBIR) project to design and

build a very small wireless networkcapable, expendable, micro-environmental sensing system has been

expanded to consider new sensor

applications, and the feasibility of onbody environmental sensors is also

being investigated.
AVIATION WEATHER MANAGEMENT

The Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) has the leadership role for the

national aviation weather program. As

the leader, FAA must conduct continual coordination for identifying needs

for aviation weather

products and services

among the Air Traffic

Control organization,

the aviation industry

components and among

service providers. The

coordination process

leads to opportunities to

leverage efforts and

resources to form partnerships in finding

solutions in response to

the needs. The National

Aviation Weather Program Strategic Plan and

the National Aviation

Weather Initiatives are

two documents that formalize the coordination and partnerships. These documents comprise the

first two tiers in a four tier system

where funding and development of the

solution are the third and fourth tiers,

respectively.

The FAA focus for Aviation Weather

has been to promote safety first, then

improve the National Airspace System

(NAS) efficiency to reduce delays and

re-routing due to weather. The Administrator has launched The Safer Skies,

A Focused Safety Agenda which

includes a government/industry Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST)

and Joint Safety Analysis Teams

(JSAT) to evaluate accident investigation reports to analyze the series of

events leading to the accidents, and get

a sense of what and how decisions

were made in the course of the flight.

Other teams, Joint Safety Implementation Teams (JSIT), using the findings

of the JSAT, develop and recommend

intervention actions to eliminate or

reduce the causes or improve the

actions in the decision

making process. Training about the decision

making process has

been identified by

these teams as a major

part of the solution.

Aviation weather

information, which is

complex and highly

perishable, is most useful when customers

can successfully plan,

act, and respond in

ways that avoid accidents and delays. FAA

will improve the ability

of the aviation community to use weather

information through a review and

upgrade of airmen training and certification programs. FAA will also

develop multi-media training tools to

support aviation safety and training

initiatives. Funding has been

requested to further this effort.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION WEATHER PROGRAMS

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the responsibility to provide national and international

leadership in the optimization of aviation weather systems and services. This leadership is manifested

through the management of a safe and efficient National Airspace System (NAS) and the encouragement of consensus and cooperation between government agencies, private weather services, research

organizations, and user groups involved in aviation weather. The Federal Highway Administration

(FHWA) manages programs that provide federal financial and technical assistance to the states, promotes safe commercial motor vehicle operations, and provides access to and within national forests and parks, native

American reservations, and other public lands. Safety, efficiency, and mobility in these programs requires the incorporation and use of timely weather and road condition information. The Federal Railroad Administration promotes and

regulates railroad safety. It also sponsors research to enhance railroad safety and efficiency, including support for

improved collection, dissemination, and application of weather information to reduce hazards to train operations and to

railroad employees. The Federal Transit Administration’s mission is to ensure personal mobility and America's economic and community vitality by supporting high quality public transportation through leadership, technical assistance

and financial resources.

FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

SECTION 3 DOT 129
130 DOT SECTION 3

Weather has been made a standard

consideration in all aspects of the operation and architecture of the NAS.

Aviation weather needs from the field,

federal agencies, and industry are

entered into the FAA Acquisition Management System (AMS) through which

all new programs and changes to the

NAS are processed, evaluated, validated, engineered to a requirement,

and acquired. The new Air Traffic

Organization (ATO) Service components have the responsibility to guide

all initiatives through the AMS process

and organization, including the Integrated Requirements Team, the Integrated Product Team, and the Decision

Boards; to assure the development

continues to meet the original need;

and to guide the activity should the

need evolve. Improvements to the

AMS process facilitate non-system or

non-hardware (e.g., service improvement or rule changes) solutions receiving the same rigorous evaluation and

validation.

FAA has established an Aviation

Weather Technology Transfer (AWTT)

Board which addresses the key issues

involved in bringing new capabilities

in to the operational system. At key

decision points, the board evaluates the

maturity of the capability, its integration into the existing system, its supportability in the field, and the training

program to prepare the users.

FAA relies on other federal agencies

for weather services and support, especially NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) and its Aviation Weather

Center. Requirements validated by

FAA for domestic and International

Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)

users are coordinated annually and

supported through the agencies and

contractual arrangements. All agencies' efforts in the area of aviation

weather services are coordinated for

use by everyone, as appropriate. Aviation weather technology includes the

ways in which aviation weather information is gathered, assimilated, analyzed, forecast, disseminated, and displayed. The development of this technology also demands that consideration be given to human factors and the

application of decision-making tools.

FAA will support the use of technology

to improve aviation weather information through integration of federal and

non-federal resources. Automation,

improved product and graphics generation, and dissemination to the cockpit

are being developed as early opportunities to achieve these goals.

AVIATION WEATHER ACQUISITION AND SERVICES

One of the primary functions of the

FAA ATO organization is the development and management of requirements

for the FAA Capital Investment Plan.

Recent projects in the AMS have

focused on weather detection and display systems for pilots and air traffic

controllers to ensure that aircraft avoid

hazardous weather. The following

paragraphs describe many of those

projects.

The Integrated Terminal Weather

System (ITWS) will integrate weather

data from sensors in the terminal area

to provide and display compatible,

consistent, real-time products that

require no additional interpretation by

controllers or pilots--the primary users.

ITWS will use data from automated

surface observing systems, Doppler

weather radars, and low-level windshear alert systems, together with

NWS data and products, to forecast

aviation impact parameters, such as

convection, visibility, icing, and wind

shear, including down bursts.

ITWS has been installed at 10 locations, of which 9 are in service. Installations are planned at 11 additional

locations by FY 2009. The current

long range program has been limited to

22 ITWSs, which will cover about 30

high-activity airports that are supported by terminal doppler weather

radars (Figure 3-DOT-1).

The Corridor Integrated Weather

System (CIWS) is a demonstration

program which will take some of the

Figure 3-DOT-1. The ITWS integrates data from FAA and NWS sensors and

systems to provide a suite of weather informational products.
SECTION 3 DOT 131

capabilities of the integration software

of the ITWS and expand it to cover

larger areas beyond the terminals.

‘Corridor' in the name implies the area

covered will be an elongated zone

which may include a number of terminal areas. The demonstration area

extends from Boston southward over

New York as far as Washington and

westward over Pittsburgh and Cleveland connecting to Chicago. The

CIWS is expected to integrate information from the WSR-88D and ASR-9

radars and other observing sensors in

the corridor to produce weather information products focused on current

conditions affecting enroute traffic in

the corridor. It will produce two hour

forecasts with trend information and a

high-resolution echo tops product.

There will be twelve sites, including

six in the ARTCCs and one at the

Command Center.

The Terminal Doppler Weather

Radar (TDWR) program consisted of

the development, procurement, and

installation of a new terminal weather

radar based on Doppler techniques.

TDWR units have been located to optimize the detection of microbursts and

wind shear at selected airports with

high operations and frequent weather

impacts.. In addition, TDWR has the

capability to identify areas of precipitation and the locations of thunderstorms (Figure 3-DOT-2).

Microbursts are weather phenomenon that consist of an intense down

draft with strong surface wind outflows. They are particularly dangerous

to aircraft that are landing or departing.

TDWR scanning strategy is optimized

for microburst/wind shear detection.

The radars are located near the airport

operating areas in a way to best scan

the runways as well as the approach

and departure corridors. The displays

are located in the tower cab and Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON).

The FAA has 47 TDWR systems. A

software upgrade which integrates

TDWR and low level wind shear alert

system data has been integrated at 9

high traffic/high weather threat airports.

The Low Level Wind Shear Alert

System (LLWAS) provides pilots with

information on hazardous wind shear

events that create unsafe conditions for

aircraft landings and departures. A

total of 110 airports have LLWAS. The

101 basic systems, LLWAS-2, consists

of a wind sensor located at center field

and 5 to 32 sensors near the periphery

of the airport (Figure 3-DOT-3). A

computer processes the sensor information and displays wind shear conditions on a ribbon display to air traffic

controllers for relay to pilots. The

improvement phase, referred to as

LLWAS-Relocation/Sustainment

(LLWAS-RS), will include expanding

the network of sensors, developing

improved algorithms for the expanded

network, and installing new information/alert displays. The new information/alert displays will enable controllers to provide pilots with head

wind gain or loss estimates for specific

runways. These improvements will

increase the system's wind shear detecFigure 3-DOT-2. FAA Terminal Doppler Weather Radars provide supplementary wind and precipitation conditions for airport approach and departure. 
132 DOT SECTION 3

tion capability and reduce false alarms.

Improvements are also expected to

reduce maintenance costs.

LLWAS–RS deployment was completed this year.

The Weather Systems Processor

(WSP) program provides an additional

radar channel for processing weather

returns and de-alias returns from the

other weather channel in the ASR-9.

The displays of convective weather,

microbursts, and other wind shear

events will provide information for

controllers and pilots to help aircraft

avoid those hazards. A prototype has

been demonstrated and limited production has commenced. All 34 units are

in place and operating except a few

which will complete operational testing by the end of CY 2004. Also, there

is one mobile system in operation.

The Terminal Weather Information

for Pilots (TWIP) program provides

text message descriptions and character graphic depiction of potentially

hazardous weather conditions in the

terminal area of airports with installed

TDWR systems. TWIP provides pilots

with information on regions of moderate to heavy precipitation, gust fronts,

and microburst conditions. The TWIP

capability is incorporated in the

TDWR software application. Text

messages or character graphic depiction are received in the cockpit through

the Aeronautical Radio Incorporated

(ARINC) Communication Addressing

and Reporting System (ACARS) data

link system. A total of 47 TDWR systems are deployed, installed and commissioned. The TWIP capability is

operational at most of the TDWR sites.

Activation of TWIP at the remaining

sites is dependent on availability of

National Airspace Data Interchange

Network (NADIN) II connectivity and

program funding.

The Flight Information System (FIS)

Policy was implemented during FY

2001, through Government-Industry

Project Performance Agreements (GIPPAs) with two industry FIS data link

service providers (ARNAV Systems,

Inc. and Honeywell International,

Inc.). Through the government-industry agreements, the FAA provides

access to four VHF channels (136.425-

136.500) in the aeronautical spectrum

while industry provides the ground

infrastructure for data link broadcasts

of text and graphic FIS products at no

cost to the FAA. Under the agreements, a basic set of text products are

provided at no cost to the pilot users

while industry may charge subscription fees for other value-added text and

graphic products.

The FAA FIS data link program will

continue development of necessary

standards and guidelines supporting

inter-operability and operational use.

In addition, the need and feasibility for

establishing a national capability for

collecting and distributing electronic

pilot reports (E-PIREPs) from low-altitude general aviation operations is

being evaluated. A concept analysis

has been initiated to define the need for

transition and evolution of FIS data

link services supporting the future

NAS architecture including Free Flight

operations.

SURFACE WEATHER OBSERVING PROGRAM

Aviation Weather Observations. The

FAA has taken responsibility for aviation weather observations at many airports across the country. To provide

the appropriate observational service,

FAA is using automated systems,

human observers, or a mix of the two.

It has been necessary to place airports

into four categories according to the

number of operations per year, any

special designation for the airport, and

the frequency at which the airport is

impacted by weather.

• Level D service is provided by a

stand-alone Automated Weather

Observing System (AWOS) or an

Automated Surface Observing System

(ASOS). In the future, Level D service

may be available at as many as 400 airports.

• Level C service includes the

ASOS/AWOS plus augmentation by

tower personnel. Tower personnel will

add to the report observations of thunderstorms, tornadoes, hail, tower visibility, volcanic ash, and virga when the

tower is in operation. Level C service

includes about 250 airports.

• Level B service includes all of the

weather parameters in Level C service

plus Runway Visual Range (RVR) and Figure 3-DOT-3. LLWAS equipment on an airfield.
SECTION 3 DOT 133

the following parameters when

observed--freezing drizzle versus

freezing rain, ice pellets, snow depth,

snow increasing rapidly remarks, thunderstorm/lightning location remarks,

and remarks for observed significant

weather not at the station. Level B

service includes about 57 airports.

• Level A service includes all of the

weather parameters in Level B service

plus 10-minute averaged RVR for

long-line transmission or additional

visibility increments of 1/8, 1/16, and 0

miles. Level A service includes about

78 airports.

Automated surface aviation weather

observing systems will provide aviation-critical weather data (e.g., wind

velocity, temperature, dew point,

altimeter setting, cloud height, visibility, and precipitation type, occurrence,

and accumulation) through the use of

automated sensors. These systems will

process data and allow dissemination

of output information to a variety of

users, including pilots via computergenerated voice.

Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOS) was deployed at over

200 airports to provide the basic aviation weather observation information

directly to pilots approaching the airport. The majority of these systems

were installed at various non-towered

airports to enhance aviation safety and

the efficiency of flight operations by

providing real-time weather data at airports that previously did not have local

weather reporting capability. These

systems are built to the standards of

quality necessary to ensure the safety

of flight operations and are available

off-the-shelf as a commercial product.

There remain 198 AWOSs.

Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS). In a joint program with

NOAA NWS, the FAA has procured,

installed, and operates ASOS at the

remaining airports where the FAA provides observations and at additional

non-towered airports without weather

reporting capabilities in accord with

the levels of service listed above. Production is complete and the FAA has

569 systems installed and commissioned.

Aviation Weather Sensor Systems

(AWSS), a new program, will have

capability similar to ASOS. However,

the AWSS is a direct acquisition of the

FAA--not from the joint ASOS program. Full production is underway

with completion expected in CY 2005

The AWOS/ASOS Data Acquisition

System (ADAS) functions primarily as

a message concentrator and will collect

weather messages from AWOS and

ASOS equipment located at controlled

and non-controlled airports within

each ARTCC’s area of responsibility.

ADAS will distribute minute-byminute AWOS/ASOS data to the

Weather and Radar Processor (WARP)

within the air route traffic control center in which it is installed. ADAS will

also distribute AWOS data to the

NADIN which will in-turn forward the

data to the Weather Message Switching

Center Replacement (WMSCR) for

further distribution. Field implementation of ADAS is complete.

The Automated Lightning Detection

and Reporting System (ALDARS) is a

system adjunct to the ADAS.

ALDARS collects lightning stroke

information from the National Lightning Detection Network (NLDN) and

disseminates this data to AWOS/ASOS

for the reporting of

thunderstorms in

METAR or SPECI

observations, when

appropriate. The

use of ALDARS

eliminates the need

for manual reporting of thunderstorms and

increases the number of airports

where thunderstorms will be

reported.

ALDARS is completely operational.

Stand Alone Weather Sensors

(SAWS) are back-up systems for some

AWOS/ASOS sensors at locations

where no other back-up capability is

available. SAWS have been demonstrated and full delivery is nearly completed. The full deployment will comprise up to 307 units.

ASOS Controller Equipment- Information Display System (ACE-IDS) is

an electronic cabinet of displays available to the controller at his work station. It provides graphics of information which comes from many sources

that originate at many nodes of an

LAN which includes, but is not limited

to, weather related parameters, observations, and other automated weather

products. This system is designed

specifically to support operations in

high-volume, high-tempo Terminal

Radar Approach Control (TRACON)

facilities. They are installed at the following TRACONs: Atlanta, Boston,

Dallas-Fort Worth, Honolulu, Northern

California (San Francisco), Oklahoma

City, Potomac (Wash. D.C.), Saint

Louis, and Seattle (Figure 3-DOT-4).

AWOS for Non-Federal Applications. Under the Airport Improvement

Program (AIP), state and other local

jurisdictions may justify to the FAA

their need to enhance their airport

facilities. Upon approval, these

improvements may be partially funded

Figure 3-DOT-4. ASOS Controller Equipment- Information

Display System (ACE-IDS)
134 DOT SECTION 3

by the FAA using resources from the

Airway Trust Fund. The local airport

authority becomes responsible for the

remainder of the funding necessary to

complete the procurement, as well as

the funding for the regular maintenance. The addition of an AWOS is

one of the improvements that qualify

for AIP funding assistance. Systems

that qualify must meet certain standards which are defined in an FAA

Advisory Circular on Non-Federal

Automated Weather Observing Systems.

There are more than 275 non-Federal

AWOS locations. Some of these are

capable of reporting through a geostationary communications satellite;

many more will acquire that capability

during CY 2004. These observations

will be entered into the national network for use in support of the NAS and

the national weather network.

The New Generation Runway Visual

Range (NRVR) program provides for a

new generation RVR sub-element of

the NAS. The NRVR provides runway

visual range information to controllers

and users in support of precision landing and take-off operations. The

NRVR incorporates state-of-the-art

sensor technology and embedded

remote maintenance monitoring. The

FAA plans to procure and install these

NRVR systems at all new qualifying

locations. FAA plans also call for the

replacement of many existing RVRs in

the NAS inventory.

The NRVR provides for near realtime measurement of visibility conditions along a runway (up to three

points along the runway can be measured-- touchdown, midpoint, and rollout) and reports these visibility conditions to air traffic controllers and other

users. The system automatically collects and formats data from three sensors: a visibility sensor--forward scatter meters will replace the transmissometers currently in use; a runway

light intensity monitor for both runway

edges and center-line lights; and an

ambient light sensor which controls

computer calculations using a day or

night algorithm. The data processing

unit calculates runway visibility products and distributes the products to

controllers and other users.

NRVR visibility sensors will be

deployed at 308 airports. Delivery of

the NRVR sensors began in November

1998. To date, 208 units have been

delivered and 172 have been commissioned. At the current levels of annual

funding, the program will have completed the deployment by the end of

CY 2009.

The FAA is procuring the Operational and Supportability Implementation System (OASIS) to improve

weather products, flight information,

aeronautical data collection, analysis,

and timeliness of dissemination,

thereby enhancing the safety and efficiency of the NAS. OASIS will

replace the Model-1 Full Capacity

Flight Service Automation System,

which includes the Aviation Weather

Processor. OASIS will also integrate

the Interim Graphic Weather Display

System functions and include several

automated flight service data handling

capabilities. This configuration will be

an initial deployment capability. Operational testing began in 1999; 16 systems have been deployed from the

original plan of 61. Future enhancements leading to the full capability

deployment will include: interactive

alphanumeric and graphic weather

briefings; direct user access terminal

(DUAT) service functionality; automated special use airspace; and training support. OASIS will support flight

planning, weather briefings, NOTAM

service, search and rescue, and pilot

access terminal services. (Some fielding delays are expected pending the

outcome of an A-76 study currently

underway.)

The Next Generation Weather Radar

(NEXRAD), known operationally as

the Weather Surveillance Radar-1988

Doppler (WSR-88D), is a multiagency program that defined, developed, and implemented the new

weather radar. Field implementation

began in 1990 and was completed in

1996. There are a total of 161 WSR88D systems deployed. The FAA

sponsored 12 systems in Alaska,

Hawaii, and the Caribbean. DOC and

DOD WSR–88Ds provide coverage

over the continental United States.

The FAA emphasized the development of WSR-88D algorithms that take

advantage of the improved detection of

precipitation, wind velocity, and hazardous storms. The FAA also stressed

that these algorithms provide new or

improved aviation-oriented products.

These improvements in detection of

hazardous weather will reduce flight

delays and improve flight planning

services through aviation weather

products related to wind, wind shear,

thunderstorm detection, storm movement prediction, precipitation, hail,

frontal activity, and mesocyclones and

tornadoes. WSR-88D data provided to

ATC through the WARP will increase

aviation safety and fuel efficiency.

In addition, the three funding agencies support the field sites through the

WSR-88D Radar Operations Center

(ROC) at Norman, Oklahoma. The

ROC provides software maintenance,

operational troubleshooting, configuration control, and training. Planned

product improvements include a shift

to an open architecture, new antenna

design, dual polarization, and the

development of more algorithms associated with specific weather events,

such as hurricanes.

The Air Route Surveillance Radar

(ARSR-4) provides the ARTCCs with

accurate multiple weather levels out to

200 nautical miles. The ARSR-4 is the

first enroute radar with the ability to

accurately report targets in weather.

The ARSR-4 can provide weather

information to supplement other

sources. The ARSR-4 is a joint

FAA/USAF funded project. Forty

joint radar sites were installed during

the 1992-1995 period.
SECTION 3 DOT 135

The Weather and Radar Processor

(WARP), has replaced the Meteorologists Weather Processor to provide aviation weather information to the Center Weather Service Units. WARP

automatically creates unique, regional,

WSR-88D-based, mosaic products,

and sends these products, along with

other time-critical weather information, to controllers through the Display

System Replacement and to pilots via

the FIS. WARP greatly enhances the

dissemination of aviation weather

information throughout the NAS.

WARP underwent operational testing

and evaluation in early FY 2003 and is

operationally fielded at the 21

ARTCCs and the command center.

Others systems used for enhancements, testing, and software support

bring the total to 25 systems.

The Direct User Access Terminal

(DUAT) system has been operational

since February 1990. Through DUAT,

pilots are able to access weather and

NOTAMs and also file their IFR

and/or VFR flight plans from their

home or office personal computer.

This system will eventually be

absorbed into OASIS.

AVIATION WEATHER COMMUNICATIONS

It should be noted that FAA communications systems are multi-purpose.

Weather data, products, and information constitute a large percentage of the

traffic, as do NOTAMS, flight plans,

and other aeronautical data.

The National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN II) packetswitched network was implemented to

serve as the primary inter-facility data

communications resource for a large

community of NAS computer subsystems. The network design incorporates

packet-switching technology into a

highly connected backbone network

which provides extremely high data

flow capacity and efficiency to the network users. NADIN II consists of

operational switching nodes at two network control centers (and nodes) at the

National Aviation Weather Processing

Facilities at Salt Lake City, Utah, and

Atlanta, Georgia. It will interface

directly to Weather Message Switching

Center Replacement (WMSCR),

WARP, ADAS, TMS, and the Consolidated NOTAM System. NADIN II

also may be used as the intra-facility

communications system between these

(collocated) users during transition to

end state.

The Weather Message Switching

Center Replacement (WMSCR)

replaced the Weather Message Switching Center (WMSC) located at FAA's

National Communications Center

(NATCOM), Kansas City, Missouri,

with state-of-the-art technology.

WMSCR performs all current alphanumeric weather data handling functions

of the WMSC and the storage and distribution of NOTAMs. WMSCR will

rely on NADIN for a majority of its

communications support. The system

will accommodate graphic data and

function as the primary FAA gateway

to the NWS' National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)--the principalsource of NWS products for the NAS.

To provide for geographic redundancy, the system has nodes in the

NADIN buildings in Atlanta, Georgia,

and Salt Lake City, Utah. Each node

supports approximately one-half of the

United States and will continuously

exchange information with the other to

ensure that both nodes have identical

national databases. In the event of a

nodal failure, the surviving node will

assume responsibility for dissemination to the entire network.

Currently, specifications for an

upgrade or replacement for the

WMSCR are being formulated. The

needs, when developed, will be entered

into the AMS process for validation and

acceptance into the NAS architecture.

The Flight Information Service (FIS)

is a new communication system to provide weather information to pilots in

the cockpit. FIS is a partnership program among the government and private industry with the government providing the base information and the

bandwidth while the private companies

provide the broadcast and value-added

products. New products are screened

for technical suitability and value to the

pilots. Two companies have demonstrated

preliminary products and capability.

The Worldwide Aeronautical Forecast System (WAFS) is a three geosynchronous satellite-based system for

collecting and disseminating aviation

weather information and products

to/from domestic or international aviation offices as well as in-flight aircraft.

The information and products are prepared at designated offices in Washington, District of Columbia, and Bracknell, United Kingdom. The United

States portion of WAFS is a joint project of the FAA and NWS to meet

requirements of the ICAO member

states. FAA funds the satellite communications link and the NWS provides

the information/product stream.

Two of the three satellites are funded

by the United States. The first is

located over the western Atlantic with

a footprint covering western Africa and

Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, South

America, and North America (except

for the West Coast and Alaska). The

second United States-funded satellite

is positioned over the Pacific and covers the United States West Coast and

Alaska, the Pacific Ocean, and the

Pacific rim of Asia. The third satellite,

operated by the United Kingdom, is

stationed over the western Indian

Ocean and covers the remaining areas

of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The data

available via WAFS include flight

winds, observations, forecasts, SIGMETs, AIRMETs, and hazards to aviation including volcanic ash clouds.

AVIATION WEATHER RESEARCH

PROGRAM

Working closely with the Integrated

Product Team for Weather/Flight Services Systems, ATO sponsors research
136 DOT SECTION 3

on specific aviation weather phenomena which are hazardous and/or limiting to aircraft operations. This

research is performed through collaborative efforts with the National Science

Foundation (NSF), NOAA, NASA,

and the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology's Lincoln Laboratory. A

primary concern is the effective management of limited research, engineering, and development resources and

their direct application to known deficiencies and technical enhancements.

Improved Aircraft Icing Forecasts.

The purpose of this initiative is to

establish a comprehensive multi-year

research and development effort to

improve aircraft icing forecasts as

described in the FAA Aircraft Icing

Plan. The objectives of this plan are to

develop: (1) an icing severity index,

(2) icing guidance models, and (3) a

better comprehension of synoptic and

mesoscale conditions leading to inflight icing. The result of this effort

will be an improved icing forecasting

capability that provides pilots with

more timely and accurate forecasts of

actual and expected icing areas by

location, altitude, duration, and potential severity.

Convective Weather Forecasting.

The purpose of this research effort is to

establish more comprehensive knowledge of the conditions that trigger convection and thunderstorms and, in general, the dynamics of a thunderstorm's

life cycle. The program will lead to

enhanced capability to predict growth,

areal extent, movement, and type of

precipitation from thunderstorms.

Gaining this forecast capability will

allow better use of the airspace and

help aircraft avoid areas with hazardous convective conditions (Figure

3-DOT-5).

Model Development and Enhancement. This research is aimed at developing or improving models to better

characterize the state of the atmosphere and stratosphere in general, with

specific emphasis on the flight operation environment specifically, with the

aim to provide superior aviation

weather products to end users.

Aviation Forecast and Quality Assurance.

The Product Development Team

(PDT) for the Aviation Gridded Forecast System is working on the development of products for dissemination on

the Aviation Digital Data System.

New algorithms will be developed to

present hazardous conditions in the

flight operations environment. They

will develop a process for automated

production of the SIGMETs. There

will be capability to assure quality and

a real-time verification process.

Weather Support to Deicing Decision

Making (WSDDM). This system

develops products that provide forecasts on the intensity of snow and

freezing rain, and how or when these

phenomena will change in the short

term. This information is needed by

airport management to determine when

an aircraft will require deicing before

take-off. The water content of snow is

believed to be an important factor. The

output product is designed for nonmeteorological aviation users and has

Figure 3-DOT-5. 4-panel Low Level Significant Weather graphics are produced by the Aviation Weather Center

and accessible to pilots from their web site. (Source: AWC web site)
SECTION 3 DOT 137

been demonstrated at three different

airports. Development work has been

completed and FAA has made this system available to airport authorities who

wish to use it as a decision aid.

Ceiling and Visibility. A development and demonstration is underway

in the San Francisco Bay area. The

project will have unique sensors and

the data will be used in new algorithms

to develop improved forecasts. The

project will continue over a number

years as the progress is evaluated. This

project is a joint effort with other federal agencies and some of the effort is

performed by academic researchers.

Turbulence. In addition to the work

being performed by the JSAT under the

Safer Skies Program, a PDT has a

seven year plan to evaluate wind shear

and turbulence around and on the

approaches to Juneau, Alaska. Also,

they are working with certain airlines

to install instruments on aircraft with

the capability to measure turbulence as

sensed on the aircraft and report this

information automatically. The data

will be used to verify forecasts and to

develop a standard index to report and

warn for turbulence.

NEXRAD Enhancements. Work is

continuing to develop improvements to

the existing products and to develop

new graphic products. Hardware and

software pre-planned product

improvements are are being pursued.

This is a joint effort among DOT,

DOD, and DOC.

Space Weather. Space Weather is of

concern to the FAA in several areas of

operations and regulations. Ionospheric scintillation creates certain

errors in the Global Positioning System that affects navigation, especially

for instrument approaches to airports.

In programs for Wide Area and Local

Area Augmentation Systems (WAAS

and LAAS) corrections for these

effects are being developed. This will

be a very important advance to promote the Free Flight management of

the National Airspace System. In addition, the effects on the ionosphere have

grave impacts on the use of high frequency

communications which are essential in air

traffic control of flights across the oceans

and over the poles of the Earth.

FAA is embarking in research at the

Civil Aeromedical Institute in Oklahoma City, OK, on the radiation effects

on fetuses of newly pregnant women

when flying at high altitudes and at

high latitudes where exposure is

increased. The exposure of flight

crews to this hazard will be measured

to determine if repeated flights in this

regime may accumulate deleterious

results.

FAA planners for commercial space

operations are working on the weather

requirements to set criteria for space

launch activities. The commercial

launch sites in California, Florida and

Virginia are co-located with government sites where the weather support is

available. However, at the new commercial space launch site in Kodiak,

Alaska new criteria must be developed

and established for standard procedures.

SECTION 3 DOT 139

FEDERAL PROGRAMS IN SUPPORT OF ROAD WEATHER

The Road Weather Management

Program. The Federal Highway

Administration (FHWA) coordinates a

number of activities aimed at improving safety, mobility, productivity, environmental quality and national security

on the nation's highways during

weather threats. These activities

include identification of weather

impacts on the roadway environment,

traffic flow and operational decisions

to build the case for road weather management programs. It also includes

research to advance the state of the art

concerning road weather management

tools, as well as documentation and

promotion of the best practices. The

FHWA acts through federal aid and

national coordination since it does not

operate the highway system or environmental observing systems that

serve state and local highway operators, private road users, and the traveling public. FHWA activities are conducted as partnerships with other public agencies, private sector vendors,

and universities.

Weather cuts across many FHWA

and related surface transportation

modal activities. Coordination is centered in the Road Weather Management Program within the FHWA’s

Office of Transportation Operations.

Road weather management activities

are closely associated with the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Program as the framework for advanced

road weather information and decision

support. Road weather management

activities are dependent on, but distinct

from, general meteorological activities

in two respects. In terms of the geophysical focus, weather must be

related to what happens near, on, and

under roads as it affects pavements,

structures, vehicles, traffic flow and

ITS components. In terms of operations, the focus is on the decisions that

use road weather information as one of

many resources. This has led to a decision-centered approach for defining

the program, with road weather information on one side and effective strategies to deal with adverse weather on

the other. Program activities are then

organized primarily by the ITS subsystems and operational decisions: maintenance management, traffic management and traveler information, and to a

lesser extent, emergency management.

However, a common information

infrastructure, or "infostructure",

within ITS includes road weather

observations. Environmental observing systems are emerging as contributors to the national weather information system that underlies all general

weather products. The FHWA expects

that as road weather products advance,

there will be a need for greater integration of observation, prediction and science in the total land/air/sea/space

environment.

FHWA road weather management

activities extend back to the 1970s, but

the current coordinating program

began in 1997. Over the entire period,

the FHWA has achieved practical successes, as well as an expanded vision

for the road weather management

agenda. There is no question that

among modes, surface transportation

has the most lives, time, and commercial value at risk due to weather

threats. The challenge has been to

identify distinct and useful roles with

respect to weather within FHWA jurisdiction. The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation

Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA) obligates funds through FY 2009, to

improve the performance and durability of our nation's roads and improve

highway operations. This will enable a

more vigorous attack on the many

issues associated with Road Weather

Management Program activities,

which are described in the following

sections.

The Strategic Highway Research

Program. The United States Congress

established the Strategic Highway

Research Program (SHRP) under the

1987 Surface Transportation Act. This

Act obligated $150 million over five

years to improve the performance and

durability of our nation's roads. The

SHRP program examined a number of

different subject areas, but the one

most closely related to road weather

management was winter maintenance

within the highway operations subject

area. The research program was active

until 1993, producing specifications,

testing methods, equipment, and

advanced technologies. Following the

success of the five-year effort, the

FHWA coordinated a national program

to work with state and local highway

agencies to implement and evaluate the

products. This phase, entitled SHRP

Implementation, was funded through

the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA).

This Act obligated $108 million over

six years, and was administered jointly

by the FHWA, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the

Transportation Research Board (TRB).

The SHRP developed products

encompassed various technology

areas. Reports on Anti-icing and Road

Weather Information Systems (RWIS),

published by 1993, were instrumental

in raising awareness of the state of the

art among highway operating agencies.

Anti-icing techniques, requiring chemical application to pavements before

snow fall and ice formation, have had a

vital synergy with predictive road

weather information, and have in turn

led to demand for improved observation and prediction through RWIS.

The SHRP Implementation web site

(www4.trb.org/trb/dive.nsf/web/shrp_i

mplementation) contains information

on the SHRP Lead States Program,

SHRP products under evaluation and

implementation, and SHRP in general.

An important adjunct to the SHRP

FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATION
140 DOT SECTION 3

anti-icing studies was a follow-up field

evaluation of techniques, conducted

under the FHWA Test and Evaluation

Program. Results appeared in 1998 as

Project No. 28: Anti-Icing Technology.

After two and a half years of study

and outreach, the TRB Committee for

a Future Strategic Highway Research

Program (F-SHRP) published "Special

Report 260: Strategic Highway

Research: Saving Lives, Reducing

Congestion, Improving Quality of

Life." Based upon the strategic direction in this report, the AASHTO Board

of Directors passed a resolution in

December 2001, supporting F-SHRP

and authorizing an NCHRP project to

develop detailed research plans.

FHWA matched the NCHRP funds and

work began on the planning phase of

F-SHRP in January 2002. In September 2003, TRB released the report entitled, "Providing a Highway System

with Reliable Travel Times," that outlines the Reliability Research Program

to address the root causes of unreliable

travel times. These causes include

adverse weather, traffic incidents,

work zones, and special events. By

concentrating research resources over

the six-year life span of F-SHRP significant gains can be made in effectively dealing with these causes of

unreliable travel times. Implementation of the F-SHRP plan is dependent

upon its level of support within

SAFETEA.

The Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Program. The synergy of

road treatment strategies and RWIS

development continues in the FHWA

Road Weather Management Program

and is strongly allied with the ITS Program. The ISTEA of 1991 established

the ITS Program, including its research

program that funds most of the FHWA

Road Weather Management Program

activities. The ITS Program in the

United States is overseen by the ITS Joint

Program Office (ITS-JPO), which is a

cross-modal program hosted in the FHWA.

While ITS initially focused on automated highways and metropolitan

areas, a rural focus was initiated in

1996. The rural ITS Program identified maintenance and weather as additional ITS focus areas, and recognized

the need for total integration of the

maintenance, traffic, and emergency

management functions across wide

areas and between states. Maintenance

management continued the SHRP heritage as the main focus of road weather

concerns when the Road Weather Management Program was formed, initially

as the FHWA’s "Weather Team", in

1997. However, the long-term agenda

continues to integrate road weather

across management functions, across

modes, and for traveler information.

The research activities below are

within this overall weather-across-ITS

strategy. Intelligent Transportation

Systems are also the logical informational interfaces with the national

weather information system.

The ITS-JPO has also begun the

Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII)

initiative to explore the potential of

cooperative vehicle highway systems

to provide real-time information, and

support advanced safety applications.

VII could be a significant enabler of

weather-related applications, such as

vehicle-based sensors that gather environmental data system-wide. This

resulting communications network

would allow weather, traffic and other

information to be transmitted to transportation operators providing a real

time view of the conditions on every

major road within the transportation

network. Such concepts will be

explored as the initiative matures.

National ITS Architecture and ITS

Standards. Intelligent Transportation

Systems use open system principles: a

uniformly defined modular structure of

information processes with known protocols for exchanging information

between modules. The information

may be free or provided for a price, but

all ITS applications should be able to

get the information needed to support

transportation management decisions.

The National ITS Architecture is the

modular structure and was one of the

earliest tasks of the ITS program. Several equipment interfaces are standardized under the category of National

Transportation Communications for

ITS Protocol (NTCIP) standards, and

there are associated data object and

message set standards. The ITS program is promoting use of the National

ITS Architecture and its communication standards as requirements for federal aid to ITS deployments by highway operating agencies.

Road weather information was not

an original focus of the National ITS

Architecture, and was defined as flowing from external sources with their

own architecture and standards. As

road weather gains significance in the

ITS, and as the interfaces between road

weather and atmospheric weather need

to be coordinated, the National ITS

Architecture is being adapted. Version

2 of the Environmental Sensor Station

(ESS) standard will soon be approved.

This NTCIP standard specifies data

objects and formats between ESS in

the field and central processors for the

data (e.g., RWIS and traffic management systems). The ESS standard will

be effective in the integration of different vendors' systems, and create a uniform format for ingest of road weather

data into general environmental

observing systems. Another standard

that is being considered, but is not yet

developed, is the Weather Report Message Set for ESS. If deemed necessary,

this standard will define message sets

for exchange of environmental data

between management centers.

Following the rural ITS program

definition of weather and maintenance

as ITS application areas, the National

ITS Architecture has developed the

Maintenance and Construction Operations (MCO) user service. User services are the application-oriented

requirements clusters for the architecture. Detailing of the architecture with
SECTION 3 DOT 141

respect to road weather and its maintenance applications, through the MCO

user service requirements, was completed in 2002. Among the changes is

definition of a Road Weather Information Service terminator in addition to

the existing Weather Service terminator. Together, these represent the division of responsibility for road weather

information, provided largely by private vendors and based on ESS observations, and weather generally. The

interfaces between the two types of

services is then defined as being outside of the ITS. However, the FHWA

maintains an interest in specific

improvement in environmental information that will enhance road weather

prediction, such as higher resolution

numerical modeling and better characterization of precipitation at the road

surface. The interface from the ESS,

which is within the ITS, to both the

road weather and general weather services, is also of interest to FHWA.

It is hoped that further detailing of

weather applications in traffic and

emergency management will lead to

further architecture developments in

the years ahead. As the interface

between the ITS and the evolving

national weather information system

becomes closer, the National ITS

Architecture and standards will provide a technical basis for integration

and promotion of open system principles. Version 5.0 of the National ITS

Architecture can be found at

http://itsarch.iteris.com/itsarch/. Modifications made to the National ITS

Architecture for Version 5.0 include a

new Security Monitoring subsystem,

support for 511 traveler information

systems, and updated mappings to the

ITS standards activities such as efforts

in 5.9 GHz dedicated short-range communications that will be vital to VII

activities.

Environmental Observing Systems.

Surveillance is fundamental to the ITS.

The state of roadways and traffic is

basic to almost all ITS applications.

The capabilities to observe traffic, road

infrastructure, and the roadway environment are becoming a necessary part

of roadway facilities themselves. The

information-generating part of road

infrastructure on the National Highway

System is dubbed the "infostructure".

In 2003, the Road Weather Management Program defined the fundamental

data needs of the Weather Response

component of the "infostructure" to

estimate an aggregate cost for deployment of ESS in 61 metropolitan areas

across the nation.

Road weather sensing, through the

ESS, will be a part of the "infostructure". However, there are many

aspects to environmental observation,

and some substitutability between

methods of observation. The authorizing legislation is focused on metropolitan ITS. Clearly, the need for ESS

observations extends further. ESS can

be a vital part of homeland security, as

well as more prosaic hazardous material (HAZMAT) spill and environmental management. Many types of fixed,

mobile, and remote platforms can

observe relevant environmental conditions (i.e., atmospheric, pavement,

subsurface, and water level conditions). But all observations ultimately

support predictive information for

decision support applications. In the

case of pavement temperature, the critical predictor for anti-icing strategies,

heat balance models relying on highresolution numerical modeling of insolation and radiation can substitute for

ESS observations. However, the use of

ESS for localized hazard warning versus general area prediction, and the

value of reinitializing heat balance

models by ESS data require some level

of deployment. Over 2,000 ESS’s are

owned by state transportation agencies

in the United States as shown in Figure

3-DOT-6. More than 1,400 of these

ESS’s are field components of Road

Weather Information Systems.

Remote ESS are generally fixed,

with in situ sensors for the usual

atmospheric weather variables as well

as pavement and subsurface temperature probes, and pavement chemical

concentration or pavement freezing

point. In some cases, and potentially

over all road mileage, mobile environmental sensors are deployed to observe

weather and pavement conditions from

vehicles. An important application of

the mobile, and potentially remote,

sensing is thermal mapping of road

segments. This technique provides

snapshots of complete pavement temperature profiles and is used both to

select fixed ESS sites and to spatially

predict temperatures based on time

series predictors at the fixed stations.

There are future possibilities for

remote sensing of "skin temperature"

on roads and adjacent surfaces, by

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

and satellites (especially the next generation polar orbiters). This could

make a limited deployment of fixed

sensors more effective and improve the

initialization of heat balance models.

At present, ESS data across the

United States are neither integrated nor

open. The data are not centrally collected, in standard format, available to

all users, nor uniformly used. However, regional and national efforts are

paving the way for both openness and

integration. Mesoscale environmental

monitoring networks (or mesonets)

within states and across states, usually

under university auspices, are integrating the data across many observing

systems. The data are used in some

cases to validate weather forecasts and

analyses, and in the rare case, for

ingest into numerical weather prediction models. The new FHWA initiative, Clarus, aims to reduce the impact

of adverse weather for all road and

transit users and operators by designing and demonstrating an integrated

road weather observational network,

and establishing a partnership to facilitate deployment of a nationwide surface transportation weather observing

system. The long term vision of
142 DOT SECTION 3

Clarus is that all data from State DOT

ESS will be routinely collected, quality-controlled, and translated into an

open standard format. Quality assurance algorithms and direct feedback to

state points of contact will improve

agency support of the ESS system.

Access to robust and calibrated data

will be provided through an open Internet data portal.

In order to address all these observing issues, the FHWA is participating

in multiple OFCM bodies, including

the new WIST Working Group, as well

as the Committee on Integrated

Observing Systems (CIOS). FHWA is

also participating in NOAA efforts to

explore the modernization of the cooperative observer network.

The focus of the FHWA remains on

the application of ESS observations to

road weather management decisionmaking. From 2001 to 2003, the

FHWA sponsored five research projects, under the Cooperative Program

for Meteorological Education and Training

(COMET) (www.comet.ucar.edu), which

became the first to add state DOTs to

the traditional partnerships of NWS

forecast offices and universities. The

COMET projects in Iowa, Nevada,

New York, Pennsylvania, and Utah

fostered sharing of environmental data

and facilitated advanced meteorological modeling to enhance road weather

forecasts. Ultimately, these efforts will

contribute to the development of decision support tools for winter maintenance managers, traffic managers, and

the traveling public. Lessons learned

from these projects can help all state

DOTs better manage RWIS networks

and achieve maximum utility from

RWIS data.

In order to enhance observation

capabilities and define requirements

for road weather observing systems,

the Road Weather Management Program is working with transportation

and weather partners to develop siting

guidelines for ESS in the roadway

environment. The ESS Siting Guidelines project will produce consistent

guidance for state and local agency

personnel responsible for procuring,

siting, operating, and maintaining ESS

along the nation's roads.

Decision Support. Under previous

efforts within the program, road

weather users identified information

requirements as the trinity of "relevance, accuracy and timeliness".

Those criteria were selected primarily

in reaction to synoptic scale forecasts

that were: (1) not relevant to climatically localized road hazards; (2) not

Figure 3-DOT-6. Census of deployed Environment Sensor Station (ESS) units. An ESS is a site measuring atmospheric,

pavement and/or water level conditions. Many state transportation agencies deploy ESS as field components of Road

Weather Information Systems (RWIS). As shown on the map, there are over 2,000 ESS owned by state transportation

agencies. Most of these stations (i.e., 1,442) are part of RWIS and used to support road maintenance activities. The

other environmental sensor stations are deployed for various applications including flood monitoring and aviation.
SECTION 3 DOT 143

accurate at such points or at the long

time horizons predicted for; and (3) not

delivered more than the twice daily nor

at frequent prediction times in

between. Improvements in that situation, including National Centers for

Environmental Prediction (NCEP)

models at mesoscale resolution

updated as frequent as hourly, are significant. The related improvements in

regional and private numerical prediction are also helpful, but only partially

driven by road weather information

requirements. This is what motivated

the attention away from environmental

prediction to the fusion and presentation of existing information, whatever

its quality. This was in response to the

evident problem that almost all

weather-related transportation decisions do not rely on one information

source, nor on atmospheric information alone. The gap most in need of

attention--between increasingly good

and plentiful information, and operational decision-making--is the area of

FHWA decision support research and

development.

Decision support is where road

weather data tailoring occurs. Each

operational decision is specific to a

type of road weather management

strategy, a particular place and time,

and the characteristics of the decision

maker (their expertise, their location,

their information processing equipment). Road weather management

strategies mitigate weather impacts by

advising motorists of prevailing and

predicted conditions (e.g., traveler

information), controlling traffic flow

and roadway capacity (e.g., weatherresponsive traffic signal timing, road

closure), and/or treating roads to minimize or eliminate weather threats (e.g.,

anti-icing/deicing). Such strategies are

consistent with the FHWA’s Office of

Transportation Operations’ vision of

creating 21st century highway operations using 21st century technology. In

most cases, projects to support decisions about weather threats have also

made some contribution to the environmental prediction inputs. The following are several important projects

undertaken with FHWA support.

In 1999 and 2000, decision support

requirements, first generally and then

specifically for winter road maintenance, were studied in the Surface

Transportation Weather Decision Support Requirements (STWDSR) project.

This project used weather threat scenarios to identify specific decisions

made in winter road maintenance, their

timing, and the expected confidence of

the decisions at various time horizons.

General requirements for emergency

managers, traffic managers, and road

users were also defined. The

STWDSR project became an important

contributor to the OFCM's Weather

Information for Surface Transportation

(WIST) needs analysis, the National

ITS Architecture modifications, and to

Maintenance Decision Support System

(MDSS) prototype project.

In 2004 and 2005, the Missouri DOT

will prototype a Weather Response

System to support transportation system operations. The Weather

Response System will use products

from the NWS, the private sector, state

agencies and other sources to create

and demonstrate decision support

tools. These tools will be tailored for

different types of users including traffic managers, transit agencies, maintenance supervisors, and law enforcement agencies.

Support for Maintenance Managers.

The Maintenance Decision Support

System (MDSS) project is a multi-year

effort to prototype and field test decision support components for winter

maintenance managers that began in

late 1999. The MDSS was designed by

a consortium of national laboratories,

based on the requirements articulated

by maintenance managers, to help the

managers improve roadway level of

service during winter weather, and to

minimize road treatment costs (by

optimizing use of labor, materials, and

equipment). This data management

tool has advanced weather prediction

and road condition prediction capabilities, including air and pavement temperatures, precipitation start/stop

times, precipitation types and accumulation amounts. These predictions are

fused with customized winter road

maintenance rules of practice to generate route-specific treatment recommendations (i.e., strategy, timing, and

material application rates).

From February to April 2003, the

first functional MDSS prototype was

demonstrated and evaluated in three

Iowa DOT maintenance garages. The

main display of the demonstration prototype, shown in Figure 3-DOT-7,

includes predicted weather and road

conditions, a weather parameter selection menu, a map of roads and weather

alerts, as well as forecast animation

controls. Lessons learned from the

preliminary demonstration were used

to enhance the prototype prior to a second demonstration from December

2003 to March 2004. Version 2.0 of

the MDSS software was released in the

fall of 2003. Lessons learned and recommendations for additional enhancements were documented and presented

at the MDSS Stakeholder Meeting in

July 2004. The focus of this project

has changed from prototype development to proactive outreach, deployment assistance, technology transfer,

and target enhancements for other surface transportation sectors. In concert

with the July 2004 stakeholder meeting, there was a technology transfer

workshop for private sector companies

that are interested in integrating one or

more MDSS prototype modules into

their product lines. Such efforts support the FHWA deployment strategy,

which consists of the private sector

building end-to-end products based on

the core MDSS prototype functionality. These products will be procured

by public agencies (e.g., state DOTs),

enabling both the private and public

sectors to benefit from millions of dol-
144 DOT SECTION 3

lars of high-risk research. Version 3.0

of the MDSS software, used in the second demonstration, will be made available during the fall of 2004. Additional information on the MDSS project can be found at www.rap.ucar.edu/projects/rdwx_mdss.

Support for Traffic Managers. A

2001 survey of 21 traffic management

centers found that nearly 90 percent

received some general weather information and over 60 percent used customized weather data. In January

2003, the Road Weather Management

Program released the "WeatherResponsive Traffic Management Concept of Operations" highlighting the

weather-related needs of managers

responsible for freeway and arterial

route operations. This draft concept of

operations addressed road weather data

collection, assessment of weather

impacts on roadway networks, operational strategies to control traffic and

advise motorists during adverse

weather, and research needs. It serves

as the basis for future work to develop,

test, and evaluate these mitigation

strategies. The need for a systematic

approach to the significant challenge

of managing traffic during inclement

weather is discussed in the "Research

Needs for Weather-Responsive Traffic

Management" paper presented at the

TRB Annual Meeting in January 2004. 

Empirical studies of traffic flow and

driver behavior during inclement

weather are planned in 2004 and 2005.

The Road Weather Management Program will work with FHWA's Office of

Operations Research and Development

to collect empirical traffic, weather,

and pavement condition data on both

freeway and arterial routes to quantify

weather impacts on driver behavior,

traffic speeds, traffic volumes, and

travel time delay. This research is

needed to understand changes in traffic

flow and driver behavior under adverse

weather conditions. Once these factors

are better understood, the information

can be incorporated into traffic simulation models and, ultimately, end user

tools. In 2005 the FHWA expects to

disseminate study results to increase

awareness of weather impacts among

operating agencies, to sponsor and

encourage others to conduct subsequent studies on weather and traffic

modeling, and to promote deployment

of weather-responsive traffic management strategies and tools.

511-The National Traveler Information Telephone Number. Just as dialing 911 is the standard way to access

emergency aid over the telephone, it

was thought that a standardized number for travel information would be

beneficial. Accordingly, a broad coalition of ITS interests, with technical

support of the FCC docket submission

by the FHWA, achieved in 2001 the

allocation of a national 511 traveler

information telephone number. In

2002, the FHWA sponsored a number

of grants to plan for state deployment

of 511 services, and guidelines were

issued on service content (Figure 3-

DOT-8). A survey on traveler information conducted by ITS America indicated that weather and road condition

information was highest in demand by

travelers. Therefore, road weather

information should be a key component of 511 services. The means of

delivering information through 511 are

still being developed, including ways

to serve peak demands for emergency

evacuation information, as part of the

homeland defense or other threat capability.

In June 2003, The 511 Deployment

Coalition released a Deployment

Assistance Report, "Weather and Environmental Content on 511 Systems," to

recommend basic content and provide

for consistency in 511 systems as they

are deployed across the country. Since

these systems are in their infancy, gaps

exist in defining the types of road

weather information travelers desire,

appropriate data formats, and the frequency and detail needed for travelers

to make safe and effective decisions.

The Road Weather Management Program participates in 511 Deployment

conferences to help establish road

weather data requirements and close

Figure 3-DOT-7 . Schematic of FHWA’s Maintenance Decision Support System.
SECTION 3 DOT 145

these gaps. The 511 program also must

find ways to complement NOAA

Weather Radio broadcasts (and eventually an all-hazards warning system),

and use the NWS official watches and

warning information. The 511 capability is just one more way in which ITS

is becoming a significant dissemination means for road weather information. As of August 2004, 511 services

were operational in 20 states and available to almost 57 million Americans. 511

services are expected to be launched in

five more states during 2004.

Weather Impacts on Roadway

Safety, Mobility & Productivity.

While the costs of weather to surface

transportation are immense, it has been

difficult to quantify specific costs or

the benefits (as avoidable costs)

through better information to support

better weather response and mitigation

strategies. It is likely that the costs to

mobility, in terms of delay due to

weather, are the largest component.

Initial estimates of the economic

impact of weather-related delay on

trucks in the 20 major metropolitan

areas most affected by adverse weather

is on the order of $2 billion per year.

Some delays are due to well-defined

closure events. These are due to

storms that swamp reasonable treatment activities, but could benefit from

more authoritative travel-demand management techniques. This leaves the

much more prevalent, and subtle,

delays due to more minor threats, like

rain, residual snow, or visibility

impairments that are difficult to treat in

any way. Traffic management strategies to address them must be based on

very good, dynamic predictions of

weather, pavement and traffic conditions. However, it is clear from traffic

flow theory that with heavy volumes,

as in metropolitan areas at peak times,

very small changes in effective capacity (as may be due to a change in road

friction) or very small changes in traffic volume can have large delay

effects.

The FHWA is sponsoring closer

analysis of delay effects due to

weather, work zones and incidents.

Paucity of good traffic and road

weather data sets has hindered the

analysis, but in 2001 and 2002, analyses were conducted for Seattle, Washington and Washington, DC metropolitan areas. These analyses combined

surface weather observations with traffic speed data, both empirical and

modeled. The results have been consistent in showing about a 12 percent

increase in travel time averaged over a

wide range of weather events. A second analysis of delay effects in Washington, DC was conducted with

archived Doppler radar data for more

precise and more dynamic inference of

road weather conditions. Analysis

results indicated that during peak periods travel time increases by roughly 24

percent when precipitation is present.

Better understanding of weather-traffic

interactions can, in turn, lead to a

stronger attack on delays through traffic management practices, including

speed management, access control

(e.g., road closure), motorist warning

systems, and weather-responsive signal timing.

Road Weather Management Program

Outreach and Training. The Road

Weather Management Program web

site (www.fhwa.dot.gov/weather/) was

redesigned in January 2004. The site

contains information on program

objectives and initiatives, weather

impacts, benefits of road weather management strategies, technologies to

help mitigate weather impacts, training, upcoming events, and other

resources such as a listing of over 200

road weather related publications.

Among the most useful resources on

the site are the best practices of maintenance managers, traffic managers

and emergency managers in response

to various weather threats. This

resource contains 30 case studies of

systems in 21 states that improve roadway operations in adverse weather, as

well as an overview of environmental

sensor technologies. Each case study

has six sections including a general

description of the system, system comFigure 3-DOT-8 . 511 National Traveler Information Telephone Number

Deployment.
146 DOT SECTION 3

ponents, operational procedures,

resulting transportation outcomes (i.e.,

improved safety, mobility and/or productivity), implementation issues, as

well as contact information and references. Examples of successful road

weather management strategies follow.

A maintenance division of the Montana DOT employed mobile anti-icing

and de-icing strategies to proactively

respond to winter storms. When performance was compared to a maintenance division that used reactive treatment after storms, it was found that

average treatment costs (i.e., labor,

materials, and equipment costs) for the

proactive division were 37 percent

lower. Additionally, a higher level of

service was achieved on road sections

treated by the proactive division resulting in safety and mobility improvements.

On a 19-mile section of Interstate 75

in Tennessee, a fog detection and

warning system collects data from two

ESS, eight fog detectors, and 44 vehicle speed detectors to predict and

detect conditions conducive to fog formation. When established threshold

criteria are met, traffic managers may

select pre-programmed dynamic message sign (DMS) messages, prerecorded highway advisory radio

(HAR) broadcasts, and/or alter speed

limits via variable speed limit signs

based upon response scenarios proposed by the system (Figure 3-DOT-9).

When visibility is less than 240 feet,

the worst-case scenario, the Highway

Patrol activates eight automatic ramp

gates to close the affected interstate

section and detour traffic to US Route

11. Between 1973, when the interstate

opened, and 1994; there were over 200

crashes, 130 injuries and 18 fatalities

on this highway section. Since the fog

detection and warning system began

operating in 1994, safety has been significantly improved and no fog-related

accidents have occurred.

During the Hurricane Floyd evacuation in 1999, traffic and emergency

managers with South Carolina DOT

and the State Highway Emergency

Patrol had not agreed on a lane reversal plan for Interstate 26 prior to hurricane landfall. As a result, there was

severe congestion on this route with a

maximum per lane volume of roughly

1,400 vehicles per hour. Managers

quickly developed a lane reversal plan

for reentry operations. Portable DMS

and HAR transmitters were deployed

to alert travelers of closures and alternate routes, and westbound lanes were

reversed. Maximum volumes during

reentry exceeded 2,000 vehicles per

hour per lane-a 43 percent increase

over evacuation volumes. The use of

lane reversal and traveler information

techniques improved mobility by significantly increasing roadway capacity.

A key outreach activity is the annual

Eastern Winter Road Maintenance

Symposium & Equipment Expo (or

Snow Expo). Over the past nine years,

FHWA has partnered with state agencies to host the Snow Expo, which provides a forum for sharing information

and technologies used to counter the

effects of winter weather. More information on the Snow Expo can be found

at www.easternsnowexpo.org.

The FHWA sponsors training programs and conducts outreach to promote Road Weather Management Program products and activities. In 2005,

a one-day training course on the "Fundamentals of Road Weather Management" will be offered through the

National Highway Institute (NHI

course No. 137030A). The objectives

of the course are to provide background on the fundamentals of meteorology as they pertain to RWIS, to provide participants with the skills to recognize crosscutting weather impacts

on roadway operations, to explain the

range of effective and open RWIS

solutions for various management

practices, and to identify the technical

and institutional challenges of implementing RWIS. Additional course

details will be listed on National Highway Institute web site when course

content and schedules are finalized.

The computer-based AntiIcing/RWIS Training Program is a

comprehensive, interactive training

program for winter operations that was

jointly developed by AASHTO, with

support from FHWA and Aurora (a

pooled-fund research program). The

training program covers an introduction to anti-icing and winter maintenance, winter road maintenance management, winter roadway hazards and

principles of overcoming them,

weather basics, weather and roadway

monitoring for anti-icing decisions,

computer access to road weather information, and anti-icing practice in winter maintenance operations.

Figure 3-DOT-9. Dynamic message signs enable drivers to take precautionary

actions based on weather conditions.
SECTION 3 DOT 147

The Federal Railroad Administration

(FRA) supports improving the collection, dissemination, and application of

weather data to enhance railroad safety

through the Intelligent Weather Systems project, as part of the Intelligent

Railroad Systems and Railroad System

Safety research programs. These programs address safety issues for freight,

commuter, intercity passenger, and

high-speed passenger railroads.

Intelligent Weather Systems for railroad operations consist of networks of

local weather sensors and instrumentation - both wayside and on-board locomotives - combined with national,

regional, and local forecast data to alert

train control centers, train crews, and

maintenance crews of actual or potential hazardous weather conditions.

Intelligent weather systems will provide advance warning of weather

caused hazards such as flooding; track

washouts; snow, mud, or rock slides;

high winds; fog; high track-buckling

risk; or other conditions which require

adjustment to train operations or action

by maintenance personnel (Figure 3-

DOT-10).

Weather data collected on the railroad could also be forwarded to

weather forecasting centers to augment

their other data sources. The installation

of the digital data link communications network is a prerequisite for this activity.

FRA intends to examine ways that

weather data can be collected on railroads and moved to forecasters, and

ways that forecasts and current

weather information can be moved to

railroad control centers and train and

maintenance crews to avoid potential

accident situations. This is one of the

partnership initiatives identified in the

National Science and Technology

Council's National Transportation

Technology Plan.

Weather Forecasting Enhanced by

Nationwide Differential Global Positioning Systems. Nationwide Differential Global Positioning System

(NDGPS) is a system of reference stations that monitors GPS and broadcast

corrections, which can be used by the

GPS receiver to improve the accuracy,

integrity and availability of the GPS

position. NDGPS is used in a myriad

of applications including: maritime

navigation, positive train control, precision farming, dredging, graphic

information systems and surveying.

The Forecast Systems Libratory (FSL)

in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) developed a unique system that very accurately measures the amount of water

vapor in the atmosphere by taking

advantage of the dual-frequencies, reference station receivers at the NDGPS

sites and a suite of weather sensors

added to each reference station. The

weather sensors, circled in the photo to

the right, measure temperature, relative

humidity and barometric pressure. The

GPS satellites broadcast on two frequencies, L1 and L2. The FSL uses

these two frequencies to correct for the

ionospheric delay that is caused by

changes in the refractive index associated with the concentration of free

electrons in the upper atmosphere. The

ionospheric delay is usually about 6-10

times greater than the signal delay

caused by the neutral, non-electrically

conducting, atmosphere. FSL can than

estimate the signal delays caused by

the neutral atmosphere by comparing

the errors in position between sites that

are over 500 km apart by viewing the

same satellites for about 30 minutes.

Most of the delay in the troposphere

(lower atmosphere) is caused by the

mass of the atmosphere, or the hydrostatic component, while the induced

dipole moment of the water vapor molecules in the atmosphere is responsible

for the rest of the delay.

The FSL can accurately estimate the

hydrostatic delay by putting a pressure

sensor at the NDGPS site and mapping

the surface pressure into signal delay

using well-known physical relationFEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION

Figure 3-DOT-10. Track washed out

by flood waters from Hurricane

Alberto.
148 DOT SECTION 3

ships. Subtracting the hydrostatic

delay from the observed tropospheric

delay gives the wet signal delay caused

by water vapor in the atmosphere.

Then, the wet delay is mapped into the

quantity of water vapor responsible for

the delay using information about the

temperature of the atmosphere and the

characteristics of the air at microwave

frequencies.

This results in the equivalent height

of a column of water that would form

if all of the water vapor in the atmosphere were to fall or precipitate. The

total precipitable water vapor content

is a direct measure of how much raw

material is in the atmosphere in the

form of rain, snow, hail and clouds. As

the water vapor changes state from gas

to liquid to solid and back again, it

releases or absorbs energy associated

with the latent heat bound-up in the

molecules. This energy release and

absorption is the primary energy

responsible for weather. The reason

that water vapor is hard to measure is

that it only manifests itself when it

changes state, and most instruments

that can observe water in its gaseous

state do not work well under all

weather conditions. However,

NDGPS works remarkably well in all

weather conditions.

Water vapor is the most important

component of weather and the least

observed. NDGPS reference stations

provide real-time continuous water

vapor measurements to NOAA's

weather models, greatly improving the

short-term weather forecasts, especially during periods of active weather

such as fronts, hurricanes or tornadoes.

The Federal Railroad Administration

will continue to work with NOAA's

Forecast Systems Laboratory and the

Coast Guard to install weather sensor

systems at all of the NDGPS reference

stations as they are built.

Nationwide Surface Transportation

Weather Observing and Forecasting

System - Clarus. The weather products available today through both public and private resources are insufficient to meet the demands of transportation operations. Nearly all

weather forecasting today is based on

observations of the atmosphere. However, the greatest impact of weather

events on the safety and mobility of

travelers and freight occurs on the surface. Many state DOT's have invested

in road weather information systems

that provide their agencies with observations on conditions at the surface

and just below the surface. Other entities such as agriculture, water districts,

electric utilities, and railroads also

operate weather observation stations.

FRA is developing a partnership with

Federal Highways Administration

(FHWA), state DOT's, NOAA and others to establish a nationwide road

weather observation network known as

Clarus. The goal of the Clarus project is to tie this mosaic of private and

public observation stations into a cohesive weather forecasting system that is

specifically focused on surface conditions.
SECTION 3 DOT 149

The Federal Transit Administration's

(FTA) mission is to "provide leadership, technical assistance and financial

resources for safe, technologically

advanced public transportation which

enhances all citizens' mobility and

accessibility, improves America's communities and natural environment, and

strengthens the national economy."

FTA's vision for public transportation is clearly making it the transportation mode of choice in America. Public transportation in America can set

the standard for "world-class" transportation service, where thriving communities grow with public transportation and access is provided for everyone to fully participate in American

life. Through the more than $7 billion

annual assistance to the nation's transportation system, FTA maintains the

Federal commitment to public transportation.

Daily, transit systems safely and efficiently move millions of people,

reducing congestion, facilitating economic development, and connecting

people to their jobs and communities.

When combined with state and local

funding, FTA's assistance promotes

sustainable community development,

while addressing critical safety and

security issues.

Several major initiatives are underway to achieve make vision reality,

including: designing and delivering an

assistance program for the multibillion

dollar-effort to support the lower Manhattan Recovery project; implementing

strategies to annually increase transit

ridership; and creating a national portfolio of security products and services

for transit systems.

Buses form the backbone of our

nation's transit systems. About 58 percent of all transit users take the bus,

and even in many cities with extensive

rail systems, more people ride the bus

than take the train (Figure 3-DOT-11).

One hundred gallons of fuel can be

saved each year for every person riding the bus instead of driving. The

savings by rail riders are even greater.

In this context, FTA assists in providing an energy efficient means of transporting people, thereby, reducing

emissions caused by transportation and

lessening the Nation's dependence on

fossil fuels, including foreign oil (Figure 3-DOT-12).

The United States Department of

Transportation has a variety of

research development and demonstration programs and initiatives that are

targeted at reducing the emissions and

improving the efficiency of vehicles

including trucks, buses, marine vessels, airport support equipment, and

other specialty vehicles. One of FTA's

newest initiatives will also look at

enhancing research in these and other

areas, as a means to support increased

annual transit ridership, increased

readiness, and more effective program

planning and oversight that is responsive to industry needs.

FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION

Figure 3-DOT-12. Minnesota Metro

Transit’s Hiawatha Light Rail will

operate along a 12-mile track from

downtown Minneapolis to the southern

suburbs of Bloomington.

Figure 3-DOT-11. A city transit bus

attempts to maintain its schedule

while safely navigating snow-covered

downtown streets.

SECTION 3 USDA 151

METEOROLOGICAL PROGRAMS

Numerous agencies within the

United States Department of

Agriculture (USDA) require a wide

range of high quality weather and climatological data to successfully carry

out their missions. Some of the

diverse applications that require accurate, timely, and comprehensive data

include crop monitoring and weather

impact assessment, agricultural yield

and productivity modeling, natural

resource conservation planning, forest

fire potential monitoring, irrigation

scheduling, water supply information,

reinsurance and compliance programs,

crop disaster assistance and emergency

relief programs, integrated past management, crop yield modeling, and

agricultural research studies. The following is a brief description of agency

weather activities.

Office Of The Chief Economist/World

Agricultural Outlook Board

The World Agricultural Outlook

Board (WAOB), in cooperation with

National Weather Service's (NWS)

Climate Prediction Center, staffs and

supports the Joint Agricultural Weather

Facility (JAWF). Created in 1978 as

an operational unit, JAWF meteorologists work as a team, monitoring global weather conditions and preparing

real-time agricultural assessments

(Figure 3-USDA-1). These assessments keep USDA commodity analysts, the Office of the Chief

Economist (OCE), and the Secretary of

Agriculture and top staff well informed

of worldwide weather related developments and their affects on crops and

livestock. In addition to providing

these routine assessments, WAOB

agricultural meteorologists are frequently requested to prepare special

assessments when adverse or anomalous weather conditions (i.e.,

droughts, heat waves, freezes, floods)

are observed in major crop producing

regions. When integrated with economic analyses and information, these

routine and special crop-weather

assessments provide critical information to decision-makers formulating

crop production forecasts and trade

policy. They also help analysts identify potential agricultural markets for

United States products worldwide.

The JAWF serves as the

Department's focal point for weather

data received from the World

Meteorological Organization's (WMO)

Global Weather Observing System.

These data are used at JAWF and other

USDA agencies for a number of agricultural applications. Another major

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE WEATHER PROGRAMS

The Nation's food and fiber products are a critical resource impacting our domestic and international

economic situation and are essential for ensuring our national security and shaping foreign policy.

Weather is the most important factor influencing the Nation's variability in crop yields and related production. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) monitors global weather and agricultural developments through the Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (JAWF). The JAWF provides critical information to decision-makers formulating crop production forecasts, programs that provide natural disaster assistance to United States farmers and ranchers, emergency relief programs, and trade policy. USDA

operates specialized weather observing networks such as SNOTEL, SCAN, and RAWS that provide vital data and information used to forecast seasonal water supplies in the West, to support national conservation programs, and to monitor

the health of the Nation's forests. USDA conducts supporting research that focuses on understanding the interactions

of weather and climate with plants, animals, forests, and forest ecological systems.

Figure 3-USDA-1. Joint Agricultural Weather Facility Home page.
152 USDA SECTION 3

source of domestic weather and climate data that is used by USDA comes

from the NWS's Cooperative Observer

(COOP) Network. WAOB agricultural

meteorologists merge the weather data

with climatological analyses and global agronomic data, to determine the

weather's impact on crop development

and yield potential. Weekly briefings

are provided to USDA commodity analysts and top staff. The Senate and

House Agricultural Committees periodically request agricultural weather

briefings that focus on the severity and

impact of drought, heat waves, and

excessive wetness in major crop areas

around the Nation.

JAWF's flagship publication is the

Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin

(WWCB). First published in 1872 as

the Weekly Weather Chronicle, the

publication has evolved over the past

132 years into one that provides a vital

source of information on weather, climate, and agricultural developments

worldwide. The publication is a shining example of how two major departments within the federal government

can mutually cooperate, combining

meteorology and agriculture to provide

a service that benefits the economic

well being of the nation

(Figure 3-USDA-2). The WWCB

highlights weekly meteorological and

agricultural developments on a national and international scale, providing

written summaries of weather and climate conditions affecting agriculture,

as well as detailed maps and tables of

agrometeorological information that

are appropriate for the season. The

WWCB is available in electronic form

over the Internet at the following address:

http://www.usda.gov/agency/oce/waob/jawf/.

Drought is the leading hazard in economic losses each year in the United

States. In the summer of 1999, a monitoring tool known as the Drought

Monitor was developed to help assess

drought conditions in the United

States. The Drought Monitor is a collaborative effort between federal and

academic partners, including the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

National Drought Mitigation Center,

the USDA/OCE/WAOB/JAWF, the

NOAA/NWS/CPC, and the

NOAA/NESDIS/ National Climatic

Data Center. Nine lead authors rotate

the responsibility of preparing the

Drought Monitor. Produced on a

weekly basis, the Drought Monitor is a

synthesis of multiple indices, outlooks,

and impacts depicted on a map and in

narrative form. The official Web site

for the Drought Monitor can be found

at http://enso.unl.edu/monitor. The

Drought Monitor is released each

Thursday at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.

Because the Drought Monitor is prepared in a Geographic Information

System, it can be overlaid on agricultural data, to quantify the spatial extent

of drought affecting various agricultural commodities (Figure 3-USDA-3).

USDA's Chief Meteorologist is currently serving as the president of World

Meteorological Organization's

(WMO's) Commission for Agricultural

Meteorology. In this position, he leads

an effort to enhance the flow of more

accurate and timely global agricultural

weather information through an ongoing project utilizing Internet technology. The World AgroMeteorological

Information Service (WAMIS) is a

dedicated web serve that provides

agrometeorological bulletins and advisories issued by WMO Members to the

global agricultural community and also

provide training modules to aid

Members in improving their agrometeorological products. The WAMIS web

site is: http://www.wamis.net/.

The WAOB/JAWF opened a field

office in Stoneville, Mississippi, in

October 1998. The JAWF Mississippi

Field Office is co-located with the

Mississippi State University Delta

Research Extension Center (DREC).

The purpose of the co-located JAWF

and DREC Data Center is to collect,

quality control, and manage agricultural weather data and to make it available to the entire Delta agricultural

community, including extension service, researchers, and farmers. In a

cooperative effort between USDA,

Mississippi State University,

Mississippi State University Extension

Service, and Meteor Communications

Corporation, Inc., a meteor burst communication facility was established on

Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry

Experiment Station's land in

Stoneville. This master communications facility is currently operational,

and is being used to collect weather

data from numerous meteor burst sites

established in the Mississippi Delta

region. Currently, there are seven

meteor burst sites located in the Delta.

Forest Service

Research. Smoke from forest fires

and other biomass burning is a national concern as use of prescribed fire in

ecosystem management increases.

Exposure of fire fighters and citizens

to forest fire smoke, changes in visibility and haze, and smoke contributions

to regional and local air pollution are

of concern. Forest Service Research

(FSR) is the world leader in developing emissions factors from fires and

modeling its dispersion. FSR has conFigure 3-USDA-2. Weekly Weather

and Crop Bulletin is a joint effort of

between the Departments of

Agriculture and Commerce.
SECTION 3 USDA 153

ducted research on impacts of smoke

on human health; relationships

between on-site meteorology and

smoke dispersion; consequences of

smoke to visibility in Clean Air Act

Class I Areas; and potential of smoke

to exacerbate ozone episodes. FSR has

provided basic research to support

states' air regulatory programs and

EPA's development of air quality standards.

Air pollution effects (primarily

ozone) remain a serious threat to forest

health in some parts of the United

States. FSR is describing long-term

effects of air pollution on forests of the

Sierra Nevada, Colorado, and southwestern Wyoming. FSR methods for

assessing air pollution are also being

used in other countries (Czech

Republic, Mexico, Bulgaria).

Nitrogen and sulfur atmospheric deposition have been studied for many

years in eastern forest watersheds, and

FSR has demonstrated that increased

nitrogen deposition can affect water

quality and ecosystem function in

western forests. FSR is investigating

nitrogen deposition in selected forest

ecosystems across the United States to

improve knowledge of potential

nationwide impacts.

National Forest System. The weather program works with the USDA

Drought Commission. It provides key

liaison with the Satellite Telemetry

Interagency Working Group (STIWG)

on satellite services and with the

National Weather Service, DOI, and

the National Wildfire Coordinating

Group (NWCG) on the delivery of fire

weather forecasting, critical for safety

and effectiveness of fire fighting and

for flash flood warnings. The weather

program oversees the standards for

over 600 remote automated weather

stations across the country. These stations form the basis for the assessment

of fire danger, the pre-positioning of

fire fighting resources and the conducting of prescribed fire operations. The

costs include contracts for the delivery

of this information to agency personnel, fire weather forecasters, and state

forestry agencies that use the data in

real-time for critical decisions.

Wildland Fire Management. This

program uses meteorological data and

interpretation skills data for decisionmaking regarding wildland fire management. The Forest Service State and

Private Forestry, Fire and Aviation

Management program operates a network of over 600 remote automated

weather stations (RAWS) in a national

network of 1,500 stations. The network provides real-time information,

which is key in the highly utilized

weather information management sysFigure 3-USDA-3. A monthly update of United States beef cow areas experiencing moderate or more intense drought.
154 USDA SECTION 3

tem (WIMS) used by fire agencies

across the country.

The agency weather program works

with the predictive services unit at the

National Interagency Fire Center

(NIFC) Boise, Idaho, in providing

technical support and oversight to 10

Geographic Coordination Centers and

works closely with the Forest Service

Research and Development staff in the

oversight of the 5 fire consortia for

Advanced Modeling of Meteorology

and Smoke locations. This effort, in

cooperation with NOAA and EPA, will

provide valuable smoke forecasting

and air quality information to fire and

air quality programs.

Natural Resources Conservation

Service

Snow Survey and Water Supply

Forecasting: Monitoring. Snowmelt

provides approximately 80 percent of

the streamflow in the West. The

NRCS, in partnership with other federal and state agencies, operates the

Snow Survey and Water Supply

Forecasting Program (SS&WSF) in 11

western states and Alaska. To accurately forecast seasonal water supplies,

the Program collects critical snow and

climate data from high elevation snow

packs in the mountainous West. The

data collection system includes

922 manual snow courses and over

670 automated SNOTEL (SNOw pack

TELemetry) monitoring stations

throughout the West. These data,

along with information from

575 stream gauges, 310 major reservoirs, and 3,200 climatological observing stations are merged into a hydroclimatic database that is used to produce

real-time watershed analyses and water

supply forecasts. Monitoring is done

in partnership with federal, state, and

local agencies, power companies, irrigation districts, and the Provincial

Government of British Columbia. This

information is the basis for water management decisions under international

treaties with Canada and Mexico.

The SNOTEL automated data collection system plays an important role by

providing near real-time remote

hydrometeorological data required to

evaluate snowpacks, potential instream water supplies and drought risk.

The SNOTEL network can provide

hourly precipitation, temperature, and

snowpack depletion information that

significantly improves flood stage

forecasts and the monitoring of other

life threatening snow-related events.

SNOTEL information enables emergency management agencies to effectively mitigate drought and flood damages. An added benefit during the late

spring and summer is the availability

of hourly climate data, which is used to

monitor and assess forest and wildfire

potential.

Additionally, the SS&WSF Program

supports research to improve monitoring technology, data reliability, data

quality, water supply forecasting, and

water resource modeling.

Water Supply Forecasts. Monthly

water supply forecasts are produced

each year, January through June, in

partnership with the National Weather

Service (NWS). The purposes of water

supply forecasts are to: (1) help irrigators make the most effective use of

limited water supplies for agricultural

production needs; (2) assist the federal

government in administering international water treaties with Canada and

Mexico; (3) assist state governments in

managing intrastate streams and interstate water compacts; (4) assist municipalities in planning the early management of anticipated water supplies and

drought mitigation; (5) operate reservoirs to satisfy multiple use demands

including hydropower generation;

(6) mitigate flood damages in levied

areas and downstream from reservoirs;

and (7) support fish and wildlife management activities associated with

species protection legislation.

During a typical forecast season, the

NRCS SS&WSF Program issues

approximately 11,400 seasonal water

supply forecasts for 711 locations in

12 Western states. The water supply

forecasts are coordinated and peer

reviewed by a number of federal agencies and cooperators to ensure highest

quality and accuracy. Major cooperators include the Bureau of

Reclamation, Corps of Engineers,

Bonneville Power Authority, state and

local agencies, power utilities, irrigation districts, Tribal Nations, the

Provincial Government of British

Columbia, the Yukon Territory and

Mexico. The primary users of this

information include agricultural,

municipal, industrial, hydropower, and

recreation. Recent federal legislation

related to endangered species protection has placed increased emphasis on

timely and accurate forecasts.

The NWCC web site provides snow

data, analyses, and forecasts efficiently

to approximately 80,000 users. The

web site experiences over 2.4 million

accesses per month during the snow

season.

Drought Assessment, The SS&WSF

Program provides a variety of climate

and water supply products that are

used to assess Western drought. These

include SNOTEL snowpack and precipitation analysis in the mountains,

water supply forecasts, and state

Surface Water Supply Indexes (SWSI).

These products are critical to the weekly production of the interagency

Drought Monitor web based report. A

cooperative, nationwide network of 64

Soil Climate Analysis Network

(SCAN) sites in 38 states monitors soil

temperatures and soil moisture to support national drought monitoring, production agriculture, and climate

change research.

Climate Information. NRCS provides climate data and products that

directly support agriculture and conservation activities nationwide.

Digital maps of monthly and annual

precipitation and temperature for the

United States are available from the

NWCC web site. To meet the needs

for real-time climate information and
SECTION 3 USDA 155

analysis, the SS&WSF Program and

the NOAA Climate program are sponsoring the Applied Climate

Information System (ACIS). ACIS is

an Internet-based climate data delivery

system that provides the NRCS field

offices, USDA, and partners with

Internet access to thousands of climate

datasets collected by scores of federal,

state, and county networks. To support

agricultural modeling efforts, the

NWCC is also providing serially complete (i.e., no missing data values) temperature and precipitation data for

approximately 11,000 climate stations

nationwide. NRCS long range planning is supported by the Generation of

weather Elements for Multiple (GEM)

applications model, which has been

used to generate future climate data

sets for more than 250 locations

nationwide. GEM is being integrated

with several NRCS environmental

models. Monthly precipitation averages and growing season length information required for Wetlands analysis

are also available from the NWCC

webpage at over 6,000 locations in the

United States plus Guam and Puerto

Rico. Finally, wind roses for 237

NWS stations in the United States, plus

offices in Guam and Puerto Rico are

now available from the NWCC webpage. A wind rose gives a very succinct

but information-laden view of how

wind speed and direction are typically

distributed at a particular location.

Wind roses are useful planning tools

for agricultural and natural resource

planning.

Agricultural Research Service

Research in this area focuses on how

annual variation in weather adversely

controls crop and animal production,

hydrologic processes, the availability

of water from watersheds, and the

environmental and economic sustainability of agricultural enterprises.

Scientists are developing algorithms

and decision support systems for the

development of a stochastic stormgenerator model and methodology to

use contemporary weather radar systems to determine rainfall amounts and

the spatial distribution and variability

in precipitation associated with individual storms. Additional research is

being conducted to integrate seasonal

forecasts, other information on extended climate departures from normal and

extreme events, corresponding agricultural responses, and associated uncertainties into planning and management

decision aids readily useable by producers. The research is conducted in

collaboration with the NOAA forecast

developers.

Cooperative State Research, Education

and Extension Service

Cooperative State Research,

Education, and Extension Service

(CSREES) funding supports research

projects that collect and process longterm weather and climatic data and

provide immediate and future use as a

base of information for the projection

and prediction of climatic trends related to environmental impacts of human

activities, soils, crops and domestic

animals on agroecosystems, forest, and

rangelands. Broader areas of study

involve atmospheric dynamics, carbon

and water cycling, and their role in

global change. The impact of changes

in UV and ozone level studies also fit

into this broad global category.

Historical climatic changes are related to trends visible from present data

gathering studies, enabling prediction

of future crop production and irrigation

needs. CSREES funding supports

studies on the impact of climate and

weather on food and fiber production.

These studies relate to forest plant

growth, rangeland productivity, cropping system selection and livestock

production practices.

Man's impact on climate systems is

also well represented in studies of both

micro- and macro-atmospheric change.

These involve studies dealing with the

atmospheric impact of changes in air

quality, water quality and point/nonpoint pollution related to agricultural

practices and forest and urban development. Studies on atmospheric impact

on nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration are supported with CSREES

funds. Research is also being supported that quantifies the impact of climate

change on the incidence and severity

of plant and animal diseases and pests,

invasive species, and biodiversity.

The National Research Initiative

(NRI) has funded a wide variety of

weather and climate research. Topics

have varied from a number of fundamental plant drought tolerance studies

to using meteorological data to forecast market performance. Much of the

support in this area is also focused on

climate change. The NRI has also

funded research on how land changes

have influenced climate and vice

versa.

Rural Development: Early Warning

System

For FY 2001, Congress appropriated

$4.989 million in grant funds to facilitate the expansion of the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration's weather radio system

into rural areas that are not covered or

are poorly covered at this time. The

funds were carried over and in

FY 2002 $3.517 million were obligated and, in FY 2003, $1.471 million

were obligated. The remaining balance will be obligated in FY 2004.

This system alerts area residents of

oncoming hazardous weather so that

they may seek appropriate shelter. No

funds were appropriated in FY 2004

and no additional funding was requested in FY 2005.

SECTION 3 DOE 157

Recognition of the need for site-specific meteorological services began in

1944 with the development, fabrication, and testing of atomic weapons

and their accompanying national security and safety issues. In response to

this need, the Department of Energy

(DOE) and its predecessors, the

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

and the Energy Research and

Development Administration (ERDA),

as well as the National Nuclear

Security Administration (NNSA), have

established and supported operational

meteorological programs and atmospheric research projects at many DOE

and NNSA field offices.

Operational meteorological program

requirements were subsequently augmented, starting in the late-1960's, by

the passage of environmental protection legislation under the Clean Air Act

(CAA), enforced by the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) under 40

CFR enabling regulations, and reinforced by several DOE Orders (e.g., O

5400.1) that specify requirements for

meteorological services to protect

facility worker health and safety, public health and safety, and the environment. Since that time, the CAA has

been amended on three occasions, each

time including broader requirements,

inclusive of stratospheric ozone protection regulations. Consequently, an

effectively managed meteorological

monitoring program has become an

even more essential component of each

DOE and NNSA site. Moreover, the

acquisition of quality assured meteorological data, the provision of weather

forecasting services, and the development of site-specific climatology from

these meteorological programs is an

important element of a DOE Integrated

Safety Management System (ISMS)

since it significantly contributes to the

implementation of site-wide personnel

safety programs and supports multiple

evaluations. These evaluations include,

but are not limited to the following:

• Protection of facility workers and

the public;

• Development of nuclear and chemical safety documentation (e.g.,

Safety Analysis Reports);

• Diagnostic and prognostic consequence assessment elements of an

emergency management response

system;

• Preparation of air and surface water

permits to support environmental

compliance activities; and,

• Impact analyses for construction,

operation and decommissioning of

projects, and missions requiring

National Environmental Protection

Act (NEPA) determinations.

DOE and NNSA continue to address

their fundamental mission areas of

national security, science and technology, energy security, safety and health,

and environmental quality.

Meteorology contributes to many of

these mission elements. Consequently,

atmospheric science research programs, meteorological data acquisition, assessments requiring meteorological information, and weather forecasting operations have been an inteDEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY

ADMINISTRATION (NNSA) OPERATIONAL AND RESEARCH

WEATHER PROGRAMS

For almost 60 years, the Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessors, the Atomic Energy

Commission (AEC) and the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), have established and supported meteorological operations and atmospheric research at the DOE field facilities.

The need for meteorological services began in 1944 with the development, fabrication, and testing of

atomic weapons and their accompanying national security and safety issues. Meteorological program

requirements were subsequently augmented, starting in the late-1960's, by the passage of environmental protection legislation under the Clean Air Act, which is enforced by the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) under 40 CFR enabling regulations, and reinforced by several DOE Orders that specify requirements for

meteorological services to protect public health and safety and the environment. Consequently, a meteorological monitoring program has become an even more essential component of each DOE site. Moreover, the acquisition of quality-assured meteorological data and the provision of weather forecasting services is an important element of a DOE

Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS). It significantly contributes to the implementation of site-wide personnel safety programs along with site evaluations. These evaluations include, but are not limited to the following: protection of facility workers and the public; development of Authorization Basis (AB) safety documentation; diagnostic

and prognostic consequence assessment elements of an emergency management system; preparation of permits to support environmental compliance activities; and, impact analyses of construction and operation of projects and missions

requiring National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) determinations.
158 DOE SECTION 3

gral part of DOE, NNSA and its predecessor agencies since World War II.

Consequently, it is vital to understand

the nature of the atmospheric domain

with its various dynamic and chemical

aspects of energy-related phenomena

and how it interacts with the ocean and

terrestrial domains. Today's greenhouse gas-related global climate

change debates and stratospheric

ozone protection outcomes are relying

on information collected through basic

atmospheric science research programs, that each day, reduce substantial uncertainties in these technical

areas.

DOE and NNSA administer programmatic activities throughout their

various offices, such as Science (OS),

Environmental Health (EH), Nuclear

Non-proliferation (NN) and

Environmental Management (EM) that

have some linkage to the atmospheric

sciences. Some of these program

offices are responsible for the management of scientific research programs,

such as the National Atmospheric

Release Advisory Capability

(NARAC), Global Climate Change

Research (GCCR), and various environmental cleanup activities at former

DOE production sites. Additional

activities at DOE and NNSA sites

include support to daily operations and

national defense programs; all of

which require a fundamentally sound

well-managed meteorological monitoring program.

Meteorological services at DOE and

NNSA facilities range from the conduct of cutting-edge basic research to

providing daily support to operational

programs and construction projects.

Some examples of research and development are investigations of potential

global climatic change, radiation transfer mechanisms and cloud studies,

lightning and thunderstorm studies,

atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric

tracer studies, and studies of atmospheric planetary boundary layer

processes. Operational support programs include daily-customized

weather forecasting services, support

to national defense projects and homeland security, on-site meteorological

monitoring programs, climatological

services, occupational health and safety program support, and emergency

preparedness and response program

support.

Some DOE and NNSA sites maintain

24-hour weather watches for severe

weather conditions that have the potential to impact site operations, damage

property, or threaten lives. DOE-wide

and NNSA-wide lightning safety initiatives, which are becoming integral

elements of an ISMS, are supported by

DOE and NNSA operational meteorological programs (e.g., Nevada Test

Site [NTS], Hanford, Savannah River

Site [SRS], Idaho National

Engineering and Environmental

Laboratory [INEEL]).

Several DOE and NNSA field offices

and their associated sites and facilities

cover large areas (e.g., INEEL, Oak

Ridge Reservation [ORR], NTS,

Hanford, and SRS). In addition, several DOE and NNSA sites are situated in

areas of complex topography and heterogeneous surface characteristics

(e.g., land-water interface), creating

mesoscale conditions that locally influence on-site weather and more importantly, airflow trajectories associated

with atmospheric transport and dispersion.

For these reasons, and to ensure the

protection of public health and safety

and the environment, on-site meteorological monitoring programs have

been, remain, and will always be an

essential part of DOE and NNSA

atmospheric science programs.

Moreover, partnerships have been

forged with other Federal agencies

(i.e., Department of Defense [DOD],

Department of Transportation [DOT],

Department of Commerce [DOC],

Department of Agriculture [USDA],

Department of the Interior [DOI] and

the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration [NASA]). In some

cases, Interagency Agreements have

been developed with other Federal

agencies (e.g., NTS), and have been in

place for more than 45 years.

Some DOE and NNSA sites enhance

the spatial resolution of the National

Weather Service (NWS) observing network by taking standard surface and

upper-air observations. Many of these

sites are in remote areas where NWS

and community weather observations

would otherwise be limited. Weather

observations taken at a few DOE and

NNSA field sites are entered into the

database via the NWS meteorological

data distribution and display system.

This distribution and display system

interconnects field offices and serves

as the distribution system for NWS

meteorological products that are centrally produced by the National

Centers for Environmental Prediction

(NCEP). Some DOE and NNSA sites

[e.g., NOAAAir Resources Laboratory

(ARL)/Special Operations and

Research Division (SORD), Las

Vegas, Nevada] employ the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) Advanced

Weather Information Processing

System (AWIPS), as well as vertical

profilers and meteorological monitoring networks.

An accidental release of radioactive,

chemical, or biological toxic material

into the atmosphere can have potentially serious health effects, as well as

environmental consequences.

Meteorological transport and dispersion processes play a key role in determining the fate of radioactive, chemical, or biological agents released into

the atmosphere; including those resulting from malevolent acts.

Consequently, a central theme within

the DOE and NNSA community has

been to protect public health, safety,

and the environment on and around

DOE and NNSA facilities by accurately measuring and characterizing the

important local atmospheric processes
SECTION 3 DOE 159

necessary to characterize atmospheric

transport and dispersion.

In recognition of the aforementioned

needs and requirements, DOE and

NNSA have established and continue

to support on-site meteorological monitoring programs since the commissioning of an operational meteorological program in 1944 at Hanford. Each

meteorological program is primarily

directed towards the support of emergency preparedness and response programs and focused towards the protection of the environment and the safety

and health of the on-site work force

and the public. In addition, research

on the modeling of the transport, dispersion, deposition, and resuspension

of radioactive, chemical, and biological agent materials is undertaken to

refine the transport and dispersion

models used in these endeavors. New

remote sensing techniques are being

developed, such as the "Best" Aircraft

Turbulence probe at the ARL Field

Research Division (FRD), in Idaho

Falls, Idaho. On-site weather forecasting services, each tailored specifically

for the special operational and emergency management requirements at

each DOE and NNSA site, provide

necessary support to the safety and

health programs designed to protect

site personnel, the public, and the environment.

A large majority of the research and

operational support has been provided

by the atmospheric research programs

at the five major field offices directly

involved in national defense programs.

Over the years, these programs have

grown to address and support many

environmental, safety, and health

issues. Due to the complexity of these

activities, it was recognized that efforts

should be made to coordinate meteorological operations and research among

the field offices to enhance cost effectiveness and productivity. To address

these considerations, the DOE

Meteorological Coordinating Council

(DMCC) was formed in 1994 and has

been providing support to DOE and

NNSA meteorological programs for

10 years. 

The following narrative highlights

meteorological activities at 15 separate

DOE and NNSA sites. The activities

are subdivided into operational and

research components.

ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

(ANL)

Operational

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)

is one of DOE's largest research centers. It is also the nation's first national laboratory, chartered in 1946. ANL

is managed and operated by the

University of Chicago (UC) for the

DOE Chicago Operations Office.

Argonne occupies two sites, designated as ANL-East in Illinois and ANLWest in Idaho. The Illinois site is surrounded by forest preserve on 1,500

wooded acres about 25 miles southwest of Chicago's Loop. The site also

houses the DOE Chicago Operations

Office. Argonne-West occupies about

900 acres about 50 miles west of Idaho

Falls in the Snake River Valley. It is the

home of most of the ANL major

nuclear reactor research facilities. 

There are three divisions, Environmental Research (ER), Decision and

Information Sciences (DIS) and

Environmental Assessment (EAD) at

ANL with meteorological research or

operational program support. Two

cross-divisional groups are involved in

these programs at ANL: the

Atmospheric Research Section (ARS)

and the Atmospheric Emergency

Preparedness (AEP) Group. The ARS

is composed of scientist with research

activities in both basic and applied science; particular technical strengths are

in the areas of air-surface exchange,

remote sensing, atmospheric chemistry, and numerical modeling. About

half of the ARS support is currently

devoted to activities associated with

the DOE Atmospheric Radiation

Measurement (ARM) Program. The

AEP is composed of scientists and

engineers in two divisions involved in

programs with a greater emphasis on

applied science. Particular technical

strengths include air pollution meteorology, emergency preparedness and

response, and stochastic systems simulations. More than half of the AEP

support is associated with the DOE

PROTECT Critical Infrastructure

Program involving chemical and biological agents.

ARS has operated and maintains a

60-meter meteorological tower and

supplies meteorological data for emergency response, facility operations,

and regulatory compliance for ANL

operations. Wind and temperature

measurements are taken at the

10-meter and 60-meter levels. Realtime and historical data are available

via the Web (http://gonzalo.er.anl.gov/

ANLMET).

Research

As part of a larger program for the

protection of subway systems from terrorist attacks using chemical agents,

AEP is installing sonic anemometers

as well as temperature and pressure

sensors in the subway tunnels of a

large urban subway system. These

instruments will assist in the understanding of flows in the tunnels, which

are driven by a combination of:

• The "piston" action of train motion;

and,

• Buoyancy effects and aboveground

forcing.

Measurements from these instruments will be correlated with the above

ground measurements to develop and

validate predictive and emergency

response models for flow and dispersion in subway systems.

The AEP group research also focuses

on the analysis of routinely measured

meteorological data to provide atmospheric boundary layer turbulence

information for atmospheric dispersion

calculations. Under the Department of
160 DOE SECTION 3

the Army Chemical Stockpile

Emergency Preparedness Program

(CSEPP), ANL provides support to

improve the collection efficiency and

quality of meteorological data measured at the Army's Demilitarization

towers. The data are used the emergency operation centers in support of

emergency response exercises and for

use in real-time in the event an actual

accident. The goal of the CSEPP support is to improve the accuracy and

robustness of the data obtained from

the meteorological monitoring stations

and to develop unified quality control

and analyses procedures of the data

collected by the towers. 

Key support is also provided to

Department of Transportation (DOT)

in applying an ANL-developed 5-year

meteorological database for over

100 locations in the United States to

conduct statistical analyses of hazardous materials incidents on a national basis. Recent work for DOT has

centered on development of the Table

of Initial Isolation and Protective

Action Distances for the 2000

Emergency Response Guidebook.

Protective Action Distances are given

in the Table for over 200 toxic-byinhalation chemicals and generic compounds for both daytime and nighttime

accidents, and represent the safe distance for 90 percent of hazardous

materials transportation accidents considering variability in meteorology and

spill size. Recent work for DOT has

also involved conducting national risk

assessments for transportation of certain high volume toxic chemicals like

chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen fluoride

and sulfur dioxide.

The Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Experiments (ABLE) is one of several

DOE supported research programs conducted by the ARS (Figure 3-DOE-1).

ABLE is located on the lower Walnut

Watershed, mostly in Butler County east

of the city of Wichita, Kansas. This location is within the existing boundaries of

the DOE ARM Southern Great Plains

(SGP) Clouds and Radiation Test-bed

(CART) site. The establishment of this

facility offers a virtual atmospheric

observatory and provides essential

research tools for addressing a myriad of

unresolved fundamental questions in

atmospheric research. The ABLE provides a continuous view of processes in

the lower atmosphere over a limited

domain within the SGP CART site.

The initial focus of the ABLE is measurements of the planetary boundary

layer (PBL) where almost all interactions between the atmosphere and

humans take place. Many scientific

issues may be addressed by use of such

a facility, including:

• Natural disaster reduction and public safety;

• Safe and efficient aviation and

other transportation;

• Agriculture;

• Water resource management;

• Effective energy production, use

and environmental protection;

• Space flight operations;

• Defense; and,

• Related areas of Earth Science.

Instrumentation at the ABLE site includes

winds, temperatures, moisture, surface net

radiation and soil moisture as the minimum

set of atmospheric observations.

The initial set of equipment, which is be

available at the ABLE includes:

• Three 915 MHz RWP-RASS (wind

speed and direction, virtual temperature

profiles);

• Three minisodars (wind and turbulence

profiles between heights of 10 m and

200 m); Figure 3-DOE-1. DOE Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (ABLE) site

locations in the Midwest.
SECTION 3 DOE 161

• One lidar ceilometer (cloud base

height);

• One balloon-borne sounding system (wind, temperature, moisture

profiles);

• Five surface flux stations (surface

sensible and latent heat, ground

heat storage);

• Five soil moisture sampling stations (soil moisture, soil temperature);

• One satellite data receiver-processor;

• One data hub/central location for

data collection; and,

• One (extra) instrument pad for visiting scientist instrument accommodation.

BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL

LABORATORY (BNL)

Operational

The BNL, under the responsibility of

the Brookhaven Area Office, has been

active in both operational meteorology

and atmospheric sciences for the past

50 years. BNL is now managed by

Brookhaven Science Associates, which

is a joint venture by Battelle Memorial

Institute Incorporated, The Research

Foundation of the State University of

New York at Stony Brook, and six

other core university partners.

Meteorological operations and

research cover a wide range of programs encompassing interpretive and

theoretical studies. BNL is located

near the geographical center of Long

Island, New York. Long Island is glacial in origin and, as a result, has sandy

soil, mostly gentle undulating contours, and a single water aquifer for the

entire island. Elevations vary between

20 meters and 35 meters. The BNL

site is rectangular and approximately

5,200 acres in area. Winds are predominantly southwesterly, and plume

dispersion studies show that it is essential to monitor winds well beyond laboratory borders. The NWS New York

City Weather Forecast Office is located

at BNL. This office has an umbrella of

coverage that includes an estimated

population of one million. Nearby, in

Bohemia, is the NWS Eastern

Regional Headquarters that administers a 12-state region.

The mesoscale meteorological measurements necessary for emergency

response are the responsibility of the

Meteorological Services Group, a support group under the Department of

Applied Science, Environmental

Biology and Instrumentation Division

(EBID).

The Meteorological Services Group

maintains two meteorological towers,

10-meter and 88-meter, and an instrument shelter. By integrating redundant

pairs of standard, approved meteorological sensors throughout the system,

an overall data availability of better

than 99 percent is achieved. The realtime data are merged into the laboratory emergency response network. A

database of 50 years (in digital format

since 1960), one of the longest continuous meteorological time series in the

United States, is archived and is available. A real-time monitoring network

with worldwide web access covers the

eastern end of Long Island. Coastal

weather stations at Smith Point and

Orient Point transmit data each minute.

Pollution-monitoring data buoys are

added during field programs.

The Meteorological Services Group

provides a locally tuned forecast twice

daily during normal working hours.

Weather forecasts and data are available by telephone or the Internet

(www.weather.bnl.gov). During severe

weather events updates are given every

three hours and, in the case of a hazardous material or radiological release,

a member of the Meteorological

Services Group will assist the emergency coordinator with regular forecasts and information on local wind

fields and gustiness.

Research

Areas of meteorological research at

BNL include:

• Instrumentation development for

field studies of atmospheric constituents, air-sea interaction, and

laboratory experiments;

• Gaseous tracer studies of atmospheric transport and dispersion;

• Aerosol formation and behavior;

• Atmospheric pollution studies

• Modeling of atmospheric chemical

reactions;

• Acid rain studies both in the field

and in the laboratory;

• Theoretical and observational studies of radiation transfer and fluxes;

and,

• Analysis of data and development

of parameterizations relevant to

global climate change.

The ARM Program provides the

stimulus for a wide range of climaterelated studies. The ARM ocean monitoring program is developing instrumentation and a broad ship- and buoybased observational network in the

tropical western Pacific Ocean. The

Atmospheric Chemistry Program

(ACP) provides the Atmospheric

Chemistry Division's (ACD) concern

with aerosol sources, transport, and

fate in the global atmosphere and the

overall, and the little understood

impact of aerosols on global climate

dynamics. The ARM External Data

Center is the center for collection,

archival, and dissemination of all climate-related data sets for the ARM

program.

An exciting new effort in radar meteorology focuses on algorithms for

cloud detection and cloud mapping

using both the WSR-88D radar network and research radar. BNL is a site

in the National Aeronautical and Space

Administration (NASA) Solar

Irradiance Network and continuous

short wave absorption measurements
162 DOE SECTION 3

are made here. In a related NASA

study, oceanic aerosol optical depths

are measured and used to validate

absorption algorithms in the SeaWiFS

ocean color program.

The Optical Remote Sensing (ORS)

group within the Department of

Advanced Technology (DAT) is

presently modifying one of its Raman

lidar systems for vertical profiling of

carbon dioxide. The Raman lidar

instrument is a self-calibrating sensor

that means that data from a variety of

locations in the world can be compared. With the incorporation of a

large (1.25 m) antenna and advanced

filters and detectors, a vertical profile

of CO2 concentration with a precision

of 1 part per million (ppm) (Note:

atmospheric mean = 370 ppm) and

maximum height of two to three km

can be produced routinely. These profiles will support model development

and validation. Importantly, comparison of CO2 concentrations collected

throughout the world and over time

will prove invaluable in confirming

adherence to the Kyoto protocols.

HANFORD SITE

Operational

Beginning in 1944, meteorological

services have been provided to the

Hanford Site. The Hanford Site is an

area of 560 square miles within the

semi-arid and sparsely vegetated

Columbia River basin in southeastern

Washington near Richland,

Washington. Since 1965, the Pacific

Northwest National Laboratory

(PNNL) operated for the Department

of Energy (DOE) by the Battelle

Memorial Institute, has managed the

Hanford Site meteorological program.

Not only has operational support been

provided, but also supporting research

into atmospheric processes has been a

key part of the PNNL support to DOE.

Within PNNL, the Environmental

Technology Directorate provides dayto-day operational meteorological and

emergency response support to the

Hanford site.

Through funding from DOE, the

PNNL Meteorological and

Climatological Services Project

(MCSP) provides meteorological monitoring and operational support to the

Hanford Site. The monitoring system

consists of an array of 26 10-meter

towers, three 60-meter towers and one

125-meter tower instrumented with

temperature and wind direction and

wind speed sensors. Atmospheric

pressure and precipitation data are also

collected by this monitoring system.

Meteorological data from this network

is transmitted via UHF radio to a computer, which decodes the data and plots

graphics products for immediate display and use by Hanford Meteorological Station personnel.

Meteorological services include

emergency response functions, weather forecasting for on-site operations

and special projects, and climatology

support. MCSP support to the Hanford

site includes: extensive data acquisition via a site-wide meteorological

monitoring network; weather forecasting services 24-hours/day during

Monday through Friday; weather forecasting services eight-hours/day on

weekends and holidays; hourly surface

observations, and six-hourly synoptic

observations; monthly and annual climatology data summaries; and, meteorological input to annual environmental reports.

PNNL atmospheric sciences staff

operate meteorological, atmospheric

transport and dispersion and dose

assessment, and information display

workstations at the Hanford Site's

Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

Atmospheric sciences staff are

involved in facility planning, exercise

development, and training activities

for Hanford's emergency preparedness

program. Assistance is also provided

to state and local emergency operations facilities. PNNL staff members

have developed MetView software to

graphically display Hanford Site and

regional meteorological data to support

a variety of emergency preparedness

and research applications. Staff members have also developed the Air

Pollutant Graphical Environmental

Monitoring System (APGEMS)-family of software products to improve the

ability to rapidly and accurately estimate the atmospheric transport and

dispersion and human health and environmental consequences of accidental
or unexpected releases on or near the

Hanford Site. The flexible user interface and graphical output capabilities

of APGEMS allow it to efficiently support a range of users including first

responders, experienced hazard assessors, and decision makers.

Research

The Fundamental Sciences

Directorate conducts research into

meteorological, climatological, and

atmospheric chemical processes in

support of other major DOE programs

such as the Atmospheric Radiation

Measurements (ARM) program and

the Atmospheric Science Program

(ASP).

PNNL plays both management and

developmental roles in the ARM program which is focused on the development of cloud and radiation databases

and data products that are critical to

improved understanding of global and

regional climate change and the

improvement of climate research and

prediction models. In addition to of its

roles in ARM, PNNL also conducts

research into the processes affecting

radiation transfer through the atmosphere and the effects of greenhouse

gases, aerosols, and clouds on regional

and global climate. The PNNL

Atmospheric Remote Sensing

Laboratory is a portable system for

studying the vertical structure of

atmospheric constituents, particularly

clouds, which govern radiation transfer

through the atmosphere. Capabilities

of the Environmental and Molecular

Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) are used

to conduct molecular level research

into aerosol formulation and aging.

Carbon dioxide emissions research is

aimed at providing a scientific basis

for forecasting future emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases of radiative importance.

In support of the ASP, PNNL uses

ground-based and airborne measurements systems, numerical and conceptual modeling, and data analysis to

conduct research into the vertical

transport and mixing processes that

govern the distribution in the lower

troposphere of trace gases and aerosols

released during energy production or

use and on chemical processes that

govern the transformation and fate of

gaseous and particulate pollutants.

PNNL manages the DOE Research

Aircraft Facility, a Gulfstream 159

twin turboprop aircraft that supports

research in atmospheric chemistry,

radiation transfer, and aerosol characteristics for DOE.

A hierarchy of atmospheric dispersion models is being developed within

DOE's Chemical Biological National

Security Program (CBNP) covering

transport distances ranging from

around individual buildings, through

the urban area and beyond the urban

area into the surrounding region.

These models will allow individuals in

intelligence, law enforcement and

emergency management to adequately

plan against, train for and respond to

potential terrorist attacks. PNNL scientists, in collaboration with other

government and private scientists, are

conducting atmospheric tracer and

meteorological field studies for evaluating the models being developed

within CBNP. The field studies will

provide valuable information to all

investigating urban dispersion, urban

air quality and atmospheric transport

and dispersion in general.

IDAHO NATIONAL ENGINEERING

AND ENVIRONMENTAL

LABORATORY (INEEL)

Operational

INEEL is managed by the Idaho

Operations Office and is on 890 square

miles of rolling, arid terrain in southeastern Idaho at the foot of the Lost

River and Lemhi mountain ranges.

The primary mission of the INEEL for

years has been nuclear reactor research

with a focus on cleanup and environmental restoration. Meteorological

services and supporting research are

provided to INEEL via NOAA ARL

Field Research Division (FRD). The

Division, under administration from

various agencies, has provided support

to INEEL for over 50 years. Its current

mission to DOE/ID is to support emergency response and operations with

real-time meteorological data, climatology data, weather predictions, dispersion calculations, and consultation.

ARL FRD maintains other capabilities

that are not funded directly by DOE.

ARL FRD designs, arranges, and conducts field studies as needed to evaluate the performance of transport and

dispersion models over local, regional,

and continental scales, and to obtain

high quality databases for model

improvement. An airborne geosciences program is also maintained to

measure fluxes of carbon dioxide,

water vapor, and other atmospheric

constituents that affect climate. These

interactions provide ARL FRD staff

SECTION 3 DOE 163

Figure 3-DOE-2. Meteorological

towers record temperature and wind

direction and speed at various levels.
164 DOE SECTION 3

with additional insights that aid in the

understanding of local meteorological

phenomena.

ARL FRD operates a large meteorological monitoring network to characterize the meteorology and climatology

of the INEEL site. The network consists of 33 meteorological towers that

are deployed both on-site and off site.

The overall meteorological measurement program is designed to provide

representative data for the INEEL to

meet specific operational and potential

emergency response situations. The

network covers an area of approximately 15,000 square miles. Many of

the towers are 15 meters tall and provide wind speed and direction at 15-

meters and air temperature at 2-meters

and 15-meters. Instrumentation on 15

of the 15-meter towers also measure

relative humidity at 2-meters, precipitation, and global solar radiation.

Barometric pressure is provided on 11

of the towers. The other three towers

range from 46-meters to 76-meters in

height and are instrumented at multiple

levels. The sensors at all stations are

scanned every second and averaged or

totaled over five minutes

(Figure 3-DOE-2).

The data are subsequently retrieved

into the data display and archive system at the ARL/FRD office through a

radio repeater located at an elevation

of 8,930 ft MSL. Continuous wind and

temperature profiles are obtained from

a 915 MHz radar wind profiler and

RASS. A Doppler SODAR supplements the wind profile at lower levels

with higher resolution data.

Meteorological data are quality-controlled through automated and manual

processes.

INEEL meteorological monitoring

and emergency response efforts are

enhanced with the use of an ARL FRD

meteorological data display and visualization program known as INEELViz.

This program has been widely

deployed at 50 sites on and around the

INEEL for access by federal, state, and

Indian tribes via the Internet.

Within INEELViz, meteorological

data are displayed in real-time and

overlaid on maps of the local area that

include political and terrain features.

In addition, the local MDIFF puff dispersion model can be accessed through

the INEELViz front-end and the model

output can be displayed as trajectories

or concentration isopleths on the

INEELViz display screen. The incorporation of RSAC dose conversions

permits the user to also view real-time

dose estimates from the model output.

These features have become very useful enhancements to the INEEL emergency response capability.

Research

Partnerships forged with DOE/ID,

the State of Idaho INEEL Oversight

Program, and the Shoshone-Bannock

Indian Tribes have resulted in additional methods of meteorological data dissemination. Meteorological and background nuclear radiation data from

four public access sites on and surrounding the INEEL are displayed at

nearby kiosks in real-time. Additional

information on nuclear radiation and

meteorological tutorials are presented

at the kiosks. The data are also available on the Internet at

http://oversite.inel.gov. ARL FRD

maintains its own web site at

www.noaa.inel.gov.

LAWRENCE LIVERMORE

NATIONAL LABORATORY (LLNL)

Operational

LLNL is located in a valley in

California's Coast Range Mountains

about 25 miles east of Oakland. LLNL

covers approximately 2 square miles

and is operated by the University of

California for the DOE Oakland

Operations Office. Two groups are

involved in the atmospheric sciences at

LLNL: (1) Environmental Protection

Department (EPD); and

(2) Atmospheric Sciences Division

(ASD).

EPD operates a 40m tower and supplies meteorological data for facility

operations, regulatory compliance, and

emergency response. Real-time and

historical data are available at

http://www-metdat.llnl.gov/.

The National Atmospheric Release

Advisory Center (NARAC) is a centralized emergency response resource

supporting federal agencies

(http://narac.llnl.gov/). The mission of

NARAC is to deliver realistic real-time

graphical dose and exposure assessments to emergency decision-makers

to assist in the protection of populations at risk for releases of radiological

and other hazardous material to the

atmosphere. NARAC has developed

specific tools to assist elements of the

DOE Consequence Management

assets, including the Nuclear

Emergency Search Team (NEST),

Accident Response Group (ARG),

Federal Radiological Monitoring and

Assessment Center (FRMAC)

(http://www.nv.doe.gov/programs/frma

c/default.htm), and the Radiological

Assistance Program (RAP)

(Figure 3-DOE-3). Under DOE direction, NARAC supports National

Special Security Events, such as the

winter 2002 Olympics. NARAC also

supports DOE sites and Emergency

Operations Centers around the United

States (http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/).

NARAC's central emergency

response system consists of automated

continuous worldwide meteorological

data acquisition, detailed worldwide

terrain and geographic mapping databases, a suite of atmospheric dispersion models and source models to
SECTION 3 DOE 165

assess explosions, fires, spills, or other

types of radiological, chemical, biological releases. The system includes a

high-resolution, terrain-following,

variable-gridded diagnostic meteorological model (ADAPT) and a prognostic model with parameterizations

for urban settings (COAMPS) coupled

with a generalized Lagrangian particle

dispersion model (LODI).

A staff of NARAC emergency

response model experts provides a

24-hour response service. To minimize

response time, NARAC has developed

and supplied over 40 federal facilities

around the United States with software

that performs meteorological data

acquisition, local-scale stand-alone

modeling, and reaches back to LLNL

for detailed simulations. NARAC

mapped products are delivered in

5-10 minutes for a computer-linked

site and up to 60 minutes for a noncomputer-linked site. Supported sites

and organizations can use the clientserver-based NARAC iClient tool (for

heavy modelers) or NARAC Web (for

light modelers) tools to run models and

seamlessly distribute products to multiple organizations over the world wide

web.

The Regional Modeling and

Dispersion Group is investigates

regional scale processes affecting dispersion. This group works with the

Urban Group to with the goal of developing a seamless set of validated diagnostic and prognostic tools from the

building to urban to regional scales. In

collaboration with LANL, LLNL

developed - a prototype prediction

capability to assist in multi-agency

smoke and fire management of wildfires.

Research

Scientists in the Atmospheric

Science Division (ASD)

(http://asd.llnl.gov/) at LLNL perform

pioneering research on global climate

and chemistry and predict the local,

urban, regional, and global transport

and fate of hazardous and toxic pollutants. Research is focused on major

national energy and security policy

issues and is based primarily on development and use of advanced computational simulations of the atmosphere,

oceans, and biosphere.

ASD conducts research in four areas:

• Atmospheric hazards and consequence assessment;

• Atmospheric transport & fate;

• Carbon cycle and climate model

physics; and,

• Climate change & model evaluation.

ASD Major Programs Include:

8 Program for Climate Model

Diagnosis & Intercomparison

(PCMDI);

• Institute for Research on Climate

Change & Its Societal Impacts

(IRCCSI); and,

• NARAC Programs and the

National Atmospheric Release

Advisory Center (NARAC).

PCMDI's mission is to develop

improved methods and tools for the

diagnosis, validation, and intercomparison of global climate models, and to

conduct research on a variety of problems in climate modeling and analysis

(http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/).

The mission of IRCCSI is to improve

understanding of climate change and

its societal impacts, by facilitating collaborations between the University of

California-operated DOE laboratories

(i.e., LANL, LLNL, and LBNL) and

University of California campuses

(http://irccsi.llnl.gov/). In particular,

we wish to link the Laboratories' capabilities in high-end climate modeling

and climate science with the expertise

in regional climate and societal

impacts issues resident at the

University of California campuses.

NARAC is a centralized emergency

response service supporting federal

agencies (http://narac.llnl.gov/). The

mission of NARAC is to deliver realistic real-time graphical dose and exposure assessments to emergency decision-makers to assist in the protection

of populations at risk for releases of

radiological and other hazardous material to the atmosphere. NARAC

Programs have developed specific

tools to assist elements of the DOE

Consequence Management assets,

including the Nuclear Emergency

Search Team (NEST), Accident

Response Group (ARG), Federal

Radiological Monitoring and

Figure 3-DOE-3. Each of DOE’s eight Regional Coordinating Offices maintain a 24-hour response capability for radiological emergencies that may occur

in states served by its region.
166 DOE SECTION 3

Assessment Center (FRMAC)

(http://www.nv.doe.gov/programs/frma

c/default.htm), and the Radiological

Assistance Program (RAP). Under

DOE direction, NARAC supports

national special security events, such

as the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake

City, Utah, in 2002. NARAC also supports DOE sites and Emergency

Operations Centers around the United

States (http://www.nnsa.doe.gov/).

The NARAC central emergency

response system consists of automated

continuous worldwide meteorological

data acquisition, detailed worldwide

terrain and geographic mapping databases, a suite of atmospheric dispersion models and source models to

assess explosions, fires, spills, or other

types of radiological, chemical, biological releases. The system includes a

high-resolution, terrain-following,

variable-gridded diagnostic meteorological model (ADAPT) and a prognostic model with parameterizations

for urban settings (COAMPS) coupled

with a generalized Lagrangian particle

dispersion model (LODI).

A staff of NARAC emergency

response model experts provides a

24-hour response service. To minimize

response time, NARAC has developed

and supplied over 40 federal facilities

around the United States with software

that performs meteorological data

acquisition, local-scale stand-alone

modeling, and reaches back to LLNL

for detailed simulations. NARAC

mapped products are delivered in

5-10 minutes for a computer-linked

site and up to 60 minutes for a noncomputer-linked site. Supported sites

and organizations can use the clientserver-based NARAC iClient tool (for

modeling specialists) or NARAC Web

tools to run models and seamlessly distribute products to multiple organizations over the worldwide web.

One of the shared goals of the last

three groups is to develop new tools

useful to emergency response operations, a key focus area at LLNL since

the mid 1970's.

The urban Research and

Development effort is developing a

coupled suite of multi-scale dispersion

models to effectively respond to urban

releases. LLNL was a co-leader of the

Joint Urban 2003 (i.e., JU2003) field

study in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,

the largest most complex urban tracer

experiment performed to date. The

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

(PNNL) was the overall leader, while

LLNL, LANL, LBNL were coPrincipal Investigators. JU2003 was

supported by the Department of

Homeland Security (DHS), the

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

(DTRA) and the Department of

Defense (DOD). Data from this study

is being used to identify key urban
SECTION 3 DOE 167

physics and to evaluate NARAC's suite

of urban models. A new three-year

project has begun to develop a nextgeneration building-scale computational fluid dynamics model.

Examples of on-going operational

integration projects include:

• Integration of mapping systems for

field measurement, modeling

results, and dose assessment to support DOE Nuclear Incident

Response Team (NIRT) capabilities

(SNL, RSL) - DOE;

• Enhancement of source term models for radiological, prompt (i.e.,

blast, thermal, radiation, explosive

effects), and chemical-biological

releases (SNL) - DOE and DHS;

• Improved dose-response and toxic

load models (Edgewood Chemical

and Biological Center, United

States Army) - DHS;

• Development of building infiltration models to predict indoor exposures (with LBNL) - DHS;

• Incorporation of an empirical urban

model (Defense Science and

Technology Laboratory, United

Kingdom) - DHS;

• Meteorological and outdoor dispersion modeling for an operational

subway system - DHS; and,

• Standardization and integration

with the EPA/NOAA

CAMEO/ALOHA toxic chemical

databases and atmospheric dispersion models - DHS.

LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL

LABORATORY (LANL)

Operational

LANL is operated by the University

of California (UC) under the responsibility of the DOE Albuquerque

Operations Office (ALOO), and is

spread across 43 square miles of the

Pajarito Plateau at the foot of the

Jemez Mountains that extend up to

around 900 meters above the plateau.

LANL is about 30 miles northwest of

Santa Fe in north central New Mexico.

The Pajarito Plateau slopes to the eastsoutheast, dropping 400 meters across

the Laboratory, with canyons and

mesas running along the slope of the

plateau. The broad Rio Grande Valley

lies to the east of the laboratory. Los

Alamos has a semi-arid, temperate,

mountain climate.

The operational meteorological program at Los Alamos operates a network of six towers (ranging in height

from 23 meters to 92 meters), a monostatic Doppler SODAR, and three supplemental precipitation stations. Data

from four instrumented meteorological

towers that are located on the Pajarito

plateau drives a diagnostic wind field

for the program's plume modeling

capability. A fifth tower is located in

Los Alamos Canyon to give information on the larger canyons in the area,

and a sixth tower is located on top of

Pajarito Mountain to measure ambient

conditions. The SODAR gives information on winds up to the level of the

Pajarito Mountain tower.

More than 100 instruments, consisting of over 20 different types of sensors, are used to collect data throughout the network. Variables measured

by the program can be grouped into the

categories of wind, SODAR-derived

wind, atmospheric state, precipitationrelated, radiative fluxes, eddy heat

fluxes, subsurface measurements, and

fuel moisture. Data collected by the

network are checked for quality before

its archiving, and raw data and realtime displays of graphs and tables are

made available via the Internet.

The LANL Air Quality Group provides regulatory and environmental

surveillance leadership and services to

meet LANL air quality obligations and

public assurance needs. The group

develops and implements programs to

ensure and address institutional compliance with State and Federal laws

related to air quality regulations, DOE

orders for emergency management, air

quality surveillance, dose assessment

activities, and community concerns

related to air quality issues. The group

takes a proactive approach to managing air emissions by providing continuous air monitoring and measurement

of external penetrating radiation onsite and off site. The group also coordinates LANL activities to ensure full

compliance with air emission regulations, providing monitoring and modeling for emergency response, and

assisting operating groups in developing and implementing new methods

and systems to reduce emissions to as

low as reasonably achievable. The

monitoring capabilities of the Air

Quality Group (AQG) are supplemented by the Atmospheric and Climate

Sciences Group (ACSG) field team,

which operates various sensor systems

including a unique Raman lidar system

to obtain images of atmospheric water

vapor distributions.

Research

Research within the LANL

Atmospheric and Climate Sciences

Group supports DOE missions in both

the defense and civilian sectors, such

as work in the propagation of verylow-frequency sound (i.e., infrasound) waves. Modeling studies contributed to understanding of propagation and, in particular, sources of

"infra-sound". Just as it is possible to

infer earthquake epicenters from seismic wave observations, "infra-sound"

sources can be inferred from atmospheric observations. This work is an

important component of monitoring

compliance with the proposed

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

(CTBT). The CTBT work involves a

number of organizations within DOE

and DOD community, including interactions with other DOE laboratories

within the CTBT Research and

Development program.

Operational issues involve close

work with the Air Force Technical

Applications Center (AFTAC) at
168 DOE SECTION 3

Patrick AFB, Florida, the DOD organization that handles monitoring systems. In addition, several active international collaborations with other

infrasound researchers are ongoing.

The Meteorology Team within the

ACSG at LANL conducts analysis and

modeling on microscale to mesoscale

atmospheric flows and phenomena. In

support of the DOE CBNP, a model for

High Resolution and Strong Gradient

(HIGRAD) applications is being used

to study the effects of radiative heating

and shading around groups of buildings. The objective of this study is to

determine how these processes may

influence the transport of agents within the urban environment. On larger

scales, the team is examining the influence of flow merger and urban roughness on the vertical transport and mixing of pollutants with the Regional

Atmospheric Modeling System

(RAMS) for several western United

States valleys and basins. This project

is in support of the DOE

Environmental Meteorology Program

(EMP) and for the EPA. As part of the

LANL initiative in Coupled

Environmental Modeling, researchers

within the Meteorology Team are

developing a physics-based fire behavior model, FIRETEC, and coupling

this model to the HIGRAD atmospheric dynamics code to examine the

details of the interaction between local

winds and the intense heat generated

by wildfires. Also as part of this initiative, a land surface model is being coupled that includes hydrologic processes

(i.e., SPLASH) to the RAMS

mesoscale model for multi-seasonal

simulations of the water resources of

the upper Rio Grande Basin.

Meteorology team members are also

working on the LANL Urban Security

project, which is linking physical and

urban growth models to address the

needs of cities. In this framework, we

are using the RAMS model to provide

meteorological fields for use by air

chemistry, urban runoff, and other

models. The Meteorology team within

the ACSG conducts analysis and modeling on microscale to mesoscale.

On global scales, research within the

LANL meteorological community

involves the study of climate change

and variability. A major project is the

development of a global coupled

ocean-atmosphere model sponsored by

the DOE Climate Change Prediction

Program. The global model being

developed consists of a Los Alamos

global ocean Global Climate Models

(GCMs) Parallel Ocean Program

(POP), the Los Alamos sea-ice model

(CICE), the National Center for

Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Community Climate Model (CCM3),

and a "flux coupler" to link the media

consistently. The two GCM's and the

CICE model exchange heat, momentum, and water mass across the air-sea

boundary. A ten-year synchronized

simulation revealed the synoptic

weather events, seasonal cycles and

inter-annual variations.

Observations related to understanding global climate are the focus of the

Tropical Western Pacific (TWP)

Program Office LANL, an element of

the DOE ARM Program. The TWP

Program Office is responsible for the

development and operation of the

TWP CART locale, a large expanse of

tropical-ocean and maritime-continent

lying roughly between 10o

S and 10oN

latitude and from 135o

E to 150oW longitude. The maritime continent area is

largely in the southwest and the open

ocean area in the northeast of the

locale. The local climate is characterized by warm sea surface temperatures, deep and frequent atmospheric

convection, high rain rates, strong coupling between the atmosphere and

ocean, and substantial variability associated with El Niño Southern

Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon.

Scientific questions that need to be

addressed in the TWP can be grouped

under three main headings:

• Radiation budget and cloud forcing;

• Water and energy budgets; and,

• Ocean-atmosphere interactions.

The program supports a variety of

operations at LANL. The primary

client of the program is the Emergency

Management Group, for which the

program provides a plume modeling

capability. Other clients use the program's data for such activities as operations and planning, hazard and accident analyses, environmental studies,

support for experiments, compliance,

and documentation.

NEVADA TEST SITE (NTS)

Operational

The NTS is managed and operated

by the National Nuclear Security

Administration/Nevada Site Office

(NNSA/NSO). The NTS has been the

Nations' underground nuclear weapons

testing facility and is now used to support sub-critical experiments and other

national defense missions of the

United States. The NTS occupies

1,350 square miles of south central

Nevada, and is approximately 75 miles

northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. The

topography of the NTS is complex

with a system of dry lakebeds and

mountains. Elevations range from

nearly 2,700 feet (ft) above mean sea

level (MSL) to 7,600 ft MSL. The climate is arid.

Meteorological services are provided

to NNSA/NSO by components of the

Department of Commerce (DOC),

NOAA. The DOC has had a presence

on the NTS for more than 45 years

through the implementation of

Interagency Agreements (IA). During

this time, NOAA personnel have built
SECTION 3 DOE 169

a solid technical reputation in meteorological operations and emergency

response. Presently, NOAA support is

provided by Air Resources Laboratory

Special Operations and Research

Division (ARL/SORD) recognized for

its expertise in the transport, dispersion, and deposition of radioactive and

toxic materials. ARL/SORD has

developed a rapid emergency response

capability for the unlikely occurrence

of an accidental release of radioactive

or hazardous material into the atmosphere.

ARL/SORD provides full meteorological support to all NNSA/NSO

operations on and off the NTS.

Meteorology plays a key role in environmental, safety, and health responsibilities of NNSA/NSO. The

ARL/SORD staff is responsible for

conducting a modern program in support of nuclear and non-nuclear projects authorized by NNSA/NSO.

Furthermore, the mission of

ARL/SORD involves technical support to the emergency preparedness

and response activities of NNSA/NSO.

ARL/SORD supports a comprehensive

meteorological program on the NTS,

and provides meteorological and climatology services required in supporting the NNSA/NSO and contractor

programs at the NTS, and elsewhere,

as necessary.

Personnel at ARL/SORD also consult with senior scientists and engineers at the DOE National

Laboratories, NASA, private contractors, Desert Research Institute (DRI),

United States Geological Service

(USGS), United States Forest Service

(USFS), and other NOAA laboratories.

ARL/SORD operates and maintains

a large meteorological monitoring network (MEDA) to characterize the

meteorology and climatology of the

NTS. This network consists of 29

10-meter towers and two, 30-meter

towers. Wind direction and speed is

measured at the 10-meter level on all

the towers and temperature and relative humidity is sampled at the 2-meter

level. Data from these towers are

transmitted via microwave radio to a

central processor that checks the data,

creates data files, and archives the data

every 15 minutes. The data files are

accessed by microcomputer to create

graphics products for operational use

and for immediate display at 15-

minute intervals. The MEDA system

was upgraded in 2004 to include sonic

anemometers. 

SORD also operates two, 915MHz

vertical profilers on the NTS. One

tower is located in the middle of Yucca

Flat and the other tower is located at

the Hazardous Materials Spill Center

(HMSC) in Frenchman Flat near

Mercury, Nevada. In addition, a

NOAA full surface radiation

(SURFRAD) budget station is operated and maintained at the Desert Rock

Meteorological Observatory (DRA)

located in the southern part of the NTS.

Upper-air soundings are taken twice

daily, at 00 and 12 Universal Time

Coordinated (UTC) from the DRA

facility. ARL/SORD also operates

mobile upper-air sounding systems and

mobile pilot balloon (PIBAL) equipment to support special projects requiring winds aloft data in real-time.

Large-scale meteorological data and

National Center for Environmental

Predictions (NCEP) weather forecast

products are received via AWIPS, or

from the University Center for

Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and

ARL-Silver Spring, Maryland.

Weather products supplied to DOE

contractors, the National Laboratories

(e.g., SNL, LANL, and LLNL), the

NWS, and Nellis AFB, include realtime cloud-to-ground lightning flash

graphical products and local forecast

products. Furthermore, a three-tiered

lightning alert and warning procedure

has been implemented as part of the

NTS Integrated Safety Management

program.

ARL/SORD has also implemented

the RAMS model for the NTS and

Southern Nevada. This model predicts

boundary layer airflow and precipitation over complex terrain. The RAMS

code accesses the NCEP predictive

model outputs and is run twice daily at

the University of Nevada at Las Vegas

(UNLV) Supercomputer Center on a

daily basis. In addition, the NOAA

HYSPLIT/HARM dispersion model

has been installed on microprocessors

in the SORD Meteorological

Assessment Center.

ARL/SORD provides meteorological

monitoring support and project-specific weather forecast services to NEST,

FRMAC and ARG activities.

Monitoring support includes surface

and upper-air data collection and

analysis. Weather forecast service

entails maintaining a constant weather

watch for conditions that might impact

NEST, FRMAC, or ARG operations

and personnel, issuing site-specific

mesoscale wind, stability, and weather

forecasts, aviation weather support,

and providing consultation to the OnScene Commander (OSC) and to

National Laboratories personnel.

ARL/SORD maintains a web site

(www.sord.nv.doe.gov) that includes

graphical products that display current

meteorological conditions on and

around the NTS, including data from

ARL/SORD vertical profilers, climatology data, cloud-to-ground lightning

information and time-relevant plume

transport and dispersion calculations.

Research

Both basic and applied research is

carried out on problems of mutual

interest to DOE and to NOAA.

Emphasis is on the maintenance of

meteorological support to national

defense projects and to the stewardship

of nuclear weapons. These capabilities

focus on those facets of meteorology

having a direct bearing on the transport, dispersion, deposition (i.e., fallout), and resuspension of radioactive

and/or toxic materials. Other research

includes documentation and study of

extreme precipitation events, desert
170 DOE SECTION 3

thunderstorms, cloud-to-ground lightning, and environmental issues related

to air quality and visibility. In addition, the SORD program serves as a

test bed for advanced NOAA mesoscale prediction models.

A NOAA Climate Reference Station

was installed at the Desert Rock

Meteorological Observatory in April

2004.

OAK RIDGE RESERVATION (ORR)

Operational

The ORR is home to four

DOE/NNSA sites: Oak Ridge National

Laboratory (ORNL), the Y-12 National

Security Complex, the East Tennessee

Technology Park (ETTP, formerly

K-25 Site), and the Oak Ridge Institute

for Science and Education (ORISE).

Managed by the Oak Ridge Operations

Office (OROO), the ORR encompasses nearly 100 square miles of hilly and

heavily vegetated terrain in eastern

Tennessee.

Formerly known as the Oak Ridge

Y-12 Plant, and constructed in the

early 1940's as part of the Manhattan

Project to manufacture nuclear

weapons components, the Y-12

National Security Complex (NSC) has

now assumed a national security role

under NNSA. Y-12 is an 811-acre

facility located within the city limits of

Oak Ridge, TN, 10 miles from the

ORNL and 12 miles from the ETTP,

once known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous

Diffusion Plant.

Currently operated by BWXT Y-12,

the national security programs at Y-12

include manufacturing and reworking

nuclear weapon components, dismantling nuclear weapon components

returned from the national arsenal,

serving as the nation's safe, secure

storehouse of special nuclear materials, providing the United States Navy

with safe, militarily effective nuclear

propulsion systems, and reducing the

global threat from terrorism and

weapons of mass destruction. In early

2004, the Y-12 NSC received, stored

and secured a shipment of Libyan

nuclear materials.

Meteorological network systems,

which support day-to-day operations,

are managed and operated at the three

main sites by the University of

Tennessee (UT)/Battelle, BWXT Y-12

and Bechtel Jacobs Company. These

network systems provide data that support environmental management (permitting, facility siting and environmental impact assessment), facility

safety (safety analyses), emergency

management (hazards and consequence assessment), operations (work

planning) and substantial research.

The BWXT Y-12 meteorological

program is operations, environment,

and safety-oriented. Y-12 is located in

the narrow Bear Creek Valley, and it is

bordered by two SW to NE oriented

ridges, mostly covered with mature

pines and hardwoods. Two meteorological towers have long formed the

basis for the meteorological program

...a 100-meter tower, instrumented at

10-, 30-and 100-meters, located on the

valley floor at the East end of Y-12,

and a 60-meter tower, instrumented at

10-, and 60-meters, located on a ridgeline at the West end. In 2003, the data

acquisition system was upgraded to an

Environmental Systems Corporation

(ESC) Windows-based software package, accessing via Ethernet the ESC

8832 data loggers at the towers. This

data acquisition package is widely

used in air pollution monitoring and in

other environmental compliance applications.

Given the complex terrain setting of

the Y-12 NSC, a REMTECH PA-2

sodar is used to characterize the winds

from 50-meters, extending above the

surrounding ridges to a height of 500-

meters. Redundant Windows XP

polling computers collect 1-hour average sodar data, plus 1-hour, 15-minute,

and 1-minute tower data. Displays of

the 15-minute data are available in the

operations center, in the emergency

centers (including the State EOC), and

on an internal web page for general

use. For real-time emergency

response modeling purposes,

15-minute data is also routed to the

NARAC meteorological database, and

to a specially-formatted file on the

Y-12 EOC modeling computers. There,

it is accessible by the local chemical

model, CHARM®, a commercially

available 3-D grid model with an

extensive chemical database and

source term modeling features. For

most other modeling needs, the

NARAC iClient model is used at Y-12,

where the ridge-valley and generally

complex terrain setting has represented

a prototype test and demonstration site

for 3-D wind field and terrain models. 

There is no on-site weather forecasting service at Y-12, but since it is in the

city limits of Oak Ridge, representative forecasts are readily available

from the local media, the national network services, and the Internet. Local

severe weather advisories and warnings are issued by the nearby NWS

Office at Morristown, TN, and they are

received and disseminated by the Plant

Shift Superintendent's (PSS) Office at

Y-12. Also available to the PSS is a

subscription weather and doppler radar

service, as well as lightning detection

and prediction equipment. The Y-12

Meteorologist and a Systems

(Hardware/Software) Engineer maintain the program, train and assists others, as needed.

The meteorological data acquisition

program at ETTP has two main towers.

K-1209 is 60 meters high while

K-1208 is 30 meters in height. In addition, two 10-meter supplemental towers are still operating. Lastly, a

NEXRAD radar system, and The

Weather Channel (TWC) are available
SECTION 3 DOE 171

to each of the control rooms and emergency response facilities.

The data acquisition program at the

ORNL consists of three (two 30-meter

and one 100-meter) meteorological

towers. Meteorological data is fed to

an ORNL central computer system for

analysis and dissemination.

Research

NOAA Air Resources Laboratory/

Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion

Division (ARL/ATDD) is located in

Oak Ridge near the ORR. The primary

mission of ATDD is atmospheric

research. Substantial research programs at ATDD are undertaken with

the assistance of staff from

ORISE/Oak Ridge Associated

Universities (ORAU) and scientists

from other national laboratories and

organizations in the United States and

abroad. ARL/ATDD also works closely with the ORAU to enhance educational opportunities in atmospheric science.

ARL/ATDD research attention is

focused on the physics of the lower

atmosphere, with special emphasis on

the processes contributing to atmospheric transport, dispersion, and airsurface exchange, and on the development and improvement of predictive

capabilities using the results of this

research. Many other projects are

underway such as surface energy balance and CO2 exchange studies and

long-term studies of CO2 exchange

aimed at process-level understanding.

Operationally, ARL/ATDD personnel provide meteorological consultation and supplemental data for air quality analyses, environmental reports,

and hazard assessments and consequence assessments. Local climatology data are routinely collected and

distributed. Under NOAA funding,

ARL/ATDD operates a regional network of 15 towers ranging from the

Cumberland Mountains (middle

Tennessee) to the Smoky Mountains

on Tennessee's eastern border. Wind,

temperature, and precipitation data are

recovered every 15 minutes by telemetry and made available to users.

ARL/ATDD incorporates NWS forecast products into the high-resolution,

regional, meteorological model (i.e.,

RAMS) to produce twice daily 12-

hour, 24-hour, and 36-hour predictions

of surface winds for eastern Tennessee,

and transport trajectory predictions for

the ORR.

PANTEX PLANT

Operations

The Pantex Plant covers 15,977 acres

and is located 17 miles northeast of

Amarillo, TX, in Carson County. The

Plant was a World War II munitions

factory and was converted to a nuclear

weapons assembly facility in 1951.

Today, it is the nation's only assembly/disassembly facility supporting the

nuclear weapons arsenal. Pantex Plant

is a government-owned, contractoroperated facility. DOE oversees operation of Pantex Plant through the

Amarillo Area Office (AAO), which

reports to the Albuquerque Operations

Office. Mason and Hanger

Corporation had been the operating

contractor since 1956. On

February 1, 2001, BWXT Pantex has

assumed the Pantex contract. 

The Plant is composed of several

functional areas, commonly referred to

as numbered zones. These include a

weapons assembly/disassembly area, a

weapons staging area, an area for

development of experimental explosives, a drinking water treatment facility, a sanitary wastewater treatment

facility, and vehicle maintenance and

administrative areas. Other functional

areas include a utility area for steam

and compressed air, an explosive testfiring facility, a burning ground for

thermally treating explosive materials,

and landfills. Overall, there are more

than 700 buildings at the Pantex Plant.

The Environmental Protection/

Restoration Department (EP/RD) of

the Environment, Safety and Health

Directorate is tasked with the quality

assurance program for the meteorological data captured by the one on-site

two-level tower located in the northeast corner of the Plant site. The data

from this tower (i.e., 10-meters and

60-meters) are collected and used by

the DOE NARAC site workstation,

located in the Plant EOC. These data

are collected and archived as

15-minute averages plus maximum

and minimum values for each

15-minute period. They are primarily

used for input to the NARAC emergency response models that could be

used for off-normal events involving

radionuclides. Annual dispersion

model calculations of off site radiation

doses from on site sources, required by

40 CFR 61, Subpart H, National

Emission Standards for Hazardous Air

Pollutants (NESHAP), are accomplished by the EP/RD. EP/RD uses the

EPA-approved CAP88-PC atmospheric transport and dispersion model and

the Pantex meteorological tower data

processed into the STAR format. This

department also maintains the Pantex

Plant climatology database.

Meteorological tower data is also

used by the Risk Management

Department for plume dispersion modeling applied to the Plutonium

Dispersal Consequence Analysis for
172 DOE SECTION 3

the Basis for Interim Operations (BIO)

validation and upgrade reports, other

operations directives, and other safety

analyses.

Routine preventive maintenance on

the meteorological instruments as well

as calibration and certification are

done semi-annually by the United

States Bureau of Land Management

(BLM). The BLM maintenance depot

at Boise, Idaho performs similar work

for the United States Forest Service's

own meteorological towers instruments. This work is done under a contract administered by the Pantex

Emergency Management Department.

The BLM Idaho depot also handles

emergency repairs and replacement of

sensors. Temperature and wind sensors are replaced semi-annually with

calibrated and certified sensors. The

barometer is replaced annually.

During the semi-annual preventive

maintenance visits all of the other

meteorological instruments are

replaced by the BLM technician with

rebuilt/refurbished, calibrated equipment, from the Idaho depot. The maintenance check also includes the telephone line, modem, and backup power

supply.

As a result of a FY 2000 project

meteorological tower data is now displayed on the Pantex Plant Intranet for

use by Plant personnel. During

FY 2001, the potential for replacing

the existing wind sensor on the meteorological tower with a three-dimensional wind sensor was evaluated. In

addition, replacing/upgrading the

NARAC computer and software located at the base of the tower that feeds

data into the NARAC Site System in

the EOC was also considered.

Research

There are no current or projected

supporting meteorological research

activities planned at the Pantex Plant.

ROCKY FLATS ENVIRONMENTAL

TECHNOLOGY SITE (RFETS)

Operational

The RFETS is managed by the

Rocky Flats Operations Office

(RFOO) and is located approximately

16 miles northwest of downtown

Denver, Colorado. One of the smaller

DOE sites, the facility occupies a

10 square mile area along the foothills

of the Rocky Mountain Front Range.

A 61-meter meteorological tower at

the west-end of the site continuously

monitors meteorological conditions at

surface, 10-meters, 25-meters, and

60-meters above ground level. The

data are analyzed, quality assured, and

assembled into data sets for use in

atmospheric modeling, climatology,

and other analyses at the site. Data

from the 61-meter and 10-meter towers

are also transmitted back to the main

site every 15 minutes by telemetry for

use in emergency response modeling.

The Regional Atmospheric Response

Center (RARC) conducts meteorological activities associated with emergency preparedness and response at the

site. An upper air remote sensing

Sound Detection and Ranging/Radio

Acoustic Sounding System

(SODAR/RASS) continuously monitors winds, temperatures, and atmospheric stability above the RFETS site.

Through a cooperative agreement

with the Colorado Department of

Public Health and Environment

(CDPHE), meteorological data are

transmitted to the site from five surface

meteorological stations by telemetry

that form a ring around the site perimeter. Another cooperative agreement

with NOAA provides near real-time

data from multiple monitoring sites

throughout the Denver metropolitan

area. These data are all received, quality assured, and combined into a threedimensional observation set for emergency response modeling every

15 minutes, 24 hours per day.

The RARC provides 24-hour consequence assessment support for any

unplanned radiological or chemical

releases from the site. The Center

responds with customized weather

forecasts, plume projections, and dose

modeling results that lead to event

classifications and protective actions

for on-site and off-site populations.

RARC also conducts specialized consequence assessments in support of

emergency preparedness, hazard

assessments, and risk assessments for

RFETS. Weather forecasts are provided for severe weather events, such as

winter storms, windstorms, and severe

thunderstorms.

A customized modeling system has

been developed and implemented at

RFETS to predict the pathway and

impacts from any radiological emergency at the site. Called the

Computer-Assisted Protective Action

Recommendation System (CAPARS),

the new capability addresses the need

for fast, accurate plume predictions in

a complex atmosphere.

CAPARS provides a variety of

plume, weather, hazard, and related

products with the accuracy and speed

needed for response to an emergency

at RFETS. Eleven integrated major

subsystems form the overall CAPARS

capability.

The State of Colorado has formally

accepted the CAPARS modeling system for emergency response and planning applications at RFETS. A specialized planning version of the

CAPARS system has been developed,

implemented, and applied for emergency planning at the RFETS. Called

the TRAC Risk Assessment/Hazards

Assessment Model, the capability is

designed to support hazards and risk

assessments for RFETS and to form

the basis for an evaluation of the size

and shape of the Emergency Planning

Zone (EPZ) surrounding RFETS.
SECTION 3 DOE 173

Research

There are no current or projected

supporting meteorological research

activities planned at RFETS.

SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORY

(SNL)-ALBUQUERQUE

Operational

The DOE Kirtland Area Office (KAO)

manages SNL in Albuquerque, NM,

located between the Rio Grande Valley

and Manzano Mountains. SNL covers

approximately 80 square miles of flat to

mountainous arid terrain.

Meteorological Programs at SNL

include both support and research activities.

Meteorological services and support

are provided through the EOC in the

Laboratory Services Division (LSD).

The mission is to provide meteorological support for various operations

including:

• Emergency response;

• Environmental surveillance and

characterization; and,

• Regulatory compliance.

The monitoring network consists of

six 10-meter and two 60-meter towers

used to measure wind direction and

speed, ambient temperature, and relative

humidity. There are also three precipitation gauges, two barometric pressure

sensors, and one solar radiation pyranometer in the network.

Research

Key research activities are provided

through the Energy and Critical

Infrastructure Center in the Energy,

Information, and Technology Division.

SNL scientists are involved in the ARM

program and the Surface Heat Budget of

the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA). The ARM

project is a combined measurement and

modeling program. The goal is to gain a

better understanding of clouds and their

effect on atmospheric radiation, with the

final goal of developing better climate

models. The SHEBA program addresses the interaction of the surface energy

balance, atmospheric radiation and

clouds over the Arctic Ocean.

SAVANNAH RIVER SITE (SRS)

Operational

The SRS is under the responsibility

of the Savannah River Operations

Office (SR) and operated by the

Westinghouse Savannah River

Company (WSRC). SRS is located in

southwestern South Carolina, along

the banks of the Savannah River. The

SRS covers an area of approximately

300 square miles and is thickly forested with pine trees. There are also several small streams, a large swamp, and

two reservoirs built as cooling ponds

for nuclear plant reactors. The topography of SRS is characterized by gently rolling hills with an adjacent flood

plain near the Savannah River. The

climate at SRS is typical of the southeastern United States with long, hot

and humid summers and short mild

winters.

The Atmospheric

Technologies Group (ATG)

of the Savannah River Technology

Center (SRTC) has developed and

operated a meteorological monitoring

and modeling program at the SRS

since the early 1970's. This program

supports SRS operations in emergency

response consequence assessment,

weather forecasting, radiological and

non-radiological air quality calculations for regulatory compliance, safety

analyses, environmental impacts, engineering studies, environmental

research and non-proliferation activities.

ATG's meteorological data sources

are extensive and quite varied. On-site

meteorological data are obtained from

a network of eight 200-foot meteorological observing towers located near

the major production sites. The instrumentation on these towers includes

sensitive bi-directional vanes (i.e.,

bivanes), cup anemometers, resistance

thermometers and lithium chloride

humidity sensors. Another tower is

located at the Central Climatology

facility, located near the geometric

center of the SRS. It includes like

instruments near ground level, 60-ft,

120-ft, and 200 ft. Additional meteorological measurements at the Central

Climatology facility include precipitation, evaporation, barometric pressure,

soil temperature, solar and long wave

radiation. Data are collected with dedicated data loggers at each tower site.

Each logger is then polled by a remote

computer that, in turn, populates a relational database with meteorological

data.

A network of twelve manually-read

rain gauges is located throughout the

SRS. Additional local upper-air data

are collected from a balloon-launched

airsonde system and a portable tethersonde system. Portable towers are

available for use in

case studies.

ATG also has access to local radar

data, which is then distributed sitewide via the SRS intranet. Regional,

national, and international meteorological data are received from a commercial weather data provider via satellite

in real time. The data include surface

observations, satellite and radar

imagery, and predictive model information from the US and abroad.

In addition, ATG has developed the

Weather Information and Display

(WIND) System as an automated

resource for conducting real-time consequence assessments following

unplanned releases of hazardous material. The WIND System is a multicomputer platform network that links

the real time meteorological observa-
174 DOE SECTION 3

tions and forecasts with a suite of

atmospheric and aqueous transport and

dispersion models. A rolling 24-hour

data file is created from data archived

in the meteorological database and disseminated to a pc-based workstations

that can operate the WIND System's

modeling and display software.

In the mid 1990s, a mutual aid agreement with surrounding counties emergency management agencies was created to install and operate four meteorological towers at nearby chemical

plants in support of emergency

response activities. Data from these

towers are incorporated into the SRS

meteorological database, integrated

into the 24-hour data file, and made

available beyond the SRS firewall for

use by the off site partner entities using

appropriate WIND System software. 

Nearby SRS, two television stations,

WJBF and WAGT, have built a new

television tower, where SRTC has

installed meteorological instrumentation at the 100 ft, 200 ft, and 1000 ft

levels. This local television transmitter

tower was instrumented with fast

response three-dimensional sonic

anemometers and optical water vapor

and CO2 sensors at 100-ft, 200-ft, and

1,000 ft. Slow response temperature

and humidity sensors were also

installed at these levels. The data from

this tower will provide vital information for both operational emergency

response and for the USFS to conduct

control burns. It will also provide valuable data for research in the atmospheric boundary layer.

A joint partnership between

Westinghouse Electric Company and a

local television station provides local

Doppler radar data to SRS and the

local community in real-time. This

provides valuable site specific radar

returns to assist in site operations. The

data (e.g., static and time lapse - movie

- images) are available through the site

internal computer network at employees' desktop computers.

ATG utilizes a regional mesoscale

model, RAMS, for providing detailed

forecast information. Specifically,

forecasts out to 24 hours from RAMS

are available as input for the predictive

component of WIND System models.

Transport calculations blend observed

meteorological data with RAMS forecasts to make timely and accurate

assessments. The grid resolution used

in RAMS varies from 2 km for the

inner grid (100 km x 100 km centered

on the SRS) and 8 km for the outer grid

(250 km x 250 km).

The SRS Atmospheric Technology

Center provides access to local, national and international meteorological

data to provide comprehensive meteorological support for SRS and WFO

customers. On a daily basis, ATG provides weather forecasts in support of

site operations. Typical customers

include waste handling groups where

wind and rain forecasts often determine daily activities. Also, ATG supports the US Forest Service (USFS)

prescribed burn program and site heat

stress program with detailed observations and forecasts. Custom forecasts

are also provided to facility and other

senior managers to support protective

action decisions for severe weather.

Research

There are no current or projected

supporting meteorological research

activities planned at SRS.

WASTE ISOLATION PILOT

PLANT (WIPP)

Operational

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

(WIPP) is operated by Westinghouse

TRU Solutions for the DOE

Carlsbad Area Office (CAO). A cornerstone of the DOE national cleanup strategy, the WIPP is designed to

permanently dispose of transuranic

(TRU) radioactive waste generated

by defense-related activities in the

Salado salt formation 2,150 feet

beneath the surface. WIPP is located in Eddy County in southeastern

New Mexico, 26 miles east of

Carlsbad, and occupies 16 square

miles of a region know as Los

Medanos. Geographically, the

region is regarded as a relatively

flat, sparsely inhabited plateau with

little surface water.

The WIPP Environmental

Monitoring Section (EMS) performs

meteorological monitoring as part of

the Non-radiological Environmental

Monitoring Program. The primary

meteorological station provides

measurement of wind direction and

speed, temperature at two-meters,

10-meters, and 50-meters, as well as

ground level measurements of barometric pressure, relative humidity,

precipitation, and solar radiation.

The main function of the station is to

generate data for operational support, emergency response and regulatory dispersion modeling applications. Parameters are monitored

continuously and the data are stored

in the Central Monitoring System, a

computerized system including automated parameter checks, real- time

displays in the Central Monitoring

Room, and data archiving.

Meteorological data are compiled

and distributed to stakeholders,

including the NOAA NWS, on a

monthly basis.

WIPP also, under a cooperative

agreement with the NWS, maintains

a Cooperative Weather Observing

Station at the Far Field Station. Data

from this station are compiled

monthly and the Record of

Climatological Observations form is

submitted to the Weather Forecast

Office in Midland, Texas. Under the
SECTION 3 DOE 175

same cooperative agreement, the

Midland office is given access to

real-time data from the primary

meteorological station.

Research

There are no current or projected

supporting meteorological research

activities planned at WIPP.

WELDON SPRINGS SITE

REMEDIAL ACTION PROJECT

(WSSRAP)

Operational

The activities associated with

Weldon Springs Site Remedial Action

Project (WSSRAP) have been completed. The meteorological monitoring

program that had operated at the WSSRAP since 1994 was dismantled in

2003.

Research

There are no current or projected

supporting meteorological research

activities planned at WSSRAP.

YUCCA MOUNTAIN PROJECT

(YMP)

Operational

As part of the DOE Office of

Civilian Radioactive Waste

Management (OCRWM), the Yucca

Mountain Project (YMP) studies may

eventually support a recommendation

of Yucca Mountain for the nation's first

geologic repository for spent nuclear

fuel and other high level radioactive

waste (Figure 3-DOE-4). The current

meteorological program within the

YMP focuses on environmental compliance and operational health and

safety considerations, for both employees and the general public.

As with a number of DOE sites, the

Yucca Mountain area is one of complex

topography and heterogeneous surface

characteristics, creating mesoscale conditions that locally influence on-site

weather. The YMP meteorological program, therefore, includes four full stations for measuring atmospheric dispersion and general meteorological

conditions, as well as nine precipitation

stations. These stations serve to monitor the significant variations in airflow,

rainfall, and temperature caused by the

area's complex terrain environment.

The meteorological stations are key to

the thorough monitoring of these variations that is essential for the YMP

ongoing commitment to environmental

compliance and to the health and safety

of employees and the public.

The YMP meteorological program

also provides essential data for the

studies necessary to evaluate the

site's suitability for a potential

repository. Should the site be

deemed suitable and a repository

licensed, built, and operated, water

would be the primary means by

which radioactive materials could be

transported to the accessible environment. Thus, movement of water

from the atmosphere to the surface

and on through the mountain is a key

concern. The meteorological program provides essential data for the

infiltration model of the mountain.

Data about precipitation, humidity,

evapotranspiration, surface water

run-on, solar radiation, air temperatures, and wind patterns all contribute to the overall infiltration

model. The model gives special

emphasis to the transient, or temporal, versus steady-state rates of water

movement through the unsaturated

zone of rock at Yucca Mountain.

The temporal variation of infiltration

may be short term, due to weather

fluctuations that drive episodic flow,

or much longer term, in periods corresponding to climate change. Data

from the meteorological program's

ongoing monitoring programs are

supplemented by the program's paleoclimatology studies. Together, they

provide essential information for the

YMP modeling of past, present, and

future infiltration rates.

If the potential repository were

actually built and operated, continuous meteorological monitoring and

analysis would also be essential for

the operational facilities on the surface of the mountain, at least until

the final closure of the repository.

Buildings would be built to withstand the probable maximum flood

and wind conditions, and administrative controls would be in place to

suspend operations during severe

weather conditions. An integral part

of the emergency response system

would include monitoring the overFigure 3-DOE-4. Yucca Mountain (100 miles northwest of Las Vegas,

Nevada) is unpopulated land owned by the Federal Government and adjacent

to the nation's nuclear weapons test site.
176 DOE SECTION 3

all environmental situation at the

repository site.

In turn, an integral part of the overall environmental monitoring system

would be the meteorological monitoring system. This system would

collect real-time meteorological

information about the site and provide weather forecasting and climatological data. Such data would be

essential for management decisions

regarding the health and safety conditions for employees and the public.

Research

There are no current or projected

supporting meteorological research

activities planned at the Yucca

Mountain site.

DOE METEOROLOGICAL

COORDINATING COUNCIL (DMCC)

Based on a need to facilitate more

coordination and cooperation among

the meteorological activities at the

DOE field offices, the DMCC (i.e., the

Council) was established on

December 2, 1994. The mission of the

Council, now in its tenth year, is to

coordinate meteorological support and

research to meet DOE objectives. The

objectives of the council are to:

• Promote cost-effective support for

all DOE facilities;

• Plan for future needs, requirements,

and missions;

• Advocate awareness of atmospheric science applications and benefits

to DOE; and,

• Advocate the use of common methods, procedures, and standards.

Council oversight is provided by a

steering committee consisting of DOE

and NNSA headquarters and field element representatives. Products of the

DMCC include evaluations of meteorological requirements contained in

DOE orders and guidance documents,

site meteorological program peer

reviews, and, as needed, customized

technical assistance. Assist Visits have

been conducted at NNSA/NSO, WIPP,

Pantex, DOE/OR and SNLAlbuquerque. Two follow-up assist

visits were also conducted at WIPP.

Additional assist visits are in the planning stages and will be conducted over

the next several years.

The DMCC web page has been

broadened and can be accessed at

www.sord.nv.doe.gov

(Figure 3-DOE-5). The DMCC can

also be accessed through the web page

of the Subcommittee for Consequence

Assessment and Protective Actions

(SCAPA).

Figure 3-DOE-5. Air Resources Laboratory (ARL)/Special Operations and

Research Division (SORD) conducts basic and applied research on problems

of mutual interest to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) and Department of Energy (DOE), that relate to the Nevada Test Site

(NTS), its atmospheric environment, and its emergency preparedness and

emergency response activities.
On March 1, 2003, the Department

of Homeland Security (DHS) assumed

primary responsibility for ensuring that

emergency response professionals are

prepared for any situation in the event

of a terrorist attack, natural disaster, or

other large-scale emergency. This

entails providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any

large-scale crisis and mounting a swift

and effective recovery effort. DHS

will also prioritize the important issue

of citizen preparedness, and educating

America's families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips

for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at

DHS.

Homeland Security Presidential

Directive #5 (HSPD 5), states that "to

prevent, prepare for, respond to, and

recover from terrorist attacks, major

disasters, and other emergencies, the

United States Government shall establish a single, comprehensive approach

to domestic incident management." It

also assigns the Secretary of the

Department of Homeland Security the

role of principal Federal official for

domestic incident management. Based

on previous Federal guidelines and

legal authorities, a number of Federal

agencies have responsibilities, depending on the scenario, and each agency

has developed or has access to sourceterm estimates, dispersion modeling,

and consequence assessment capabilities to meet their responsibilities. For

a domestic incident, these capabilities

would be coordinated by the Secretary

of the Department of Homeland

Security in cases where a Federal

response is required and authorized.

Over the coming year, the goal is to

develop an all-hazards dispersion support framework, initially based on

atmospheric dispersion modeling and

consequence assessment, to support

the DHS Secretary in his role as principal Federal official for planning,

preparing, and responding to domestic

incidents. This framework will provide tailored all-hazards dispersion

support to DHS and its Homeland

Security Operations Center (HSOC).

The primary and most urgent objective

is to provide the best available information for atmospheric hazard predictions so that DHS can make appropriate emergency response and consequence management decisions. This

effort is based on the work and recommendations of the OFCM-sponsored

Joint Action Group on the Selection

and Evaluation of Atmospheric

Transport and Dispersion Models

(JAG/SEATD) report, Atmospheric

Modeling of Releases from Weapons

of Mass Destruction: Response by

Federal Agencies in Support of

Homeland Security, August 2002, and

the National Research Council's (of the

National Academies) Board on

Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

report, Tracking and Predicting the

Atmospheric Dispersion of Hazardous

Material Releases: Implications for

Homeland Security, 2003.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS

AND RESPONSE (EPR)

In March 2003, FEMA joined other

federal agencies, programs and offices

in becoming the Department of

Homeland Security. The new department brings a coordinated approach to

national security from emergencies

and disasters - both natural

and man-made. Today, FEMA is one

of four major branches of DHS. About

2,500 full-time employees in the

Emergency Preparedness

and Response (EPR) Directorate are

supplemented by more than 5,000

stand-by disaster reservists.

In carrying out its role, EPR works

with all of the agencies to assure that

the delivery of meteorology-related

information is conducted in keeping

with established goals and objectives.

As administrator of the National Flood

Insurance Program (NFIP), EPR pubDEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WEATHER PROGRAMS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has three primary missions: Prevent terrorist attacks

within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage from

potential attacks and natural disasters. The department's first priority is to protect the nation against

further terrorist attacks. Component agencies will analyze threats and intelligence, guard our borders

and airports, protect our critical infrastructure, and coordinate the response of our nation for future

emergencies. Besides providing a better-coordinated defense of the homeland, DHS is also dedicated

to protecting the rights of American citizens and enhancing public services, such as natural disaster

assistance and citizenship services, by dedicating offices to these important missions. DHS has Five Major Divisions,

or "Directorates": Border and Transportation Security (BTS); Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR); Science

and Technology (S & T); Information Analysis and Infrastructure Protection (IAIP); Management. Besides the five

Directorates of DHS, several other critical agencies folded into the new department or were created: United States Coast

Guard; United States Secret Service; Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services; Office of State and Local

Government Coordination; Office of Private Sector Liaison; and the Office of Inspector General.

SECTION 3 DHS 177
178 DHS SECTION 3

lishes Flood Insurance Rate Maps for

all flood-prone communities, which

serve as the official demarcation for

flood risk. EPR administers the

National Hurricane Program and, for

regions subject to hurricanes, publishes hurricane evacuation maps based on

model simulation results from the

National Weather Service's National

Hurricane Center.

EPR's priority interests with OFCM

are in supporting EPR's pre-disaster

initiatives and in promoting standards

and procedures which will enhance the

ability of the Nation to mitigate and

recover from emergencies and disasters. These interests extend to national

standards for geographic information

systems (GIS) used for delivery of

meteorological products and services

by other agencies. EPR also actively

supports the OFCM-sponsored

Working Group for Post-Storm Data

Acquisition (WG/PSDA) and the

WG/PSDA's efforts to develop a

National Plan for Post-Storm Data

Acquisition to coordinate and support

the collection, by the federal agencies,

of perishable data after major storms.

These data have potential applications

in post-disaster mitigation activities,

the NFIP flood hazard analysis, the

EPR National Hurricane Program hurricane evacuation studies, and other

EPR's risk analysis activities, such as

the Multi-Hazard Loss Estimation

Methodology (HAZUS). The

Technical Services Division is the

principal contact for hurricane evacuation studies and flood risk analysis as

well as the EPR contact point for

meteorology-related matters.

(www.fema.gov) (Figure 3-DHS-1).

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

(USCG) 

Since March 2003, the Commandant

of the Coast Guard reports directly to

the Secretary of Homeland Security.

However, the USCG also works closely with the Under Secretary of Border

and Transportation Security as well as

maintain its existing independent

identity as a military service. Upon

declaration of war or when the

President so directs, the Coast Guard

would operate as an element of

the Department of Defense, consistent

with existing law.

Although no United States Coast

Guard (USCG) cutters or shore units

are solely dedicated to meteorology,

they collectively perform a variety of

functions in support of the national

meteorology program. USCG oceangoing cutters and coastal stations provide weather observations to the

National Weather Service (NWS).

Coast Guard communications stations

broadcast NWS marine forecasts,

weather warnings, and weather facsimile charts and, also, collect weather

observations from commercial shipping for the NWS. The Coast Guard

also operates the LORAN C radionavigation system and the Maritime

Differential GPS (DGPS) Service. The

LORAN C system provides Position,

Navigation, and Timing (PNT) information to a variety of navigation and

non-navigation users throughout the

continental United States and Alaska

(e.g. radiosondes). The Maritime

DGPS Service is an augmentation to

the GPS that improves GPS-only accuracy to better than ten meters and provides DGPS coverage to coastal areas

of the continental United States, the

Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, portions of

Alaska and Hawaii, and portions of the

Mississippi River Basin.

Coast Guard operates three polar icebreakers - USCGC POLAR STAR,

USCGC POLAR SEA, and USCGC

HEALY - to serve our Nation’s security, economic, environmental, and scientific interests. These vessels make

important marine environmental measurements during dedicated science

deployments or in conjunction with

other missions.

USCGC HEALY, a new icebreaking

research vessel, was delivered to the

Coast Guard in November 1999 and

conducted successful shakedown tests

of the hull, machinery, and scientific

equipment during January-August

2000 (Figure 3-DHS-2). The first

unrestricted science cruise was conducted in the Eastern Arctic in the

summer of 2001. HEALY, has a length

of 420 feet, beam of 82 feet, and displaces over 16,000 tons. Scientific systems and gear include a bottom mapping multi-beam sonar system; a subbottom profiling system; a conductivity-depth-temperature data system; an

Figure 3-DHS-1. FEMA setup numerous Disaster Recovery Centers to provide expendable oceanographic probe sysneeded assistance to victims of Hurricane Isabel in September, 2003.
SECTION 3 DHS 179

tem; an Acoustic Doppler Current

Profiler; a jumbo coring system; a continuous flow, seawater sampling system; a meteorological measurement

system; and a bow tower for clean air

experiments. To schedule time on

HEALY, see the UNOLS web site,

www.unols.org. For more information,

see the Coast Guard web page for

HEALY, www.uscg.mil/pacarea/healy/.

USCG conducts the International Ice

Patrol (IIP) under the provisions of the

International Convention for Safety of

Life at Sea (SOLAS). The IIP uses

sensor-equipped aircraft to patrol the

Grand Banks of Newfoundland to

locate and track icebergs which pose a

hazard to North Atlantic shipping.

Direct observations are supplemented

and extrapolated using a numerical iceberg drift and deterioration model. IIP

determines the geographic limits of the

iceberg hazard and, twice daily, broadcasts iceberg warning bulletins and ice

facsimile charts which define the limits

of the iceberg threat during the iceberg

season (spring and summer). IIP annually archives data on all confirmed and

suspected icebergs, and forwards these

data to the National Snow and Ice Data

Center. These data can be accessed via

the IIP web page www.uscg.mil/

lantarea/iip/home.html. Archived data

contains all iceberg sighting data along

with the last model-predicted position

of each berg.

The Coast Guard participates with the

Navy and NOAA in conducting the

National Ice Center, a multi-agency

operational center that produces analyses and forecasts of Arctic, Antarctic,

Great Lakes, and coastal ice conditions.

The Coast Guard also collaborates

with NOAA in operating the National

Data Buoy Center (NDBC) which

deploys and maintains NOAA's automated network of environmental monitoring platforms in the deep ocean and

coastal regions. Five Coast Guard personnel fill key technical and logistics

support positions within NDBC. Coast

Guard cutters support the deployment

and retrieval of data buoys, and provide periodic maintenance visits to

both buoys and coastal stations,

expending approximately 180 cutter

days annually. Coast Guard aircraft,

small boats, and shore facilities also

provide NDBC support.

Meteorological activities are coordinated by the Ice Operations Division of

the Office of Aids to Navigation at

Coast Guard Headquarters. Field management of Coast Guard meteorological support services is accomplished at

the Coast Guard Area and District levels.

Figure 3-DHS-2. USCGC HEALEY,

the Coast Guard’s new icebreaking

research vessel, conducting ice trials.

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL

SURVEY (USGS)

Water Data

The USGS's Water Resources

Division (WRD) collects streamflow,

precipitation, water quality, groundwater level, and other water resources

and climatological data as part of a

national network and for a number of

projects concerning rainfall/ runoff,

water quality and hydrologic processes.

Currently, the USGS collects hydrologic and meteorological data from more

than 11,000 surface-water sites, precipitation data from more than 1,100 sites,

ground-water level data from more

than 21,000 sites, and water quality

data from more than 8,500 surfacewater, ground-water, and precipitation

sites.

Data collected at USGS sites are transmitted from approximately

7,100 remote Data Collection

Platforms (DCPs). The data are transmitted to Wallops, Virginia, via GOES

and rebroadcast to a domestic communication satellite (DOMSAT). Data are

received from the DOMSAT by local

readout ground stations (LRGS) procured by USGS under a 1992 contract.

The USGS currently operates 15 LRGS

which provide near-real-time data to

the USGS's computerized National

Water Information System (NWIS).

Data from an additional 1,300 sites are

transmitted via other telemetry (mostly

telephone). Near-real-time streamflow

data and ancillary information are provided to National Weather Service

River Forecast Centers for over 2000

river forecast points (Figure 3-DOI-1).

The USGS also collects precipitation

samples in a number of studies for the

determination of atmospheric contribution to the chemical constituent

loads to runoff, and for defining the

effect of atmospheric deposition on

water quality and the aquatic environment.

The USGS serves historical and realtime water resources data on the

Internet at its NWIS Web site

(http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/).

Snow and Ice Studies

The USGS is carrying out a joint

research program with NASA, the

University of Washington-Seattle's

Electrical and Civil Engineering

Departments, and the French Space

Agency (CNES) to measure snowpack

water equivalent or snow depth using

satellite passive microwave observations from the Defense Meteorological

Satellite Program's (DMSP) Special

Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I)

sensor. Unlike observations in the visible bands, passive microwave observations are independent of cloud cover

and solar illumination and respond to

both snow depth and snowpack grain

size. The satellite observations are

being compared to snowpack data,

which include grain size, density and

stratigraphy, from a variety of sources:

USDA/NRCS automatic SNOTEL

sites; National Weather Service (NWS)

sites; and observations by USGS field

teams. The object of the program is to

develop algorithms to extract snow

depth or water equivalent information

from the satellite observations to be

used in near-real-time water resource

assessments and in climatological

studies based on snowpack distributions determined from the two-decadeDEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR WEATHER PROGRAMS

The Interior Department (DOI), is the nation's principal conservation agency, charged with the mission

"to protect and provide access to our Nation's natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to Indian tribes and our commitments to island communities." The following operational and

research programs contribute to the Federal Plan.

SECTION 3 DOI 181

Figure 3-DOI-1. Sample USGS Water Watch map of real-time streamflow

compared to historical streamflow for the day of the year. Source: USGS

Website: http://water.usgs.gov/waterwatch/
182 DOI SECTION 3

long DMSP satellite record. The

investigation is developing techniques

to utilize algorithms that include the

effects of grain size metamorphoses

and to incorporate these algorithms

into hydrologic models.

The USGS and the BLM have used a

combination of Landsat-7 and synthetic aperture radar images of the Bering

Glacier, Alaska, which surged in 1993-

95, to map the retreat of the glacier terminus as it undergoes large scale disarticulation. Scientists use these data to

monitor the level of Berg Lake and the

integrity of the ice dam that forms the

southern shore of the lake, to assess the

potential hazard presented by an outburst flood. In addition, the imagery is

being used to plan summer field programs that include hydrographic investigations in expanding Vitus Lake, and

both aquatic and terrestrial sampling.

Climatological Research

USGS also carries out research in climate change, regional hydrology, the

carbon cycle, coastal erosion, volcanic

activity, and glaciology. As part of its

glaciology program, the USGS maintains an observation program on three

benchmark glaciers representative of

different climactic zones of the western

United States, one in Washington, one

on the south coast of Alaska and one in

the interior of Alaska. At each glacier,

the program measures the winter snow

accumulation, summer snow and ice

ablation, air temperature, and runoff in

the glacier basin. The length of the glacier record is now 43 years; this is the

longest such record in North America.

Analysis of this record is providing a

greater understanding of the climate

variability and its effects on water

resources of the western United States.

The record clearly shows the effects of

changing winter precipitation patterns

associated with El Niño and La Niña

events. In addition, the record from

South Cascade Glacier, in Washington

State, indicates that we are returning to

the cool phase of the Pacific Decadal

Oscillation.

USGS scientists have developed and

tested methodology to use Landsat-7

data in conjunction with USGS mass

balance measurements at South

Cascade Glacier, Washington, to estimate the annual storage or release of

water by glaciers and perennial snowfields in the North Cascade Mountains.

The method was applied to the North

fork of the Nooksack River,

Washington, for three consecutive

years with different snow accumulations: a heavy snow year, 1999, a normal snow year, 2000, and a light snow

year, 2001, a drought year. The results

show that in a drought year the glaciers

and perennial snow fields, which comprise 4.8 percent of the drainage, contribute 4.5 percent of the total annual

flow. This technique can form the

basis of extrapolating mass balance

measurements to assess the impact of

glaciers on regional hydrology.

Geomagnetic Data

The Geomagnetism Program

(http://geomag.usgs.gov) of the USGS

Central Region Geohazards Team provides real-time, ground-based measurements of the Earth's magnetic field,

which are an important contribution to

the diagnosis of conditions in the nearEarth space environment of the sun,

the solar wind, the magnetosphere, the

ionosphere, and the thermosphere.

During geomagnetic storms, brought

about by the complex interaction of the

Earth's magnetic field with that of the

Sun's, both high- and low-frequency

radio communications can be difficult

or impossible, global positioning systems (GPS) can be degraded, satellite

electronics can be damaged, satellite

drag can be increased, and astronauts

and high-altitude pilots can be subjected to enhanced levels of radiation.

Ground-based geomagnetic observatory data are complementary to those

collected by space-based satellites;

indeed, most of the hazardous effects

on technological systems brought

about by magnetic storms occur at or

near the Earth's surface. Therefore, the

Geomagnetism Group monitors the

surficial magnetic field by operating

14 magnetic observatories in the

United States and its Territories. The

data from these observatories, plus

15 foreign observatories, are transmitted to the Group's headquarters in

Golden, Colorado, where they are

processed and analyzed. Data are then

transmitted to the Space Environment

Center (SEC) of the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA) and to the United States Air

Force (USAF) Air Force Weather

Agency at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.

USGS observatories are operated in

cooperation with Intermagnet, an international consortium overseeing the

operation of nearly 80 geomagnetic

observatories distributed around the

globe. The roles and responsibilities of

agencies participating in the National

Space Environment and Warning

Program are detailed in the National

Space Weather Program Strategic Plan

(FCM-P30-1995).

Volcanology and Volcanic Ash Plumes

The USGS participates in the

Working Group for Volcanic Ash

(WG/VA) of the OFCM. This working

group is preparing a National

Framework for Volcanic Ash Hazards

to Aviation. Through its Volcanic

Hazards Program, the USGS is responsible for monitoring volcanoes in the

United States; of the approximately

70 historically active volcanoes in the

United States, more than 40 are in

Alaska. Until the 1980's, the Alaskan

volcanoes had been largely unstudied.

Despite Alaska's low population density over much of the state, Alaska's volcanoes underlie the heavily traveled air

routes of the North Pacific region.

During recent years, the USGS's

Alaskan Volcano Observatory (AVO)

has expanded its network of real-time

seismic monitoring stations to bring 25

of the Alaska's volcanoes under continuous, real-time surveillance. Data and

information from the AVO monitoring

activities are integrated directly into
SECTION 3 DOI 183

the regional operational activities of

the FAA, DOD, and NOAA/NWS to

provide warnings for pilots and aircraft

operators in the Alaskan region.

Internationally, the OFCM's WG/VA

supported expansion of USGS monitoring activities in the remote Pacific

Rim of explosive volcanoes. The

100 historically active volcanoes in

Alaska, Kamchatka, and the Kuriles

are monitored through satellite

imagery several times a day.

Currently, about 220 aircraft per day -

carrying about 20,000 passengers and

millions of dollars of cargo value -- fly

international Northern Pacific Routes

near these historically active volcanoes. About half these flights are

United States carriers. AVO, through

its working agreement with the

Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruptions

Response Team (KVERT) in

Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia,

also supplies information about eruptive activity in Kamchatka and the

Kuriles to the FAA, the NWS, and

numerous domestic and foreign air carriers.

In 2003, the USGS responded to the

eruption of Anatahan Volcano in the

Northern Marianas, a Trust Territory of

the United States, which affected aviation flying across the Pacific. A small

monitoring system was installed and a

protocol was established with the FAA,

NOAA, and USAF to notify them of

any significant changes. Activity at

Anatahan continues.

The USGS, OFCM, and other United

States and international sponsors

organized the Second International

Conference on Volcanic Ash and

Aviation Safety on 21-24 June 2004 in

Alexandria, Virginia. The conference

was a 4-day assembly of the international aviation, governmental, and scientific community involved with the

ash issue. The conference provided a

forum for exchanging technical and

operational information, with the goal

of identifying ways to improve mitigation of the ash hazard to aviation. The

agenda included a combination of plenary sessions, poster presentations, and

informal discussions on the topics of

eruption monitoring and reporting,

ash-cloud detection and forecasting;

case histories of encounters and operational solutions, Volcanic Ash

Advisory Center operations, the needs

of the aviation industry, and education

and outreach. More detailed information about the conference is on-line at:

http://www.ofcm.gov/homepage/text/

spc_proj/volcanic_ash/about.html.

BUREAU OF LAND

MANAGEMENT (BLM)

The BLM is one of five Federal Land

Management agencies which have centralized Wildland fire weather operations at the National Interagency Fire

Center (NIFC), in Boise, Idaho. The

BLM's Initial Attack Management

System (IAMS) was designed in the

mid-1980's to provide real-time data

access and modeling for the fire management organization. The IAMS

required a considerable dedicated

telecommunications network for data

distribution. In an effort to reduce

these inherent telecommunications

costs, the BLM has moved into a "web

server" environment. Many of the

capabilities that were centrally located

in the old IAMS have been moved to

other web sites.

Fire Weather Websites

The principal Wildland Fire

Management Information System

(WFMIS) inputs remain the same with

Remote Automatic Weather Station

(RAWS) and National Lightning

Detection Network (NLDN) information (Figure 3-DOI-2). BLM's new

server system is called the BLM

Wildland Fire Management

Information Site (www.nifc.blm.gov).

Additional fire management information is summarized and made available

at the Desert Research Institute

(wrcc.dri.edu and cefa.dri.edu) and the

United States Forest Service Wildland

Fire Assessment System

(//svinet2.fs.fed.us/land/wfas/).

Additionally, the BLM has utilized the

Desert Research Institute's capabilities

to respond quickly for website support.

Automated Weather Stations

The BLM's RAWS Program primarily collects meteorological data for fire

weather forecasting. However, use of

BLM's RAWS data set by other nonfire users has generated sufficient

funding to permit year-round operation

of the entire network. The BLM's

Figure 3-DOI-2. A National Interagency Fire Center graphic of Lightning

Ignition Efficiency for the lower 48 states.
184 DOI SECTION 3

Resource Management and Oregon

O&C (West-Side) also operate RAWS

networks which are much smaller and

have specific program requirements

that differ from fire management.

Lightning Detection

In 1997, the BLM began contracting

with a private vendor via the NWS for

lightning location data. Data are

received at the NIFC in Boise, Idaho,

and placed on the BLM WFMIS for

qualified user access. Current plans

are to continue the operation of the

Alaska Automatic Lightning Detection

System as an independent governmentowed and operated system.

Fire Weather Support

The BLM's Remote Sensing/Fire

Weather Support Unit (RSFWSU) at

NIFC provides the full range of program management, equipment dispatch, field and depot maintenance,

support and data services for the BLM

and numerous other government agencies. This interagency-staffed and

funded facility performs work under

long term agreements with those agencies within the government having

similar equipment and requirements.

Climate Monitoring

In addition to the meteorological

monitoring BLM conducts primarily to

support wildland fire management

activities, the BLM also conducts sitespecific climate monitoring at over 200

manual weather station locations on

the public lands in the 11 western

states and Alaska. The operation of

these sites ranges from seasonal to

annual, taking measurements of precipitation, temperature, soil moisture,

and other meteorological parameters

necessary to assess local climactic

influences. These data are primarily

used for natural resources management

and planning at the local level.

Portable Weather Stations

During the 1999 fire season, the

Remote Sensing/Fire Weather Support

Unit began a 2-year "proof of concept"

effort with a portable weather station

referred to as the Fire RAWS (FRWS).

FRWS are intended for use on or near

a fire line and can be rapidly relocated

to points desired by Fire Behavior

Analysts for real-time weather data.

Due to the extreme fire season in both

1999 and 2000, the FRWS was used

extensively and was found to be a

valuable asset for firefighter safety and

fire weather forecasting. Fire managers have also increased the use of

FRWS to monitor intentionally-initiated prescribed burns.

Currently, 33 FRWS systems are

cached at NIFC for use during the

2005 season. FRWS collect, store, and

forward data by interrogated voice

radio with new data available every fifteen minutes. Satellite data can be

retrieved from the BLM/NIFC website, and hourly satellite data is available to Fire Weather Forecasting Staff

for spot forecasts and fire support from

all central locations (Geographic Area

Coordination Centers, NIFC, etc.).

All Risks Support

After the terrorist attack on

September 11, 2001, the RSFWSU

was tasked to provide near real-time

meteorological data collection at the

World Trade Center (Figure 3-DOI-3).

This effort was in direct support of the

Environmental Protection Agency's

task of monitoring air quality in the

vicinity of the collapsed towers. The

unit also provided remote meteorological support for the Columbia Shuttle

accident investigation and recovery

effort, and RAWS support has generated interest from the Department of

Homeland Security as it assesses its

needs for remote and urban environmental monitoring. Using the personnel and resources available at the

RSFWSU, the BLM can offer a rapid

meteorological support capability that

is unique across the federal government.

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

(BIA)

The Bureau of Indian Affairs collects

atmospheric data to evaluate potentially irrigable Indian Trust lands in the

Southwest. The Bureau also collects

and shares fire weather data with other

federal agencies while participating in

fire management activities for local

and interagency use.

Figure 3-DOI-3. Remote Sensing/Fire Weather Support Unit providing nearreal-time meteorological data collection at the World Trade Center.
SECTION 3 DOI 185

Currently, BIA operates the following instrumentation:

• 69 fire weather RAWS stations

(permanent stations)

• 5 "manual" weather stations

• 13 portable RAWS stations used for

Prescribed Fire

• 10 RAWS deployed on emergency

stabilization projects.

MINERALS MANAGEMENT

SERVICE (MMS)

The Minerals Management Service

(MMS) Environmental Studies

Program gathers offshore environmental data for use in the management of

offshore oil and gas resources.

Currently, MMS is funding the continued operation of five offshore meteorological buoys. Two buoys are located

in the Gulf of Mexico and three in the

Pacific Ocean off California. The

MMS also utilizes data from other

buoys funded by NOAA. The buoys

collect air temperature, sea surface

temperature, wind direction, wind

speed, wave height, and wave spectrum data. Many of the buoys measure

relative humidity as well.

The MMS has completed a study

entitled Boundary Layer Study in the

Western and Central Gulf of Mexico.

This report synthesized three years of

data collected from two radar profilers

and Radar Acoustic Sounding System

(RASS) units placed in the Gulf of

Mexico along with data from NOAA's

National Data Buoy Center buoys,

coastal surface stations, NWS rawinsonde sites, and Eta model runs. The

study also include one year of data collected in the Breton Aerometric

Monitoring Program (BAMP), an

industry-sponsored study using a network of profilers and surface stations

on platforms around the Breton

National Wilderness Area (NWA) off

southeastern Louisiana. Copies of

interim and final reports may be found

at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/

regulate/environ/techsumm/rec_pubs.h

tml. The meteorological data will be

used in an air quality modeling study

to assess air quality impacts from offshore oil and gas development on the

Breton NWA.

The Service has entered into a cooperative agreement with the Visibility

Improvement State and Tribal

Association of the Southeast (VISTAS) to install and operate a radar profiler at the Pensacola Naval Air Station

in the Florida Panhandle. VISTAS is a

regional planning organization representing a collaborative effort of state

governments, tribal governments, and

various federal agencies established to

initiate and coordinate activities associated with the management of regional haze, visibility and other air quality

issues in the Southeastern United

States. The profiler is expected to be

installed and operational in the summer of 2004. MMS is also installing a

profiler at the Louisiana Universities

Marine Consortium (LUMCON) facility in Cocodrie, Louisiana. This profiler is expected to be installed in the

summer of 2004. The data collected

will be applied to regional models for

evaluating impacts from emission

sources on ozone, fine particulate matter, and regional haze.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS)

AND FISH AND WILDLIFE

SERVICE (FWS)

The Park Service monitors air quality and visibility in several national

parks and monuments. Gaseous pollutants data are collected on continuous

and integrated (24-hour) bases.

Surface meteorological data are collected and analyzed for hourly averages. Precipitation chemistry is determined on week-long integrated rainfall

samples. Twenty-four hour, average

particle concentrations (mass, elemental analyses, some chemical constituent analyses) are measured twice

weekly. Atmospheric light extinction

is measured continuously and relayed

to a central location for analyses

(Figure 3-DOI-4).

The NPS also conducts and contracts

research to develop and test air quality

models to assess long-range transport,

chemical transformation, and deposiFigure 3-DOI-4. Visibility impairment causes landscape features and colors to

fade, diminishing the experience of park visitors. Poorest visibility occurs east

of the Mississippi River and in the urban areas of California. NPS monitors visibility conditions and conducts studies to determine the causes of visibility

impairment in many park areas nationwide. Sulfates are usually the largest single contributor to visibility impairment; however, nitrates and organic compounds also contribute significantly in some regions of the country.
tion of air pollutants. These models

are used to estimate source contributions to, and to identify source regions

responsible for, observed pollutant

loadings.

Joint Monitoring and Research

The Fish and Wildlife Service Air

Quality Branch and the NPS Air

Resources Division operate under an

interagency agreement and are collocated in Lakewood, Colorado.

Expertise from both agencies is pooled

to address the air quality issues that are

the responsibility of

the Assistant

Secretary of the

Interior for Fish and

Wildlife and Parks.

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION

The Bureau of Reclamation

(Reclamation) activities requiring the

collection and use of meteorological

data include water supply forecasting, snowpack water equivalent

assessment, river system management, reservoir operations, irrigation

scheduling, drought status assessment,

flood hydrology, and projects related

to hydroelectric energy resources. One

example of such an ongoing activity is

the Watershed and River System

Management Program (WaRSMP),

which is being developed in partnership with the USGS. Information on

WaRSMP is at

http://www.usbr.gov/pmts/rivers/

warsmp/index.html.

Other key players in this effort

include TVA, the Corps of Engineers,

NOAA, NASA, NRCS, the University

of Colorado and Colorado State

University. This program provides a

data-centered framework for sciencebased water resources decision making. Major components are:

• Hydrologic Database (HDB),

• Modular Modeling System (MMS),

• RiverWare river system modeling

framework,

• Stochastic Analysis, Modeling and

Simulation (SAMS) system, 

• Agricultural WAter Resources

Decision Support (AWARDS) and

• Evapotranspiration Toolbox (ET

Toolbox) system.

The SAMS hydrologic modeling system is being used in WaRSMP to assist

water resource managers in developing

likely hydrologic scenarios for water

supplies. It allows users to test various

water resources management strategies, including extreme drought and

high-flow scenarios which haven't

been encountered in the historical period of

record.

Starting in FY

2005, the SAMS capabilities

will be implemented on the Colorado

River basin.

The RiverWare and HDB data-centered decision support system enables

water managers to examine a variety of

observed and forecast hydrologic scenarios using hourly, daily, or monthly

data within the legal and physical constraints on operations of the river system. This model provides a holistic

management tool for watershed and

river systems, in order to meet a variety of competing demands for water.

Each new river system requires considerable development work

(2-3 years) for RiverWare and HDB

implementation. However, such a system can provide for efficient water

operations management, and is especially useful during periods of drought

and surplus - as demonstrated by the

recent "Colorado River Interim

Surplus Criteria: Final Environmental

Impact Statement"

( http://www.usbr.gov/

lc/region/g4000/surplus/

SURPLUS_FEIS.HTML).

Current Reclamation projects under

WaRSMP include:

• Planning and developing HDB,

MMS and RiverWare systems for the

Gunnison, San Juan,

Rio Grande, Yakima,

and Truckee river

systems;

• Development of

expanded capabilities to allow HDB to function as

the Database of Record which

will document management

decisions and the data used to

make them for Reclamation's

Upper and Lower Colorado

regions as well as other participating offices.

• SAMS integration and

testing for the Colorado

River Basin;

•Implementing

AWARDS systems to

improve the efficiency of

water management and irrigation scheduling for the Tualatin

Project,Upper Columbia project

areas, and Lower Colorado area;

• Developing the AWARDS/ET

Toolbox system in the Middle Rio

Grande and providing 24-hour

water use estimates for input, via

the Corps of Engineers' Hydrologic

Engineering Center Decision

Support System or a new HDB, to

the Rio Grande RiverWare; and

• Implementing similar AWARDS/

ET Toolbox systems with input to

local HDBs and RiverWare systems

in the Upper Columbia, Lower

Colorado, and possibly the

Truckee-Carson areas.

186 DOI SECTION 3
SECTION 3 DOI 187

• Integration and testing of emerging

Land Surface Modeling Products

from NASA's Global Land Data

Assimilation Systems for snow

mapping, surface energy and water

budgets and ET analysis and prediction for water operations management.

• Testing and development of weather and climate products from the

Global Energy and Water Cycle

Experiment (GEWEX) for water

supply and demand forecasting.

An additional product of the

WaRSMP is the Hydrologic Modeling

Inventory (HMI) which provides general technical information and contacts

for a wide variety of water resources

models presently in use. The HMI is

being expanded and can be accessed

on the Web at www.usbr.gov/pmts/

rivers/hmi.

Instrumentation and Data Acquisition

NEXRAD estimates of precipitation

are used for water supply and water delivery decision-making. Water managers

can view the distribution of precipitation

over watersheds that supply water to storage facilities, and examine the detailed

spatial distributions of precipitation over

the irrigated areas along with estimates of

soil moisture, and evapotranspiration

from crops and riparian vegetation.

The Watershed and River Systems

Management Program focuses on integrating multi-disciplinary science into

decision support systems that enable

water managers to make the best deliveries of water to stakeholders.

Currently, Reclamation's

HYDROMET system collects data from

approximately 400 hydrometeorological

data collection platforms (DCPs) which

transmit data in real-time through GOES

to Reclamation's DRGS in Boise, Idaho.

AGRIMET is another network of 60

DCPs dedicated to analysis of crop water

use and water conservation in the Pacific

Northwest.

Data collected and products created in

Boise are electronically transferred to

other BLM, Federal and state offices.

Reclamation's primary real-time hydrometeorological information from the NWS,

USGS, NASA, and other agencies is displayed on the AWARDS / NEXRAD /

ET Toolbox web site:

http://www.usbr.gov/

pmts/rivers/awards/index.html.

Water supply information from

cumulative precipitation estimates

from radar is also provided in areas

where snow fall is an important source

of water. Links directly to the USDA

Natural Resources Conservation

Service and the NOAA/National

Figure 3-DOI-5. Agricultural Water Resources Decision-Support

(AWARDS)/ET Toolbox example for the Lower Colorado River basin.

AWARDS merges the precipitation accumulation algorithm (PAA) estimates

from five WSR-88D (or NEXRAD) radars into a 2x2km grid.
188 DOI SECTION 3

Center for Environmental Prediction

analysis and forecasting web sites are

provided to further document the latest

information.

Technical Information. Reclamation

is a partner with several large western

municipal water providers in the study

of benefits from the implementation of

water conserving landscaping. The

study known as the National Xeriscape

Demonstration Program includes the

development of a numerical evapotranspiration-based model that will use

municipal logistical and climatological

data as inputs to develop benefit estimates for municipalities of the West.

A report has now been completed and

it will be posted on the web shortly.

Some early suggestions from the

study point to inefficient irrigation by

homeowners caused by inefficient systems and operation, in addition to

using high water-consuming landscape

plants. More study is needed on development of "smart" irrigation scheduling systems and centralized control by

water providers.

During abnormal regional climate

conditions, Reclamation meteorologists assist water managers by evaluating environmental information and

providing guidance based on the

NOAA Climate Prediction Center's

(CPC) Weekly Hazards Briefing

updates and CPC's seasonal and annual climate forecasts. Special related

studies are done upon the request of

Reclamation water operations managers, policy team leaders, and cooperating agencies.
Stratospheric ozone depletion has

been recognized as a critical health and

environmental problem for more than a

decade. Under Department of State

(DOS) leadership, the United States

worked to negotiate international

agreements to phase out ozone-depleting substances, which should lead to a

recovery of the ozone layer in the next

century. To date, these treaties have

been signed and ratified by more than

170 countries (including the United

States). These countries represent 99

percent of the world's production of

ozone depleting substances.

The Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC), which is

jointly sponsored by the World

Meteorological Organization (WMO)

and the United Nations Environment

Program (UNEP), held its first session

in 1988. This organization serves as a

government forum to assess the state

of scientific and technical information

regarding climate change. In doing so,

the Panel draws on the expertise of

thousands of scientists and technical

experts. The IPCC is currently organized in three working groups, examining: (1) the state of the science,

(2) impacts and adaptation, and

(3) mitigation. The IPCC released its

first and second assessment reports in

1990 and 1995, respectively, and a

third assessment report from each of

the working groups was published in

2001. The fourth assessment report,

due in 2007, is currently under preparation. In addition to preparing assessment reports, the IPCC also contributed to international negotiations

through preparation and review of special reports and development of

methodologies requested by the

Framework Convention on Climate

Change (FCCC).

The FCCC was negotiated beginning

in February 1991; the Convention was

open for signature in Rio de Janeiro at

the Earth Summit in June 1992. As of

May 2004, it had been ratified by

189 countries, including the United

States. The first meeting of the

Conference of the Parties to the

Convention was held in Berlin in

March/April 1995. The Convention

calls for all countries to develop inventories of their emissions and sinks of

greenhouse gases and calls upon developed countries and economies in transition to aim to return these emissions

to their 1990 levels by the year 2000.

In December 1997, Parties to the

Convention reached agreement on the

Kyoto Protocol, which establishes targets for the reduction of greenhouse

gas emissions in developed countries

and countries with economies in transition. The Kyoto Protocol does not currently have the requisite level of participation to have entered into force.

Although the United States will not

ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the United

States is actively engaged in addressing climate change through the

Convention, through international science and technology initiatives, such

as the Earth Observation Initiative, the

Carbon Sequestration Leadership

Forum, the International Partnership

for the Hydrogen Economy,

Generation IV (a U.S.-led program

working on new fission reactor designs

that will be safer, more economical and

secure), and through bilateral partnerships with Australia, Canada, Italy,

Japan, and other countries. These initiatives will improve the capability to

understand and address issues associated with climate change in a manner

that supports broader sustainable

development goals.

In addition to its primary role in the

fora listed above, DOS is active in several relevant interagency processes,

including the Committee on

Environment and Natural Resources

(CENR) of the National Science and

Technology Council and the

Interagency Working Group on

Climate Change Science and

Technology (IWGCCST). The CENR

was established in 1993 to coordinate

scientific domestic programs. Created

in 2002, the IWGCCST is a subCabinet level group that reviews all

programs that contribute to climate

change science and technology.

Furthermore, while the emphasis on

global environmental issues is a key

new component of the department's

focus, traditional DOS responsibilities,

described in earlier Federal plans, continue. These include, but are not limited to, international aspects of food policy, disaster warnings and assistance,

WMO and UNEP activities, and international meteorological programs.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE CLIMATE AND ATMOSPHERIC PROGRAMS

The Department of State (DOS) plays an active role in international climate/meteorological policy making as a result of the growing worldwide concern with global environmental issues, including the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and climate change. The role of DOS has principally revolved

around preparation and negotiation of the United States position in three fora: (1) the Conference of the

Parties to the Vienna Convention and its Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone

Layer, (2) the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); and (3) negotiation under the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).

SECTION 3 DOS 189

Meteorological support to EPA's

Office of Research and Development,

EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, EPA

Regional Offices, and to state and local

agencies includes: (1) development and

application of air quality dispersion

models for pollution control, direct and

indirect exposure assessments, and

emission control strategy assessment;

(2) preparation and performance of dispersion studies and air quality model

evaluations; (3) review of meteorological aspects of environmental impact

statements, state implementation plans,

and pollution variance requests; (4) air

quality forecasting; and (5) emergency

response planning in support of homeland security. Meteorological expertise

and guidance are also provided for the

national air quality standards, modeling

guideline, and policy development

activities of the EPA.

In light of the 1990 Amendments to

the Clean Air Act, air quality models

and the manner in which they are used

are expected to continue to grow over

the next few years. In the area of pollutant deposition, the evaluation of

nitrogen, oxidant, sulfur, and aerosol

chemistries will help to clarify the roles

of model formulation, cloud processes,

radiative transfer, and air/surface

exchanges in air quality model predictions, leading to a better understanding

of model predictions relative to control

strategy assessments. Further development and evaluation of existing air

quality models will take place to

accommodate the inter-pollutant effects

resulting from the variety of control

programs that are now or may be in

place, such as the new National

Ambient Air Quality Standards for

ozone and particulate pollution. These

inter-pollutant effects include tradeoffs among controls on ozone, sulfur

oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile

organic compounds, as well as developing predictable methods of forecasting the impacts on various measures of

air quality.

With respect to the fine particulate

model development, dispersion models

are being enhanced to accurately predict aerosol growth from precursors

over local and regional transport distances. To assist in the evaluation of

the contribution of various sources to

regional air degradation, inert tracer

and tagged species numerical models

have been developed. These models

will introduce separate calculations for

inert or reactive chemical species emitted from a particular source or region.

The calculations will proceed to simulate transport and transformation to a

receptor point, where the contribution

of emission sources can be discerned.

With respect to oxidant air quality

modeling, the roles of biogenic volatile

organic compounds, rural nitrogen

oxides, and atmospheric transport are

being elucidated. A better understanding will be developed of the fundamental aspects of the ozone non-attainment

problem such as differences in urban

and rural rates of and/or sources of photochemical production and the interaction through transport of these ozone

precursors.

Atmospheric research in the areas of

climate and climate change includes

ozone distribution in the global troposphere, the relationship between

aerosol loading and climate (including

temporal and spatial aspects), regional

climate studies addressing the interaction of climate with the biosphere, and

the effects of climate change on

regional air quality. The climatology

program involves both analytical and

statistical climatology as well as support for regional-scale climate model

development.

Research in human exposure modeling includes micro-environmental

monitoring and modeling, and development of exposure assessment tools.

Micro-environmental algorithms are

being developed based on field data to

predict air quality in buildings,

attached garages, and street canyons.

These improved algorithms are then

incorporated into micro-environmental

simulation models for conducting

human exposure assessments within

enclosed spaces in which specific

human activities occur.

In addition to the above major areas,

dispersion models for inert, reactive

and toxic pollutants are under development and evaluation on all temporal

and spatial scales, e.g., indoor, urban,

complex terrain, mesoscale, regional,

and global. Other efforts include

development of air pollution climatologies; modeling nutrient deposition

to Chesapeake Bay and mercury deposition to the Florida Everglades; modeling of accidental releases of toxic

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY WEATHER PROGRAMS

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for working with state, local, and other federal

government agencies to provide user-appropriate and scientifically-credible air quality and meteorological programs to support regulatory applications. Applied research and meteorological support are

furnished primarily by EPA's National Exposure Research Laboratory and EPA's Office of Air Quality

Planning and Standards, both located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. This activity is provided through interagency agreements with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA), which assigns approximately 50 research meteorologists to the EPA.

SECTION 3 EPA 191
compounds forming dense gas clouds;

determination and description of pollutant effects on atmospheric parameters;

and conversely, determination of meteorological effects on air quality.

Atmospheric flow and dispersion

experimental data obtained from wind

tunnel and convection tank experiments in the EPA Fluid Modeling

Facility will be used to continue development and evaluation of these models

along with providing researchers with

insight into the basic physical processes that affect pollutant dispersion

around natural and man-made obstacles. For example, the transport and

dispersion of airborne agents in the

lower Manhattan, New York area are

being simulated in the wind tunnel to

evaluate Computational Fluid

Dynamics modeling systems in an

effort to help build confidence in modeling assessment source-receptor relationships for horrific events such as the

one that occurred on September

11, 2001 (See Figure 3-EPA-1). Similar

studies will be conducted for MidManhattan, Washington, DC, and the

Pentagon.

Over the past twenty-five years,

numerous air quality simulation models have been developed to estimate

reductions in ambient air pollutant

concentrations resulting from potential

emission control strategies. Separate

models were developed, for example,

for tropospheric ozone and photochemical smog, for acid deposition,

and for fine particles. Distinct models

also existed for addressing urban scale

problems and the larger regional scale

problems. It has been recognized,

however, that the various pollutant

regimes are closely linked chemically,

spatially/temporally in the atmosphere.

The principal purpose of the

Models-3/Community Multi-scale Air

Quality (CMAQ) modeling project

was to develop a "one atmosphere"

flexible environmental modeling tool

that integrates the major atmospheric

pollution regimes in a multi-scale,

multi-pollutant modeling system. This

system will enable high-level computational access to both scientific and air

quality management users for socioeconomic applications in community

health assessments and ecosystem sustainability studies.

After seven years of development,

the Models-3/CMAQ was first

released in June 1998 and is being

updated annually for use by Federal

agencies, States, industry, and academia. The latest version of CMAQ,

which includes science enhancements

and computational efficiencies, was

released in August 2004. It is also

intended to serve as a community

framework for continual advancement

and use of environmental assessment

tools. Models-3/CMAQ, configured

for the Windows-NT computer system,

is available on tapes from the National

Technical Information Service (NTIS).

It is accompanied by an Installation

and Operations Manual, a User

Manual, a Science Document, and a

Tutorial providing step by step instructions for use of the modeling capabilities. Additional information is available at the Models-3 web site at

http://www.epa.gov/asmdnerl/models3/.

Figure 3-EPA-2 illustrates the results

of Models-3/CMAQ for ozone and fine

particulate matter (PM2.5), sulfates,

and visibility for July 6, 1999 for the

contiguous United States at 32-km horizontal grid dimension, a period of

widespread ambient pollution in the

192 EPA SECTION 3

Figure 3-EPA-1. Model of lower Manhattan used to evaluate transport and dispersion of airborne agents in wind tunnel

at EPA Fluid Modeling Facility.
SECTION 3 EPA 193

nation.

In FY 2004, EPA is working closely

with the National Center for

Environmental Prediction of the

National Weather Service (NWS) in

the development and use of a coupled

meteorological-chemical transport

model (Eta-CMAQ) for predicting

ambient air quality over the continental

United States. This capability is built

on years of research in air quality,

exemplified by the NOAA-led New

England Pilot Air Quality Study in

2002 and 2004. In the first phase of

the forecasting project, NWS is implement the Eta-CMAQ modeling system,

to provide daily forecast guidance for

ozone in the northeastern United States

by September 2004. Within five years,

the system for ozone will deploy

nationwide. Within ten years, the

operational forecast capability is projected to be able to forecast particulate

matter. State and local air quality management agencies will continue to

forecast local air quality, assisted in

their efforts by the addition of national

forecast guidance for the concentrations of ozone and other air pollutants.

EPA participation in the interagency

Figure 3-EPA-2. Models-3/CMAQ simulation results for July 6, 1999 for the contiguous United States at 32-km horizontal grid spacing showing: (upper left) maximum 1-hour average ozone concentration (ppmV) in each grid cell

between 7:00 AM and midnight EDT; (upper right) 24-hour averages of sulfate concentrations (micrograms/m3

); (lower

left) 24-hour averages of PM2.5 concentrations (micrograms/m3

) in each 32-km grid cell; and (lower right) noontime

EDT visibility (deciview, note insert) in each grid cell.
194 EPA SECTION 3

Information Technology Research and

Development (IT R&D) Program is

developing a modeling framework that

supports integration of diverse models

(e.g, atmospheric, land surface, and

watershed) as part of EPA's

Multimedia Integrated Modeling

System (MIMS) project, described at

http://www.epa.gov/asmdnerl/mims/.

EPA's IT R&D work also enables

increased efficiency in air quality

meteorological modeling through

research on parallel implementation of

the CMAQ modeling system. The

evolving MIMS research seeks to

improve the environmental management community's ability to evaluate

the impact of air quality and watershed

management practices, at multiple

scales, on stream and estuarine conditions. Toward this goal the primary

objectives include (1) developing a

prototype multiscale integrated modeling system with predictive meteorological capability for transport and fate of

nutrients and chemical stressors;

(2) enabling the use of remotely sensed

meteorological data; and (3) developing a computer-based problem solving

environment with ready access to data,

models, and integrated visualization

and analysis tools for water and air

quality management, local and regional development planning, and exposure-risk assessments. Under the

MIMS project, a variety of research

areas are being pursued such as the

integration of the National Weather

Service Next Generation Radar

(NEXRAD) Stage IV data into watershed modeling applications; enhanced

atmospheric dry deposition models;

multi-scale, spatially explicit watershed modeling tools; and model-coupling technology for integrating media

specific models. The MIMS development extends the open architecture

approach demonstrated in the third

generation modeling system,

Models-3/CMAQ, and is the next generation of modeling frameworks under

the IT R&D program.

EPA also maintains relations with

foreign countries to facilitate exchange

of research meteorologists and

research results pertaining to meteorological aspects of air pollution. For

example, agreements are currently in

place with Canada, Japan, Korea,

China, and Mexico, and with several

European countries under the NATO

Committee on the Challenges of

Modern Society (CCMS).
APPLIED METEOROLOGY UNIT

- RESEARCH & OPERATIONS

The goal of the National Aeronautics

and Space Administration (NASA)

weather operations program is to provide specialized meteorological data

and techniques needed by Air Force

forecasters at Cape Canaveral Air

Force Station (CCAFS), adjacent to

Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and by

the National Weather Service’s (NWS)

Spaceflight Meteorology Group

(SMG) at Johnson Space Center (JSC),

to support NASA's Space Shuttle and

Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV)

programs. Their greatest challenge is

to accurately measure and forecast the

mesoscale weather events that strongly

impact ground processing, launch, and

landing operations.

To successfully support the diverse,

unique and complex requirements of

their many customers' 24/7 operations,

in the mesoscale driven lightning capital of America, requires:

1. A sophisticated weather infrastructure which includes many systems normally found only in research

field programs rather than operations; 

2. A dedicated capability to transition

research and technology to support new or

poorly satisfied operational requirements;

3. Rigorous training to ensure the

weather infrastructure, diverse customer requirements, and dynamic,

mesoscale weather are thoroughly

understood; and

4. At least 2-3 years on-site experience to adequately master the infrastructure, the weather, and the requirements sufficiently to provide timely,

tailored, accurate support to the many

weather sensitive daily operations.

The focal point for satisfying

Requirement 3 above and assisting

with Requirements 1 and 2 is the

Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU).

The AMU, co-located with the Air

Force's Range Weather Operations at

CCAFS, provides a facility to develop,

evaluate and, if warranted, transition

new meteorological technology into

operations. For instance, the AMU

strives to develop techniques and systems to help predict and avoid the

impacts of Central Florida's frequent

thunderstorms which endanger the

ground processing, launch, and landing operations of the American Space

Program-Space Shuttle, DOD, and

commercial organizations. The AMU

has focused special attention on evaluating and transitioning mesoscale

numerical models, and developing

forecast techniques applicable to

Central Florida. The AMU functions

under a joint NASA, Air Force, and

NWS Memorandum of Understanding. 

The AMU is developing statistical

lightning forecast equations that will

provide a lightning occurrence probability for the day by 0700 Local Time

during the months May - September.

The tool will be based on results from

several research projects. If tests of

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

WEATHER PROGRAMS

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters Weather Support Office has

continued to improve NASA's weather support capabilities for both manned and unmanned space launch

vehicles. It is expected that these improvements will strengthen and enhance the information provided

to the ground-based decision makers and astronaut observers to insure that NASA achieves the best operational posture for Space Shuttle launches and landings. The goal of the operations program is to provide the specialized meteorological data needed by operational forecasters at the Kennedy Space Center

(KSC) and Johnson Space Center (JSC). NASA also maintains a sophisticated fleet of eighteen Earth-monitoring satellites, measuring a vast number of Earth properties. The focus of Earth Science Research is to integrate satellite observations, numerical model and theoretical studies of various Earth system attributes. These attributes include ocean currents, temperature and biological activity; atmospheric ozone and aerosols; tropical rainfall, lightning; atmospheric temperature and humidity structure; Antarctic and Arctic sea ice; volcanic emissions and gravitational anomalies in the

Earth's crust. NASA also performs aviation research to improve safety, develop weather information technologies, and

increase aviation system capacity. Advanced operations technologies can increase the number of operations per runway

in all weather conditions. The research applies to both commercial and general aviation.

SECTION 3 NASA 195
196 NASA SECTION 3

the equations show they improve the

daily lightning forecast, the AMU will

develop a PC-based tool from which

forecasters can display the daily probabilities.

Three of the data types used to

develop the technique are:

• Cloud-to-Ground Lightning

Surveillance System data,

• 1200 UTC sounding data from

synoptic sites in Florida, and 

• 1000 UTC CCAFS upper air

sounding data.

The goal is to develop a set of statistical equations to forecast the probability of lightning occurrence for the day.

This will aid forecasters in evaluating

flight rules and determining the probability of launch commit criteria violations, as well as preparing forecasts for

ground operations.

The AMU is developing a model to

forecast the probability at least three

Shuttle ascent imaging cameras can

view the Shuttle Launch Vehicle (LV)

unobstructed by cloud at any time from

launch to Solid Rocket Booster (SRB)

separation.

Optical imaging of the Shuttle LV

from ground-based and airborne cameras is susceptible to obstruction by

clouds. The Columbia Accident

Investigation Board (CAIB) recommended the Shuttle ascent imaging

network be upgraded to have the capability of providing at least three useful

views of the LV from lift-off to SRB

separation. In response, the

NASA/KSC Weather Office tasked the

AMU to develop a model to forecast

the probability cloud will not obstruct

the view of at least “X” imaging cameras at any time from launch to SRB

separation. An analysis of the sensitivity of viewing probabilities to upgrades

of the camera network was developed

in collaboration with the Shuttle

Launch Director, the KSC Intercenter

Photo Working Group, and the 45th

Weather Squadron (45WS) Shuttle

Launch Weather Officer.

A 3-D computer model was randomly seeded with cloud fields and viewing probabilities were computed for

selected cloud scenarios. The AMU

model was based on computer simulations of 

1) idealized, random cloud coverage scenarios;

2) the optical lines-of-sight from

cameras to the LV using the camera

network before and after upgrades for

Return to Flight (RTF); and

3) a LV ascent trajectory for a

launch from Pad 39B to the

International Space Station (ISS).

Based on the results, launch day criteria and launch decision strategies are

being developed and coordinated with

senior Shuttle management.

The peak winds near the surface are

an important forecast element for both

the Space Shuttle and ELV programs.

As defined in the Launch Commit

Criteria (LCC) and the Shuttle Flight

Rules (FRs), each vehicle has certain

peak wind thresholds that cannot be

exceeded in order to ensure vehicle

safety during launch and landing operations. 45WS and the SMG indicate

that peak winds are a challenging

parameter to forecast. In Phase I of

this task, climatologies and distributions of the 5-minute average and peak

winds were created for the towers used

in evaluating LCC and FRs. However,

SMG uses a 10-minute peak as the

standard for determining and verifying

wind speed FRs. The AMU re-calculated the distributions and resulting

probabilities of exceeding peak-wind

thresholds using a 10- instead of 5-

minute peak for the Shuttle Landing

Facility (SLF) towers for all months.

The AMU developed tool can be used

on a personal computer to display the

desired information quickly and easily.

The transparency of anvil clouds

(high level ice clouds that spread away

from the tops of a thunderstorm) is an

important element in forecasting triggered lightning launch commit criteria.

Opaque anvils can carry an electrical

charge. If a vehicle flies through such

a charge, it could trigger lightning and

be destroyed. The AMU identified 45

days during summer 2003, with thunderstorm anvil cirrus clouds over the

KSC SLF weather observation site

(KTTS), based on a comparative

analysis of satellite imagery and the

KTTS observations. The NOAA Radar

Operations Center is processing the

WSR-88D Layer Reflectivity

Maximum products for the 45 case

days. These will be used in a comparative analysis with the surface observations of anvil transparency from KTTS.

Information about upper atmosphere

winds and cloud over Shuttle

Transatlantic Abort Landing (TAL)

sites is critical for making split-second

decisions during the Shuttle launch

phases. In the past, a Radio Automatic

Theodolite System (RATS) was used

to provide SMG with upper level

winds, temperatures and humidity at

TAL sites in Spain, Morocco, and

Gambia. RATS became obsolete when

the manufacturer announced cessation

of sonde production. A replacement

system, a Global Positioning System

(GPS) based Sippican W9000, was

selected, procured, integrated and tested with the help of the Eastern Range

(ER). The initial system is now

installed and operational. The ER

owns, operates and maintains the system for NASA.

The KSC Weather Office funded

development of a new lightning detection system capable of locating lightning strikes in 4D with an accuracy of

<5 meters (a considerable improvement over the 250-300 meter accuracy

of the current lightning location system.) Called SOLLO, it uses a sensor

to detect the time of arrival of the electromagnetic pulse from a lightning

strike, and then one elevated detector

and three surface based detectors to

measure the time of arrival of thunder

from the lightning, to very accurately

calculate the location of the lightning

strike. SOLLO also calculates the

amperage, rise time, and polarity of the
SECTION 3 NASA 197

strike. During FY 2004, KSC is

replacing/upgrading SOLLO components to enhance its capability to operate reliably in the corrosive KSC/ER

environment. During the 2004

spring/summer lightning season, KSC

will install SOLLO systems at the

Shuttle Launch Complex, the ISS

Building, and a new technology development and testing facility.

NASA OFFICE OF EARTH SCIENCES - RESEARCH PROGRAM

The supporting research activities are

sponsored by the NASA Earth Science

Enterprise (ESE). The ESE's mission

is to understand and protect our home

planet by using our view from space to

study the Earth system, and improve

prediction of Earth system change.

The Enterprise pursues answers to the

fundamental question: "How is Earth

changing, and what are the consequences for life on Earth?" NASA's

unique contributions to Earth system

science include:

1. Creating the ability to the

study the Earth as an integrated physical and biological system. NASA is

pioneering new remote sensing capabilities from a variety of vantage

points. Global-scale changes require a

global perspective, and local and

regional changes can only be fully

understood in their global context;

2. Addressing fundamental scientific questions with an 'end-to-end"

approach that integrates Earth observation, interdisciplinary research, and

Earth system modeling, providing

comprehensive results to Earth science

questions that inform policy and economic decisions;

3. Advancing remote sensing

technology and computational modeling for scientific purposes, and facilitating the transition of mature observations and technologies to partner agencies that provide essential services

using Earth science information;

4. Forging domestic and international partnerships to explore the complex Earth system. NASA has the program management and system engineering expertise to help lead complex,

multi-partner research endeavors as

well as make unique contributions to

those led by other nations and organizations.

With the power to observe Earth

from space and to employ these observations in computational models of

Earth system processes, NASA and its

partners are gaining new insight into

how the Earth system works. This

understanding has provided confidence that we are on the verge of establishing predictive capabilities for the

Earth system that will permit the

assessment of the consequences of

change for life on Earth. Over the next

decade, NASA's ESE and its partners

will enable prediction of:

1. Climate variability and

change, and scientific assessment of

the impacts of changes in global sea

level and ocean circulations, regional

temperature, precipitation and soil moisture;

2. Recovery of Earth's atmospheric ozone shield and assessment of

the quality of the air we breathe;

3. Extended weather patterns, for

early formation and the probable pathway of severe storms and hurricanes

for planning evacuations and protecting life and property;

4. Seasonal flooding, droughts

and water supply by region globally,

and their impact on agriculture and fire

hazards.

STRATEGY FOR ACHIEVING

GOALS

SCIENCE

Earth is the only planet we know that

sustains life. Life on Earth is critically

dependent on the abundance of water

in all three phases - liquid, vapor and

ice. Carbon, existing in a variety of

forms, is the very basis of life, and its

greatest reservoir. In the atmosphere,

carbon fully oxidized as carbon dioxide, fully reduced as methane, and in

particulate form as black carbon soot

produces the greenhouse effect making

Earth habitable. Earth's atmosphere

and electromagnetic field protect the

planet from harmful radiation while

allowing useful radiation to reach the

surface and sustain life. Earth exists

within the Sun's zone of habitation,

and with the moon, maintains the precise orbital inclination needed to produce our seasons.

These remarkable factors have contributed to Earth maintaining a temperature range conducive to the evolution

of life for billions of years. The great

circulation systems of the Earth -

water, carbon and the nutrients -

replenish what life needs and help regulate the climate system. Earth is a

dynamic planet; the continents, atmosphere, oceans, ice and life ever changing, ever interacting in myriad ways.

These complex and interconnected

processes comprise the Earth system,

which forms the basis of the scientific

research and space observation that we

refer to as Earth system science.

In Earth system science, researchers

take a contextual approach to scientific

inquiry - for instance, they explore

extreme weather events in the context

of changing climate. This leads to

exploration and discovery of causes

and effects in the environment. Earth

system scientists have linked ocean

temperatures and circulation to the

moderate climate of northern Europe

relative to its latitude, the annual

changes of ozone concentration over

Antarctica with the production of

industrial refrigerants in the Northern

Hemisphere, and the physics and

chemistry of the atmosphere to air

quality and fresh water availability.

Earth systems science has begun to

understand and quantify the effects of

"forcings" on the climate system produced by the Sun's solar variability and

the atmosphere's increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and aerosols.

We have documented the dynamics of

Earth's ozone layer and the effects of

its depletion on exposure to UV radiation at the Earth's surface. We have
198 NASA SECTION 3

measured the Earth's radiation budget

and its variations with unprecedented

accuracy to assess its impacts on

Earth's climate and weather. And we

have measured the distribution of

clouds and assess the crucial role they

play in modulating short-term and

long-term climate variations.

ESE research has also focussed on

several important modes of natural climate variability that occur on decadal

time scales. These include the North

Atlantic Oscillation, the Pacific

Decadal Oscillation, and the El Nino

Southern Oscillation. The complex

linkages between atmospheric fluxes

and ocean heat transport/storage lead

to adjustments in the basin-wide circulation of the oceans on timescales from

years to decades. Atmospheric variability and/or response to changes in

ocean surface temperature affect surface winds, deep water formation, and

ocean surface temperature and stratification. Each of these coupled airocean oscillations have wide-ranging

effects on short-term climate variability, and there is growing evidence that

changes in one of these coupled oceanatmosphere modes can impact the others.

NASA's Research Strategy for 2000-

2010 describes NASA's approach to

addressing the aforementioned science

issues. Established are six scientific

focus areas for these complex processes, each with a comprehensive

roadmap which charts currently available products, knowledge steps,

required capabilities and a ten-year

outcome. The six focus areas comprise:

1) Weather;

2) Climate;

3) Atmospheric Composition;

4) Water and Energy Cycle;

5) Earth Surface and Interior; and

6) Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems.

These focus areas are interrelated, and

must eventually be integrated to arrive

at a fully interactive and realistic Earth

system representation.

APPLICATIONS

NASA's objective for the ESE's

Applications program is to expand and

accelerate the realization of economic

and societal benefits from Earth science, information and technology.

This objective is accomplished by

using a systems approach to facilitate

the assimilation of Earth observations

and predictions into the decision support tools used by partner organizations to provide essential services to

society. These services include management of forest fires, coastal zones,

agriculture, weather prediction and

hazard mitigation, and aviation safety.

In this way, NASA's long-term

research programs yield near-term

practical benefits to society. Thus, the

Applications program enables the ESE

to be citizen-centered, results-oriented,

and market-driven.

The ESE's Applications program is

engaged in twelve national applications with partner Federal agencies that

can significantly benefit from NASA's

observations and research results.

These agencies include USDA,

FEMA, FAA, EPA and others. For

example, the Federal Aviation

Administration, with the aviation

industry, delivers the benefits of the

National Airspace System to travelers,

and NASA supports that system with

atmospheric observations and predictions, and with synthetic vision technology. The twelve applications of

national priority, which draw from

research in the six science focus areas,

include: Renewable Energy, Agricultural

Efficiency, Carbon Management, Aviation,

Homeland Security, Ecological Forecasting,

Disaster Preparedness, Public Health,

Coastal Management, Invasive Species,

Water Management, and Air Quality.

TECHNOLOGY

NASA's Earth-observing satellites

and sponsored research have led scientists to view the Earth as a system - a

dynamic set of interactions among

continents, atmosphere, oceans, ice

and life. This profound realization

gave rise to the birth of of the new

interdisciplinary field of Earth system

science. This way of studying the

Earth is critical to understanding, for

example, how global climate responds

to the forces acting on it.

From the 1960s through the 1980s

we developed the technology to view

the Earth globally from space, focusing on individual components of the

Earth system. This launched an era of

rich scientific discovery, including the

discovery of the processes behind

Antarctic ozone , and the Earth's

response to incoming solar radiation.

In the 19080s and 1990s we developed the interdisciplinary field of

Earth system science, and began to survey the Earth system in its entirety,

leading to the deployment of the Earth

Observing System (EOS). During this

period, scientists used space-based

observations, coupled with suborbital

and in situ observations, to uncover the

mechanics behind the El Nino-La Nina

cycle and begin modeling the climate

system in a meaningful way. For the

first time, scientists were able to measure the global distribution of atmospheric aerosols and related changes

over seasons and years.

In the new century, we are completing the first phase of the EOS and

securing the partnerships needed to

achieve and sustain a long-term continuum of climate data. EOS exploratory

missions such as the Tropical Rainfall

Measurement Mission (TRMM) satellite have uncovered a wealth of new

information about precipitation

processes and have lead to the most

accurate mapping of rainfall across the

global tropics and subtropics. Fully-
SECTION 3 NASA 199

vested EOS satellites such as Aqua are

providing high resolution, global

soundings to better characterize atmospheric circulation, temperature profiles, water content, and greenhouse

gasses. Planned missions such as Aura

will take critical measurements

addressing air quality, ozone, and global climate. An example of an EOS

Next Generation mission, the Global

Precipitation Mission, will extend and

enhance the TRMM record of precipitation measurements by expanding

coverage to high latitudes and providing overflights of most locations every

three hours.

NASA's EOS also serves as the technology source for the next generation

of Polar-Orbiting Operational

Environmental Satellites (POES).

NOAA, DOD and NASA are proceeding with the development of POES in a

joint civilian/military project called

NPOESS. Bridging EOS and

NPOESS is the NPOESS Preparatory

Project (NPP or "Bridge Mission"), a

multi-instrument satellite that will

extend climate change measurements

begun by EOS Terra and Aqua while

demonstrating new technologies for

NPOESS. NASA and NOAA will also

continue to plan the next generation of

Geostationary Operational

Environmental Satellites (GOES).

NASA plans to fly an advanced atmospheric sounder to a geostationary orbit

where it will make continuous measurements of weather-related phenomena to improve "nowcasting" of extreme

weather events and measurement of

important atmospheric gasses. Today's

satellites have enable weather forecasts

to be extended from three days to five.

The next generation of satellites will

enable the extension of forecasts to

seven days within this decade.

In collaboration with our research

partners, we will pursue an understanding of the Earth system through

the integration of satellite, suborbital

and surface measurements in conjunction with models that simulate links

and feedback between Earth system

processes. In the years ahead, Earthorbiting satellites will evolve into constellations of smart satellites that can

be reconfigured based on the changing

needs of science and technology. From

there we envision an intelligent and

integrated observation network composed of sensors, deployed in vantage

points from the subsurface to deep

space. This "sensorweb" will provide

on-demand data and analysis to a wide

range of end users in a timely and costeffective manner.

PARTNERSHIPS

NASA's ESE has

many partners in the

advancement of Earth

system science and its

application to societal

concerns. NASA is a

major partner in the

U.S. Global Change

Research Program

(USGCRP), an interagency effort to understand the processes

and patterns of global

change. The

USGCRP coordinates

research among ten

U.S. government

agencies. NASA collaborates with the

USGCRP on a range

of land surface, solid

Earth and hydrological research projects.

As described in the

previous section,

NASA has extensive

collaboration with the NOAA on

weather and climate-related programs.

NASA partners with other Federal

agencies under the auspices of the U.S.

Climate Change Science and

Technology Programs, to provide a

sound scientific basis for the policy

decisions and to mitigate or adapt to

the impacts of climate change. In addition, NASA participates in the international programs of World Climate

Research, the International

Geosphere/Biosphere, and the World

Meteorological Organization.

In the arena of private industry, the

NASA ESE partners to develop technologies of the future, and specifically

the commercial remote sensing industry to enhance the scientific utility of

commercial imagery.

International cooperation is an essential element in the Earth science program. Earth science addresses global

issues and requires international

Figure 3-NASA-1. TRMM Satellite.
200 NASA SECTION 3

involvement in its implementation and

application. Most of the ESE satellite

missions have international participation, ranging from simple data sharing

agreements to joint missions involving

provision of instruments, spacecraft,

and launch services. The NASA ESE

has forged 290 agreements with 60

countries. In addition, nearly 2000

research and technology grants and

contracts with universities and

research laboratories nationwide help

extend NASA ESE's efforts in basic

research, benchmarking applications of new scientific results, and

creating innovative technologies.

SIDEBAR: NASA Helps to

Unravel Secrets of Hurricanes

In recent years, NASA has

made strides in investigating

the structure and behavior of

tropical cyclones. The new

insights into the nature of

these deadly storms have

come from a multipronged approach, fusing Earth Observing

System (EOS) datasets

with a comprehensive

series of aircraft missions called the

Convection and

Moisture Experiment

(CAMEX), and numerical modeling studies.

Satellite remote sensors such as

the Tropical Rainfall Measurement

Mission (TRMM) Precipitation Radar

have collected rich datasets on hundreds of tropical cyclones around the

globe. The TRMM radar is the only

instrument capable of elucidating the

vertical rain structure of these storms

over the oceans. Precipitation Radar

data, when combined with the TRMM

Microwave Imager, have been used to

characterize asymmetries in tropical

cyclone rainfall, and identify exceptionally vigorous convective clouds

which often presage intensification.

The QuickSCAT instrument provides

detailed sea surface winds, which

assists forecasters in the early identification of vortices contained in tropical

waves - the "seedlings" that occasionally intensify into tropical storms. In

addition, the Advanced Microwave

Sounding Radiometer (AMSR-E) flying on NASA's Aura satellite provides

detailed observations of ocean surface

temperature. AMSR-E is critical for

delineating the 26C ocean surface temperature threshold necessary for tropical cyclones to intensify. NASA's

comprehensive suite of remote sensors

is allowing researchers to piece together all the components of the hurricane

"engine" - the vortex winds, rainfall,

ocean energy source and thermal structure inside the eye (Figure 3-NASA-2).

NASA's intensive view of tropical

storms from space is augmented by the

CAMEX series of airborne investigations into hurricanes over the Atlantic,

Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

During both of these experiments, conducted in 1998 and 2001 (and a third

being planned for the Eastern Pacific

in 2005), NASA operated sophisticated

"flying laboratories" in the upper

atmosphere. The NASA DC-8 and

ER-2 were equipped

with an array of

remote sensors (lidars,

radars and radiometers) and in-situ probes

designed to measure

every facet of the hurricane environment.

These properties

include the cloud

microphysical processes

that generate ice and

rain, electrical fields, the

three dimensional variability of water vapor, and

Doppler air motions within

the eyewall and rainbands.

The missions were flown in

conjunction with the NOAA

Hurricane Research Division

fleet of lower atmospheric aircraft. Teaming the two agencies together (NASA and

NOAA) provided the perfect

complement of airborne assets

needed to investigate the entire

vertical structure of hurricanes,

from the ocean surface upward

through 70,000 feet. Ten different

storms in all stages of the lifecycle

(genesis, maturity and decay) were

investigated during CAMEX and the

exciting scientific results will be published in an upcoming special issue of

the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Comprehensive datasets collected

from space and in the field have provided many intriguing insights into the

processes that govern hurricane growth

and evolution. Numerical modeling

investigations take the analyzes a step

further by assimilating diverse observational datasets into a theoretical

framework for performing experiFigure 3-NASA-2. EOS TERRA satellite captures the extent of Hurricane Isabel’s impact

on the East Coast on September 18, 2004 
SECTION 3 NASA 201

ments. Assimilation of CAMEX water

vapor measurements, for instance, into

the Florida State University (FSU)

superensemble model demonstrates a

new ability to improve both hurricane

track and intensity forecasts. High resolution simulations of Hurricanes

Bonnie and Erin using the Penn State

MM5 model using CAMEX data have

revealed new insights into processes

controlling the intensity of eyewall

convection, and the role this convection plays in the water and energy

budgets of these storms.

AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM

NASA's Aviation Safety Program is

aggressively pursuing several areas

that will provide weather information,

avoidance, and mitigation technologies, and education and training aids.

The following elements are included:

• Aviation Weather Information

(AWIN) develops technologies that

provide high fidelity, timely, and intuitive information to pilots to enable the

detection and avoidance of atmospheric hazards (Figure 3-NASA-3).

• Weather Information Communications (WINCOM) develops advanced

communication technologies and

architectural concepts to provide

weather information, avoidance, and

mitigation technologies, icing design

and analysis tools, icing education and

training aids, and accurate and timely

weather information to the cockpit for

both national and international flight.

• Turbulence Prediction and

Warning System (TPAWS) develops

airborne turbulence warning systems

and associated crew procedures to mitigate upsets from all types of turbulence encounters, including clear air

turbulence (CAT).

• Aircraft Icing (AI) addresses critical technology gaps in ice prediction,

detection, avoidance, and mitigation

capability to reduce safety hazards,

aviation system throughput impacts,

cost of air travel, and design cycle time.

The project will:

• develop validated analytical and

experimental tools for design and certification/qualification of aircraft systems in icing; 

• develop improved predictions,

forecasting, and resolution of in-flight

icing conditions;

• better understand the effects of ice

contamination on aircraft performance,

stability and control, and handling qualities;

• develop ice protection systems,

including ice sensing, prevention, and

removal;

• develop methods for avoiding inflight icing hazardous conditions by

using remote sensing technologies and

flight deck information management; and

• develop icing related educational

materials and training aids for pilots,

airline operators, and dispatchers.

Synthetic Vision Systems (SVS).

NASA is developing "synthetic" (electronically enhanced) vision for the

pilot (Figure 3-NASA-4). It combines

a very detailed worldwide terrain map

(obtained from Space Shuttle mapping

Figure 3-NASA-3. NASA and aviation industry vendors have

developed an initial Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) system which is graphical and intuitive for ease of use. Designed to

replace bulky, text printouts, AWIN will put graphical weather

information in the cockpit.
202 NASA SECTION 3

missions), precise GPS navigation

data, and integrity-monitoring sensors

to provide a 3-dimensional, realistic

view of the world through a cockpit

head-up-display (HUD) or instrument

panel-mounted display. The pilot will

look through the HUD as he or she

looks out the window. This seethrough HUD will make the world

look like a bright sunny day even when

the airplane is approaching a fogged-in

airport at midnight--one that would be

shut down under today's operating

rules. NASA believes that improving

the pilot's situational awareness will

largely eliminate controlled-flightinto-terrain (CFIT) and runway incursion accidents. NASA is also evaluating the use of modified weather radar

and FLIR for runway object detection.

Limited visibility is the single most

critical factor affecting both the safety

and capacity of worldwide aviation

operations. In commercial aviation,

over 30 percent of all fatal accidents

worldwide, and the leading cause of

total fatalities, are categorized as controlled flight into terrain -- accidents in

which a functioning aircraft impacts

terrain or obstacles that the flight crew

could not see. In addition, the largest

general aviation accident category is

'Continued Flight into Instrument

Meteorological Conditions', in which

low-experience pilots continue to fly

into deteriorating weather and visibility

conditions and either collide with unexpected terrain or lose control of the

vehicle because of the lack of familiar

external cues. The goal of the synthetic vision work is to achieve VMC capability in IMC (to Category IIIB).

General Aviation. NASA's Small

Aircraft Transportation System

(SATS) research program will demonstrate technology to safely guide a

small aircraft in near all-weather conditions to virtually any small airport in

non-radar, non-towered airspace

(Figure 3-NASA-5). The elements are:

• Higher Volume Operation at NonTowered/Non-Radar Airports will

enable simultaneous operations by

multiple aircraft in non-radar airspace

at and around small non-towered airports in near all weather conditions

through the use of vehicle-to-vehicle

collaborative sequencing and self-separation algorithms and automated

flight path management systems.

Figure 3-NASA-4. Four examples of synthetic vision systems which enhance a pilot’s vision through heads-up displays.
SECTION 3 NASA 203

• Lower Landing Minimums at

Minimally Equipped Landing Facilities

will provide precision approach and

landing guidance, through the use of

graphical flight path guidance and artificial vision, to any touchdown zone at

any landing facility while avoiding land

acquisition and approach lighting costs,

as well as ground-based precision guidance systems, such as ILS.

• Increase Single-pilot crew Safety

and Mission Reliability will increase

single-pilot safety, precision, and mission completion through the use of

human-centered automation, intuitive

and easy to follow flight path guidance

superimposed on a depiction of the

outside world, software enabled flight

controls, and onboard flight planning/management systems.

• En Route Procedures and Systems

for Integrated Fleet Operations will

provide an analytical assessment of the

impact of automated flight path management systems designed to facilitate

operations at non-towered airports and

in non-radar airspace on the integration

of SATS equipped aircraft into the

higher en route air traffic flows and

controlled terminal airspace.

Figure 3-NASA-5. General Aviation cockpit display of weather information.

Within the NRC, the Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation and the

Office of Nuclear Material Safety

and Safeguards conduct reviews of

nuclear facility siting, design, construction, and operation. These

reviews include consideration of

meteorological factors. The two

offices also conduct rulemaking to

establish regulatory requirements.

The NRC Regional Offices assure

that licensing conditions are followed by NRC licensees. Together

with the NRC Incident Response

Operations, they also carry out NRC

responses to nuclear facility emergencies.

The Office of Nuclear Regulatory

Research (RES) conducts research in

various categories to identify potential safety issues, and to prepare the

agency to regulate the use of new

technology. RES also develops regulatory guidance and participates in

the development of criteria and consensus standards related to the protection of the public health and safety and the environment.

At the present time, the NRC is a

user of meteorological information,

rather than performing research in

this field. Meteorological data will

be used to assess radiological

impacts of routine airborne releases

from facilities and to evaluate the

impact of proposed changes in plant

design or operation on unplanned

releases. Information of this type is

also important for developing scenarios of climatological impacts on

the isolation of long-lived nuclear

wastes. The NRC also maintains an

interest in the transport and dispersion of airborne, hazardous, nonradioactive materials, and the effects

of extreme meteorological events on

the safe operation of nuclear facilities.

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WEATHER PROGRAMS

The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licenses and regulates all nuclear facilities

subject to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as amended. The licensing and operation of these nuclear

facilities require the identification of meteorological and climatological conditions that can affect the

safe operation of the facility, and that provide input to the assessment of the radiological impacts of any

airborne releases from the facility.

SECTION 3 NRC 205

Figure 3-NRC-1. NRC regulates commercial nuclear power plants. The

photo shows an operating nuclear plant

with water vapor rising from the cooling tower on a calm day.

The Division of Atmospheric

Sciences manages NSF's basic atmospheric research support. This research

focuses on new and fundamental

knowledge needed to better understand

the atmosphere and related sciences

and to manage atmospheric science

programs including natural disaster

reduction, space weather, global

change, and air quality.

Natural Disaster Reduction. NSF

supports two interagency programs

under natural disaster reduction and

mitigation: The United States Weather

Research Program (USWRP) and the

National Space Weather Program

(NSWP).

The USWRP is an interagency effort

to perform the research and technology

transfer needed to improve the delivery

of weather services to the country.

NSF supports fundamental and applies

research to meet USWRP objectives.

Initial foci are:

• Better understanding and forecasting of hurricane track and intensity;

• Better quantitative precipitation

forecasting and estimation;

• Optimal use of observations in

numerical models; and

• The societal/economic impacts of

improved weather information.

The total research support for FY 2004

was approximately 14 million. In FY

2005, support is expected to remain

level.

The objective of the NSWP is to perform the research and technology

transfer needed to improve the specification and forecasts of space weather

events that can cause disruption and

failure of space borne and ground

based technological systems and can

endanger human health. The highly

successful competition for space

weather research grants, sponsored and

administered by the National Science

Foundation (NSF) was supported at a

level of about $14 million in FY 2004

and will continue at about the same

level in FY 2005. In addition NSF

supports the Center for Integrated

Space Weather Modeling (CISM), a

multi-institutional effort led by Boston

University and dedicated to providing

advance warning of potentially harmful space weather events.

Global Change. Under the United

States Global Change Research

Program (USGCRP), NSF programs

support research and related activities

that advance fundamental understanding of dynamic, physical, biological,

and socioeconomic systems as well as

interactions among those systems. In

addition to research on Earth system

processes and the consequences of

changes in those systems, NSF programs facilitate data acquisition and

data management activities necessary

for basic research on global change,

promote the enhancement of modeling

designed to improve representations of

Earth system interactions, and develop

advanced analytic methods to facilitate

fundamental research. NSF also supports fundamental social and economic

research on the general processes used

by governments and other organizations to identify and evaluate different

types of policies for mitigation, adaptation, and other responses to changing

global environmental conditions. The

total NSF FY 2004 USGCRP funding

was $186.85 million; in FY 2005,

funding is expected to be level. The

Division of Atmospheric Sciences

USGCRP funding for FY 2004 was

$44.0 million with FY 2005 funding

expected to be level also.

Air Quality. NSF supported fundamental research in the area of air quality helps develop improved understanding of the sources, formation,

atmospheric processing and fates of

ambient air pollutants. Atmospheric

oxidant species (and their precursors),

sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon

monoxide, fine particles (and their precursors), and acids are important

atmospheric constituents that influence

air quality, and in turn habitability,

human health and climate. Field

experiments, laboratory studies, instrument development, new methods of

chemical analysis, and improved models of atmospheric chemical reaction

mechanisms, transport and depositional phenomena are examples of air

quality research supported by NSF.

These categories provide scientific and

technical input for management and

control of atmospheric pollutant gases

and particles. NSF funding for FY

2004 was $2.5 million and is expected

to stay the same for FY 2005.

NOTE: NSF budget data is not captured in Tables 2.1-2.5.

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the Federal Government established to promote and advance scientific and engineering progress. The NSF sponsors and funds scientific and engineering research and education projects and supports cooperative research to gain new

understanding of the behavior of the Earth's atmosphere and oceans. NSF does not itself conduct

research but funds research performed by scientists at universities and other entities. In addition, NSF

provides support for the maintenance and operation of the National Center for Atmospheric Research

(NCAR) which is devoted to large-scale atmospheric research projects conducted in cooperation with universities and

other Federal, state and/or local organizations. 

SECTION 3 NSF 207

APPENDIX A

MISSION AND STAFFING OF THE

OFFICE OF THE FEDERAL COORDINATOR FOR METEOROLOGY

(OFCM)

The mission of the OFCM is to

ensure the effective use of Federal

meteorological resources by leading

the systematic coordination of operational weather requirements and services, and supporting research, among

the Federal agencies. To discharge its

mission, OFCM has meshed its objectives with the objectives of the agencies that provide the services and perform the research.

These objectives include:

• Documenting agency programs and

activities in a series of national plans

and reports that enable agencies to

revise/adjust their individual ongoing

programs and provide a means for

communicating new ideas and

approaches to fulfill requirements.

• Providing structure and programs

to promote continuity in the development and coordination of interagency plans and procedures for

meteorological services and supporting research activities.

• Preparing analyses, summaries, or

evaluations of agency meteorological programs and plans that provide

a factual basis for the Executive

and Legislative branches to make

appropriate decisions related to the

allocation of funds.

• Reviewing Federal weather programs and Federal requirements for

meteorological services and supporting research. This review may

suggest additions or revisions to

current or proposed programs, or

identify opportunities for improved

efficiency, reliability, or cost avoidance through coordinated actions or

integrated programs.

DOC currently has ten positions

assigned to OFCM. DOC also provides administrative support to OFCM

and approximately one-half of

OFCM’s annual operating budget. The

Department of Defense (DOD) currently provides two senior staff officers--one Air Force and one Navy--and

contributes approximately one-fourth

of the annual operating budget. The

Department of Transportation (DOT)

Federal Aviation Administration

(FAA) provides one professional staff

member and also provides approximately one-fourth of the annual operating budget. These three agency representatives are designated Assistant

Federal Coordinators for liaison to

their respective agencies. In all, 13

meteorologists, oceanographers, physical scientists, and administrative and

computer-support personnel are

assigned to the OFCM staff.

BASIS FOR FEDERAL COORDINATION PROCESS

In 1963, Congress and the Executive Office of the President expressed concern about the adequacy of coordination of

Federal meteorological activities. In response, Congress directed in Section 304 of Public Law 87-843--the

Appropriations Act for State, Justice, Commerce, and Related Agencies--that the Bureau of the Budget prepare an annual horizontal budget for all meteorological programs in the Federal agencies.

The Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) issued a report entitled "Survey of Federal

Meteorological Activities" (1963). The report described each agency's program in some detail, particularly its operational services, and detailed the relationship between the programs of the various agencies. The report revealed close

cooperation but little evidence of systematic coordination. Based on this study, the Bureau of the Budget issued a set

of ground rules to be followed in the coordination process. It established a permanent general philosophy for assignment and assessment of agency roles in the field of meteorology and set certain goals to be achieved by the coordination process. The Bureau of the Budget tasked the Department of Commerce (DOC) to establish the coordinating

mechanism in concert with the other Federal agencies. It also reaffirmed the concept of having a central agency--the

DOC--responsible for providing common meteorological facilities and services and clarified the responsibilities of

other agencies for providing meteorological services specific to their own needs.

The implementation of these directives by DOC led to the creation of the Office of the Federal Coordinator for

Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM) which operates with policy guidance from the Federal

Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research. The principal work in the coordination of meteorological activities and in the preparation and maintenance of Federal plans is accomplished by the OFCM staff with the

advice and assistance of the Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, and

over 30 program councils, committees, working groups, and joint action groups.

FEDERAL COORDINATION AND PLANNING

APPENDIX A 209
210 APPENDIX A

NATURAL DISASTER REDUCTION

Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference.

OFCM annually hosts the

Interdepartmental Hurricane

Conference (IHC) to provide a forum

for the responsible Federal agencies,

together with representatives of the

user communities such as emergency

management, to review the Nation's

hurricane forecast and warning program and to make recommendations

on how to improve the program in the

future. OFCM conducted the 58th

Interdepartmental Hurricane

Conference (IHC) in Charleston, South

Carolina, March 1-5, 2004. The theme

of the conference was Hugo to Isabel:

15 Years of Progress Plus Momentum

for the Future. The conference attendance was 216; for the fifth consecutive year, attendance has exceeded 200.

The principal objectives of the conference were to: review the Nation's hurricane warning program, highlighting

both the advances made since

Hurricane Hugo and future challenges;

evaluate lessons learned from the 2003

hurricane season, with a focus on

Hurricane Isabel, and update the

National Hurricane Operations Plan

for 2004; examine the impacts of tropical cyclone hazards, such as storm

surge, and begin to assess the socioeconomic/cost avoidance aspects of

tropical cyclone forecasts and warnings; evaluate the Joint Hurricane

Testbed (JHT) as a model for transitioning successful research results into

operations; and develop the framework

for a comprehensive R&D plan which

documents and prioritizes research

needs based on operational needs and

requirements. The keynote address

was presented by the Honorable

Michael D. Brown, Undersecretary for

Emergency Preparedness and

Response, Department of Homeland

Security. He praised the support provided by NOAA and the Federal meteorological community as instrumental

in minimizing the loss of life and damage to property each year from hurricanes and other tropical storms. In

May 2004, the OFCM published the

42nd edition of the National Hurricane

Operations Plan (NHOP), which documents the new procedures, procedural changes, and agreements reached at

the IHC.

Several major accomplishments that

have resulted from specific action

items that were brought to the IHC or

have been achieved through the partnership arrangements facilitated by the

IHC include: implementation of the 5-

day hurricane forecast; development of

the Stepped Frequency Microwave

Radiometer (SFMR); improved capability because of use of Global

Positioning System dropwindsondes;

improved hurricane modeling and prediction; increased focus on inland

flooding; the successful partnering

with the Federal Emergency

Management Agency through the

Hurricane Liaison Team; improved

preparedness, response and outreach to

the public through Hurricane

Awareness Week; support to the Joint

Hurricane Testbed; partnership

between IHC and The Weather

Channel; and increased outreach to

other Federal agencies. A key action

item from this year's IHC is preparation of a comprehensive hurricane

R&D plan to document and prioritize

research needs based on operational

needs and requirements. Use of SFMR

surface winds had an immediate

impact on analyses for Hurricane

Frances in September 2004. The

SFMR surface winds showed that the

radius of 34 knot and 50 knot winds

had increased from the previous observations by a significant amount, necessitating the extension of warnings further north along the Florida east coast.

Further, analysis of the SFMR data

showed that, while the peak eyewall

The Federal Committee for

Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research (FCMSSR),

established in 1964, provides policylevel agency representation and guidance to the Federal Coordinator to

address agency priorities, requirements, and issues related to services,

operations, and supporting research,

and also resolves agency differences

that arise during the coordination of

meteorological activities and the

preparation of Federal plans. The

Under Secretary of Commerce for

Oceans and Atmosphere, who is also

the Administrator of the National

Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), serves as the

FCMSSR Chairperson.

The 15 Federal agencies that engage

in meteorological activities, or have a

need for meteorological services, are

represented on FCMSSR. The

FCMSSR membership includes:

DOC, DOD, DOT, the Departments of

Agriculture (USDA), Energy (DOE),

Homeland Security (DHS), Interior

(DOI), and State (DOS), the

Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA), National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA),

National Science Foundation (NSF),

National Transportation Safety Board

(NTSB), Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC), the Office of

Science and Technology Policy

(OSTP), and the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB).

HIGHLIGHTS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004

AND PLANS FOR FISCAL YEAR 2005

FEDERAL COMMITTEE FOR METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES

AND SUPPORTING RESEARCH
APPENDIX A 211

winds had not increased, a shift in the

hurricane force winds occurred from

east of center at the previous analysis

time 6 hours earlier to north and northwest of the center; i.e., toward the

landward side of Frances. This

OFCM-sponsored development effort

is beginning to pay big dividends. The

next task is to transition the SFMR

technology to the operational fleet of

WC-130J aircraft flown by the Air

Force Reserve Command's 53rd

Weather Reconnaissance Squadron-the

Hurricane Hunters.

National Hurricane Conference.

OFCM participated in the 26th Annual

National Hurricane Conference (NHC)

in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, April 5-9,

2004. The NHC is the Nation's forum

for education and professional training

in hurricane preparedness. The primary goal of the NHC is to improve

hurricane preparedness, response,

recovery, and mitigation in order to

save lives and property in the U.S. and

the tropical islands of the Caribbean

and the Pacific. In addition, the conference serves as a national forum for

Federal, state, and local officials to

exchange ideas and recommend new

policies to improve emergency management. On April 6, OFCM conducted a training session in connection

with the conference. The training session was entitled "Information

Dissemination Technologies and

Architecture--Meeting the Growing

Needs and Demands on Users and the

Public." It follows from an ongoing

action from the FCMSSR to develop a

strategy for atmospheric information.

The objectives of the training session

were to (1) examine the current and

future policy and available information

dissemination technologies (IDT) and

architecture for use in the dissemination of environmental (weather and climate) information to the emergency

management community and the public; and (2) to acquire feedback from

attendees on how the emergency management community (especially decision makers and first responders)

views current and planned resources

and identify any unmet needs of the

emergency management/responder

community. Approximately 100 conference attendees participated in the

session's two panel discussions. Panel

I examined current and future policy

and available IDT and architecture for

disseminating environmental (weather

and climate) information to the emergency management community and the

public. Panel II discussed ways to

raise awareness of decision-makers

and emergency responders regarding

new, improved, or emerging tools and

technology to disseminate critical allhazards information to the public,

especially information on hurricanes

and inland flooding.

The two panels provided a useful

first opportunity to test the Natural

Hazard Warning User questionnaire

with a pool of IDT users. The combination of IDT users affiliated with

state, local, or volunteer affiliations is

of particular interest because most of

these individuals are directly involved

in responding to natural hazard and

other emergency incidents. Most of

the IDT users completing the questionnaire came from states along the

Atlantic and Gulf coasts. As will be

seen, the types of natural hazard warnings they use most often reflect hazards typical of this region. Findings

based on this first administration of the

questionnaire must be considered tentative and suggestive because of the

small number of IDT users and the self

selection bias introduced by (a) their

participation in a special interest conference and (b) voluntary completion

of the questionnaire. As one would

expect from the nature of the conference and the regional distribution of

the IDT users, hurricane and tropical

storm were the most used warning

types. The high response for tornado

warnings suggests that education,

training, and outreach (ETO) on hurricane/tropical storm hazards and the

importance of tornado watches and

warnings have been effective. By

comparison, the flood related warning

types (flood, flash flood, and coastal

flood) are used by fewer of the IDT

users, despite the serious risk of flooding hazards to any area in the path of a

major hurricane or tropical storm.

Given that flooding has each year been

one of the top two or three natural hazards when ranked by number of deaths,

this may be an area for ETO emphasis.

Among the IDT users, graphical formats are used as much as alphanumeric formats. Voice, image, and

sounds/tones are also used by many of

these IDT users. Not surprisingly, television (both broadcast and cable) and

commercial radio (AM/FM) are broadcast technologies on which these IDT

users rely heavily. Good news is that

NOAA Weather Radio is also used by

most of the IDT users. Internet websites are also being used for warning

information by most of the IDT users.

Another interesting point is that,

among these IDT users, cell phones

appear to be used somewhat more than

wired telephones at home or at work.

Pagers are still important for IDT users

in local emergency response/management organizations. The Emergency

Alert System (EAS) is also broadly in

use as an IDT by this group. Even in

this small pool of IDT users, we found

some infiltration of new IDT technologies such as Voice over internet protocol (VOIP), DSRC, reverse 911, and

wireless Internet. Nearly all of the IDT

users have access to their warning

service available around the clock.

And nearly all are using a free warning

service, rather than a fee for service

option. Rural commuting was the situation most frequently identified as giving these IDT users the most difficulty

in receiving warning information. In

vehicle IDT options are an area for further assessment in user responses and,

potentially, an R&D and implementation focus. An alarming number of the

IDT users cited reception difficulties
212 APPENDIX A

inside public and government buildings-even more than private or commercial buildings. Many IDT users

routinely work in or frequently visit

public and government buildings.

Difficulty in receiving timely warnings

in these locations could impede their

ability to respond. If additional IDT

user data confirm this to be an issue, it

may warrant investigation into the kinds

of reception difficulties being experienced and the potential solutions.

Post-Storm Data Acquisition. Work

is being done to implement a new

interagency agreement which will permit the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary to

continue to support the OFCM-sponsored Working Group for Natural

Disaster Reduction/Post-Storm Data

Acquisition (WG/NDR/PSDA) in its

mission to coordinate data acquisition

efforts following natural disasters.

This agreement will also be the framework for use by other NOAA entities

as needs arise; e.g., support during

wildfires and monitoring whale migration. In the interim OFCM coordinated an agreement with the U.S. Air

Force Auxiliary, through the Secretary

of the Air Force, for military support

for post-storm data acquisition through

the end of the 2004 hurricane season.

These post-storm efforts contribute to

the determination of the intensity and

magnitude of storms, and, in many

cases, help to determine the extent of

damage for use in Presidential disaster

declarations. The additional data collected after hurricane landfall is also

used in validating modeling efforts

with both emergency management

models (e.g., FEMA's HAZUS) and

hurricane storm-surge models (e.g.,

NOAA's SLOSH). These models are

used in real-time to assist decision

makers in evacuation decisions and

procedures. Post-storm data are also

used to update FEMA Flood Insurance

Rate Maps. During FY 2004, the coordinating efforts provided support to

Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and

Jeanne, and two F4 tornado damage

surveys during May, in Harper County,

Kansas, and in Lancaster County,

Nebraska.

USER FORUM ON URBAN

METEOROLOGY

OFCM, in partnership with the

Department of Homeland Security

(DHS) Science and Technology

Directorate, conducted a User Forum

on Urban Meteorology September 21-

23, 2004, at the Doubletree Hotel and

Executive Meeting Center in

Rockville, Maryland. The theme of

the forum was Information to Improve

Community Responses to Urban

Atmospheric Hazards, Weather Events,

and Climate. It focused on the following elements of urban meteorology:

severe weather, homeland security, air

quality, water quality, and climate.

This interagency forum was the direct

result of an action item from the

October 18, 2002, meeting of the

FCMSSR and, also, follows from the

7th Annual George Mason University

(GMU) Transport and Dispersion

Modeling Conference (June 17-18,

2003) and the 8th Annual GMU

Conference (July 13-15, 2004). The

forum's agenda included key presentations at the beginning and end of the

forum, five plenary session panels, and

six workshop sessions scheduled in

pairs. The forum's objectives were to:

reduce high impact weather and climate risks and improve the quality of

life in urban areas; increase understanding and facilitate the transfer of

emerging science and technology to

meet today's urban weather and climate challenges; improve forecasting

in coastal areas and areas with complex terrain; and set the stage for building user-tailored decision support systems for real-time response to the spectrum of hazardous weather events and

atmospheric conditions. The subject of

this forum is extremely important since

nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population lives in urban areas occupying less

than two percent of the U.S. landmass,

and America's vulnerability to severe

weather and hazards related to air quality, water quality, atmospheric dispersion of dangerous materials, and climatic variations are rising as the urban

proportion of the population increases.

The User Forum on Urban Meteorology

supports NOAA's goals related to coastal

and ocean resources, climate, weather

and water information, homeland security, and commerce.

OPERATIONAL PROCESSING

The spring 2004 meeting of the

OFCM Committee for Operational

Processing Centers (COPC) took place

at the Air Force Weather Agency in

Omaha, Nebraska, from March 31-

April 1, 2004. The focus of the meeting was on the Weather Research and

Forecasting (WRF) community model

and how to facilitate the exchange of

data and information among the WRF

Operational Test Centers (OTC). The

major goals and issues of the meeting

dealt with information technology collaboration, grid computing, and architectural issues; establishment of priorities for the Joint Action Group for

Operational Community Modeling

(JAG/OCM); the WRF Concept of

Operations; WRF Operational Test

Center procedures; and a combined

strategy for future year budget

requests. The major accomplishment

of the meeting was finalizing and signing on April 1, 2004, of the National

Concept of Operations Framework for

the Operational Processing Centers to

guide the implementation of WRF--the

next-generation numerical weather

prediction model. Another significant

accomplishment was the publication of

the Catastrophic Backup Action Plan

(CBAP) for the operational processing

centers (OPC) in July 2004. The purpose of the CBAP is to identify catastrophic backup shortfalls that exist at

the Nation's military and civilian meteorological, oceanographic, and satellite

OPCs that can be addressed in the

short term. With respect to the plan,
APPENDIX A 213

"catastrophic" means a total incapacitation of an OPC for an extended period of time. "Short term" means

months--that which can be accomplished with a minimum of already

available resources. The CBAP identified 10 shortfalls. Plans to address

each of the shortfalls have been developed. For six of the shortfalls, implementation activities have been accomplished. That is, the tasks needed to

establish backup capabilities are finished and the resources needed to

establish backup capabilities are available. COPC activities relate to the

crosscutting area of homeland security

in addition to NOAA's goal to serve

society's needs for weather and water

information.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT TO

HOMELAND SECURITY

George Mason University Transport

and Dispersion Modeling Conference.

George Mason University (GMU),

Fairfax, Virginia, conducted its 8th

Annual Conference on Transport and

Dispersion Modeling, July 13-15,

2004. The OFCM partnered with the

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

(DTRA) and GMU to sponsor the

event. The major topic areas for the

conference were: new developments

in basic theories of boundary layer

models and transport and dispersion

models; urban-scale meteorological

and dispersion experiments and models; computational fluid dynamics

(CFD) model theory and applications;

field experiments and laboratory

experiments concerned with boundary

layer studies and turbulence and dispersion studies; mesoscale meteorological modeling for input to transport

and dispersion models; the use of

remote sensing technology in boundary layer and transport and dispersion

studies; model evaluation methods,

uncertainty/sensitivity analyses, and

risk assessments; improvements in

model inputs (e.g., land-use data, 3-D

building data) and output visualizations; and methods and criteria for

emergency response and decisionmaking. There was also a special session on the Joint Urban 2003 Field

Experiment, the DTRA/DOE-sponsored Oklahoma City Field Exercise

which occurred in Oklahoma City

from June 28 - July 31, 2003.

On July 14, 2004, OFCM hosted a

session related to OFCM's ongoing

work with the Department of

Homeland Security and other members

of the Federal meteorological community to define the concept of operations

and the research and development

needs required to support the National

Incident Management System and

emergency responders at Federal,

state, and local levels. The objectives

of the OFCM session were twofold:

(1) to inform attendees regarding the

Interagency Modeling and

Atmospheric Assessment Center

(IMAAC) and the role the Federal

agencies will play in the development

of the IMAAC, and (2) to present the

draft Federal ATD R&D Plan, Federal

Research and Development Needs and

Priorities for Atmospheric Transport

and Diffusion Modeling, and solicit

comments, feedback, and discussion

from the conference attendees. The

OFCM session included two invited

presentations and a panel discussion.

As follow-on actions, the OFCM will

continue to work with the Department

of Homeland Security/Science and

Technology Directorate (DHS/S&T) to

develop the implementation plan and

concept of operations for the IMAAC,

integrating the responsibilities and

capabilities that all the Federal agencies bring to the table. The Federal

ATD R&D Plan will be presented to

the Interdepartmental Committee for

Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research (ICMSSR) for

approval in the fall, following the presentation to the OFCM/DHS jointly

sponsored Urban Meteorology User

Forum, which will be conducted

September 21-23, 2004, to provide the

private and academic sectors an opportunity to further discuss with members

of the public sector the Federal

research and development needs and

priorities for atmospheric transport and

diffusion modeling.

Homeland Security Environmental

Support Plan. Work is ongoing to

complete the interagency Homeland

Security Environmental Support Plan--

an action from the FCMSSR. The plan

defines the mission, roles, and responsibilities of individual Federal agencies

as they relate to homeland security and

documents each agency's environmental support capabilities and/or requirements. The OFCM is currently working closely with the Plume Modeling

Subset of the Consequence

Management, Site Restoration/Cleanup (CMS) Subgroup, which is chaired

by the Department of Homeland

Security (Emergency Preparedness and

Response), to develop an interagency

concept of operations for an all-hazards dispersion support framework.

The concept of the Interagency

Modeling and Atmospheric

Assessment Center (IMAAC) was successfully proposed to the Homeland

Security Council Deputies in April

2004. The Department of Homeland

Security/Science and Technology

Directorate (DHS/S&T) then started

developing the IMAAC implementation plan and concept of operations in

partnership with DOD, DOE, EPA,

NOAA, NRC, NASA, and OFCM.

Once it evolves, the concept of operations for the IMAAC will be an integral part of the Homeland Security

Environmental Support Plan, which

should be ready for publication in fall

2004. The intended audience for this

document includes the Federal agencies involved in crisis and consequence

management, and state and local (e.g.,

city, county, and parish) governments

and their first-responder organizations. 

Federal Atmospheric Transport and

Diffusion Research and Development

Plan. An interagency joint action
214 APPENDIX A

group (JAG) was formed and activity

is underway to develop an integrated

research and development plan to support the atmospheric transport and diffusion modeling needs and activities of

the Federal agencies in support of the

Department of Homeland Security--an

action from the FCMSSR. The plan

will identify the research and technical

needs required to enhance Federal

atmospheric transport and diffusion

(ATD) modeling. Input to the plan will

include: Atmospheric Modeling of

Releases from Weapons of Mass

Destruction--Response by Federal

Agencies in Support of Homeland

Security (OFCM); Tracking and

Predicting Atmospheric Dispersion of

Hazardous Material Releases,

Implications for Homeland Security

(NRC); and the OFCM special sessions of the 7th Annual GMU

Conference on Transport and

Dispersion Modeling (June 2003) and

8th Annual GMU Conference (July

2004). The JAG conducted a gap

analysis and consulted with subjectmatter experts; listed and prioritized

R&D needs; developed research and

advanced development strategies; and

developed a framework for transitioning successful research results into

operations through interagency cooperative efforts like observational and

modeling test beds, field and urban

studies/experiments, and a common

model evaluation methodology. The

plan prioritizes the most pressing

needs based on stated operational

shortfalls and provides a roadmap to

address those needs within the OFCM

coordinating infrastructure. As discussed above, the initial draft plan was

vetted through the 8th Annual GMU

Transport and Dispersion Modeling

Conference in July 2004. Then following the presentation to the September

2004 Urban Meteorology Forum, the

plan will be presented to the ICMSSR in

the fall for its responses and actions to

the recommendations. The expected

completion date is October 2004.

ANNUAL FEDERAL PLAN

In November 2003, OFCM issued

The Federal Plan for Meteorological

Services and Supporting ResearchFiscal Year 2004. The Federal Plan is

Congressionally mandated and is a

one-of-a-kind document which articulates the meteorological services provided and supporting research conducted by agencies of the Federal government. The Federal Plan helps to

reduce duplication among the agencies. It is a comprehensive publication

that documents proposed programs for

Fiscal Year 2004 and reviews agency

programs in Fiscal Year 2003. The

Plan demonstrates to the Congress, and

to the Executive Branch, how the

Federal agencies work together to

accomplish their missions in an effective and efficient manner. The special

interest article for this year's plan was

Weather and the Urban Environment:

Meeting the Needs of Urban

Communities. The article lists five

areas of concern related to urban

weather (air quality, water quality,

severe weather, disaster response and

homeland security, and climate

change), and includes information on

applications for urban meteorology,

tools needed to support applications,

and key players and their roles. On

March 12, 2004, OFCM issued a call

to the agencies for input to The

Federal Plan for Meteorological

Services and Supporting Research--

Fiscal Year 2005. The call for input

included a guidance package which

describes the procedures, budget categories, and formats for providing

agency input. It also included milestones for submitting FY 2005 inputs

to lead to an October 1, 2004, plan distribution. The feature article of the FY

2005 Annual Federal Plan entitled The

Rewards of Managing WeatherRelated Risks will focus on the Federal

agencies' meteorological activities

related to risk management and assessments, and the socioeconomic impacts

of natural hazards.

WEATHER INFORMATION FOR

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION

OFCM published the Weather

Information for Surface

Transportation-National Needs

Assessment Report in December 2002.

The WIST Report sets the stage for

revolutionary improvement in the way

weather information is applied to surface transportation across the Nation.

It establishes a process that involves

decision makers throughout the public

and private sectors, academia, and

industry in a collaborative effort to

define weather information needs and

recommends next steps to incorporate

current and future results from science

and technology innovations into surface transportation activities that bear

on the safety and economic welfare of

all citizens. The WIST Report is the

product of an extensive 3-year interagency effort and is a historic achievement from the standpoint that it is the

first-ever compilation of weather support needs across the six surface transportation sectors: roadway, railway,

transit, marine transportation, pipeline

systems, and airport ground operations. This activity included the formation of a joint action group to

address meteorological requirements

for surface transportation; questionnaires; surveys; WIST symposia conducted jointly by the Office of the

Federal Coordinator for Meteorology

and the Federal Highway

Administration; meetings with railroad, pipeline, and emergency managers; and participation on panels concerning public-private partnerships in

transportation and Intelligent

Transportation Systems. The report

makes clear that by meeting the

requirements for provision of weather

information for surface transportation

to users, we can often increase safety

and realize economic benefits at the

same time.

The Weather Information for Surface

Transportation-National Needs

Assessment Report has led to a great
APPENDIX A 215

deal of activity in this new and important area of meteorological support.

• On August 18, 2003, Ms. Mary E.

Peters, Administrator of the

Department of Transportation/Federal

Highway Administration (FHWA), and

VADM Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr.,

USN (Ret.), Under Secretary of

Commerce for Oceans and

Atmosphere and Administrator of the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA), met to begin

a dialog regarding the next steps to

take in the area of Weather Information

for Surface Transportation (WIST).

Ms. Peters indicated that the WIST

Report documented not just FHWA

needs, but all of DOT's requirements,

and she wanted to begin discussions

with NOAA senior leadership on how

NOAA and FHWA could work together to meet those needs and requirements. The FHWA's first concern is

enhancing roadway safety, followed by

improving efficient transportation

regardless of the weather conditions

experienced by surface transportation

operators. Weather is a major economic factor. At least $1 trillion of our

economy is weather-sensitive, as

goods and services move through our

Nation's transportation systems.

• Subsequently, OFCM hosted a

NOAA-FHWA meeting on October 24,

2003, to discuss strategy and plans for

near-term, intermediate-term, and

long-term activities for WIST.

• OFCM worked with AMS senior

leadership to help structure the AMS

Policy Forum on "Highways and

Weather" held on November 4-5, 2003,

where the Federal Coordinator played

a key speaking role to set the tone and

direction of the forum.

• OFCM provided VADM

Lautenbacher a status report on

November 6, 2003, concerning NOAA

and FHWA staff activities to meet the

WIST-related tasks laid out during the

August 18, 2003, NOAA-FHWAmeeting.

• NOAA senior leadership supported the incorporation of WIST as a program element under NOAA Strategic

Plan Goal #4 (Commerce and

Transportation) on November 17,

2003, by issuing guidance that the

NOAA Commerce and Transportation

Program Plan should support and be

"consistent with Weather Information

for Surface Transportation (WIST)

demonstration and pilot projects."

• OFCM made several, specific

inputs to the NOAA Strategic Plan

Goal Team #4's R&D proposal

(NOAA Research and Development

Plan For Safe and Efficient Surface

Transportation) developed in late

November and early December 2003,

in support of the NOAA leadership

guidance to include WIST in the

Commerce and Transportation

Program Plan. This proposal was

approved by the Deputy Under

Secretary of Commerce for Oceans

and Atmosphere.

• OFCM provided a foundation-laying WIST briefing to the National

Academy of Sciences' Board on

Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

(BASC) and Transportation Research

Board (TRB) as they began to develop

the report Where the Weather Meets

the Road--A Research Agenda for

Improving Road Weather Services,

which was released on January 16,

2004. The BASC report endorses the

WIST Report results and calls for the

Federal government to establish a multiyear national road weather research

program, led by the FHWA, to bring

together the weather and surface transportation research communities. The

report also calls for the development of

an overarching, multiagency-coordinated WIST implementation program.

• Another NOAA-FHWA WIST

meeting was held February 19, 2004.

The purpose of the meeting was to further discuss and develop a detailed,

proposed set of near-term pilot projects

that would help NOAA and FHWA

begin to implement the WIST Report

recommendations in the operational

and research areas and document

results of these joint efforts.

• OFCM participated in the AMS

2004 Corporate Forum which was held

March 14-16, 2004. The forum

focused on the themes of earth observations, public-private-academic partnerships in the weather and climate

enterprise, and road weather. The

Federal Coordinator briefed the

Corporate Forum on The WIST Report

and the Road Ahead.

• OFCM participated in the AMS

and National Academies

Congressional Briefing, Weather and

Our Nation's Roads: The Need for a

Coordinated Road Weather Research

Program, March 17, 2004. Topics discussed included application of weather

information to road safety and efficiency, a research agenda for improving

road weather services, and perspectives from the state and local level.

• NOAA and FHWA personnel also

met on March 19, March 25, March 30,

and April 9, 2004, to work on a

NOAA/FHWA Partnering Plan to lay

the groundwork to achieve their shared

goals for a safer and more efficient surface transportation system. The first

iteration of the Partnership Plan groups

initiatives into five categories:

Training, Observations, Numerical

Weather Prediction,

Databases/Decision Support, and

Information Dissemination.

• Weather Information for Surface

Transportation was briefed and discussed at the May 14, 2004, meeting of

the ICMSSR. Actions which came out

of the ICMSSR meeting include: (1)

Complete development of the

NOAA/FHWA Partnering Plan, covering road weather needs, as a first step

in showing progress on WIST needs;

(2) OFCM establish a Working Group

for WIST (WG/WIST), led by FHWA

and NOAA, to allow all Federal

departments and agencies to participate in the development of plans or

projects to meet their WIST needs and

ensure Federal resources are used efficiently; (3) WG/WIST develop a mul-
216 APPENDIX A

tiyear, Federal WIST research program

plan to bring together the Federal

weather and surface transportation

research communities and provide a

vision for the public and private sectors to use for planning purposes; and

(4) WG/WIST develop an overarching,

Federal, multiagency-coordinated

WIST implementation program.

• OFCM participated in the 1st

Surface Transportation Weather

Workshop at the University of North

Dakota, August 11-12, 2004. The

workshop was cosponsored by the

University of North Dakota Surface

Transportation Weather Research

Center and FHWA. A senior OFCM

staff person addressed the workshop

during its session on Converting a

National Vision into Reality.

• An ad hoc WIST Executive group

met on August 26, 2004, to review

progress on the NOAA-FHWA

Partnering Plan, a draft NOAA-FHWA

MOU, and to receive an activities

update briefing from NOAA's Surface

Weather Program Manager. It was discussed that the NOAA-FHWA

Partnering Plan should be restructured

to concentrate on "NOAA's responsibility for protecting life and property

and enhancing the national economy.

The NOAA Surface Weather Program

should stress its support of public safety, and its commitment to support the

Nation's commerce with information

for safe, efficient, and environmentally

sound transportation (NOAA's

Commerce and Transportation

Strategic Goal)."

AVIATION WEATHER

In December 2003, OFCM issued an

update to the 2001 Aviation Weather

Program Baseline Report. This is part

of the continued implementation of the

National Aviation Weather Program

Strategic Plan and the National

Aviation Weather Initiatives. The

update is an inventory of over 150 programs/projects in aviation weather and

represents nearly a doubling of the

number of programs/projects in the

2001 report; a preliminary summary of

the inventory was included in the

National Aviation Weather Program

Mid-Course Assessment which was

published in August 2003. The update

is a snapshot of work underway in both

the Federal agencies and the private

sector and includes a mapping of the

programs/projects against the National

Aviation Weather Initiatives. The

update shows that most of the initiatives are being worked by one or more

agency programs, but it also cautions

that the agencies must remain vigilant

for possible duplication. Furthermore,

the programs/projects outlined represent a fairly complete inventory of

work being done in the aviation community to reduce accidents and delays

where weather is a contributing factor.

Accident statistics are showing that

fatal accident rates involving weather

are declining, and it is believed that the

R&D efforts, as well as the other work

highlighted in this updated report, are

contributing to this decrease. OFCM

conducted a Panel Session on the

National Aviation Weather Initiatives

at the National Business Aviation

Association, Inc. and Friends and

Partners in Aviation Weather Annual

Meeting held in Orlando, Florida, in

October 2003, and provided an update

on implementation of the National

Aviation Weather Program at the

National Weather Association 28th

Annual Meeting in Jacksonville,

Florida, October 18-23, 2003.

From June 21-24, 2004, the OFCM

hosted the 2nd International

Conference on Volcanic Ash and

Aviation Safety at the Hilton

Alexandria Mark Center Hotel,

Alexandria, Virginia. The theme of the

conference was Avoiding Airborne

Volcanic Ash--Anywhere in the World,

and its overall goal was to enhance

mitigation capabilities worldwide by

providing an international forum for

the exchange of technical, operational,

and scientific information. Attendees

represented airlines (meteorology

departments, dispatch, pilots), aviation

manufacturers, airport authorities,

governmental and nongovernmental

organizations, volcano observatories,

Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers, academia, and the scientific press. Total

conference attendance was 226 persons; 21 nations and 15 airlines were

represented. The conference was very

successful. Information collected from

conference attendees will ensure that

the four conference expectations will

be achieved. These are (1) identify

new operational needs/requirements

and the research and development

needed to satisfy those requirements,

(2) where possible, match operational

and research and development

needs/requirements to ongoing programs/projects to maximize partnership efforts, (3) develop a roadmap for

improved volcanic ash-related education, training, outreach, and decision

tools, and (4) develop a framework for

improved partnerships within the international volcanic ash community to

leverage resources and capabilities

across the spectrum of operations and

research and development. The conference generated a number of action

items and recommendations which the

OFCM Working Group for Volcanic

Ash (WG/VA) was tasked to address.

Specifically, the WG/VA will (1) seek

further help, input and advice from

international partners and the

International Civil Aviation

Organization; (2) sort action items and

recommendations into short- (0-12

month), mid- (1-4 year), and long-term

(4-10 year) actions and prioritize them;

and (3) develop and gain approval of a

Volcanic Ash Implementation Plan.

The plan will detail program goals;

operational needs/requirements; R&D

needs and priorities; a roadmap for

improved volcanic ash-related education, training, outreach, and decision

tools; and a framework for improved

partnerships within the international

volcanic ash community to leverage
APPENDIX A 217

resources and capabilities across the

spectrum of operations and research

and development within the next 12

months. A summary of the conference

outcomes was issued in July 2004.

One example, and a timely reminder,

of why the Volcanic Ash Conference is

so relevant, is the seismic activity and

releases of steam and volcanic ash

from Mount St. Helens in Washington

beginning September 23, 2004, and the

possibility of a blast of ash that will

rise tens of thousands of feet and drift

with the wind.

SPACE WEATHER

Space weather refers to conditions

on the Sun and in the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and

ground-based technological systems,

and can endanger human life or health.

Space weather storms can cause disruption of satellites, communications,

navigation, and electric power distribution grids. The overarching goal of

the National Space Weather Program

(NSWP), which is administered by an

OFCM program council, is to achieve

an active, synergistic, interagency system to provide timely, accurate, and

reliable space weather warnings,

observations, specifications, and forecasts by 2007. The NSWP Strategic

and Implementation Plans provide,

respectively, broad guidance and a

detailed roadmap for the NSWP.

In the first quarter of FY04, OFCM

led the development of a report on the

Importance of the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration's

Space Environment Center

(NOAA/SEC) to the National Space

Weather Program (NSWP), in response

to continuing Congressional budget

pressures being experienced by

NOAA/SEC and concerns expressed

by the NSWPC and the CSW. The

report outlined the many key benefits

provided by NOAA/SEC to the multiagency NSWP. The report also

detailed the negative impacts that

would result from insufficient funding

at SEC with regard to the Nation's ability to observe, predict, and warn of

impending solar activity and the resultant impacts on the Nation's technical

systems and human life or health.

This report was endorsed to the Office

of Science and Technology Policy

(OSTP) by the Under Secretary and

FCMSSR Chairman. In November

2003, in a message from OSTP to

Congressional staff, Dr. John H.

Marburger, III, OSTP Director, supported the full funding of SEC. While

not totally successful, this effort did

garner enough Congressional support

to fund NOAA/SEC in FY04 at 65 percent of their budget request.

OFCM took part in Space Weather

Week at NOAA's Space Environment

Center, Boulder, Colorado, April 13-

16, 2004. The conference highlighted

recent space weather impacts in several areas of the environment, including

airline problems, GPS and ionospheric

disturbances, satellite drag, and geomagnetic storms.

Work is underway to conduct the

next meeting of the Committee for

Space Weather (CSW) in October 2004

and planning has begun for the next

meeting of the National Space Weather

Program Council (NSWPC).

LIGHTNING DATA USER

REQUIREMENTS

The OFCM Joint Action Group for

Lightning Detection Systems

(JAG/LDS) continues to be involved

with source selection activities for the

new lightning data contract scheduled

for FY 2005. Proposals were received

in early July of 2004, and JAG/LDS

members are serving as members of

the Technical Evaluation and Business

Committees. Technical and cost evaluations are ongoing, with the goal of

contract award by the end of

September 2004. The new contract

will be for one base year and four oneyear options.

TEMPERATURE INDICES

OFCM's Joint Action Group for

Temperature Indices (JAG/TI) continued to monitor the progress of the

World Meteorological Organization

Commission for Climatology work on

the development of the Universal

Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). This

index is for the thermophysiologically

relevant assessments of the atmospheric environment for human health and

well-being related to such applications

as daily forecasts, warnings (e.g., wind

chill, Heat-Health Warnings System),

bioclimate mapping, urban and regional planning, environmental epidemiology, and climate impact research. The

guidelines for a UTCI are due to be

available in late 2005. The JAG/TI

will coordinate as needed to implement

the UTCI across the U.S. Federal agencies and with our partners in Canada.

PHASED ARRAY WEATHER

RADAR PROJECT

OFCM hosted a Phased Array

Weather Radar Project (PAWRP)

meeting on July 22, 2003, attended by

six Federal departments and agencies

to explore expanded agency participation in the project. This meeting was

held in response to actions of the last

meeting of the FCMSSR (October 18,

2002) and the ICMSSR (April 30,

2003). The FCMSSR and ICMSSR

directed the Federal Coordinator to

determine specific needs of the agencies, show benefits of the Phased Array

Radar (PAR) capability for their

respective agencies, and explore

opportunities for expanded agency participation in the PAWRP.

OFCM arranged for a January 29,

2004, visit to the National Severe

Storms Laboratory (NSSL) by representatives from three Federal agencies

to learn more about PAR technology

and how it might benefit their organizations. NSSL has a phased array

radar provided by the Navy for

research purposes. The participants

were briefed on PAR technology, and
218 APPENDIX A

the resultant discussion answered

agency questions concerning how the

PAR technology might meet agency

requirements, what period of time

might be needed for the required PAR

R&D to be accomplished before an

operational system could be developed

and fielded, and what other advancements (e.g., improved data assimilation, improved forecast models) would

be needed in addition a PAR system to

go from "warn on detection" to "warn

on forecast and detection." It was also

briefed that the PAR will be ready for

R&D efforts beginning March 2004.

Additionally, based on knowledge

gained at the July 2003 meeting, and a

subsequent visit to NSSL in January

2004, OFCM will begin work with the

Federal agencies to form a Joint Action

Group that would identify the potential

needs and benefits of the agencies that

PAR and Networked Radars

(NETRAD) would address, develop a

PAR R&D plan that would focus R&D

efforts on meeting agency needs, and

developing a funding proposal to support the required PAR R&D.

The PAWRP was briefed and discussed at the May 14, 2004, meeting of

the ICMSSR. Actions which came out

of the ICMSSR meeting include: (1)

OFCM work with the Federal agencies

to form a Joint Action Group for

Phased Array Weather Radar Project

(JAG/PAWRP) of stakeholder agencies; (2) JAG/PAWRP identify and

document the potential needs and benefits of the agencies that phased array

radar and an adaptive radar sensing

strategy would address; and (3)

JAG/PAWRP integrate those identified

needs into a multiagency coordinated

R&D plan that would focus efforts on

meeting agency needs.

COLLABORATION WITH

NAS/NRC BOARD ON

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES AND

CLIMATE

OFCM continued its mutually beneficial interactions with the National

Academy of Sciences/National

Research Council (NAS/NRC). The

NAS/NRC Board on Atmospheric

Sciences and Climate (BASC) recently

formed a "Committee on Weather

Research for Surface Transportation:

The Roadway Environment." The

Committee conducted a study to examine the research opportunities and

required services needed to support

improved weather forecasting for the

Nation's roadways. It investigated the

current state of knowledge regarding

forecasting of road weather conditions,

recommended key areas of research to

enhance operational weather forecasts

for roads, and identified possible agency

and infrastructure requirements to best

provide this information to users.

At its first meeting held February 20-

21, 2003, in Washington, D.C., the

Federal Coordinator addressed the

Committee regarding the roadway

transportation aspects of OFCM's

Weather Information for Surface

Transportation-National Needs

Assessment Report and, more generally, about the Federal context for meteorological research relevant to surface

transportation. Copies of the WIST

Report were also provided to the

Committee members to assist the

BASC study. The Federal Coordinator

also addressed BASC at its planning

retreat June 30 - July 2, 2003, in

Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in the

portion of the retreat dealing with how

BASC could be more effective; lessons

from past BASC studies; and how

BASC could improve, expand, and

address new audiences.

The BASC report, Where the

Weather Meets the Road--A Research

Agenda for Improving Road Weather

Services, was released on January 16,

2004. The study stressed not just

research opportunities but, also, how to

make this information useful for

improved operations and implementation. The study provides a framework

and recommendations to engage the

transportation and weather communities (and other stakeholders) in the

development of a strategic plan to

guide road weather research.

OFCM also participated in the AMS

and National Academies

Congressional Briefing, Weather and

Our Nation's Roads: The Need for a

Coordinated Road Weather Research

Program, March 17, 2004. Topics discussed included application of weather

information to road safety and efficiency, a research agenda for improving

road weather services, and perspectives from the state and local level.

The Federal Coordinator also participated in the BASC Summer Study July

12-13, 2004, in Woods Hole,

Massachusetts, the subject of which

was Challenges in Representing Physical

Processes in Coupled Atmosphere-LandOcean Models: A Workshop.

COLLABORATION WITH THE

U.S. WEATHER RESEARCH

PROGRAM

The mission of the U.S. Weather

Research Program (USWRP) is to

accelerate forecast improvements of

high impact weather and facilitate full

use of advanced weather information.

The program's vision is to mitigate the

effects of weather-induced disasters;

reduce the costs associated with routinely disruptive weather; create

opportunities for increased productivity through better weather information;

and assist the military in the accomplishment of its mission. The current

USWRP team includes NOAA as the

lead agency, NSF, NASA, the U.S. Air

Force, and the U.S. Navy. The Federal

Coordinator has contacted additional

agencies to broaden Federal participation in the USWRP in accordance with

an action from the ICMSSR, direction

from the Chairman of the FCMSSR,

and a recommendation from the

National Academy of

Sciences/National Research Council

Board on Atmospheric Sciences and

Climate (BASC). The additional agencies included Federal Aviation
APPENDIX A 219

Administration (FAA), Federal

Highway Administration (FHWA),

Department of Energy (DOE), United

States Department of Agriculture

(USDA), and the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA). This has led

to more interaction directly between

the leadership of the USWRP and

interested agencies to discuss in more

detail agency-specific needs which

may benefit from the Program. The

USWRP is represented on the OFCM's

Committee for Cooperative Research

and an OFCM representative attends

USWRP-related meetings.

COLLABORATION WITH THE

COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT

AND NATURALRESOURCES

CENR Principals. The Federal

Coordinator continues to be a participant on the Committee on

Environment and Natural Resources

(CENR). There were a number of

reports that required the Federal

Coordinator's review and concurrence.

These included: Sustainability as a

Cross-Cutting CENR Issue, U.S. Inputs

into GEO Framework Draft for the

Earth Observation System(s) (EOS),

Possible GEO and U.S. Process

Outcomes, Framework draft and

Communique draft in anticipation of

intergovernmental agreement at Tokyo

Earth Observation Summit II,

Declaration on the Establishment of

the Group on Earth Observations, and

draft Strategic Plan for the U.S.

Integrated Earth Observation System.

Subcommittee on Disaster

Reduction. OFCM has been an active

participant in the work of the CENR

Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction

(SDR). Recognizing that disasters can

be the result of a technological and/or

natural hazard, the subcommittee

changed its name from the

Subcommittee on Natural Disaster

Reduction to the SDR. Recently, the

focus of this group has been to define

its strategic vision in coordination with

the White House Office of Science and

Technology Policy and the Office of

Homeland Security. Through OFCM

representation on the SDR, OFCM has

helped craft the subcommittee's charter

and annual operations plan. The major

thrusts of these documents are to (1)

promote effective strategies for reducing national vulnerability to disaster

risks and losses by leveraging expertise and information across the Federal

government, and (2) establish focused

outreach to the academic and private

communities. OFCM is committed to

working with SDR to provide a forum

for information sharing, development

of collaborative opportunities, and

interactive dialogue with the U.S. policy community to advance informed

strategies for managing risks associated with natural and technological disasters. To achieve these goals and to

support communication of high priority, national programs for disaster

reduction and recovery, OFCM representation on SDR helped draft an

annual report that presents an overview

of current, national disaster programs,

and an identification of high priority

needs and opportunities. The report

will contribute to U.S. government

planning activities on a number of levels and is intended as a supplement to

the President's budget.

AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL

SOCIETY (AMS)

During FY 2004, OFCM joined leading environmental science and service

corporations in supporting undergraduate scholarships in the atmospheric and

related oceanic and hydrologic sciences. The scholarships, awarded for

the junior and senior years, are

designed to encourage outstanding

undergraduates to pursue careers in the

fields covered by the awards. OFCM

plans to continue this support. OFCM

also supports AMS endeavors by participating in AMS conferences and

workshops and other environmental

science education and outreach programs. OFCM staff, as co-chair of the

AMS Weather Analysis and

Forecasting Conference in January

2004, at the Annual AMS meeting,

coordinated a special session on the

Weather Research and Forecast (WRF)

system. This provided the weather

community with a current update on

program plans and the ongoing science

involved in the system. WRF is due

for operational implementation in FY

2005. In addition, OFCM staff will

chair the next AMS Weather and

Forecasting Conference to be held in

the Washington, D.C., area in August

2005. The focus for this conference

will be Educating and Training the

User Community and the Public on

Weather Analysis and Forecasting.

PUBLICATIONS AND OFCM'S

WEB SITE

The following publications were prepared in hardcopy form and/or have

been placed on OFCM's Web site

(www.ofcm.gov):

• The Federal Plan for

Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research-Fiscal Year 2004

• Aviation Weather

Programs/Projects (Tier 3/4 Baseline

Update)

• Urban Meteorology-Meeting

Weather Needs in the Urban

Community

• National Hurricane Operations

Plan

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part A-System

Concepts, Responsibilities and

Procedures

• Catastrophic Backup Action Plan

The following documents are planned

for publication during FY 2005:
220 APPENDIX A

• The Federal Plan for

Meteorological Services and

Supporting Research-Fiscal Year 2005

• Federal Atmospheric Transport

and Diffusion Research and

Development Plan

• Homeland Security Environmental

Support Plan

• Proceedings of the 2nd

International Conference on Volcanic

Ash and Aviation Safety

• Proceedings of the User Forum on

Urban Meteorology

• National Hurricane Operations

Plan

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part B-Doppler Radar

Theory and Meteorology 

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part C-WSR-88D

Products and Algorithms

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 11-Doppler Radar Meteorological

Observations; Part D-WSR-88D Unit

Description and Operational Analysis

• Federal Meteorological Handbook

No. 12-United States Meteorological

Codes and Coding Practices 

During FY 2004, OFCM continued

to make substantial progress on its use

of the Internet. In addition to information about the office, OFCM has

placed its current publications on its

Web site, and keeps the Web site current with information regarding workshops and forums being conducted by

the office. OFCM will continue to

make information available on the

Internet during FY 2005.
Table A.1 Current OFCM Publications

Publication Title Date Number

Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Fiscal Year 2004 October 2003 FCM-P1-2003

Urban Meteorology: Meeting Weather Needs in the Urban Community January 2004 FCM-R22-2004

National Plan for Space Environment Services and Supporting Research: 1993-1997 August 1993 FCM-P10-1993

National Severe Local Storms Operations Plan May 2001 FCM-P11-2001

National Hurricane Operations Plan May 2004 FCM-P12-2004

WSR-88D Tropical Cyclone Operations Plan

National Winter Storms Operations Plan December 2003 FCM-P13-2003

Federal Plan for Cooperative Support and Backup Among Operational Nov 2002 FCM-P14-2002

Processing Centers

National Plan for Stratospheric Monitoring, 1988-1997 July 1989 FCM-P17-1989

National Aircraft Icing Technology Plan April 1986 FCM-P20-1986

National Plan to Improve Aircraft Icing Forecasts July 1986 FCM-P21-1986

Federal Plan for the Coordination of Automated Weather Information May 1988 FCM-P23-1988

System Programs 

Federal Plan for Meteorological Information Management July 1991 FCM-P24-1991

National Plan for Tropical Cyclone Research and Reconnaissance (1997-2002) January 1997 FCM-P25-1997

National Aviation Weather Program Plan September 1992 FCM-P27-1992

National Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)

Data Collection System (DCS) Operations Plan August 1997 FCM-P28-1997

Federal Plan for Marine Environmental Data, Services, and Supporting Research June 1996 FCM-P29-1996

The National Space Weather Program: Strategic Plan August 1995 FCM-P30-1995

The National Space Weather Program: Implementation Plan - 2nd Edition July 2000 FCM-P31-2000

National Aviation Weather Strategic Plan April 1997 FCM-P32-1997

National Post-Storm Data Acquisition Plan March 2003 FCM-P33-2003

National Aviation Weather Initiatives February 1999 FCM-P34-1999

National Aviation Weather Initiatives, Final Baseline Tier 3 and 4 Report April 2001

National Aviation Weather Program/Projects (Tier 3/4 Baseline Update) December 2003 FCM-R21-2003

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 1 - Surface Weather Observations December 1995 FCM-H1-1995

and Reports

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 2 - Surface Synoptic Codes December 1988 FCM-H2-1988

Surface Synoptic Code Tables (Update) July 1990 FCM-T1-1990

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 3 - Rawinsonde and Pibal Observations May 1997 FCM-H3-1997

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 10 - Meteorological Rocket Observations December 1988 FCM-H10-1988 

APPENDIX A 221
222 APPENDIX A

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 11 - Doppler Radar Meteorological Observations

Part A - System Concepts, Responsibilities and Procedures June 2003 FCM-H11A-2003

Part B - Doppler Radar Theory and Meteorology June 1990 FCM-H11B-1990

Part C - WSR-88D Products and Algorithms February 1991 FCM-H11C-1991

Part D - WSR-88D Unit Description and Operational Analysis April 1992 FCM-H11D-1992

Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 12 - United States Meteorological Codes December 1998 FCM-H12-1998

and Coding Practices

Directory of Atmospheric Transport and Diffusion Consequence Assessment Models March 1999 FCM-I3-1999

Federal Directory of Mobile Meteorological Equipment and Capabilities December 1995 FCM-I5-1995

A Guide to WMO Code Form FM 94 BUFR March 1995 FCM-I6-1995

Tropical Cyclone Studies December 1988 FCM-R11-1988

Tropical Cyclone Studies Supplement August 1989 FCM-R11-1988S

Interdepartmental Meteorological Data Exchange System Report, IMDES August 1998 FCM-R12-1998

Federal Meteorological Requirements 2000 October 1990 FCM-R13-1990

U.S. Wind Profiler: A Review March 1998 FCM-R14-1998

Atmospheric Modeling of Releases from Weapons of Mass Destruction August 2002 FCM-R17-2002

Weather Information for Surface Transportation--National Needs Assessment Report December 2002 FCM-R18-2002

Report on Wind Chill Temperature and Extreme Heat Indices: Evaluation and January 2003 FCM-R19-2003

Improvement Projects

National Aviation Weather Program Mid-Course Assessment August 2003 FCN-R20-2003

Standard Formats for Weather Data Exchange Among Automated Weather November 1994 FCM-S2-1994

Information Systems

Standard Telecommunication Procedures for Weather Data Exchange (under revision) October 1991 FCM-S3-1991

Federal Standard for Siting Meteorological Sensors at Airports August 1994 FCM-S4-1994

Proceedings of the Workshop on Multiscale Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling June 2000

within the Federal Community

Proceedings of the Aviation Weather User Forum--Aviation Weather: Opportunities July 2000

for Implementation

Proceedings for the Symposium on Weather Information for Surface Transportation:

Delivering Improved Safety and Efficiency for Tomorrow February 2000

Proceedings of the Symposium on Weather Information for Surface Transportation March 2001

-- Preparing for the Future: Improved Weather Information for Decision Makers

Proceedings of the Forum on Risk Management and Assessment of Natural Hazards July 2001

Proceedings of the Workshop on Strategy for Providing Atmospheric Information March 2002

Aviation Weather Training: A Report on Training for Emerging and Recently

Implemented Aviation Weather Programs April 2002 FCM-R16-2002

Proceedings of the Workshop on Effective Emergency Response May 2002

Italics = publication available online at www.ofcm.gov

Table A.1 Current OFCM Publications (cont.)

Publication Title Date Number
APPENDIX B

GOALS AND ORGANIZATION

The WWWP goals are to extend the

time, accuracy, range, and scope of

weather prediction and to understand

the physical basis of climate and climactic change. The WWWP is the core

of WMO's programs and receives the

highest budget priority. The ability of

the U.S. and other nations to use their

existing scientific capability to understand the climate and to increase their

weather predicting skills is limited by

the lack of global weather data.

Available weather data are inadequately observed over a significant portion

of the Earth's surface, especially over

isolated areas including the oceans.

Development of the technology and

the systems to obtain these observations, especially over the oceans, presents formidable problems. With the use

of satellites, aircraft, ships, radar,

anchored and drifting buoys, and balloons, however, an integrated system

can be developed to observe and collect

comprehensive data about the atmosphere over the entire globe. This system is too complex and expensive to be

implemented by a single nation--a fact

clearly recognized by the leaders of

many nations whose international

cooperation in meteorology has been a

tradition for more than a century. In

1961, this continuing need for international cooperation prompted the

President of the U.S. to propose to the

United Nations (UN) the establishment

of an international effort in weather

prediction. The UN responded by calling upon the World Meteorological

Organization (WMO) and the

International Council of Scientific

Unions (ICSU) to develop measures to

improve weather forecasting capabilities and to advance the knowledge of

the basic physical forces that determine

climate.

The WMO, with 181 Member States

and 6 Member Territories, is an intergovernmental organization affiliated

with the UN to facilitate international

cooperation in the fields of meteorology, climate, and operational hydrology.

The WMO responded to the UN

request with the concept of the World

Weather Watch Program (WWWP), an

operational system to bring the global

atmosphere under improved surveillance and to provide for the rapid collection and exchange of weather data as

well as for the dissemination of weather products from centralized processing

centers.

More recently, the WMO is working

towards the design and implementation

of improved observations for a Global

Climate Observing System (GCOS)

through enhancements to the Global

Observing System (GOS) and other

appropriate measures. These efforts are

expected to yield an enhanced GOS for

both operational and research purposes

and are part of the effort to strengthen

the WMO's commitment to improve the

understanding of climate and related

environmental matters, as articulated by

the Second World Climate Conference

in 1990 and repeated at the UN

Conference on the Environment and

Development. The WMO has established the concept of a Regional Basic

Climate Network (RBCN); most

observing stations would function as

part of both the Regional Basic Synoptic

Network (RBSN) and the RBCN.

The responsibilities of U.S. Federal

agencies in the WWWP are as follows:

• Department of Commerce (DOC).

Represents the U.S. at WMO and,

through the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration

(NOAA), provides the focal point to

coordinate our Nation's efforts in

these international programs, implements those service improvements

in the existing international weather

system for which the U.S. accepts

responsibility, and develops new

technology. The U.S. is one of three

(Russia; Australia) World

Meteorological Centers, which

includes World Data Centers and

the principal telecommunication

gateway for the WMO's Global

Telecommunication System (GTS). 

• Department of State (DOS). The

DOS is the principal source for U.S.

funds to the WMO. The DOS maintains relations with developing

nations and, through NOAA and the

WMO, assists developing nations

through the Voluntary Cooperation

Program to improve their national

weather services. DOS also develops appropriate multilateral and

bilateral arrangements to further

international participation.

• National Science Foundation

(NSF). Stimulates and supports

basic and applied research by scientists primarily in academia on atmospheric and ocean circulation and

models. It also promotes the education and training of atmospheric and

ocean scientists at universities.

• Department of Defense (DOD).

WORLD WEATHER PROGRAM

The Department of Commerce (DOC) was designated by the President, following Senate Concurrent Resolution 67

(1968), to be the lead agency for coordinating United States participation in the World Weather Watch Program

(WWWP). Until 1983, DOC published a separate report on WWWP plans. Beginning with the 1983 edition of the

Federal Plan for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, a section on the WWWP has been included, obviating the need for a separate report. The last segment of this narrative includes information on bilateral and regional

international cooperative activities which are not under the WWWP.

APPENDIX B 223
224 APPENDIX B

Although the mission of DOD

weather services is basically internal, the nature of DOD's operations

is global. As such, the observation,

telecommunications, and data-processing programs of the military

weather services provide significant

indirect support to the WWWP

through DOD's interface with

NOAA's National Weather Service

(NWS). Information from the

research and development activities

of these services is exchanged routinely with other similar national

agencies and is often presented at

national forums. DOD also operates a polar orbiting meteorological

satellite program.

• Department of Transportation

(DOT). Through the U.S. Coast

Guard, provides personnel to support NOAA's National Data Buoy

Center (NDBC) in developing,

deploying, operating, and evaluating data buoy systems. DOT's

Federal Aviation Administration's

terminal aerodrome meteorological

observations and air traffic telecommunication network provides an

important source of data to the

WWWP.

• National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA). Performs

research, develops aerospace technology required for an effective

global weather system, and provides data from R&D satellites to

the WWWP. NASA launches for

NOAA both polar orbiting and geostationary satellites.

• Department of the Interior (DOI).

DOI's U.S. Geological Survey

(USGS) is an important source of

hydrologic data used in flood forecasting. The USGS, in addition to

its advisory role on water issues in

the WMO, will assume a greater

functional role in the WMO's

emerging water program.

• Department of Agriculture (USDA).

USDA is a valuable resource for

surface climatological meteorological data from cooperating

observers. The department's World

Climate Observing Board is responsible for monitoring the impact of

climate and extreme weather on

both the national and international

commercial crops. USDA is in

WMO technical commission work

on agrometeorological issues.

THE WORLD WEATHER WATCH

PROGRAM (WWWP).

The WWWP is an integrated

Member-operated observing system

linked by the GTS; it functions on three

levels - global, regional, and national.

The WWWP is divided into three

essential elements that are closely

linked and interdependent - the Global

Data Processing System (GDPS),

Global Telecommunication System

(GTS), and the Global Observing

System (GOS).

These elements are coordinated and

closely integrated through three

WWWP support functions: (1) the data

management function coordinates,

monitors, and manages the flow of data

and products within the WWWP system to assure their quality and timely

delivery. It also includes the definition

and use of code forms for data

exchange; (2) the systems support

activity provides guidance, technical

and scientific information, and training

to those involved in the planning,

development, and operation of WWWP

components; and (3) the implementation and coordination function assures the

timely completion of the WWWP implementation and effective support and

maintenance of the WWWP system.

Global Observing System

The GOS is a coordinated observing

system employing standardized techniques for making meteorological and

marine surface observations on a

worldwide scale. It is a composite system containing surface-based (national

networks), airborne (civil aviation) and

space-based (satellite) subsystems.

The main elements of the network and

airborne subsystems are:

• Regional Basic Synoptic Network

(RBSN), staffed and automated, for

both surface and upper-air observations.

• Fixed observing stations at sea,

composed of fixed and anchored

platform stations, and island and

coastal stations.

• Mobile sea stations, including moving ships.

• Moored and drifting buoys.

• Aircraft meteorological stations,

including automated aircraft reporting systems.

The space-based satellite subsystem

provides vital support for meteorological and hydrological predictions and

warnings. The use of satellites enables

the routine collection of environmental

observations from even the most

remote locations. Currently, the

WWWP environmental observation

satellite network includes five nearpolar-orbiting satellites and six operational geostationary satellites as well as

several research and development

satellites. Operational meteorological

satellites in polar orbits include the

U.S. (POES; DMSP), Russia (METEOR-3) and China (Fengyun-1).

Operational geostationary meteorological satellites include the U.S. (GOES),

the European Union (METEOSAT),

Japan (GMS-5/GOES-9), Russia

(GOMS), China (Fengyun-2), and

India (INSAT).

The National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

manages a constellation of twelve polar

orbiting meteorological spacecraft,

including five military satellites, from

the Satellite Operations Control Center

(SOCC) in Suitland, Maryland. The

POES spacecraft constellation includes

two primary, one secondary, two standby and one non-operational spacecraft.

These spacecraft are in circular orbits

inclined at approximately 98 degrees

(retrograde). The primary operational

spacecraft, NOAA-16 and NOAA-17,

are in sun-synchronous afternoon and
APPENDIX B 225

morning orbits, respectively. One secondary spacecraft, NOAA-15, provides

additional operational data. NOAA-12

and NOAA-14 are standby spacecraft

supporting additional user data requirements. NOAA-N, the next POES originally slated for launch in September

2004, was seriously damaged in an

accident at the Hughes satellite facility

in Palo Alto, California.

Similar to the U.S. civilian POES

program, the Defense Meteorological

Satellite Program (DMSP) designs,

launches, and maintains several near

polar orbiting, sun synchronous satellites monitoring the meteorological,

oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial

physics environments. The visible and

infrared sensors collect images of global cloud distribution across a 3,000-

kilometer swath during both daytime

and nighttime conditions. The current

DMSP constellation consists of two

primary, two secondary, and one backup operational spacecraft. The current

primary operational NOAA polar-orbiting satellites are F-15 (launched in

December 1999) and the F-14

(launched in April 1997).

Preparations continue by the

Europeans for their assumption of

NOAA's morning polar orbit mission

starting with the launch of Metop-1 in

2005. This complements U.S. plans to

merge NOAA's POES with the DMSP

to form an integrated system called

NPOESS (National Polar-orbiting

Operational Environmental Satellite

System) that is expected to fly at the

end of this decade. NOAA, DOD, and

NASA are working together to implement NPOESS in the context of an

Integrated Program Office (IPO).

NOAA heads the IPO and is responsible for operating the NPOESS and for

relations with national and international civilian users of the system. DOD

has the lead responsibility for NPOESS

acquisition, launch, and system integration. NOAA will facilitate the development and incorporation of new, costeffective technologies to enhance the

NPOESS capabilities.

The U.S. SOCC controls 7

Geostationary Orbit Environmental

Satellites (GOES). GOES-12 (75

degrees West) was successfully

launched on July 23, 2001. It carries a

new instrument called the Solar X-ray

Imager (SXI), which is capable of

measuring and imaging the Sun in four

X-ray energy bands. GOES-10 is the

operational West Coast satellite at 135

degrees West. The GOES-11 spacecraft was successfully launched on

May 3, 2000. In the event that GOES10 or GOES-12 should fail, GOES-11

could be activated and be made operational within 48 hours. GOES 10 has

been "inverted", i.e., 180 degrees from

its normal relation to the Earth, in order

to overcome a solar array drive problem. Launched in May 1995, GOES-9

is stationed over the western Pacific

Ocean at 155 degrees East to provide

operational data until Japan launches

its MTSAT satellite, which will replace

the GMS series. GOES-9 has limited

capability due to attitude limitations

and imager noise, but continues to provide useful data over the western

Pacific as backup to Japan's failing

GMS-5. GOES-7 is currently located

over the Pacific to support data relay

requirements for the University of

Hawaii's Pan-Pacific Educational and

Cultural Satellite (PEACESAT)

Program, which includes the transmission of NOAA's Emergency Managers

Weather Information Network

(EMWIN) used throughout the Pacific.

Japan's Geostationary Meteorological

Satellite (GMS-5) is being moved to a

higher decommissioning orbit in preparation for the Multi-functional

Telecommunication Satellite (MTSAT)

scheduled for launch in 2004. India's

National meteorological/ telecommunication Satellites (INSAT) are at 74

degrees East and 83 degrees East.

EUMETSAT's METEOSATs 7 and 5

are at 0 degrees and 63 degrees East,

respectively. China launched its first

pre-operational geostationary environmental satellite FY-2A on June 10,

1997, and its second FY-2B in January,

2001. FY-2B is located at 105 degrees

East and FY-2A was moved to the

backup position at 85.6 degrees East.

Broadcast of data from both the

NOAA and GOES series of U.S. satellites is free, unrestricted, and does not

require any prior notification. Data can

be received directly by any properlyequipped ground station within the

satellites' line-of-sight. The U.S.,

through NOAA, develops information

and products from these data for further

distribution over the GTS

The WWWP has pursued a class of

automated airborne reporting systems

such as the Automated Meteorological

Data and Reporting (AMDAR) systems. Over 3000 aircraft now provide

reports of pressure, winds and temperature during flight. The amount of data

from aircraft has increased dramatically during recent years - from

78,000 reports in 2000 to 140,000

reports in 2002. These systems are

making a major contribution to the

upper-air component of the GOS in

regions where there is little or no

radiosonde data. Global cooperation

on AMDAR is facilitated by the WMO

AMDAR Panel established in 1998 by

a number of WMO Members operating

or intending to operate AMDAR programs. Australia, Canada, China,

EUMETNET, Japan, New Zealand,

Republic of Korea, Russia and the U.S.

have AMDAR programs. High priority

regions include the Middle East (Saudi

Arabia) and Africa (South Africa).

AMDAR was proposed for the First

Global Atmospheric Research Program

(GARP) Global Experiment (FGGE) in

the 1970s. Two systems were developed, one using communications facilities available on the geostationary

operational environmental satellite

(GOES), and one using a standard aircraft VHF communication system

(ACARS) which was developed in the

U.S. and is rapidly gaining worldwide

acceptance. The satellite system,
226 APPENDIX B

Aircraft to Satellite Data Relay

(ASDAR) was sponsored by a consortium of WMO Members and was

developed into an operational system

by 1991. ACARS-based systems

require no additional specialized equipment to be fitted to the aircraft, whereas ASDAR uses a dedicated data

processor and satellite transmitter.

Experience with both systems has led to

the conclusion that ACARS-based

AMDAR systems are preferred, based

on ease of implementation, worldwide

applicability and overall cost. ASDAR

operations reached a peak in the late

1990s with some 20 of 23 purchased systems still in service. It is anticipated

these systems will continue to provide

useful data. No further ASDAR developments are envisaged. Several new

AMDAR systems are being developed

using alternative methods for sensing

and communications.

The U.S. AMDAR program, called

Meteorological Data Communications

and Reporting System (MDCRS),

began in the early 1980's as a cooperative effort among ARINC, the NWS,

and the FAA. Over 120,000 reports of

wind and temperature are sent every

day in the Binary Universal Form for

Representation of Meteorological Data

(BUFR) code. These MDCRS reports

are provided by six airlines: Delta,

Northwest, United, United Parcel

Service (UPS), American Airlines and

Federal Express (FedEx). Two additional MDCRS reporting elements continue under development: water vapor

and turbulence. A new water vapor

sensor, using diode laser technology, is

being tested. The most recent humidity

sensor was expected to be certified and

the sensor would be fitted to UPS B757

aircraft.

A new turbulence algorithm, developed by the National Center for

Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

derives an objective, aircraft-independent measure of turbulence (eddy dissipation rate-EDR) from aircraft vertical

acceleration. The EDR is included as

part of the MDCRS data stream. The

algorithm is currently installed on

90 United Airlines aircraft and will be

installed on over 400 United, American,

Delta, and Northwest aircraft.

GOS employs both marine and land

surface-based observing systems.

Approximately 11,000 stations on land

take observations at least once every

three hours and often hourly of thermodynamic and wind field parameters of

the atmosphere. About 4,000 of the

world's surface stations comprise the

RBSN. Data from these stations are

exchanged globally in real time. A subset of these surface stations are used in

the Global Climate Observing System

(GCOS) Surface Network (GSN). The

U.S. operates 87 surface stations as part

of the GCOS network. Many countries

including the U.S. have available additional surface data from specialized

meso-scale networks, such as

Oklahoma's Mesonet, used for

research, water management and transportation needs. The U.S. operates

about 73 surface stations on the

Antarctic continent. Twenty are U.S.

government sponsored of which only

4 report regular observations. The

other 53 sites are through university

programs.

The lower atmosphere is vertically

profiled using a land-based global array

of about 900 upper-air stations which

deploy at least once per day a balloonborne radiosonde capable of providing

in situ measurements of basic state

parameters. Approximately 15 specially outfitted commercial ships provide

upper-air observations over sparsely

instrumented oceanic regions. The

NWS operates 92 upper-air stations and

support 15 additional sites in the

Caribbean and Pacific. For all of the

U.S. (including DOD and other agencies) it was reported to WMO a total of

132 sites. The U.S. has also implemented experimental or quasi-operational networks or single sites of

ground-based Doppler radars called

wind profilers to provide nearly continuous wind soundings. A network of

32 tropospheric wind profilers is being

operated quasi-operationally at

404 MHZ primarily in the central part

of the U.S.

Over the oceanic regions the GOS

relies on ships, moored and drifting

buoys, and stationary platforms - in

addition to derived data from satellite

observations. The Voluntary

Observing Ship program (VOS) comprises some 7,000 commercial ships, of

which 40 percent are at sea during any

given period. About 750 drifting buoys

provide 6,000 sea surface temperature

and surface air pressure reports per day.

Argo - A Global Array of Profiling

Floats, plans to deploy and maintain a

global array of around

3,000 autonomous profiling floats,

which will automatically provide profiles of ocean temperature, salinity and

ocean currents to depths of around

2000 meters. Each float reports via

satellite every 10 days, and the data distributed in real time on the GTS. Since

1999, the U.S. has committed funds for

1,088 Argo floats and proposed funding

for an additional 1,239 over the next 3

years. As of October 2003, about 921

Argo floats were in operation around

the globe. It is expected that, once

operational, Argo will become a component of the operational integrated

ocean observing system.

To improve the methodology used in

developing and deploying observing

systems, NOAA, in 1997, established

the North American Atmospheric

Observing System (NAOS) program.

The group has representatives from

several Federal agencies along with

representatives from Canada and

Mexico. NAOS objectives are to:

(1) define a cost-effective, requirements-driven "best mix" of observing

platforms and instruments and

(2) reduce observing system risks and

uncertainties. While the initial focus of

the program will be to modernize the

composite upper-air network, NAOS is

expected to guide the resource-alloca-
APPENDIX B 227

tion process for most future observing

systems developed and/or fielded by

NOAA. Several projects of NAOS

have been undertaken to assess the utility of the MDCRS data in numerical

models, including the impact of replacing some numbers of radiosonde sites

with MDCRS soundings, an assessment of forecaster use of MDCRS, and

the impact on short-range forecasting.

Efforts are underway to design and

implement a Global Observing

Systems for Climate (GCOS), building upon the WWWP, Global

Atmospheric Watch, Integrated Global

Ocean Services System, and other

existing systems to further the knowledge and understanding of climate and

the prediction of climate and climate

change. Efforts to date have established planning groups to address

needs and requirements for atmospheric, oceanic, and land-surface data.

Upper-air and surface-observing networks have been defined to provide

basic global measurements for the

GCOS. Links to existing organizational structures are being established

and a high priority has been given to

making observational enhancements.

The GCOS Upper Air Network

(GUAN) and the GCOS Surface

Network (GSN) have been established. The U.S. has plans for providing funds to aid GCOS in

developing countries. A Pacific

Islands (PI) GCOS Implementation

Plan has been prepared to establish

a robust and sustainable climate

observation and application system that meets the climate change

and variability needs observations

and application needs of Pacific

Island nations, and the South

Pacific region. The U.S. support

for GCOS under the Climate

Change Research Initiative (CCRI)

has been programmed in to the

base budget for NOAA's Climate

Program Office for fiscal years

2004 and 2005.

Global Data Processing and

Forecasting System (GDPFS)

The purpose of GDPFS is to make

available all processed information

required for both real-time and nonreal-time applications. GDPFS provides products and processed information, based on recent advances in

atmospheric science, using powerful

numerical computer methods.

Members have real-time, unrestricted

access through the GTS to GDPFS

products which allow all countries to

benefit from their participation in the

WWWP.

The GDPFS is organized as a threelevel system. It consists of World

Meteorological Centers (WMC),

Regional/Specialized Meteorological

Centers (RSMC), and National

Meteorological Centers (NMC).

NMCs carry out GDPFS functions at

the national level. In general, real-time

functions of the system involve preprocessing of data including real-time

quality control, analysis, and prognosis,

including derivation of appropriate

meteorological parameters. The nonreal-time functions include data collection and archival, and additional quality control, storage, and retrieval, to

include cataloging observational data

and processed information for operational and special applications and for

research.

WMCs are located in Melbourne,

Moscow, and Washington; they provide

guidance products used for general short,

medium, and long-range weather forecasts on a global scale. Melbourne specializes in forecast products for the

Southern Hemisphere.

Regional Specialized Meteorological

Centers (RSMCs) with geographical specialization: Algiers, Beijing, Bracknell,

Brazilia, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Dakar,

Darwin, Jeddah, Khabarovsk,

Melbourne, Miami, Montreal, Moscow,

Nairobi, New Delhi, Novosibirsk,

Offenbach, Pretoria, Rome, Tashkent,

Tokyo, Tunic/Casablanca, Washington

and Wellington.

RSMCs with activity specialization

for tropical cyclone forecasting:

Miami - Hurricane Center, Nadi -

Tropical Cyclone Center, New Delhi -

Tropical Cyclone Center, Saint Denis,

La ReUnion - Tropical Cyclone Center,

Tokyo - Typhoon Center, Honolulu -

Hurricane Center.

RSMSs for medium-range weather

forecasting: European Center for

Medium-Range Weather Forecast

(ECMWF).

RSMSs for the provision of transport

model products for environmental

emergency responses: Beijing,

Bracknell, Melbourne, Montreal,

Obninsk, Tokyo, Toulouse,

Washington.

Emerging Special Centers: African

Center of Meteorological Applications

for Development (ACMAD) - Niamey,

Niger; ASEAN Specialized

Meteorological Center (ASMC) -

Singapore; Drought Monitoring

Centers (DMCs) - Nairobi, Kenya -

Harare, Zimbabwe; INPE - Sao Paulo,

Brazil; National Center for Medium

Range Weather Forecasting - New

Delhi.

The regional centers at Bracknell,

Honolulu, Miami, Montreal, New

Delhi, and Tokyo have dual geographical and activity specialization responsibilities. These centers provide regional

products used for short and mediumrange forecasting of small, mesoscale,

and large scale meteorological systems

by WMCs. Products of RSMCs can be

used by members at the national level

for further processing or interpretation

to provide assistance or service to

users.

In the World Area Forecast System

(WAFS), two centers (Washington and

London) are designated by the

International Civil Aviation

Organization (ICAO) as World Area

Forecast Centers (WAFC) and act as

back-up for one another. The dissemination of aeronautical information via

global satellite broadcast began in 1995

through the International Satellite

Communication System (ISCS). The
228 APPENDIX B

U.S. provides the links to two of the

three satellites specified in the system.

The WAFS issue upper-wind and temperature forecasts with global coverage

and forecasts of weather elements

defined by ICAO as significant. The

RAFC's were phased out in late 2002,

at which time the WAFCs assumed

their responsibilities.

The gradual implementation of the

final phase of the WAFS has begun.

The planned final phase call for the two

WAFCs to prepare and issue computerbased wind and temperature forecasts

as they now do. In addition, those centers will automate all of the significant

weather elements. While some of these

elements are now prepared automatically, others are developed through

forecaster-initiated graphic interaction.

Global Telecommunication System

The GTS provides communication

services for the collection, exchange,

and distribution of observational data

and processed information among the

WMCs, RSMCs, and NMCs of the

WWWP to meet the member needs for

real-time or quasi-real-time exchange

of information for both operational and

research purposes. The GTS also supports other WMO programs, joint programs with other inter-national organizations, and environmental programs

as decided by the WMO and is organized on three levels:

• The Main Telecommunication

Network (MTN).

• The Regional Meteorological

Telecommunication Networks

(RMTN).

• The National Meteorological

Telecommunication Networks

(NMTN).

The GTS is supported by the

telecommunications functions of the

WMCs, Regional Telecommunications

Hubs (RTH), RSMCs, and NMCs.

The MTN links the WMCs at

Melbourne, Moscow, and Washington

with the RTHs at Algiers; Beijing;

Bracknell; Brasilia; Buenos Aires;

Cairo; Dakar; Jeddah; Maracay,

Venezuela; Nairobi; New Delhi;

Norrköping, Sweden; Offenbach;

Prague; Rome; Sofia; Tokyo; Toulouse;

and Wellington. It ensures the rapid

and reliable exchange of observational

data and processed information

required by the members.

The RMTNs consist of an integrated

system of links which interconnects

RTHs, NMCs, and RSMCs to WMCs.

The RMTNs provide for the collection

of observational data and the selective

distribution of meteorological information to member nations.

In summary, the GTS enables the

NMCs to receive and distribute observational data and meteorological information to meet the requirements of

members. Ongoing WWWP activities

include:

• GTS network redesign to take into

consideration new technical opportunities, such as Internet-like services.

• Improvement of the capacity of

MTN links and inclusion of graphics (e.g., Washington-Brasilia,

Washington-Buenos Aires,

Washington-Tokyo).

• Continued implementation of satellite-serviced data collection platforms to enhance the collection of

meteorological data from upper-air

and surface-observing sites.

• Continued implementation of satellite direct-readout stations that are

compatible with polar-orbiting

satellites and the weather facsimile

(WEFAX) component of the geostationary satellites. The need to convert WEFAX to LRIT and APT to

LRPT formats will have to be

undertaken during the next decade.

Voluntary Cooperation Program (VCP)

From the beginning of WWWP, it

was clear that all countries need better

weather observations and improved

communications systems. To help remedy deficiencies and to fully implement

the WWWP, the WMO established a

Voluntary Assistance Program in 1967.

The name of the program was changed

to Voluntary Cooperation Program

(VCP) in 1979.

The WMO-VCP helps the developing

countries to implement the WWWP by

providing equipment, services, and

long-term and short-term study fellowships. Since the inception of the VCP,

the U.S. has provided short-term training fellowships in forecast preparation,

technical aspects of the operation and

maintenance of weather data collection

systems and electrolytic hydrogen generators, and tropical meteorology and

river flood forecasting to students from

more than 50 countries. Long-term fellowships, through which the students

receive baccalaureate or advanced

degrees, have been completed by candidates from over 48 countries. The

goal of VCP is to eliminate deficiencies

in global observations and communications. The highest priority of the VCP

is the implementation of the WWWP.

NOAA administers the program with

funds from the DOS. Planned VCP

Projects for 2004/5 calendar year

include:

• Support of NWS training desks at

the National Centers for

Environmental Prediction (Camp

Springs, Maryland) and the Pacific

Region (Honolulu, Hawaii).

• Implementation of the WAFS-ISCS

workstation in designated

Caribbean and Central American

countries.

• Support for the Ham Radio

Operator projects in Africa and the

Caribbean Amateur Radio

Meteorological Emergency

Network (Caribbean CARMEN).

• Implementation of the Eta PC-based

mesoscale model in selected developing countries.

• Support of the Aircraft

Meteorological Data Relay

(AMDAR) Program.
APPENDIX C

PREVIOUS FEATURE ARTICLES

APPENDIX C 229

2003 FY 2004 Weather and The Urban Environment: Ms. Margaret R. McCalla, OFCM

Meeting The Needs of Urban Communities

2002 FY 2003 The Need For Weather Information For Ms. Mary M. Cairns, OFCM

Surface Transportation: Keeping The

Country Safe and On The Move

2001 FY 2002 Research to Operations: Bridging the Mr. Robert Dumont, OFCM

Valley of Death

2000 FY 2001 The Legacy of Hurricane Floyd--Inland Mr. Robert Dumont, OFCM

Flooding and a Massive Evacuation

1999 FY 2000 Natural Disaster Reduction--Reducing the OFCM Staff in collaboration with

Impacts of Natural Hazards Dr. William Hooke, OAR, and

Ms. Keli Tarp, NOAA Public Affairs

1998 FY 1999 Aviation Weather: Taking A Leadership Role FAA's Aviation Weather Policy Division

(ARW-100) Staff

1997 FY 1998 Owning The Weather--An Army Force Mr. Richard J. Szymber, Army

Multiplier

1996 FY 1997 Space Weather - A New Challenge for Col Jud Stailey, USAF

Meteorologists

1995 FY 1996 The Role of Federal Agencies in International Mr. Blaine K. Tsugawa, OFCM

Aviation Meteorology

1994 FY 1995 Data Continuity in the Climatological Record Dr. Nathaniel B. Guttman, NCDC

Mr. Andrew H. Horvitz, NWS

Mr. Arthur L. Booth, NOAA-EOSDIS

1993 FY 1994 Training and Professional Development in the Mr. Eli Jacks, NWS

Modernized Weather Services Mr. LeRoy Spayd, NWS

1992 FY 1993 Mesoscale Meteorology Mr. Floyd F. Hauth, OFCM

1991 FY 1992 Some Recent Developments in Lightning Dr. Donald R. MacGorman, NOAA

Mapping Systems Dr. Frederick R. Mosher, NOAA

Ms. Jan S. Lewis, NOAA

1990 FY 1991 The Next Generation Weather Radar - Mr. E. Don Sarreals, NEXRAD JSPO 

A System for Locating and Tracking 

Severe Weather

Year Edition Title Author
230 APPENDIX D

1989 FY 1990 Strategic Plan for the Modernization and Verbatim reproduction of a plan

Associated Restructuring of the required by Congress and submitted

National Weather Service by DOC and OMB

1988 FY 1989 Supercomputers for Meteorological Services (Source or author unknown)

and Supporting Research

Year Edition Title Author
APPENDIX D

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

APPENDIX D 231

3D-VAR Three Dimensional VARiational (DOD)

4DWX Four Dimensional Weather (DOD)

AA Active Army

AAO Amarillo Area Office (DOE)

AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (FHWA)

AAU Alaskan Aviation Unit (NOAA/NCEP)

ABCS Army Battle Command System (DOD)

ABFM Airborne Field Mill (NASA)

ABL Airborne Laser (DOD)

ABLE Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (DOE)

AC Active Component (DOD)

AC&A Atmospheric Chemistry and Aerosols (DOE)

ACARS ARINC Communication Addressing and Reporting System

ACD Atmospheric Chemistry Division (DOE)

ACE Aviation Combat Element (DOD)

ACE-IDS ASOS Controller Equipment - Information Display System (FAA)

ACIS Applied Climate Information System (USDA)

ACP Atmospheric Chemistry Program (DOE)

ACSG Atmospheric and Climate Sciences Group (DOE)

ADAPT Atmospheric Data Assimilation and Parameterization Tool (DOE)

ADAS AWOS/ASOS Data Acquisition System (FAA)

ADEOS Advanced Earth Observing System (NASA)

AEC Atomic Energy Commission (DOE)

AEP Atmospheric Emergency Preparedness (DOE)

AESS Allied Environmental Support System (DOD)

AF Air Force

AFB Air Force Base 

AFCCC Air Force Combat Climatology Center

AFCWC Air Force Global Combat Weather Center 

AFFSA Air Force Flight Standards Agency

AFGS Aviation Forecast Gridded System

AFJI Air Force Joint Instruction

AFR Air Force Reserve

AFRL Air Force Research Laboratory

AFSOC Air Force Special Operations Command

AFTAC Air Force Technical Applications Center

AFW Air Force Weather

AFWA Air Force Weather Agency

AFWIN Air Force Weather Information Network

AFWWS Air Force Weather Weapon System

AGFS Aviation Gridded Forecast System (FAA)

AGRIMET A conjunction of the words "agricultural" and "meteorology", is a satellite-based network of 

automated agricultural weather stations operated and maintained by the U.S. Bureau of 

Reclamation (DOI)

AHPS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services (NOAA/NWS)

AI Aircraft Icing (NASA)

AIP Airport Improvement Program (FAA)

AIRMAP Atmospheric Investigation Regional Modeling, Analysis, and Prediction (NOAA/OAR)

AIRMoN Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network (NOAA/OAR)

AIRS Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (NASA)

AL Aeronomy Laboratory (NOAA/OAR)

ALDARS Automated Lightning Detection and Reporting System (FAA)

AMC Army Materiel Command 
232 APPENDIX D

AMDAR Automatic Meteorological Data and Reporting

AMIS Automated Meteorological Information System (DOD)

AMPS Automated Meteorological Profiling System (NASA)

AMOS Automated Meteorological Observing System (DOD)

AMS Acquisition Management System (FAA)

American Meteorological Society

AMSR-E Advanced Microwave Sounding Radiometer 

AMSU Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit

AMU Applied Meteorology Unit (NASA)

ANG Air National Guard (DOD)

ANL Argonne National Laboratory (DOE)

AOC Aircraft Operations Center (NOAA)

AOML Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (NOAA/ERL)

AOR Area of Responsibility (DOD)

AOT Aerosol Optical Thickness (NOAA/NESDIS)

APS Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor (APS)

APT Automatic Picture Transmission (NOAA/NESDIS)

AQG Air Quality Group (DOE)

AR Army Regulation

ARAC Atmospheric Release Advisory Capability (DOE)

ARCS Atmospheric Radiation CART Sites (NOAA/OAR)

ARG Accident Response Group (DOE)

ARGO Global Array of Profiling Floats (NOAA/OAR)

ARGOS French Satellite Data Collection System 

ARINC Aeronautical Radio Incorporated

ARL Army Research Laboratory 

Air Resources Laboratory (NOAA and DOE)

ARM Atmospheric Radiation Monitoring (DOE)

ARNG Army National Guard

ARO Army Research Office

ARS Agricultural Research Service (USDA)

Air Traffic System Requirements Service (FAA)

Atmospheric Research Section (DOE)

ARSPACE Army Space Command

ARSR Air Route Surveillance Radar (FAA)

ARSST Army Space Support Team

ARTCC Air Route Traffic Control Center (FAA)

ARTYMET Artillery Meteorological (DOD)

ARW Aviation Weather Directorate (FAA)

ASCAT Advanced Scatterometer 

ASD Atmospheric Sciences Division (DOE)

ASDAR Aircraft to Satellite Data Relay

ASOG Air Support Operations Group (DOD)

ASOS Automated Surface Observing System

Air Support Operations Squadron (DOD)

ASP Atmospheric Science Program (DOE)

ASR Airport Surveillance Radar (FAA)

ATC Air Traffic Control (FAA)

ATCCS Army Tactical Command and Control System

ATD Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion 

ATDD Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (NOAA/ARL) 

ATEC Army Test and Evaluation Command

ATG Atmospheric Technologies Group (DOE)

ATLAS Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System (NOAA/OAR)

ATMS Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder

ATO Air Traffic Organization (FAA)

ATOS Appalachian Tropospheric Ozone Study (NOAA/AOC)
APPENDIX D 233

ATWIS Advanced Transportation Weather Information System (FHWA)

AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA)

AVO Alaskan Volcano Observatory (DOI/USGS)

AVP Advanced Vehicle Technologies Program (FTA)

AWARDS Agricultural Water Resources Decision Support (DOI/BUREC)

AWC Aviation Weather Center (NOAA/NCEP)

AWIPS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (NOAA)

AWIS Automated Weather Information System

AWN Automated Weather Network (DOD)

AWOS Automated Weather Observing System (FAA)

AWR Aviation Weather Research (FAA)

AWSS Aviation Weather Sensor System (FAA)

AWTT Aviation Weather Technology Transfer (FAA)

BAMP Breton Aerometric Monitoring Program (DOI)

BASC Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate

BCTP Battle Command Training Program (DOD)

BE Battlefield Environment (DOD)

BER Biological and Environmental Research (DOE)

BFA Battlefield Functional Areas (DOD)

BIO Basis for Interim Operations (DOE)

BLM Bureau of Land Management (DOI)

BNL Brookhaven National Laboratory (DOE)

BUFR Binary Universal Form for the Representation of Meteorological Data

BUREC Bureau of Reclamation (DOI)

C2 Command and Control (DOD)

C4I Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (DOD)

CAAM Computer Assisted Artillery Meteorology (DOD)

CAC Combined Arms Center (DOD)

CAIB Columbia Accident Investigation Board

CALJET California Land-falling Jets Experiment (NOAA/OAR)

CAMEX Convective and Moisture Experiment (NASA)

CAP Civil Air Patrol

CAP88-PC Clean Air Act Assessment Package-1988 - Personal Computer (DOE)

CAPARS Computer-Assisted Protective Action Recommendation System (DOE)

CARDS Comprehensive Aerological Reference Data Set (NOAA/NCDC)

CARS Condition Acquisition and Reporting System (FHWA)

CART Clouds and Radiation Testbed (DOE)

CASPER Computer Aided System For Planning Efficient Routes (FHWA)

CAST Commercial Aviation Safety Team (FAA)

CAT Clear Air Turbulence

CAWIS Committee for Automated Weather Information Systems (OFCM)

CBIRF Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (DOD)

CBAP Catastrophic Backup Action Plan

CBNP Chemical Biological Non-Proliferation Program (DOE)

Chemical Biological National Security Program (DOE)

CBOFS Chesapeake Bay Oceanographic Forecasting System (NOAA/NOS)

CBRNE Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, or High-Yield Explosive (DOD)

CCAFS Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

CCCM Climate and Carbon Cycle Modeling (DOE)

CCM3 Community Climate Model-3 used at LANL (DOE)

CCMC Community Coordinated Modeling Center (DOD)

CCMS Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (EPA)

CDA Command and Data Acquisition 

CDFS Cloud Depiction and Forecast System (DOD)

CDPHE Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (DOE)
234 APPENDIX D

CECOM Communications and Electronics Command (DOD)

CEMSCS Central Environmental Satellite Computer System (NOAA/NESDIS)

CENR Committee on Environment and Natural Resources

CEOS Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (NOAA/NESDIS)

CERES Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System (NASA)

CFD Computational Fluid Dynamics 

CFIT Controlled Flight Into Terrain (NASA)

CFR Code of Federal Regulations (DOE)

CGSC Command and General Staff College (DOD)

CHAMMP Computer Hardware Advanced Mathematics and Model Physics (DOE)

CIASTA Cooperative Institute for Atmospheric Studies and Terrestrial Applications (NOAA/OAR)

CIEC Sea Ice Code at LANL (DOE)

CIDE Communications Interfaces and Data Exchange (OFCM)

CIOS Committee for Integrated Observing Systems (OFCM)

CIRES Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences 

CIWS Corridor Integrated Weather System (FAA)

CLASS Comprehensive Large Array-Data Stewardship System (NOAA/NESDIS)

CLIVAR-GEWEX Climate Variability and Predictability - Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment

CLIVAR-VAMOS Climate Variability and Predictability - Variability and Predictability of the American 

Monsoon System 

C-MAN Coastal-Marine Automated Network

CMAQ Community Multi-scale Air Quality (EPA)

CMDL Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory (NOAA/OAR)

CME Coronal Mass Ejection

CMFC Coordinating METOC Forecast Center (DOD)

CMIS Conical Scanning Microwave Imager Sounder

COADS Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (NOAA/NCDC) 

COAMPS Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (DOD)

COARE Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment

COE Corps of Engineers (DOD)

COMET Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education and Training

CONUS Continental United States (DOD)

CONUSA Continental United States Armies (DOD)

COPC Committee for Operational Processing Centers (OFCM)

COOP Cooperative Observer Program (NOAA/NWS)

CORMS Continuous Real-time Monitoring System (NOAA/NOS)

COSMIC Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (DOD)

COTS Commercial Off-the-Shelf

CPC Climate Prediction Center (NOAA/NCEP)

CPHC Central Pacific Hurricane Center (NOAA/NCEP)

CRADA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement

CrIS Cross-track Infrared Sounder 

CRN Climate Reference Network (NOAA)

CRREL Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (DOD)

CS Climate Services 

CSD Climate Services Division (NOAA/NWS)

CSEPP Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (DOE)

CSRA Central Savannah River Area (DOE)

CSREES Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (USDA)

CSW Committee for Space Weather (OFCM)

CTA Common Table of Allowances (DOD)

CTBT Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (DOE)

CWF Combat Weather Flight (DOD)

CWS Combat Weather Squadron (DOD)

CWSU Center Weather Service Unit (FAA)

CWT Combat Weather Team (DOD)

CXD Combined X-ray Dosimeter (DOE)
APPENDIX D 235

CY Calendar Year

DAC Data Assembly Center (NOAA/OAR)

DAMPS Distributed Atmospheric Modeling Prediction System (DOD)

DAT Department of Advanced Technology (DOE)

DCO Data Collection Office (NOAA/NWS)

DCP Data Collection Package

Data Collection Platform (DOI)

DCS Data Collection System (NOAA/NESDIS)

DEPSCoR Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DOD)

DGPS Differential Global Positioning System (USGS)

DHS Department of Homeland Security 

DIS Decision and Information Sciences (DOE)

DISS Digital Ionospheric Sounding System (DOD)

DMCC DOE Meteorological Coordinating Council (DOE)

DMS Dynamic Message Sign (FHWA)

DMSO Defense Modeling and Simulation Office (DOD)

DMSP Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DOD)

DNT Dinitrotoluene (DOE)

DOC Department of Commerce 

DOD Department of Defense 

DOE Department of Energy 

DOI Department of the Interior 

DOMSAT Domestic Communications Satellite (DOI)

DOS Department of State 

DOT Department of Transportation

DRA Desert Rock Meteorological Observatory at NTS (DOE)

DREC Delta Research Extension Center (USDA)

DRGS Direct Readout Ground Stations (DOI)

DRI Desert Research Institute (DOE)

DRWP Doppler Radar Wind Profiler (NASA)

DTC Developmental Test Command (DOD)

DTED Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DOD)

DTRA Defense Threat Reduction Agency 

DTSS Digital Topographic Support System (DOD)

DUAT Direct User Access Terminal (FAA)

DURIP Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DOD)

EAC Echelon Above Corps (DOD)

EAD Environmental Assessment Division (DOE)

EBID Environmental Biology and Instrumentation Division (DOE)

ECDIS Electronic Chart Display Information System (NOAA/NOS)

ECMWF European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting

EDAS Eta Data Assimilation System (NOAA/NESDIS)

EDIS Environmental Data and Information Service (NOAA)

EERE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE)

ELV Expendable Launch Vehicle (NASA)

EM Office of Environmental Management (DOE)

EMC Environmental Modeling Center (NOAA/NCEP)

European Modeling Center (NOAA/NCEP)

EMP Environmental Meteorology Program (DOE)

EMS Environmental Monitoring Section (DOE)

ENSO El Niño-Southern Oscillation

EO Electro-optical

Earth Observation (NASA)

EOC Emergency Operations Center

EOS Earth Observing System (NASA)
236 APPENDIX D

EOSDIS EOS Data and Information System (NASA)

EPA Environmental Protection Agency 

EPD Environmental Protection Department (DOE)

EPIC Equatorial Pacific Investigation of Climate (NOAA/AOC)

E-PIREPS Electronic Pilot Reports (FAA)

EP/RD Environmental Protection/Restoration Department (DOE)

EPZ Emergency Planning Zone (DOE) 

ER Eastern Range (NASA)

Environmental Research (DOE)

ERBS Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (NASA)

ERC Extended Research Checkout

ERDA Energy Research and Development Administration (DOE)

ERDAS Eastern Range Dispersion Assessment System (NASA)

ERDC Engineering Research and Development Center (DOD)

ERL Environmental Research Laboratories (NOAA)

ESD/IPC Environmental Satellite Distribution/Interactive Processing Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

ESE Earth Science Enterprise (NASA)

ESP Energy Spectrometer for Particles (DOE)

Ensemble Streamflow Prediction (NWS)

ESS Environmental Sensor Station (FHWA)

ESSP Earth System Science Pathfinders (NASA)

ETIS Evacuation Traffic Information System (FHWA)

ETL Environmental Technology Laboratory (NOAA/OAR)

ETOS East Tennessee Ozone Study (NOAA/OAR)

ETTP East Tennessee Technology Park (DOE)

ET Toolbox Evapotranspiration Toolbox (DOI)

EUMETSAT European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites

EUSA Eighth U.S. Army

EUV Extreme Ultraviolet

FAA Federal Aviation Administration

FALOP Forward Area Limited Observing Program (DOD)

FAS Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA)

FBA Fire Behavior Analysts (DOI)

FCC Federal Communications Commission

FCCC Framework Convention on Climate Change (DOS)

FCMSSR Federal Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM)

FCS Future Combat System (DOD)

FDD First Digitized Division (DOD)

FDIC Force Development and Integration Center (DOD)

FEM3MP LLNL finite element model (DOE)

FEMA Federal Emergency Management Agency 

FHWA Federal Highway Administration

FIRETEC Fire Code at LANL (DOE)

FIRST FAA Icing Remote Sensor Testbed (NOAA/OAR)

FIS Flight Information System (FAA)

FLENUMMETOCCEN Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center, Monterey, California

FMF Fleet Marine Force

FMH Federal Meteorological Handbook (OFCM)

FNMOC Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (DOD)

FOA Field Operating Agency (DOD)

FORSCOM U.S. Army Forces Command

FOV Field of vision

FR Flight Rules

FRA Federal Railroad Administration

FRD Field Research Division (NOAA/ARL)

FRERP Federal Radiological Emergency Response Plan (DOE)
APPENDIX D 237

FRMAC Federal Radiological Monitoring and Assessment Center (DOE)

FRWS Fire RAWS (DOI)

FS-21 Forecasting System 21st Century (DOD)

FS Forest Service (USDA)

FSA Farm Services Agency (USDA)

FSL Forecast Systems Laboratory (NOAA/OAR)

FSR Forest Service Research (USDA)

FTA Federal Transit Administration

FTE Full-time Equivalent

FTP File Transfer Protocol

FU Forecast Unit

FWS Fish and Wildlife Service (DOI)

FY Fiscal year 

G-IV Gulfstream IV (NOAA)

GAA GOES Active Archive (NOAA/NESDIS)

GAC Global Area Coverage

GACC Geographic Areas Coordination Center (DOI)

GACP Global Aerosol Climatology Project (NASA)

GAPP GEWEX Applications Prediction Program (DOI/BUREC)

GAO General Accounting Office

GCCR Global Climate Change Research (DOE)

GCCS Global Command and Control System (DOD)

GCIP GEWEX Continental-scale International Project (DOI)

GCM Global Climate Models (DOE)

GCOS Global Climate Observing System (WWP)

GCPS Global Climate Perspectives System

GCRP Global Change Research Program

GDPS Global Data Processing System (WWP)

GEM Generation of weather Elements for Multiple (USDA)

GEOSAR Geostationary Earth Orbit Search and Rescue (NOAA/NESDIS)

GEWEX Global Energy and Water-Balance Experiment

GFDL Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (NOAA/ERL)

GHCN Global Historical Climatology Network

G-IPPA Government-Industry Project Performance Agreement (FAA)

GIN Geomagnetic Information Nodes (DOI)

GIS Geographic Information System

GLD Global Lagrangian Drifters (NOAA/OAR)

GLONASS Global Navigation Satellite System (NOAA/NESDIS)

GMS Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-Japan (WWP)

GMSRA GOES Multi-Spectral Rainfall Algorithms (NOAA/NESDIS)

GMU George Mason University 

GOES Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (NOAA)

GOOS Global Ocean Observing System

GOS Global Observing System (WWP)

GOSSP Global Observing Systems Space Panel (NOAA/NESDIS)

GPCP Global Precipitation Climatology Program

GPS Global Positioning System

GPS/MET GPS for Meteorology

GRIB Gridded Binary (FM 92-X Ext.)

GRIDS Ground-based Remote Icing Detection System (NOAA/OAR)

GSFC Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)

GSN GCOS Surface Network (WWP)

GTS Global Telecommunications System (WWP)

GTSPP Global Temperature-Salinity Profile Project

GTWAPS Global Theater Weather Analysis and Prediction System (DOD)

GUAN GCOS Upper Air Network (WWP)
238 APPENDIX D

HaL Hurricanes at Landfall (NOAA/OAR)

HAR Highway Advisory Radio (FHWA)

HARM Hazardous Atmospheric Release Model (NOAA/OAR)

HAZMET Hazardous Material (FHWA)

HCRS Highway Closure and Restriction System (FHWA)

HDB Hydrologic DataBase (DOI)

HELSTF High Energy Laser System Test Facility (DOD)

HF High Frequency 

HFRB High Frequency Regional Broadcast 

HIGRAD Transport and Dispersion Model at LANL (DOE)

HIRS/3 High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (NOAA/NESDIS)

HMI Hydrologic Modeling Inventory (DOI)

HMSC Hazardous Materials Spill Center (DOE)

HMMWV High Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle (DOD)

HPC Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (NOAA/NCEP)

HPCC High Performance Computing and Communications

HRAP Hydrologic Rainfall Analysis Project (DOI)

HRD Hurricane Research Division (NOAA/ERL)

HRPT High Resolution Picture Transmission (NOAA/NESDIS)

HSA Hydrologic Service Area (NOAA/NWS)

HSM Heat Stress Monitor (DOD)

HYDROMET A network of automated hydrologic and meteorologic monitoring stations located throughout the 

Pacific Northwest (DOI)

HYSPLIT Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (NOAA/OAR)

HUD Head-up display (NASA)

IAMS Initial Attack Management System (DOI)

IAS International Airspace System (NOAA/NWS)

IAV Interim Armored Vehicle (DOD)

IBCT Interim Brigade Combat Teams (DOD)

ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization

LCC Launch Commit Criteria

ICMSSR Interdepartmental Committee for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research (OFCM)

ICSU International Council of Scientific Unions

IDCS International Data Collection System (WWP) 

IEW Intelligence and Electronic Warfare (DOD)

IFFA Interactive Flash Flood Analyzer (NOAA/NESDIS)

IGBP International Geosphere Biosphere Programme (WWP)

IHC Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference (OFCM)

IIP International Ice Patrol (USCG)

IMAAC Interagency Modeling and Atmospheric Assessment Center 

IMDES Interdepartmental Meteorological Data Exchange System 

IMETS Integrated Meteorological System (DOD)

Incident Meteorologists (NOAA/NWS)

INEEL Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (DOE)

INSAT India's National Satellite (WWP)

IPB Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (DOD)

IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (WWP/DOS)

IPEX Intermountain Precipitation Experiment (NOAA/OAR)

IPO Integrated Program Office

IR Infrared

IRTSS Infrared Target Scene Simulation Software (DOD)

ISCCP International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program (NOAA/NESDIS)

ISES International Space Environment Service (NOAA/OAR)

ISIS Integrated Solar Irradiance Study (NOAA/OAR)

ISMS Integrated Safety Management System (DOE)

ISS International Space Station
APPENDIX D 239

ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (FHWA)

ITCT Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation (NOAA/OAR)

ITCZ Inter-tropical convergence zone

ITS Intelligent Transportation System (FHWA)

ITS-JPO ITS Joint Program Office (FHWA)

IT-RD Information Technology Research and Development (EPA)

ITWS Integrated Terminal Weather System (FAA)

IWEDA Integrated Weather Effects Decision Aid (DOD)

IWGCCST Interagency Working Group on Climate Change Science and Technology (DOS)

IWRS Improved Weather Reconnaissance System (OFCM)

IWRPC Improved Weather Reconnaissance System Program Council (OFCM)

JAAWIN Joint Air Force-Army Weather Information Network (DOD)

JAG Joint Action Group

JAG/OCM Joint Action Group for Operational Community Modeling 

JASL Joint Archive for Sea Level

JAWF Joint Agricultural Weather Facility (USDA)

JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff (DOD)

JCSDA Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (NOAA/NCEP)

JEES Joint Environmental Exploitation Segment (DOD)

JGOFS Joint Global Ocean Flux Study

JHT Joint Hurricane Testbed (NOAA/OAR)

JMFU Joint METOC Forecasting Unit (DOD)

JMIB Joint METOC Interoperability Board (DOD)

JMV Joint METOC Viewer (DOD)

JPL Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA)

JSAT Joint Safety Analysis Team (FAA)

JSIT Joint Safety Implementation Team (FAA)

JSC Johnson Space Center (NASA)

JSCP Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan (DOD)

JTWC Joint Typhoon Warning Center (AF/Navy)

JWIS Joint Weather Impacts System (DOD)

KLC Kodiak Launch Center (NASA)

KM Kilometer

KSC Kennedy Space Center (NASA)

KVERT Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (DOI)

LAAS Local Area Augmentation System (FAA)

LAC Local Area Coverage

LAN Local Area Network

LANL Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE)

LAPS Local Analysis and Prediction System (NOAA/FSL)

LDAR Lightning Detection and Ranging

LDCM Landsat Data Continuity Mission (NASA)

LDIS Local Data Integration System (NASA)

LLCC Lightning Launch Commit Criteria (NASA)

LLNL Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE)

LLWAS Low Level Wind Shear Alert System (FAA)

LLWAS-RS LLWAS-Relocation/Sustainment (FAA)

LODI Transport and Dispersion Model at LLNL (DOE)

LRGS Local Readout Ground Stations (DOI)

LSM Land Surface Model (DOD)

LV Launch Vehicle

LWS Living With A Star (NASA)

MACOM Major Army Command
240 APPENDIX D

MAGTF Marine Air Ground Task Force

MAJCOM Major Command (DOD)

MAW Marine Aircraft Wing

MB Millibars

MC Meteorological Codes

MCAF Marine Corps Air Facilities

MCAS Marine Corps Air Station

MCCDC Marine Corps Combat Development Command (DOD)

MCD Mesoscale Discussions (NOAA/NWS)

MCO Maintenance and Construction Operations (FHWA)

MCS Mesoscale Convective System (NOAA/OAR)

MCSP Meteorological and Climate Services Project 

MCWP Marine Corps Warfighting Publication (DOD)

MDIFF Transport and Dispersion Code at INEEL (DOE)

MDCRS Meteorological Data Communications and Reporting System (WWP)

MDSS Maintenance Decision Support System (FHWA)

MeaPRS MCS Electrification and Polarimetric Radar Study (NOAA/OAR)

MEPED Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector (NOAA/NESDIS)

MES Marine Environmental Services (OFCM)

MET Mobile Environmental Teams (DOD)

Meteorological Teams (DOD)

METMF Meteorological Mobile Facility (DOD)

METOC Meteorological and Oceanographic (DOD)

MHS Microwave Humidity Sounder (NOAA/NESDIS)

MHz Megahertz

MIMS Multimedia Integrated Modeling System (EPA)

MM5 Mesoscale Meteorological Model-Version 5.0 (DOD)

MME Mobile Meteorological Equipment (OFCM)

MMS Meteorological Measuring System (DOD)

Mineral Management Service (DOI)

Modular Modeling System (DOI)

MMS-P Meteorological Measuring System-Profiler (DOD)

MOA Memorandum of Agreement

MOBY Marine Optical Buoy (NOAA/NESDIS)

MOCE Marine Optical Characterization Experiment (NOAA/NESDIS)

MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (NASA)

MOS Model Output Statistics 

MPA Magnetospheric Plasma Analyzer (DOE)

MPC Marine Prediction Center (NOAA/NCEP)

MS Monitoring the Stratosphere (OFCM)

MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA)

MSL Mean sea level

MSS Meteorological Sounding System (NASA)

MST Meteorological Support Teams (DOD)

MSU Microwave Sounding Unit (NOAA/NESDIS)

MTN Main Telecommunications Network (WWP)

MTOE Modified Table of Organization and Equipment (DOD)

MTPE Mission to Planet Earth (NASA)

MWSS Marine Wing Support Squadron

MW Microwave

N511 National 511-Traveler Information Service (FHWA)

NADIN National Airspace Data Interchange Network (FAA)

NAF Numbered Air Force

NAME North American Monsoon Experiment 

NAMIS NATO Automated Meteorological Information System (DOD)

NMAO NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations 
APPENDIX D 241

NAP Non-insured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (USDA)

NAPP National Aerial Photography Program (USDA)

NAOS North American Atmospheric Observing System (NOAA)

NARAC National Atmospheric Release Advisory Center (DOE)

NARSTO North American Research Strategy for Tropospheric Ozone (EPA)

NAS National Airspace System (FAA)

National Academy of Sciences

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASDA National Space Development Agency of Japan 

NASS National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA)

NATCOM National Communications Center (FAA)

NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization (DOD, EPA)

NAVICECEN Naval Ice Center

NAVOCEANO Naval Oceanographic Office 

NAVLANTMETOCCEN Naval Atlantic Meteorology and Oceanography Center, Norfolk, Virginia

NAVMETOCCOM Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command

NAVPACMETOCCEN Naval Pacific Meteorology and Oceanography Center, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

NAWPC National Aviation Weather Program Council (OFCM)

NBC Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical (DOD)

NC NOAA Corps 

NCA National Command Authority (DOD)

NCAR National Center for Atmospheric Research 

NCAS NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences 

NCDC National Climatic Data Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

NCEP National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NOAA/NWS)

NCO NCEP Central Operations (NOAA/NCEP)

Non-commissioned officer (DOD)

NDBC National Data Buoy Center (NOAA/NWS)

NDGPS Nationwide Differiental Global Positioning System

NDI Non-developmental item

NDOP National Digital Orthoquad Program (USDA)

NDRI Natural Disaster Reduction Initiative (NOAA)

NDVI Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NOAA/NESDIS)

NEPA National Environmental Policy Act 

NESDIS National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA)

NESHAP National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (DOE)

NESS National Environmental Satellite Service (NOAA)

NEST Nuclear Emergency Search Team (DOE)

NETRAD Networked Radars 

NEXRAD Next Generation Weather Radar (WSR-88D)

NFIP National Flood Insurance Program (FEMA)

NFDRS National Fire Danger Rating System (DOI/BLM)

NGDC National Geophysical Data Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

NGIC National Geomagnetic Information Center (DOI)

NGST Northrup Grumman Space Technology 

NHC National Hurricane Center (NOAA/NCEP)

NHI National Highway Institute (FHWA)

NHOP National Hurricane Operations Plan (OFCM)

NIC National Ice Center (DOT/USCG)

NIFC National Interagency Fire Center (DOI)

NIPRNET Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Network (DOD)

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology (DOC)

NITES Navy Integrated Tactical Environmental Subsystem

NLDN National Lightning Detection Network (FAA)

NMC National Meteorological Center(s) (WWP)

NMOC Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command

NMP New Millennium Program (NASA)
242 APPENDIX D

NMS National Military Strategy (DOD)

NMTN National Meteorological Telecommunications Network (WWP)

NNDC NOAA National Data Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

NNSA National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE)

NNSA/NSO National Nuclear Security Administration/Nevada Site Office (DOE)

NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

NODC National Oceanographic Data Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

NODDS Navy Oceanographic Data Distribution System

NOGAPS Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System

NOS National Ocean Service (NOAA) 

NOTAMS Notices to Airmen (FAA)

NOWS NVG Operations Weather Software (DOD)

NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (DOE)

NPN NOAA Profiler Network (NOAA/OAR)

NPOESS National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System

NPP NPOESS Preparatory Program (NASA)

NPS National Park Service (DOI)

NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

NRCS Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA)

NRI National Research Initiative (USDA)

NRL Naval Research Laboratory

NRVR New Generation Runway Visual Range (FAA)

NSF National Science Foundation 

NSIDC National Snow and Ice Data Center (NOAA)

NSO Nevada Site Office (DOE)

NSS National Security Strategy (DOD)

NSSL National Severe Storms Laboratory (NOAA)

NSTC National Science and Technology Council

NSTEP National Strategic Training and Education Plan (NOAA/NWS)

NSWP National Space Weather Program (OFCM)

NTCIP National Transportation Communications for ITS Protocol (FHWA)

N-TFS New Tactical Forecast System (DOD)

NTIS National Technical Information Service

NTS Nevada Test Site (DOE)

NTSB National Transportation Safety Board 

NV Nevada Operations Office (DOE)

NVG Night vision goggles (DOD)

NWA National Wilderness Area (DOI)

NWCC National Water & Climate Center (USDA)

NWCG National Wildfire Coordinating Group (USDA)

NWIS National Water Information System (DOI)

NWLON National Water-Level Observation Network (NOAA/NOS)

NWP Numerical Weather Prediction

NWS National Weather Service

NWSRFS National Weather Service River Forecast Service (NOAA/NWS)

NWSTC National Weather Service Training Center (NOAA/NWS)

O&C Oregon and California Railroad Land Grants (DOI)

OAR Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (NOAA)

OASIS Operational and Supportability Implementation System (FAA)

OB Operational Build

OCAP Operating Consortium of ASDAR Participants (WWP)

OCE Office of the Chief Economist (USDA)

OCWWS Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services (NOAA/NWS)

OFCM Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology 

OGP Office of Global Programs (NOAA)

OMB Office of Management and Budget
APPENDIX D 243

OMEGA Operational Medicine Environmental Grid Application (DOD)

OMPS Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite

ONR Office of Naval Research

OOR Object Oriented Redesign

OPAREA Fleet Operational Area (DOD)

OPARS Optimum Path Aircraft Routing System (DOD)

OPC Operational Processing Centers 

OPS-II Operational Weather Squadron Production System, Phase II

OR&F Operations, Research, and Facilities (NOAA/NWS)

ORA Office of Research and Applications (NOAA/NESDIS)

ORAU Oak Ridge Associated Universities (DOE)

ORD Operational Requirements Documents (DOD)

ORISE Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (DOE)

ORPG Open Systems Radar Product Generator (NOAA/OAR)

ORR Oak Ridge Reservation (DOE)

ORNL Oak Ridge National Laboratory (DOE)

OROO Oak Ridge Operations Office (DOE)

OS-21 Observing System 21st Century (DOD)

OSC On-Scene Commander (DOE)

OSDPD Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution (NOAA/NESDIS)

OSEI Operational Significant Event Imagery (NOAA/NESDIS)

OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Admistration 

OSO Office of Satellite Operations (NOAA/NESDIS)

OSTEP Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program (NOAA/NOS)

OSTP Office of Science and Technology Policy

OTC Operational Test Centers 

OTH Over the horizon (NOAA/OAR)

OTW Owning the Weather (DOD)

OTSR Optimum Track Ship Routing (DOD)

OWS Operational Weather Squadron (DOD)

OWSE Operational World Weather Watch Systems Evaluation (WWP)

PAA Precipitation Accumulation Algorithm (DOI)

PAC Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction (NOAA/NWS)

PACS Polar Acquisition and Control Subsystem (NOAA/NESDIS)

PAR Phased Array Radar 

PASOS Portable Automated Surface Observing System (DOD)

PATMOS Pathfinder Atmosphere (NOAA/NESDIS)

PAWRP Phased Array Weather Radar Project 

PBL Planetary Boundary Layer (DOE)

PC Program Council (OFCM)

Personal Computer 

PCB Polychlorinated Biphenyl 

PCMDI Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (DOE)

PD Project Director (DOD)

PDD Presidential Decision Directive

PDT Product Development Team

PECAD Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division (USDA)

PIBAL Pilot Balloon

PIPS Polar Ice Prediction System (NOAA/NESDIS)

PIRATA Pilot Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (NOAA/OAR)

PIREP Pilot Report

PMC Project Management Coordinator (DOE)

PMEL Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (NOAA/ERL)

PNNL Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (DOE)

PNT Position, Navigation, and Timing (USCG)

POES Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (NOAA)
244 APPENDIX D

POP Parallel Ocean Program (DOE)

POPS Primary Oceanographic Prediction System (DOD)

PORTS Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (NOAA/NOS)

ppm Part per Million (DOE)

PSDA Post-Storm Data Acquisition (OFCM)

PSR Polarimetric Scanning Radiometer (NOAA/OAR)

PUP Principal User Processor

QPF Quantitative Precipitation Forecast (NOAA/NCEP)

R&A Research and Analysis

R&D Research and Development 

RAFC Regional Area Forecast Center (WWP)

RAMS Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (DOE)

RAMSDIS RAMM Branch Advanced Meteorological Satellite Demonstration and Interpretation System 

(NOAA/NESDIS)

RAP Radiological Assistance Program (DOE)

Remedial Action Plan (DOE)

RARC Regional Atmospheric Response Center (DOE)

RASS Radio Acoustic Sounding System (NOAA/OAR and DOE)

RATS Radio Automatic Theodolite System (NASA)

RAWS Remote Automatic Weather Station (USDA/DOI)

RC Reserve Component (DOD)

RCC Regional Climate Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

RCTM Road Condition and Treatment Module (FHWA)

RDA Radar Data Acquisition

RDEC Research Development and Engineering Center (DOD)

RDTE Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (DOD)

REIP Reengineered Enterprise Infrastructure Program (DOD)

RFETS Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (DOE)

RFOO Rocky Flats Operations Office (DOE)

RFC River Forecast Center (NOAA/NWS)

RMTN Regional Meteorological Telecommunications Network (WWP)

RMWS Remote Miniature Weather Systems (DOD)

ROC Radar Operations Center (NOAA/NWS)

RPC Rapid Prototype Center (NOAA/SEC)

RSA Range Standardization and Automation (NASA)

RSAC Transport and Dispersion Code at INEEL (DOE)

RSFWSU Remote Sensing/Fire Weather Support Unit (DOI)

RSMC Regional/Specialized Meteorological Centers (WWP)

RTH Regional Telecommunications Hub (WWP)

RUC Rapid Update Cycle (NOAA/OAR)

RVR Runway Visual Range (FAA)

RWIS Road Weather Information System (FHWA)

SAA Satellite Active Archive

Snow Accumulation Algorithm (DOI/BLM)

SAFETEA Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (FHWA)

SAMS Stochastic Analysis, Modeling, and Simulation (DOI)

SAP Special Access Program

SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar (NOAA/NESDIS)

SARSAT Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking

SATS Small Aircraft Transportation System (NASA)

SAWS Stand Alone Weather Sensor (FAA)

SBIR Small Business Innovation Research Program 

SBUV Solar Backscatter Ultra-violet Instrument (NOAA/NESDIS)

SCAN Soil Climate Analysis Network (USDA)
APPENDIX D 245

SCI Sensitive Compartmented Information (DOD)

SDHS Satellite Data Handling System (DOD)

SeaWiFS Sea-viewing Wide Field Scanner (NASA)

SEC Space Environment Center (NOAA/NCEP)

Sun Earth Connection (NASA)

SEM Space Environment Monitor (NOAA)

SEMSIM Southeastern Michigan Snow and Ice Management (FHWA)

SESS Space Environmental Sensor Suite 

SFMR Stepped Frequency Microwave Radiometer

SGP Southern Great Plains (DOE)

SHEBA Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (DOE)

SHEP State Highway Emergency Patrol (FHWA)

SHRP Strategic Highway Research Program (FHWA)

SIGRID Sea Ice in Gridded Format (NOAA/NESDIS)

SLF Shuttle Landing Facility

SLRS-C Spacelift Range System Contract (NASA)

SMDC Space and Missile Defense Command (DOE)

SMG Spaceflight Meteorology Group (NASA)

SNDR Subcommittee on Natural Disaster Reduction

SNL Sandia National Laboratory (DOE)

SNODEP SNOw DEPth

SNOTEL Snow Pack Telemetry (USDA)

SOCC Satellite Operations Control Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

SODAR Sound Detection and Ranging (DOE)

SODAR/RASS Sound Detection and Ranging/Radio Acoustic Sounding System (DOE)

SOF Special Operations Forces (DOD)

SOLAS International Convention for Safety of Life at Sea (NOAA/NCEP, DHS/USCG)

SOPA Synchronous Orbit Plasma Analyzer (DOE)

SORD Special Operations and Research Division (NOAA/ARL)

SPLASH Hydrologic Code at LANL (DOE)

SPAWARSYSCOM Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command

SPC Storm Prediction Center (NOAA/NCEP)

SR Savannah River (DOE)

SRB Solid Rocket Booster

SRS Savannah River Site (DOE)

SRTC Savannah River Technology Center (DOE)

SS&WSF Snow Survey & Water Supply Forecasting (USDA)

SSOB Special Support Operations Branch (DOD)

SSM/I Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (DOC, DOD, DOI)

SST Sea Surface Temperature

SSU Stratospheric Sounding Unit (NOAA)

STAR Weather Data Format used at Pantex (DOE)

STIWG Satellite Telemetry Interagency Working Group (OFCM)

STP Solar-Terrestrial Physics

STS Special Tactics Squadron (DOD)

STT Small Tactical Terminal (DOD)

STWDSR Surface Transportation Weather Decision Support Requirements (FHWA)

SURFRAD Surface Radiation Budget Station at NTS (DOE)

SVS Synthetic Vision System (NASA)

SWA Southwest Asia (DOD)

SWAFS Space Weather Analysis and Forecasting System (DOD)

SWE Snow Water Equivalent (DOI/BUREC)

SWO Staff Weather Officer (DOD)

Space Weather Operations (NOAA/OAR)

SWR Supplemental Wether Radar (DOD)

SWSI Surface Water Supply Index (USDA)

SXI Solar X-Ray Imager (DOD)
246 APPENDIX E

T2 Technology transfer

TACMET-MOD Tactical Meteorological Observing System Modification (DOD)

TACWX Tactical weather (DOD)

TAF Terminal Aerodrome Forecast

TAL Transatlantic Abort Landing (NASA)

TAO Tropical Atmosphere Ocean

TAWS Target Acquisition Weather Software (DOD)

TCP Transformation Campaign Plan (DOD)

TDA Tactical Decision Aid (DOD)

TDWR Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (FAA)

TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (FHWA)

TEC Topographic Engineering Center (DOD)

Total Electron Content (DOE)

TED Total Energy Detector (NOAA/NESDIS)

TEDS Tactical Environmental Data Server (DOD)

TESS Tactical Environmental Support System (DOD)

TFU Theater Forecast Unit (DOD)

TIMEX Thunderstorm Initiation Mobile Experiment (NOAA/OAR)

TIROS Television Infrared Observation Satellite (NOAA/NESDIS)

TOC Tactical Operations Center (DOD)

TOE Table of Organization and Equipment (DOD)

TOGA Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere 

TOVS TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder (NOAA/NESDIS)

TNT Trinitrotoluene (DOE)

TPAWS Turbulence Prediction and Warning System

TPC Tropical Prediction Center (NOAA/NCEP)

TPW Total Precipitable Water (NOAA/NESDIS)

TRACON Terminal Radar Approach Control (FAA)

TRADOC Training and Doctrine Command (DOD)

TRB Transportation Research Board (FHWA)

TRITON Triangle Trans-Ocean buoy Network (NOAA/OAR)

TRMM Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (NASA)

TRU Transuric (DOE)

TSIS Total Solar Irradiance Sensor 

TUAN Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (DOD)

TWC The Weather Channel 

TWIP Terminal Weather Information for Pilots (FAA)

TWP Tropical Western Pacific (DOE)

TWR Tactical Weather Radar (DOD)

UAV Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (DOD)

UC University of Chicago or California 

UCAN Unified Climate Access Network (USDA)

UCAR University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

UHF Ultra High Frequency 

UN United Nations 

UNEP United Nations Environment Program 

UNLV University of Nevada at Las Vegas (DOE)

UPOS University Partnering for Operational Support (DOD)

USA U.S. Army

USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

USAES U.S. Army Engineer School

USAF U.S. Air Force 

USAFE U.S. Air Forces in Europe

USAFAS U.S. Army Field Artillery School

USAIC&FH U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca

USAR U.S. Army Reserve
APPENDIX E 247

USARAK U.S. Army Alaska

USARC U.S. Army Reserve Command

USAREUR U.S. Army Europe

USARHAW U.S. Army Hawaii

USARIEM U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine

USARJ U.S. Army Japan

USARPAC U.S. Army Pacific

USASMDC U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command

USASOC U.S. Army Special Operations Command

USCENTCOM U.S. Central Command

USCG U.S. Coast Guard 

USDA U.S. Department of Agriculture

USGCRP U.S. Global Change Research Program

USFS U.S. Forest Service 

USGS U.S. Geological Survey

USHCN U.S. Historical Climatology Network

USIABP U.S. Interagency Arctic Buoy Program (NOAA/NESDIS)

USMC U.S. Marine Corps

USMCC U.S. SARSAT Mission Control Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

USN U.S. Navy

USWRP U.S. Weather Research Program

UT University of Tennessee

UTC Universal Time Coordinated (Zulu)

UV Ultra-violet

VA Volcanic Ash 

VAAC Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (NOAA/NESDIS)

VAS VISSR Atmospheric Sounder 

VCP Voluntary Cooperation Program (WWP)

VII Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (FHWA)

VIIRS Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite

VIN Vegetative Index Number (USDA)

VIRS Visible and Infrared Scanner (NASA)

VISSR Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer 

VISTAS Visibility Improvement State and Tribal Association of the Southeast (DOI)

VORTEX Verficiation of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (NOAA/OAR)

VOS Voluntary Observing Ship (WWP)

VPR Vertical Profile of Reflectivity (DOI)

VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal (DOD)

VSL Variable Speed Limit (FHWA)

VTMX Vertical Transport and Mixing Experiment (DOE)

VTS Vessel Traffic System (NOAA/NOS)

WAAS Wide Area Augmentation System (FAA)

WAFC World Area Forecast Center (WWP)

WAFS World Area Forecast System (WWP) 

WAMIS World Agrometeorological Information Service (USDA)

WAOB World Agricultural Outlook Board (USDA)

WARP Weather and Radar Processor (FAA)

WaRSMP Watershed and River System Management Program (DOI)

WCT Wind Chill Temperature (OFCM)

WDA Weather Data Analysis (DOD)

WEFAX Weather Facsimile (WWP)

WETM Weather Team (DOD)

WFAS Wildland Fire Assessment System (DOI)

WFMIS Wildland Fire Management Information Site (DOI)

WFO Weather Forecast Office (NOAA/NWS)

WG Working Group
248 APPENDIX E

WG/VA Working Group for Volcanic Ash (DOI)

WGCV Working Group on Calibration and Validation (NOAA/NESDIS)

WINCOM Weather Information Communications (NASA)

WIDA Weather Impact Decision Aids (DOD)

WIMS Weather Information Management System (USDA)

WINDS Weather Information and Display System (DOE)

WIPP Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (DOE)

WIST Weather Information for Surface Transportation

WMC World Meteorological Center(s) (WWP)

WMO World Meteorological Organization 

WMSCR Weather Message Switching Center-Replacement (FAA)

WOCE World Ocean Circulation Experiment 

WPDN Wind Profile Demonstration Network (NOAA)

WPSM Warfighter Physiological Status Monitoring (DOD)

WRD Water Resources Division (DOI/USGS)

WRF Weather Research and Forecast (DOC, DOD)

WRS Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (DOD)

WSDDM Weather Support to Deicing Decision Making (FAA)

WSP Weather Systems Processor (FAA)

WSR-88D Weather Surveillance Radar-1988 Doppler (NEXRAD)

WSRC Westinghouse Savannah River Company (DOE)

WSSRAP Weldon Springs Site Remedial Action Project (DOE)

WST Weather Support Team (DOD)

WWCB Weekly Weather and Crop Bulletin (USDA)

WWP World Weather Program 

WWW World Weather Watch (WMO)

World Wide Web

XOW Air Force Director of Weather (DOD)

YMP Yucca Mountain Project (DOE)