Heat Wave Map Across U.S. From NOAA

Unhealthy levels of heat and humidity are encompassing much of the eastern half of the U.S., according to NOAA's National Weather Service, as a persistent heat wave continues its grip on the central U.S. while expanding into the East.

According to NOAA's National Weather Service, approximately 995,000 square miles and 150 million people in the United States are under a heat alert (Excessive Heat Warning or Watch or Heat Advisory) as of Wednesday morning.

Temperatures in the 90s to near 100 degrees will feel as hot as 115 degrees or higher when factoring in the high humidity. Record high temperatures are likely to be set in some locations — adding to the more than 1000 records that have been set or tied so far this month.

“This heat is dangerous on many levels,” said Jack Hayes, director of the National Weather Service. “Temperatures and humidity levels are high, the heat will be prolonged, and very warm temperatures overnight won’t provide any respite. All of these factors make this an unhealthy situation.”

Video: This animation shows the predicted daily high temperatures from NOAA's high resolution North American Model (NAM) from July 13-21, 2011.

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NOAA and ASCLME Partner in Managing Ocean Ecosystems

Representatives from NOAA and the Agulhas-Somali Currents Large Marine Ecosystem (ASCLME) recently formalized an agreement that will help African and Indian Ocean states better manage their ocean ecosystems and resources. The collaboration will support the collection of much-needed data and provide NOAA with shiptime from the region to improve weather forecasts and provide climate information. This agreement also fills the remaining gap of the Tropical Moored Buoy Array so that it spans the Pacific, Atlantic, and now Indian oceans.

During the past three years, a partnership and collaborative understanding has been growing in this region between NOAA and the ASCLME Project, which is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project represents the interests of nine countries in the western Indian Ocean—Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, and Tanzania—with France also engaged as an observer country.

NOAA and UNDP will work together for the next five years to launch and maintain long-term monitoring systems in the western Indian Ocean. These systems consist primarily of offshore ocean-atmosphere data collection buoys, known as the Research Moored Array for African-Asian-Australian Monsoon Analysis and Prediction (RAMA). RAMA will acquire data for monitoring ocean conditions and for models that eventually will be part of an early warning system for monsoons, climate change, droughts, floods and ecosystem variability.

The agreement also provides for technical training in mooring deployment and maintenance as well as data analysis, and provides research vessels to NOAA for this work. The African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development, a European Union Satellite consortium, also participated in this workshop and plans to couple their remote sensing with in-situ ocean observations of the Data Buoy Cooperation Panel, which collects data from the autonomous Argo floats and other devices.

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NOAA, USACE, and USGS Supports Water Resources Management

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form an innovative partnership of federal agencies to address America’s growing water resources challenges.

Water resources decision makers nationwide require new and more integrated information and services to adapt to the uncertainty of future climate, land-use changes, an aging water delivery infrastructure, and an increasing demand on limited resources. These agencies, with complementary missions in water science, observation, prediction and management, have formed this partnership to unify their commitment to address the nation’s water resources information and management needs.

To meet this demand for information, the Collaborative Science, Services and Tools to Support Integrated and Adaptive Water Resources Management MOU signed today will facilitate addressing water information needs including the creation of high-resolution forecasts of water resources showing where water for drinking, industry and ecosystems will be available. In addition, integrated water information will provide one-stop shopping through a database portal to support stakeholders in managing water resources.

The MOU also sets the foundation for other federal agencies and partners to elect to join the collaborative partnership in the future.

The Honorable Terrence (Rock) Salt, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA administrator, and Dr. Marcia McNutt, director of the U.S. Geological Survey signed the MOU during a ceremony at Georgetown Waterfront Park, near the Potomac River streamgage in Washington, D.C.

“Water resources management will be one of the most significant challenges facing the nation in the 21st century,” said The Honorable Terrence (Rock) Salt, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works. “This Memorandum of Understanding is a commitment by our agencies to work together and closely coordinate our efforts in water management to

provide the nation with critically needed water resources information and support for better and smarter water planning and management. The agreement achieves one of our objectives to build a federal partnership to align programs and capabilities to support the states and stakeholders in smart, collaborative efforts.”

“This initiative will leverage each agency's expertise to improve water resource forecasts and facilitate informed decisions, all utilizing the best available science," said Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. "This marks a step forward in providing tailored, easily accessible and usable water information services to the people who need it."

“This partnership is a great example of how forward-thinking government agencies can enhance their complementary resources while providing great service to the nation on issues of critical importance,” said USGS director Marcia McNutt. “We built upon a successful collaboration developed during times of extreme events, and we are extending it to a stronger, enduring relationship through the MOU.”

The MOU will serve as an umbrella agreement that will allow the participating agencies to coordinate and cooperate in activities to improve water resource services. Cooperative activities in these fields may include, but are not limited to, project plan development; exchange of technical information, tools and services; joint studies; research and development activities of mutual interest; joint educational and communications activities to advance the understanding of water resources planning and management; and exchange visits and work details of individuals sponsored by all agencies who are engaged in water resources projects of mutual interest.

The MOU is designed to facilitate the ability of agency scientists, engineers, and managers to work together; achieve mutual goals and leverage resources for sharing information; and plan, develop, and implement initiatives in support of integrative and adaptive water resources management.

NOAA, USACE and USGS have a long history of working with one another and information sharing. For example, for more than 100 years, the USGS, in collaboration with the USACE and 850 other cooperators, has operated a nationwide streamgage network that monitors the water level and flow of the nation’s rivers and streams. The National Weather Service, under NOAA, forecasts flooding using this streamgage data to reduce losses from flood damages.

The new agreement will further facilitate earlier and more accurate flood predictions and allow these government agencies to expand river and flood maps showing forecasted spatial extent and depth of flooding, which is only one example of the activities that will support the intent of the agreement.

The partnership will address the goals of the Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS) initiative and the objective of the Building Strong Collaborative Relationships for a Sustainable Water Resources Future initiative to build a Federal Support Toolbox for Integrated Water Resources Management.

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NASA and NOAA's Newest GOES Satellite Ready for Action

NASA and NOAA's latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-15, has successfully completed five months of on-orbit testing and has been accepted into service. The satellite has demonstrated operational readiness of its subsystems, spacecraft instruments and communications services. GOES-15 is the third and final spacecraft in the GOES N-P Series of geostationary environmental weather satellites.

The GOES fleet help NOAA forecasters track life-threatening weather and solar activity that can impact the satellite-based electronics and communications industry. During the checkout period, GOES-15 delivered high-resolution images from space, including the first visible and infrared images of Earth taken by its imager instrument, and the first image of the sun taken by its solar X-ray imager instrument.

"NASA is ecstatic that we were able to deliver on our promise to provide NOAA and this Nation with three geosynchronous weather satellites," said Andre Dress, GOES Deputy Project Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "From the very beginning, we set the bar high and we have attained all our goals. It is something that NASA and its contractors (Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems, Lockheed Martin, ITT and United Launch Alliance) can be very proud of."

NOAA operates GOES-13 in the east and GOES-11 in the west -- both provide weather observations covering more than 50 percent of the Earth's surface. The GOES-15 spacecraft, designed and built by Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, will be placed in an on-orbit storage location at 105 degrees west longitude should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust their fuel. It will share a parking space with GOES-14, currently in the same storage orbit. Both satellites can be made operational within 24 hours to replace an older satellite.

"With more than 35 million Americans living in hurricane-prone areas, we need the reliable, accurate data GOES provide," said Gary Davis, director of the Office of Systems Development at NOAA’s Satellite and Information Service.

A six-minute view of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season as seen from space by GOES-12, formerly the East Coast GOES sentinel, is available online. The video highlights NASA technology and NOAA satellite data.

NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA Goddard procures and manages the design, development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis.

Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

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GOES-15 First Infrared Image of Earth

GOES-15, the final spacecraft in the latest series of NOAA geostationary satellites, took its first infrared image of Earth on April 26, NOAA reported.

GOES spacecraft help NOAA forecasters track dangerous weather conditions and solar activity that can impact the satellite-based electronics and communications industry.

Infrared imagery is critical for accurate weather forecasts, revealing a range of information -- from the swirling motion of clouds and sea-surface temperatures, to moisture profiles of the atmosphere and the movement of smoke plumes from wildfires.

GOES-15 was launched March 4, 2010, from Cape Canaveral, Fla. After approximately five more months of tests, NASA will officially “hand over” the satellite to NOAA, which will place it in orbital storage mode. GOES-15 will be ready for activation if any of NOAA’s other four geostationary spacecraft experiences trouble.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean, to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

GOES-15 – took its first full-disk infrared image of the Earth on April 26 at 17:30 UTC (1:30 p.m. EDT). Clouds associated with the low pressure areas over the Ohio Valley and southern Minnesota and the cold front coming into the Pacific Northwest are visible. (Credit: NOAA/NASA /SSEC)

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NOAA Interactive Marine Mapping Tool

NOAA's National Marine Protected Areas Center has created a new interactive online mapping tool that, for the first time, allows users to view boundaries and access data for more than a thousand marine protected areas (MPAs) in the United States.

MPAs are conservation areas that include the marine environment, such as some National Parks and National Wildlife Refuges, National Marine Sanctuaries and similar areas managed by state, local and tribal governments. The mapping tool allows users to view all the MPAs in a specific location or across an entire region, as well as search for specific attributes, including conservation purpose, managing agency and level of protection, among others.

"MPAs are an important tool in conserving our ocean and coastal resources which are vital to our nation’s environmental health and economy," said David M. Kennedy, acting assistant administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service.

Data for the mapping tool comes from the newly updated MPA Inventory, a comprehensive database on existing U.S. MPAs. Originally launched in June 2008, the inventory contains a range of information on each of the 1,637 protected areas established or managed by federal, state, or territorial agencies or programs. Data was collected from most management agencies and programs and is current as of January 2010. The mapping tool can be accessed at www.mpa.gov/mpaviewer.

Today’s launch of the MPA mapping tool is part of a broader update of the MPA Center’s Web site, the leading source for information about U.S. MPAs. Comprehensive information on ocean uses for the entire California coast is also available on the Web site through the Ocean Uses Atlas. This data was collected through a series of workshops that brought together resource managers, stakeholders and scientists to map patterns of human uses of the ocean in California.

The Ocean Uses Atlas project is an innovative public-private partnership between NOAA’s National Marine Protected Areas Center, the Marine Conservation Biology Institute, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Resources Legacy Fund, and fills a critical information gap in ocean management. Atlas data maps are available at http://www.mpa.gov/atlas.

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NOAA: Great Lakes now in Google Earth

NOAA, according to a press release, is helping Americans peer beneath the surfaces of the five Great Lakes by providing Google Earth with data that now includes detailed three-dimensional mapping of Lakes Huron, Ontario, Erie, Superior and Michigan.

"NOAA's data opens up the fascinating world underneath the planet’s largest fresh water system," said Richard W. Spinrad, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research and a member of Google's Ocean Advisory Council. "As an oceanographer, I find this an exciting use of scientific data to serve society."

Visitors to the new Great Lakes feature can explore the canyons and sandbars in eastern Lake Superior, the Lake Michigan mid-lake reef complex, and the old river channel – now underwater – that once connected Lakes Michigan and Huron at the Straits of Mackinac.

NOAA's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) in Ann Arbor, Mich., teamed up with the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) in Boulder, Colo., to produce the Google Earth tour to highlight some of the interesting coastal and subsurface features

The original Great Lakes bathymetric data were compiled by a NOAA NGDC-GLERL and Canadian Hydrographic Service team from archival U.S. and Canadian soundings spanning more than 75 years. David Schwab, a physical oceanographer at GLERL, generated a map of lake depths from the joint project and provided it to Google to form the basis for the Great Lakes topography.

The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh surface water on Earth, containing roughly 18 percent of the world supply. The lakes contain enough water to cover the entire surface of the continental United States to a depth of nine feet. The Great Lakes span more than 750 miles from west to east and their shoreline is equal to almost 44 percent of the circumference of the globe. Michigan's Great Lakes coastline alone is over 3,200 miles long, which is more coastline than any state but Alaska.

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NOAA: Principal Member in the OGC

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has become a Principal Member of the OGC.

Principal Members evaluate and provide guidance on market direction and Consortium focus, and have authority over the development, release and adoption of OpenGIS Specifications through their voting rights in the OGC Planning Committee (PC). Principal Members also have approval authority for OGC policies and procedures.

Mark Reichardt, President, OGC, said "NOAA's move to Principal Membership in the OGC reflects the significant value the Agency places on the OGC international standards and programs as a means of improving information sharing and reducing costs. By becoming a Principal Member, NOAA increases its leadership role among the OGC's government, industry, academic and research members, who are working worldwide to tackle interoperability challenges related to monitoring, forecasting and predicting of weather, climate, and ocean processes."

Ken McDonald, Data Management Architect of NOAA's Satellite and Information Service, Technical, Planning & Integration (TPI) Program Office, said, "the motivation to raise our level of membership was really driven by the widespread and growing interest in OGC specifications and activities found in numerous NOAA programs and projects from across the agency. As a Principal Member, we look forward to becoming more engaged with OGC's many relevant and important initiatives."

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NOAA -- GOES-O satellite to launch April 28

The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) developed by NASA for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), called GOES-O, arrived this morning by a C17 military cargo aircraft at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility from the manufacturing plant in El Segundo, Calif.

The GOES-O satellite is targeted to launch April 28 onboard a United Launch Alliance expendable launch vehicle Delta IV. Once in orbit GOES-O will be designated GOES-14 and NASA will provide on-orbit checkout and then transfer operational responsibility to NOAA. GOES-O will be placed in on-orbit storage as a replacement for an older GOES satellite.

After arriving, the satellite was transported to Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., where final testing of the imaging system, instrumentation, communications and power systems will be performed. These tests will take approximately six weeks to complete. Then the spacecraft will be fueled with propellant for the attitude control system, encapsulated in the nose fairing and prepared for transport to the launch pad.

GOES-O is the second spacecraft to be launched in the GOES N-P series of geostationary environmental weather satellites. The GOES satellites continuously provide observations of 60% of the Earth including the continental United States, providing weather monitoring and forecast operations as well as a continuous and reliable stream of environmental information and severe weather warnings.

View Real-time images from GOES satellites.

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NOAA: polar-orbiting satellite launched

A new NOAA polar-orbiting environmental satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and is now circling the globe every 102 minutes taking images and measurements to support NOAA’s efforts to forecast and monitor the environment. NOAA-19 joins NOAA-18 and one European environmental satellite already in polar orbit.

NOAA-19 carries seven scientific instruments, including two search and rescue instruments and a data recording system. Unique with this satellite is a new data collection system that will relay meteorological, oceanographic data – even track migration patterns of wildlife – to help researchers improve their study of Earth’s environment.

Data from NOAA-19 will support several NOAA programs, including:

• Weather analysis and forecasting
• Climate research and prediction
• Global sea surface temperature measurements
• Atmospheric soundings of temperature and humidity
• Ocean dynamics research
• Volcanic eruption monitoring
• Forest fire detection
• Global vegetation analysis
• Search and rescue operations.

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NOAA-N Prime satellite set to launch

NASA is preparing to launch NOAA'S latest polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite, called NOAA-N Prime, providing an essential resource for NOAA's weather forecasts and improving the U.S. search and rescue operations.

NOAA-N Prime is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in Calif., on February 4, at 5:22 a.m. EST (2:22 a.m. PST).

As it orbits the Earth, NOAA-N Prime will collect data about the Earth's surface and atmosphere that are vital inputs to NOAA's weather forecasts. NOAA-N Prime has imaging and sounding capabilities that are broadcast around the world and recorded on board for playback over the NOAA and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellite ground stations. Space weather instruments provide data useful for warnings of solar winds that may impair communications, damage satellites and power systems, and affect astronaut safety.

NOAA-N Prime has instruments that support the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System (SARSAT), part of the international satellite system that includes the Russian provided satellites (COSPAS). Since SARSAT was established in 1982, NOAA polar-orbiting satellites have been detecting emergency distress beacons set by aviators, mariners and individuals in remote locations and relaying them to ground stations so that rescue teams may be dispatched. More than 24,500 lives have been saved through the satellite based Search and Rescue system to date.

NOAA-N Prime will replace NOAA-18 in a 2:00 p.m. local solar time orbit as the primary afternoon spacecraft. NOAA-N Prime will carry the same primary instruments as NOAA-18 plus an Advanced Data Collection System and an improved Search and Rescue Processor provided by France. NOAA-N Prime will be renamed NOAA-19 after achieving proper orbit.

NOAA manages the polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite program and establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., procures and manages the development and launch of the satellites for NOAA on a cost reimbursable basis.

Source: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

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NOAA: Jason-2 satellite data now available

NOAA announced that scientists around the world now have access to data from a new international satellite, the Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission. This information allows them to closely watch the rate of global sea-level rise and monitor changing ocean features around tropical cyclones. Jason-2/OSTM, launched June 20, 2008, is a joint effort between NOAA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT). After five months of calibration and validation activities an international team of scientists, including representatives from NOAA, declared the near real-time Jason-2 data were ready for public distribution.

A leading NOAA scientist said data from Jason-2/OSTM is especially crucial now. “The sea level is rising at a rate of 3.2 mm/year, nearly twice as fast as the previous 100 years,” said Laury Miller, chief of NOAA’s Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry. “If this rate continues unchanged during the coming decades, it will have a huge impact on coastal regions, with erosion and flooding. We need the Jason-2 data to help us monitor what’s happening.”

The spacecraft is flying in a low Earth orbit and monitoring 95 percent of the world’s ice-free oceans every 10 days. Like earlier missions TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1, Jason-2/OSTM is extending the climate data record by providing a long-term survey of Earth’s oceans, tracking ocean circulation patterns, and measuring sea-surface heights and the rate of sea-level rise. These are critical factors in understanding climate change.

Along with detecting climate change factors, Jason-2/OSTM is being used to assist in forecasting short-term, severe weather events, including tropical cyclones. NOAA will use the altimeter measurements to map the ocean heat content — the fuel that feeds a storm’s intensity — along the storm’s predicted track.

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New NOAA-N Prime weather satellite, soon to launch

The latest polar-orbiting environmental weather satellite developed by the U.S. space agency has arrived in California for its scheduled Feb. 4 launch.

The satellite, called NOAA-N Prime, was produced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The satellite is similar to NOAA-N that was launched in May 2005.

The satellite will be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base by a United Launch Alliance two-stage Delta II rocket.

"NOAA-N Prime is the latest satellite in the Advanced Television Infrared Observational Satellites N series built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co.," NASA said in a statement.

"NOAA-N Prime will provide a polar-orbiting platform to support environmental monitoring instruments for imaging and measuring the earth's atmosphere, its surface and cloud cover, including earth radiation, atmospheric ozone, aerosol distribution, sea surface temperature, vertical temperature and water profiles in the troposphere and stratosphere."

Officials said the satellite will also assist the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking system.

NOAA manages the polar-orbiting operational environmental weather satellite program, while NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the development and launch of NOAA satellites.

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SARSAT Makes 6,000th Rescue in the United States

Two people rescued from the site of their downed airplane near Concrete, Wash., pushed to 6,000 the number of people rescued in the United States by the system that uses NOAA weather and climate satellites to pinpoint downed pilots, shipwrecked mariners, and stranded hikers. The plane’s pilot did not survive the accident.

NOAA’s operational polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites pick up distress signals from emergency locator beacons and relay them to Search and Rescue authorities. Since 1982, the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking system called, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting more than 25,000 rescues worldwide.

“With an average of more than 250 rescues each year in the United States alone it’s clear this system is a valuable tool in saving lives,” said Chris O’Connors, program manager for NOAA-SARSAT. “This milestone also comes four months before SARSAT begins tracking distress signals exclusively from the 406 MHz frequency.”

Older emergency beacons, which operate on the 121.5 and 243 MHz frequencies, will be phased out by February 1, 2009. That’s when the 406 MHz will become the new standard. Key reasons for the switchover include the ability of the 406 MHz beacons to be detected instantly and provide for global coverage.

The newer beacons are also more accurate and provide Search and Rescue responders with important registration information from the owner – features the older beacons do not offer.

“We’re encouraging all 121.5 MHz beacon owners to make the switch now to the 406, so their distress signals will always be heard.” said NOAA Corps Lt. Jeffrey Shoup, adding that the 6,000th rescue involved an older 121.5 MHz beacon.

When a satellite pinpoints a distress location within the United States, or its surrounding waters, the information is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Control Center, located at NOAA’s Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md. The distress signal information is then sent to a Rescue Coordination Center, operated either by the U.S. Air Force - for inland rescues, or the U.S. Coast Guard - for maritime rescues.

In 26 years, COSPAS-SARSAT has seen growth. The four original member nations (Canada, France, Russian, and the United States) have been joined by 36 other nations that operate 66 ground stations and 29 mission control centers worldwide or serve as search and rescue points of contact. The system continues to be a model of international cooperation. During the 1980s, the Soviet Union and the United States were able to put aside their Cold War differences and tackle tough technical issues.

Today, as new technology evolves, the member nations incorporate that technology into the system.

NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.

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Science Applications International Corp. for nautical mapping surveys

Science Applications International Corp. said it received a five-year nautical mapping contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) worth up to $250 million.

NOAA's Office of Coast Survey hired SAI to provide hydrographic surveying services in the navigable waters of Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico and other navigable waters of the U.S., including the East Coast, Pacific, the Great Lakes and U.S. territories.

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Download post hurricane images from NOAA

NOAA has made available a vast collection of datasets including loads of imagery for download.

See this site or the homepage. Data are 50 cm resolution imagery, SHP file downloads and World files with metadata are available.

Thanks to gisuser.

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NOAA: Online Inventory of Marine Protected Areas

NOAA’s National Marine Protected Areas Center, in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, has created a first ever online inventory of the nation’s marine protected areas (MPAs). This unique, comprehensive inventory catalogs and classifies marine protected areas within US waters, and was developed with extensive input from state and federal MPA programs, as well as other publically available data. It provides baseline information that will contribute to the development of the National System of MPAs, as defined in Executive Order 13158.

“This is a milestone in the development of a national system of marine protected areas,” says John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service . “Not only will the MPA Inventory be a key resource for nominating eligible sites to the national system, but it will also serve as a valuable tool for MPA managers and stakeholders, enabling them to make more informed decisions about current and future management of our nation's marine resources.”

The MPA Inventory, posted on http://www.MPA.gov, contains a range of information on each protected area established or managed by federal, state, or territorial agencies or programs. For each site, it includes the following information: Site Name, Region, Level of Government, Level of Protection, Permanence, Constancy, Scale of Protection, Conservation Focus, Primary Conservation Focus, Fishing Restrictions, and Area. Both tabular and GIS spatial data can be downloaded, as well as mapping products and analysis reports created using the MPA Inventory data.

Information in the MPA Inventory is current as of December 2007. Data was collected from most federal, state, and territorial agencies and programs. For states that chose not to participate in the inventory, the MPA Center collected the best publicly available information. All information has been quality checked by the MPA Center to ensure consistent application of definitions. The MPA Inventory will be updated annually.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources.

Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

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Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Satellite Data

A new satellite set to launch next month will monitor the rate of sea-level rise and help measure the strength of hurricanes, according to a leading NOAA scientist.

At a press briefing today, Laury Miller, chief of NOAA’s Laboratory for Satellite Altimetry, said NOAA will use data from the Jason-2/Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) to extend a 15-year record from two earlier altimeter missions that currently show sea level is rising at a rate of 3.2 mm/year — nearly twice as fast as the previous 100 years. “This rate, if it continues unchanged over the coming decades, will have a large impact on coastal regions, in terms of erosion and flooding,” said Miller.

The Jason-2/OSTM is scheduled for lift off June 15 at 1:47 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The spacecraft is a joint, international effort between NOAA, NASA, France’s Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat).

Like its predecessor missions TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason-1, Jason-2/OSTM is designed to extend the climate data record by providing a long-term survey of Earth’s oceans, tracking ocean circulation patterns and measuring sea-surface heights and the rate of sea-level rise. These are all key factors in understanding climate change.

The satellite will use a radar altimeter instrument attached to it and fly in a low Earth orbit allowing it to monitor 95 percent of Earth’s ice-free oceans every 10 days.

In addition to detecting climate change factors, Jason-2/OSTM will also be used in the prediction of short-term, severe weather events, such as hurricanes and tropical storms. According to Miller, NOAA will use the altimeter measurements to monitor ocean conditions that trigger changes in the strength of tropical cyclones, as they move over the ocean towards the land. The technique involves mapping the ocean heat content — the fuel that feeds a storm’s intensity — along the storm’s predicted track.

“Using data received in earlier altimeter missions during hurricanes with wind speeds in excess of 155 miles per hour, we’ve been able to reduce our intensity prediction error by an average of five percent – and in some cases as much as 20 percent,” Miller said. “If we increase the accuracy of intensity predictions, we help save lives.”

During the Jason-2/OSTM lifespan, NOAA will work with CNES to handle the complete ground system support. This includes commanding all the satellite’s maneuvers, downloading all the data the satellite captures, and distributing it to weather and climate forecasters, who are monitoring ocean-born storms and phenomena such as El Niño/La Niña and global sea-level rise.

Additionally, Jason-2/OSTM will be the first, newly launched satellite in which NOAA provides ground support from its NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md. The facility opened in 2007 and houses $50 million worth of high-tech equipment and controls nearly $5 billion in satellites.

“NOAA is definitely up to the challenge of providing smooth, continuous operational support for this mission, which is sure to bring tangible benefits throughout the world,” said Mike Mignogno, program manager for NOAA’s Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites.

Source : http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/

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NOAA aircraft to probe arctic pollution

NOAA scientists are now flying through springtime Arctic pollution to find out why the region is warming - and summertime sea ice is melting - faster than predicted. Some 35 NOAA researchers are gathering with government and university colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska, to conduct the study through April 23.

“The Arctic is changing before our eyes,” said A.R. Ravishankara, director of the chemistry division at NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo. “Capturing in detail the processes behind this large and surprisingly rapid transformation is a unique opportunity for understanding climate changes occurring elsewhere.”

Observations from instruments on the ground, balloons, and satellites show the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the globe. Summer sea-ice extent has decreased by nearly 40 percent compared to the 1979–2000 average, and the ice is thinning.

Industry, transportation, and biomass burning in North America, Europe, and Asia are emitting trace gases and tiny airborne particles that are polluting the polar region, forming an “Arctic Haze” every winter and spring. Scientists suspect these pollutants are speeding up the polar melt.

Called ARCPAC (Aerosol, Radiation, and Cloud Processes affecting Arctic Climate Change), the project is a NOAA contribution to International Polar Year 2008. The experiment will be coordinated with the agency’s long-term climate monitoring station at Barrow, Alaska, and with simultaneous projects conducted by NASA and the Department of Energy.

“This is our first airborne deployment of a powerful new suite of instruments in the Arctic,” said ARCPAC lead scientist Dan Murphy, also of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. “When we analyze all the data, we’ll be able to piece together the equivalent of a ‘high-def’ movie of the atmosphere as springtime sunlight warms the region and sparks a chain of chemical reactions.”

Scientists aboard the NOAA WP-3D research aircraft will use nearly 30 airborne sensors to answer questions about airborne particles, altered clouds, low-altitude ozone, and soot deposited on snow. All are produced or affected by human activities and may be playing key roles in the rapid warming.

In a related study, also taking place this month, the NOAA-led International Chemistry Experiment in the Arctic Lower Troposphere (ICEALOT) will gather shipboard measurements of atmospheric fine particles and trace gases in the air above the North Greenland and Barents seas, which are closer to sources than the ARCPAC study area. NOAA scientists are eager to compare the pollution north of Alaska with the more recent emissions near Europe.

Source : http://www.eurekalert.org/

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NOAA Issues New Land Cover Assessment

A NOAA survey of land use along U.S. coasts shows that 53 percent of the new development between 1996 and 2001 occurred along the Southeastern U.S. coast between Texas and North Carolina.

The biggest areas of new development include Harris County (Houston), Texas; Palm Beach County, Fla.; and Will County (Chicago), Ill. Completing the top 10 list of developed areas are the Florida counties of Brevard (Melbourne) , Hillsborough (Tampa), Lee (Fort Myers) and Orange (Orlando); Horry County (Myrtle Beach), S.C.; and Montgomery County (north fringe of Houston), Texas.

Data being processed from 2005 shows the pace of development may be increasing. The Mid-Atlantic three-state area of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, including the District of Columbia, now has development covering over 10 percent of the total land area. An additional area approximating half the size of Washington, D.C., is estimated to be already cleared for development.

This information was derived from the first NOAA nationwide study of coastal land cover change. NOAA maps are now standardized across the nation, allowing scientists for the first time to compare maps from different regions and maps from the same place but from different years. This comparison ability provides data that is critically important to both scientists and city planners as the U.S. population along the coastline continues to grow.

"Land cover maps document what's happening on the ground. By showing how that land cover has changed over time, scientists can determine how these changes impact our environmental health," said Nate Herold, a NOAA physical scientist who directed the mapping effort at NOAA's Coastal Services Center in Charleston, S.C. "Satellite imagery is the best way to get a big picture view of the cumulative impact of changes along our coasts."

The new standardized format allows updates to existing data to be completed in less time and at lower cost than the baseline data from 1996 and 2001. NOAA plans to complete a full national data set every five years. Work on the second five-year update is already well underway and will be completed in 2010. Data can be found online.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

Source : http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/

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