Editor: Stephanie Kenitzer
Copy Editor: Laurence Constable
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The AMS Summer Policy Colloquium starts on 2 June with a powerful program. The colloquium is bringing together a select group of scientists and students to Washington, D.C., for an intense, 10-day immersion in atmospheric policy.
The program includes presentations by representatives from government, congressional offices, and private industry. The colloquium is designed to
This year’s case studies focus on the Global Climate Observing System and the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program, respectively.
Complete details, including the schedule, are available on the AMS Web site at http://www.ametsoc.org/ams. The National Science Foundation has provided support for graduate student participation.
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On 30 April, the U.S. House of Representatives cast a strong, bipartisan vote to create a deputy administrator for science and technology at the Environmental Protection Agency. The new deputy administrator’s portfolio would involve responsibility for coordinating science among the agency’s many offices, as well as ensuring that its many regulatory decisions are based on sound science.
As a measure of the strong support for the bill, it passed the full House of Representatives on a voice vote and was immediately sent to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for consideration. As of this writing, the Committee has not considered the bill, H.R. 64 (the same title and bill number in both Houses), the “Strengthening Science at the EPA Act.”
Additionally, in order to provide more continuity across administrations, the legislation would set a fixed, five-year term for the EPA assistant administrator of the office of research and development. This would allow a greater focus on scientific issues; it would also add a new title to the position, “chief scientist.”
The bill was sponsored in the House by Rep. Vern Ehlers (R–Michigan) and had the strong support of House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood R. Boehlert (R–New York).
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On 21 May 2002, the House Science Committee passed overwhelmingly, on a voice vote, a reauthorization bill for the National Science Foundation (NSF) that would put that agency on the road to a “doubling” in funding over the next five years. The bill was introduced less than two weeks earlier and has already seen subcommittee and full committee consideration, a measure of its support in the Science Committee.
The bill, H.R. 4664, entitled the “National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 2002” calls for 15% increases in NSF funding for three years, with planned increases of the same amount the two years after that. It should be emphasized that this is an authorizing bill, not an appropriations bill that actually commits federal funds, but it is important as a measure of the support for substantial increases in NSF funding by the House committee charged with outlining NSF programs.
Initially, the bill provided for these increases only in the “physical sciences,” a term of art encompassing such fields as physics, astronomy and chemistry (as well as mathematics and engineering) but excluding the earth sciences. However, a top staff member of the Science Committee has indicated that an amendment will be offered in full committee by the bill’s manager (the member responsible for moving it through committee and then on the floor of the House) that will expand this definition to include all the non-health sciences. Instead of “physical sciences,” the relevant language will simply say “science” so that there is no discrimination within the sciences (although different directorates may get different size increases). At the same time, the bill will include language positing as a goal, “ . . . an appropriate balance among major fields and subfields of science, mathematics and engineering.” This is designed to address the concerns of certain sciences that, perhaps, feel shortchanged.
Indicative, perhaps, of some of the important changes taking place in Congress in considering “doubling” is the fact that upward of three weeks ago, Sherwood Boehlert (R–New York), chairman of the House Science Committee, refused to use the expression “doubling.” At the press conference introducing the bill, he used the expression with gusto. It is an important tag line; one that has served the National Institutes of Health well in its two “doubling” efforts in the past dozen years.
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The process by which Congress apportions funding for Fiscal Year 2003 (FY03) continues, even as it moved further behind schedule as a result of special funding needed for the war on terrorism in the yearly supplemental spending bill. Ordinarily by this time of the year, each of the 13 subcommittees of both the Senate and House Appropriations Committees would have received their individual allocations for FY03. However, as work continues on an approximately $30B supplemental appropriations bill made especially large and complex this year due to the war, these allocations have not been made as of this writing.
It is expected, however, that these so-called 302(b) allocations will be put together shortly after Congress returns on 4 June after the Memorial Day recess. Work will then commence in the subcommittees to apportion their 302(b) funds and among the various cabinet-level departments and independent federal agencies with the budget presented by the administration used as a blueprint. Technically, Congress provides its own budget corresponding in broad outline to the president’s (the yearly Budget Resolution), but this year—for a number of rather complex and arcane reasons—there has not been a Budget Resolution agreed on by both Houses of Congress (and there likely will not be), so leaders in both Houses are working out ways to provide a broad spending outline—especially in terms of limits on discretionary spending*—to provide guidelines and some discipline to the process.
There is hope on Capitol Hill that the subcommittees can get back on schedule and finish work (“marking up”) their bills in early July. But given that the process is already behind schedule, there is talk that it may continue to get further behind and that, subsequently, there may be a lame duck session of Congress after the election.
Of special interest to the atmospheric and related sciences and services community are the Commerce, Justice, State, the Judiciary, and related agencies’ (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittees, as well as the Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies’ (VA-HUD) Appropriations Subcommittees on both sides of Congress. This month (below), the AMS newsletter will provide a list of all members of both subcommittees on both sides of Congress, as well as contact information for individual members. Next month the newsletter will provide information on the Energy and Water Development, and Interior Appropriations Subcommittees, which are responsible for the Department of Energy’s Biological and Environmental Research Program and the U.S. Geological Survey, respectively.
Below is the membership of both the CJS and VA-HUD Appropriations Committee subcommittees for both the Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate. Readers might wish to contact the subcommittees or their representatives or senators if they serve on these subcommittees. Useful to our field would be either letters or phone calls expressing support for increased funding for the sciences, in general, but also for specific programs in our sciences and services. Even just hearing a general message of support for science funding from AMS members would be an extremely important contribution, and readers are encouraged to examine some of the details of the various budgets for NOAA, NASA, NSF, DoE’s BER Program, and the USGS water programs in the special issue of the AMS newsletter published in early April.
To reach the office of an individual member of Congress, call the Capitol switchboard (House of Representatives is 202-225-3121; Senate is 202-224-3121).
*“Discretionary spending” refers to the funds that Congress votes on every year, excluding such items as Social Security that, by law, Congress must appropriate, and therefore over which it has no discretion.
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Every member of Congress has one or more local offices in their States or Districts, which they staff in order to meet with constituents to discuss policy issues or personal problems. The larger the jurisdiction, in combination with population, the larger the number of these offices.
Members of the American Meteorological Society are encouraged to visit their senators’ or representative’s field office to communicate their interest in particular pieces of legislation or the yearly appropriations in federal programs important to atmospheric and related sciences and services. Building long-term relationships with Congressional staffers is important to ensure members of Congress are aware of the AMS and the subjects of interest to us, as well as the support AMS members can offer.
If any readers have questions as to where their senators’ or representative’s field offices are located, or phone number, feel free to contact AMS’s Government Relations Representative Doug Stone at (202) 737-9006 ext. 405, or e-mail stone@dc.ametsoc.org.
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While 90% of the public indicate they have an interest in science and technology, less than 15% say they are “very interested” and about 70% do not understand the “classic scientific process” of investigation and analysis.
Those findings are among many in a biennial study sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), called “Science and Engineering Indicators 2002,” which was released recently. The two-volume study was carried out by the National Science Board under a Congressional mandate and submitted to the president and Congress.
The report presents material on
In his letter to the president, Science Board Chairman Eamon M. Kelly said, “Much of this report demonstrates that science thrives on the open flow of ideas. The scientific community values reason, experimentation, and evidence and it transcends national boundaries and cultural and political differences.
“In the wake of the events of September 11, which demonstrated that the enemies of openness stand ready to subvert science and technology for malevolent ends, preserving and enhancing open scientific discourse becomes an acute concern. However, it is the proponents of openness, not its enemies, who are in the best position to exploit the fruits of science.”
In its overview, the report notes that the U.S. science and technology system has drawn the attention of other countries, which regard the U.S. system performance as a “de facto benchmark in assessing their own performance.” Academic institutions in the United States conduct nearly half of the nation’s basic research, provide world-class advanced training to young researchers, and have become key partners in knowledge transfer to industry, the report noted.
Foreign governments have responded to research and development progress in this country.
The study also showed that nearly 80% of the respondents believe in the existence of global warming and 53% believe it should be treated as “a very serious problem.”
“The net effect of these trends for economic development and international knowledge flow is undoubtedly positive both for the United States and for other countries. Yet, these developments also pose challenges. As new centers of technological excellence arise, firms and universities in the United States may find it increasingly difficult to recruit scientists and engineers from abroad, currently an important source of supply.
“Foreign students may increasingly return home after their training, and U.S. firms may find it advantageous to locate technically sophisticated functions overseas. These potential developments bear watching, because they would affect U.S. policies that support S&T and education and training of the domestic science and engineering workforce.”
The chapter “Public Attitudes and Public Understanding” revealed that there is widespread support for government funding of basic research, a gradual decline in public support for genetic engineering over the past 15 years, a majority belief that human beings as we know them today developed from an earlier species of animals, a majority belief that scientists and engineers lead rewarding professional and personal lives (although 25% thought that scientists were apt to be odd and peculiar people); belief in pseudoscience—astrology, extrasensory perception, and alien abductions—is relatively widespread and growing, and belief that alternative medicine has been gaining in popularity. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents thought scientists are workaholics, and 53% thought their work is dangerous.
Sixty percent of the survey respondents believe that some people have psychic powers, and 41% believe that astrology has at least some scientific basis,
On scientific issues, 61% support genetically engineered food, 89% support genetic testing for inherited diseases, and 47% support animal cloning.
More than two-thirds support the idea that U.S. schools teach both theories of evolution and creationism.
Other points made in the survey include the following:
In the chapter “Mathematics and Science Achievement,” the study noted that while mathematics and science achievement have improved since the 1970s, “few students are attaining levels deemed proficient or advanced by a national panel of experts.” It reported that “at each grade level, white and Asian/Pacific islander students are far more likely than their black, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaskan native counterparts to score at or above the basic, proficient, and advanced levels set by the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB).”
The study reported that since publication of A Nation At Risk nearly 20 years ago, most states have increased the number of mathematics and science courses required for high school graduation. As of 2000, it noted, 25 states required at least 2.5 years of math and 20 states required at least 2.5 years of science; in 1987, only 12 states required that many courses in math and only 6 required that many courses in science.
Students in the United States receive at least as much classroom time in math and science instruction as students in other nations, the report indicated:. “For 8th graders, close to 140 hours per year in mathematics and 140 hours per year in science. Students in Germany, Japan, and the United States spent about the same amount of time on typical homework assignments although American students were assigned homework more often.”
The average median salary of bachelor’s degree recipients and teachers has declined over the past 20 years, “mainly due increases in the relative size of the older teaching workforce and in salaries of older teachers. The average annual median salary of full-time teachers grew slowly during the 1990s, reaching $35,099 in 1998.”
Teacher pay scales in the United States, the report indicated, tend to be lower than those in a number of other countries including Germany, Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands.
Other highlights of the report included the following.
For the complete Science and Engineering Indicators 2002 see the Web site http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/seind02/start.htm.
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The Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Weather Service, and the Cooperative Program for Operational Meteorology, Education, and Training (COMET) have teamed together to produce a new computer module that focuses on teaching students, primarily middle school age, about hurricane science and preparedness.
Based on the Community Hurricane Preparedness module (available online at www.meted.ucar.edu/hurrican/chp/index.htm) for emergency managers, Hurricane Strike! is designed to be highly interactive and entertaining. The format is an unfolding story in which the student takes the role of a visitor to a Fort Walton Beach, Florida, home. Just as he or she arrives at the virtual front door, Steve Lyons of the Weather Channel announces the approach of Tropical Storm Erin on the TV set in the living room.
The storm intensifies over a six-day period (as seen in subsequent weather reports by Dr. Lyons) and on each day the student must perform various tasks to prepare for the hurricane. These include investigating activities in which the student learns about hurricanes and their hazards from a scientific perspective on the family’s laptop computer. Safety activities involve the student in helping the virtual host family in its hurricane preparations. For example, one of the science pieces allows the student to explore the three-dimensional structure of a hurricane by “moving” around and through the storm. One of the safety activities requires the student to choose items at the grocery store that the family might need if the hurricane hits its area.
The module will be published on CD-ROM in 2002 and will also be available on the COMET Program’s Web site (http://www.comet.ucar.edu/). A teacher’s guide is included, along with printable worksheets that can be used to test a student’s knowledge at various points. The content is tied to the Red Cross’s “Masters of Disaster” curriculum. More information is available at www.comet.ucar.edu.
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AccuWeather, Inc., a commercial weather company, has acquired OnlineWeather.com, a supplier of Internet weather content for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Online Weather’s founder Douglas Yule has been named as AccuWeather’s manager of business development in Europe, and will work with other AccuWeather personnel to develop expanded AccuWeather products targeted specifically for the United Kingdom and Europe.
The purchase gives AccuWeather access to the estimated 250,000 users who visit OnlineWeather.com each month, and an instant customer base with dozens of European media and communications companies who use OnlineWeather.com content.
AccuWeather.com is a weather content syndicator on the Internet. The company’s content is syndicated to more than 1,200 Web sites including CNN, CNNfn, FOXNews and CNBC.
Founded in 1996 and based in Dumfries, Scotland, OnlineWeather.com provides weather content to 10 British newspapers, 45 Internet sites, and over a dozen other businesses across the United Kingdom and Europe. Its clients include British Telecom, one of the world’s leading providers of telecommunications services; Switzerland-based UB-Mobile, a leading provider of enabling products and services in the mobile environment with focus on the media industry; Vodaphone Ireland, one of the largest cellular phone companies in the world; and the newspapers the Edinburgh Evening News, the Edinburgh Sunday Mail, and the Scottish Daily Record.
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The Department of Meteorology at Florida State University (FSU) has organized a symposium for 7 June 2002 at FSU to honor the retirement of Prof. Noel LaSeur. Dr. LaSeur earned his Ph. D. from the University of Chicago in 1953 and joined the FSU faculty the same year. He was a participant in many of the early aircraft probes of hurricanes and was director of the National Hurricane and Experimental Meteorology Laboratory, NOAA, from 1975–1977.
Invited speakers at the symposium include (alphabetically) Paul Duval, Neil Frank, Mike Garstang, Carl Hane, Doug Lilly, Max Mayfield, Bill Proenza, Robert Ross, Mel Shapiro, Dan Smith, Irv Watson, Bill Woodley, and Ed Zipser. It is planned that this symposium will form the basis for a special issue of the Journal of Meteorology and Atmospheric Physics.
For more information, contact Dr. T. N. Krishnamurti at krishnamurti@met.fsu.edu.
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The most abundant sulfur gas in the lowest layer of the earth’s atmosphere is carbonyl sulfide. While carbonyl sulfide is formed naturally, it is also produced through a chemical reaction in the atmosphere involving carbon disulfide, a chemical produced by a variety of industrial processes.
Human-produced carbonyl sulfide has attracted attention as a possible source of increased levels of sulfate particles, or aerosols, in the atmosphere, which have been linked to depletion of the ozone layer. Sulfate aerosols also influence global climate, causing cooling effects by scattering incoming solar rays, and reducing the amount of radiation that reaches the earth.
New estimates obtained from ice core samples collected from the Siple Dome, West Antarctica, suggest that human activities have contributed approximately 25% of the modern carbonyl sulfide in the atmosphere. The results of the study, based on the first such measurements taken from ice, by Murat Aydin and colleagues at the University of California at Irvine, are published this month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union.
The collected ice core samples provide researchers with an archive of air from 1616 to 1694, allowing them to determine the concentration of carbonyl sulfide prior to industrial inputs. To collect air trapped within the ice, the researchers crushed the 11 core samples within a vacuum. The samples were then analyzed to obtain a mean carbonyl sulfide mixing ratio, or concentration of carbonyl sulfide in the sample, expressed in parts per trillion by volume (pptv), over the 78-year period.
This preindustrial mixing ratio is approximately three-quarters that of the modern carbonyl sulfide mixing ratio, suggesting that approximately 25% of the modern atmospheric carbonyl sulfide is generated through human activity.
The researchers also found no loss of carbonyl sulfide from the ice cores over time. This means that with further measurements, it should be possible to generate a record of atmospheric carbonyl sulfide concentrations further back through time, and allow researchers to develop a baseline against which to measure current carbonyl sulfide levels. Because the gas is generated both naturally and through human activities, a baseline would help scientists assess the effect of human activity on carbonyl sulfide, and ultimately sulfate aerosols, in the upper atmosphere.
The researchers also note that developing a paleoatmospheric record of carbonyl sulfide will allow them to better understand the natural variability associated with the complicated sources and sinks of carbonyl sulfide, and to study how climate influences biogeochemical cycles over time.
The National Science Foundation supported the research.
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NOAA hurricane experts are predicting that the 2002 Atlantic hurricane season will likely have normal to slightly above normal levels of activity. The outlook, issued on 20 May, calls for the potential of 9 to 13 tropical storms, with six to eight hurricanes, and two to three classified as major hurricanes (category 3 or higher on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale). Officials advised residents in Atlantic and Gulf Coast states to be prepared throughout the season, which runs 1 June through 30 November.
In 2001, there were 15 named storms, 9 of which became hurricanes. A normal Atlantic hurricane season typically brings an average of 10 tropical storms, of which 6 reach hurricane strength, with 2 classified as major. Above-normal activity has been observed during six of the last seven Atlantic hurricane seasons. The key climate patterns guiding this year’s expected activity are long-term patterns of tropical rainfall, air pressure, and higher temperatures of the Atlantic Ocean that are more conducive to hurricane development. These warmer ocean temperatures, combined with lower wind shear in the hurricane development region, have historically generated higher numbers of major hurricanes.
NOAA Administrator Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., USN (Ret.) said, “This is the fifth year that NOAA has provided this forecast and, based on our success with the previous four outlooks, we have growing confidence in our ability to outline how the hurricane season will shape up. Residents in hurricane-prone areas must keep up their guard since it only takes one hurricane to destroy a community and lives.”
August 2002 marks the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew, one of the nation’s costliest hurricanes. Andrew hit Florida and Louisiana, claiming 26 lives and more than 125,000 homes. Storm damage exceeded $40 billion. “Since that time, NOAA has continued to make significant investments to enhance our forecasting and warning capabilities,” added Lautenbacher.
Max Mayfield, director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami said, “The public hasn’t seen a land-falling hurricane in two seasons and we know from experience—out of sight is out of mind. These are dangerous storms requiring the public to take precautions now before the season starts.” He recalled hurricane-spawned disasters can occur any season. Hurricane Andrew, in particular, developed during a season of below-normal hurricane activity. Mayfield added, “We don’t want people to be caught off guard by a land-falling tropical storm or hurricane.”
Mayfield also highlighted the dangers of inland flooding. “Tropical Storm Allison—responsible for at least 24 deaths and $5 billion in damages from Texas to Pennsylvania in June 2001—is a tragic example of why the nation’s focus should remain on the impact of a land-falling storm, not just the number of storms that could occur.” He added, “While inland flooding and hurricane force winds can be devastating, the storm surge from hurricanes possess the greatest potential for loss of life. When an evacuation order is given, residents should treat it as a life or death matter.”
Current outlooks are available from the National Hurricane Center at www.nhc.noaa.gov.
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Drought experts from the United States, Canada, and Mexico are planning a new program that would provide continuous drought monitoring of North America. Plans were developed at a meeting of the experts hosted by the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, North Carolina, 25–27 April 2002.
As a first step toward improved monitoring and assessment of climate extremes across North America, the experts began technical planning for expanding the U.S. Drought Monitoring Program to encompass all of North America. The current program, which began in 1999, provides continuing weekly updates of the status of drought throughout the 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico.
The program is led by drought experts from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center and the agency’s National Climatic Data Center, as well as drought specialists from the Joint Agriculture Weather Facility (U.S. Department of Agriculture and NOAA) and the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln.
Expanding the program to include all of North America will be a joint effort by the three countries involved. Workshop discussions at Asheville included methods for measuring data availability via near real-time transmission to all participants, data quality, and coordination among the continent’s drought experts. Teams were established to develop continent-scale databases, create product and data displays, and integrate the Drought Monitor authors into the monthly monitoring and assessment process.
The North American drought monitoring team plans to meet in the future with the goal of providing an annual assessment of drought conditions across the continent and the initiation of an operating monthly drought monitoring program in November 2002. Drought conditions on the continent will be assessed monthly and summaries will be provided to government and private sector decision-makers, as well as the public, via drought monitoring maps and textual reports as currently implemented in the U.S. weekly drought monitoring program. Subsequent efforts will focus on the implementation of weekly continental-scale drought assessments in future years, according to officials.
Workshop participants included representatives from NOAA’s Regional Climate Centers, the National Weather Service, and National Climatic Data Center; also participating were several state climate offices, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tennessee Valley Authority, the National Drought Mitigation Center, and several universities. International participants included representatives from Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, the Meteorological Service of Canada, and the National Meteorological Service of Mexico.
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According to NASA scientists, large icebergs that have broken off from Antarctica’s Ross Sea Shelf are dramatically affecting the growth of minute plant life, vital to the local food chain, in the ocean around the region.
The icebergs appear to have caused a 40% reduction in the size of the 2000–2001 plankton in one of Antarctica’s most biologically productive areas, a review of satellite data shows. The icebergs decrease the amount of open water that the plants need for reproduction.
After the calving, or “breaking off,” of the B-15 iceberg in March 2000, researchers found imagery from NASA’s SeaWIFS (Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor) satellite and data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program to see the effect the large icebergs have on phytoplankton (minute floating plants) blooms. The B-15 iceberg that broke off the Ross Ice Shelf and drifted with the southwestern Ross Sea was as large as the state of Connecticut (approximately 10,000 square kilometers or 3,900 square miles).
Thorsten Markus, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, noted the SeaWIFS imagery enabled researchers to see that large icebergs like B-15 restricted the normal drift of the pack ice. Normally, when the winds shift, ice is carried into the Ross Sea, creating open ocean space and a breeding ground for the phytoplankton. The icebergs, however, created a blockage that resulted in heavier spring/summer pack-ice cover than previously recorded.
Because the area of sea ice was more extensive, the area suitable for phytoplankton growth was reduced and, as a result, so was the length of the algal growing season. Because the B-15 was so large, plankton productivity throughout the region was more than 40% below normal.
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Scientists and engineers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are leaders in a national collaboration to build a software framework that will take computer modeling of the earth’s weather and climate to the next level.
NASA has awarded NCAR and its collaborators $9.8 million for developing and deploying an Earth System Modeling Framework. NCAR will receive $3.8 million of the award for developing the core software for the framework. The framework will allow some of the nation’s most widely used computer models of the earth’s climate and weather to work together and permit vast amounts of data collected by observational instruments to be assimilated into the models. The result will be more realistic simulations of weather and climate, better use of real-world observational data, and—ultimately—more accurate predictions.
“The new software framework will help scientists and engineers develop and share the modern software components essential to accelerated progress in modeling the earth’s climate and weather systems,” says NCAR director Tim Killeen, one of the three lead scientists of the interlinked framework-building effort. “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to work closely with colleagues around the country.”
Working with those colleagues, six software engineers at NCAR will spend the next three years building the core infrastructure, which will offer integrated tools for communication among components, time management, performance profiling, and other common functions.
“An application running on the framework will resemble a sandwich,” says NCAR’s Cecelia DeLuca, one of the partnership’s three technical managers. The bottom slice of bread is the infrastructure, providing utilities and data structures that allow developers to build applications more easily. The top slice is the superstructure—tools for coupling that allow model components to work together. The software written for specific modeling applications is the sandwich filling.
Says Killeen, “The effort brings together computational scientists, software engineers, and earth scientists involved in weather and climate modeling and data assimilation to create a shared scientific tool that will provide a common infrastructure for computer modeling. This unprecedented level of cooperation will make models simultaneously easier to develop and more powerful.”
The Earth System Modeling Framework will handle all interconnections among atmosphere, land, ocean, and other models coupled to form larger environmental models. The framework will help improve the fidelity and predictive capability of the models by making it much simpler for researchers to compare alternative scientific approaches from many different sources.
The grant to NCAR is part of a three-year, $22.8 million project for 11 teams to develop advanced scientific software frameworks for high-end computers. The Computational Technologies Project in NASA’s Earth Science Technology Office is funding the project.
For project participants and background, see the Earth System Modeling Framework Web site, http://www.esmf.ucar.edu, and http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020419scimodel.html.
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The National Climatic Data Center has two new products available. The first is the “2001 Tropical Cyclones of the World” poster. During calendar year 2001, 50 tropical cyclones with sustained surface winds of at least 64 knots (74 mph) were observed around the world. The new 2001 Tropical Cyclones of the World poster is now available from the National Climatic Data Center. The posters are available in two formats: 36" x 36" glossy prints, and 42" x 42" matte prints. The charge for either format is $18.00 plus a $5.00 service and handling fee.
The poster can be ordered online from the NNDC Online Store at http://ols.ncdc.noaa.gov/tropcyc2001.html.
The Comparative Climatic Data (CCD) publication, one of NCDC’s most popular products, contains a wealth of climate information for over 250 major U.S. metropolitan cities across the country. The publication contains 17 different statistical tables that present monthly averages or extreme values for various meteorological parameters. In addition, the publication contains useful tables to help determine the number of hot and cold days a particular city can expect. There are also two statistical tables that give number of days equal to or above 90°F. (70°F for Alaskan stations) and number of days with the low temperature equal to or less than 32°F.
The publication is available online without charge, or you can purchase the publication online and receive it via surface mail for a total cost of $10.00. See the online page for more information, the Web address is http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ccd.html. The data tables are also accessible at the same address
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NOAA has agreed to lend Japan a geostationary environmental satellite to ensure weather data from the Western Pacific continue to be available should a weakening Japanese satellite fail. The loan of satellite sets the stage for long-term mutual backup arrangements between the two countries, NOAA officials explained.
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-9 (GOES-9) will ensure continuous geostationary meteorological coverage in the Western Region, including U.S. territories, U.S. military facilities, and the U.S. military and commerce vessels in the region.
“This is especially important for severe weather prediction and typhoon forecasting, “ said Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr. USN (ret.), Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator. “Without this backup agreement, the Japanese people and U.S. territories and assets in the Pacific could be at risk due to severe weather.”
GOES-9 will be readied to back up the Geostationary Meteorological Satellite-5 (GMS-5), operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. GMS-5, launched in 1995, is past its useful life and is encountering imaging problems and fuel shortages. GOES-9, also launched in 1995 and, currently in storage mode, has sounding and limited imaging capabilities, which will supply data comparable to that of GMS-5, officials said.
Japan’s Multifunctional Transportation Satellite (MTSAT-1) had been planned as a replacement for GMS-5, but it experienced a launch failure in 1999, officials said. The replacement follow-on, MTSAT-1R, currently is planned for launch in the summer of 2003.
In addition to continuous weather coverage from the Western Pacific, the United States will receive additional benefits from the agreement, officials explained. NOAA’s Command and Data Acquisition Station in Fairbanks, Alaska, will be upgraded to allow the United States to control a GOES satellite over the Western Pacific. This would be needed if weather or another disaster were to disable the prime GOES station at Wallops, Virginia
The Japan Meteorological Agency will pay for upgrades and operations costs, officials said. The agreement also lays the groundwork for a separate long-term mutual backup agreement, which would enable the United States to call on Japan if the United States had problems with one of its geostationary satellites.
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Ralph J. “Jeff” LaDouce has been named new director of National Weather Service’s Pacific region.
A retired Navy captain with more than 30 years service, he formerly served as manager of operations and support for Lockheed Martin Space Operations at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi.
As regional director, he will oversee the programs and facilities throughout the Pacific area, including Hawaii, Guam, the Northern Marianas, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and American Samoa.
The region also has the Tsunami Warning Center and the International Tsunami Information Center, which provides Pacific tsunami watches.
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President Bush has nominated Frederick D. Gregory as the next deputy administrator of NASA.
The 61-year-old Gregory is a veteran astronaut, a U.S. Air Force combat pilot, and currently has been serving as associate administrator for the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters. If confirmed, he will serve as chief operations officer for the agency and report directly to the administrator.
As an astronaut, Gregory logged more than 455 hours in space on three space shuttle missions. In 1985, he served as pilot during STS-51B, and he was mission commander for STS-33 in 1989, and STS-48 in 1991.
He became an astronaut in 1978 after a distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force. He logged more than 7,000 hours in 50 types of aircraft, including 550 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, 16 Air Medals, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and three NASA Space Flight Medals.
His honors also include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, National Society of Black Engineers Distinguished National Scientists Award, the George Washington University Distinguished Alumni Award, and the “Ira Eaker Fellow” honor by the Air Force Association.
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As the new NASA administrator, Sean O’Keefe has moved to make several key staff appointments in recent weeks. The appointments include Bryan D. O’Connor, former space shuttle program director, astronaut and U.S. Marine Corps test pilot who was named associate administrator for the Office of Safety and Mission Awareness (OSMA), succeeding Frederick Gregory, who has been nominated to be deputy NASA administrator; Paul A. Strassman, as special assistant for information management; and Charles T. Horner III, as associate administrator for legislative affairs.
O’Connor was selected as an astronaut in 1980 and is a veteran of two space shuttle flights—pilot on STS-61B in 1985, and crew commander on STS-40 in 1991. A 1968 graduate of the Naval Academy, he served as a test pilot before joining NASA. He left NASA in 1991 to become commanding officer of the U.S. Marine detachment at the Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River, Maryland
He returned to NASA, and left again in 1996 to become an aerospace consultant. He rejoins NASA now after having served as director of engineering at the Futron Corporation, a Washington-based aerospace safety and risk-management consulting firm.
Strassman will serve as senior advisor for management and technology structure issues. He is president of the Information Economic Press and his articles have appeared in Computerworld magazine since 1994. He has served as a chief corporate information system executive from 1961 to 1985 for General Foods, Kraft, and Xerox.
Former principal deputy assistant secretary for financial management and comptroller for the U.S. Army, Horner joined NASA in January as deputy assistant administrator for legislative affairs. In his new position, he replaces Jeff M. Bingham, who will become senior advisor for policy and history.
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The National Science Board (NSB) has elected Warren Washington from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a leading atmospheric scientist, as its new chair; and University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) President Diana Natalicio to serve as vice chair.
The NSB is the policy body of the National Science Foundation, and is made up of 24 top representatives from industry and academia. Members are appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate and serve six-year terms. The chair and vice chair are elected from among board members, for two-year terms in those positions. Washington joined the board in 1994. Natalicio joined the board in 1995, and served as vice chair from 1996 through 2000.
Washington is head of the Climate Change Research Section in the Climate and Global Dynamics Division at NCAR, located in Boulder, Colorado. He joined NCAR in 1963. He received a master’s degree in meteorology from Oregon State University and a Ph.D. in meteorology from The Pennsylvania State University. He serves on the secretary of energy’s Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee and is a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency Science Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee established by the U.S. secretary of energy.
Natalicio joined the UTEP faculty in 1971 and has served as its president since 1988. She received a master’s degree in Portuguese and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. Her major research interests have focused on second language acquisition and bilingualism. She is a member of the Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans, the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, and the U.S.–Mexico Foundation for Science Board of Governors.
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James J. O’Brien, director of the FSU Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies and fellow of the AMS, was inducted into the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni on 4 May.
A world-renowned scientist, O’Brien is also the state climatologist of Florida. He is most well known for his expertise on El Niño, the meteorological phenomenon that occurs when unusually warm water forms in the eastern Pacific off the coast of South America, affecting global ecosystems and jet stream location.
After receiving his undergraduate degree at Rutgers, O’Brien went on to serve in the U.S. Air Force as a weather officer assigned to meteorology, and later earned his doctorate in meteorology from Texas A&M University.
His past honors include a foreign membership in the Norwegian Academy of Letters and Science and the AMS Sverdrup Gold Medal in Air–Sea Interaction. He is a fellow of both the American and Royal Meteorological Societies, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1987, the Rutgers University Alumni Federation created the Hall of Distiguished Alumni to recognize alumni who, through their superlative achievements in professional and civic life, have brought honor to themselves and to the university.
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