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LEGISLATIVE NEWS
WEATHER NEWS
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GENERAL NEWS
IN BRIEF
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
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The American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News has made a comparison of how much of the administration's budget request for FY97 was actually provided by Congress in some of the science-related programs.
In a race to the wire, the final FY97 appropriations were passed by Congress less than 24 hours before the new fiscal year began on 1 October. Seven out of 13 appropriation bills had already been passed individually, including the Energy and Water Development bill that supports most of the science programs of DOE, and the VA/HUD/Independent Agencies bill, which funds NSF and NASA. The remaining departments, agencies, and programs were bundled together in an omnibus funding package that was added on to the DOD appropriations bill (H.R. 3610).
For perspective, the institute's publication listed some of the programs and the percentage of what they received compared to the president's request.
| Agency/Program
Request | Percentage of
President's FY97 Request |
| NSF Research and Related Activities | 98.4% |
| NSF Education and Human Services | 100.0% |
| NSF Major Research Equipment | 84.2% |
| NSF Total | 98.3% |
| NIST Laboratories | 99.0% |
| NIST Advanced Technology Program | 65.2% |
| DOE Basic Energy Sciences | 99.4% |
| DOE High Energy Physics | 98.7% |
| DOE Nuclear Physics | 99.2% |
| DOE Fusion Energy Sciences | 91.0% |
| EPA | 95.3% |
| NIH | 103.0% |
| NASA Space Science | 100.0% |
| NASA Human Space Flight | 100.0% |
| NASA Total | 99.3% |
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The Omnibus Appropriations Act for FY97 provided $1.9 billion for programs in NOAA, $54 million more than the current appropriations but $110 million below the FY97 request. This total is $134 million more than the House-passed bill, but $86 million below the Senate-passed bill.
Some of the major impacts on NOAA's line and staff offices include the following. OAR was funded at $234 million, an increase of $9 million over FY96 and $2 million over the FY97 request. The amount is $17 million above the House-passed bill, but $22 million below the Senate-passed bill. In addition, the congressional conferees provided $13 million for acquisition of data, which was requested under the Marine Services account. The conference agreement adopts the House recommendation to eliminate the Marine Services account and to provide funding for these activities directly to the line offices.
OAR's Climate and Air Quality research was funded at $110 million, an increase of $8 million over FY96, but $13 million below the FY97 request. The total is $9 million above the House-passed bill, but $9 million below the Senate-passed bill.
The conferees funded OAR's weather research programs at $43 million, an increase of $0.010 million over FY96, but $0.310 million below the FY97 request. This was $0.274 above the House-passed bill, but the same as the Senate-passed bill.
The Global Learning to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program was funded at $6 million instead of not being funded, as proposed by the House-passed bill, or funded at $7 million, as proposed by the Senate. No funds were provided for GLOBE in FY96, but $7 million was requested for FY97.
The conferees funded NWS at $638 million, $32 million above the FY96 appropriation, but $33 million below the FY97 request. This is a total of $5 million above the House-passed bill, but $9 million below the Senate-passed bill.
For NWS's Operations and Research, the conferees provided $461 million, $13 million below the FY96 budget and $11 million below the FY97 request. The total is $5 million above the House-passed bill, but $7 million below the Senate-passed bill. In addition, conference report language specifies that these reductions are only to be applied to the operations and staffing levels at NWS central headquarters in the national capitol region. The conference mark will require the NWS to seek immediate reduction-in-force (RIF) authority. Additional reductions are beyond the planned headquarters streamlining of 50 FTEs in FY97. The NWS also will be forced to implement a number of temporary program reductions to help offset the lower mark.
The conferees funded NWS's System Acquisition at $177 million, $45 million above the FY96 enacted, but $22 million below the FY97 request. This is the same as the House-passed bill, but $2 million below the Senate-passed bill. This mark provided $100 million for the AWIPS program to continue critical software development activities and begin nationwide deployment of the AWIPS system.
As a result of the funding, NWS will be forced to deploy 19 fewer AWIPS systems in FY97 and delay the final implementation of AWIPS by 4 months.
The conferees recommended that NOAA ensure that adequate operational testing and evaluation be conducted before beginning nationwide deployment. NOAA officials believe the test and evaluation process for AWIPS provides an adequate basis for nationwide deployment. The National Weather Service conducted an operational test and evaluation of AWIPS at nine operational sites that was independently assessed by the National Research Council NWS Modernization Committee. The officials pointed to the NRC's recently issued letter report to D. James Baker, administrator of NOAA, which found that "the OT&E process is appropriate for the introduction of AWIPS." The conferees placed a funding cap on the AWIPS program and required the secretary of commerce to submit a reprogramming notice to Congress prior to nationwide deployment that contains a certification that the program can be completed within the funding limits imposed.
The conferees funded NESDIS at $448 million, $24 million below the FY96 appropriation and $84 million below the FY97 request. The total was $22 million above the House-passed bill and $18 million below the Senate-passed bill.
NOAA's satellite observing systems were funded at $403 million, $28 million below the FY96 bill and $84 million below the FY97 request. The total was $22 million above the House-passed bill, but $24 million below the Senate-passed bill. This total includes $29 million for the Interagency Program Office to converge the NOAA and DOD polar satellite programs. In addition, the conferees provided $51 million for the Environmental Observing Service line, $2 million more than FY96, but $3 million less than the FY97 request. A total was $2 million more than the House-passed bill, but $2 million less than the Senate-passed bill.
The conferees included $45 million for NESDIS's Environmental Data Management Systems, $4 million above the FY96 appropriation, but $0.096 million below the FY97 request. This mark provides the same amount as the House-passed bill but $6 million above the Senate-passed bill. The requested increase will be for implementation of the NOAA Virtual Data System (NVDS) that will modernize existing data and storage systems and vastly improve, streamline, and simplify customer access to environmental data.
In the program support area, the conferees provided $72 million, $61 million below the FY96 bill and $59 million below the FY97 request. The total was $5 million above the House-passed level, but $59 million below the Senate-passed measure.
The conferees provided $58 million for Marine Services, $3 million below FY96 and $1 million above the FY97 request. The total was $3 million below the House bill and $1 million above the FY97 request. In addition, funding for this line item was provided directly to the line offices, and the conference agreement adopted the House recommendation to eliminate the Marine Services account.
With aircraft services, the conferees provided $10 million, $0.847 million above the FY96 appropriation, but $0.182 below the FY97 request. The total was $0.847 million above the House-passed bill, but $0.182 million below the Senate-passed bill.
NOS, including NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program, was funded at $186 million, an increase of $11 million over FY96, but $4 million below the FY97 request. This is $20 million above the House-passed bill but $12 million below the Senate-passed bill. In addition, the conferees provided $18 million under NOS for acquisition of data which had been requested under the Marine Services account.
The conferees provided $71 million for NOAA's Navigation Services, an increase of $3 million over the FY96 funding. This total was $1 million above the House-passed bill and $2 million above the Senate-passed bill. In mapping and charting, a line item included an additional $1.5 million over the FY96 budget that will allow NOS to contract out for data as requested in the conference report. Because the conference accepted the House report language, NOS can provide $6 million for contracting out with the private sector to conduct mapping and charting activities.
With Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment, the conferees provided $56 million, an increase of $8 million over FY96 and $2 million above the FY97 request. This was $18 million above the House-passed bill and $3 million below the Senate-passed bill. The Ocean Assessment is $5.4 million above the FY96 funding level, an increase that includes $1 million for NOAA's Coastal Services Center in Charleston, $2.7 million that is targeted for estuarine and coastal research in the Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, and $1.7 million for south Florida.
The conferees provided $59 million for NOAA's Ocean Coastal Management programs, an increase of $0.200 million over FY96 and $6 million below the FY97 request. The total was $0.300 million above the House-passed bill, but $10 million below the Senate-passed bill.
With NMFS, the conferees funded $297 million, an increase of $17 million over FY96, but $9 million below the FY97 request. The total was $28 million above the House-passed bill, but $20 million below the Senate-passed bill. In addition, the conferees provided $27 million for acquisition of data, which was requested under the Marine Services account. A breakdown of NMFS funding shows $166 million for Information, Collection and Analyses, an increase of $9 million over FY96, but $2 million less than the request; $104 million for Conservation and Management Operations, an increase of $7 million over FY96, but $8 million less than requested; and $27 million for Fisheries, State and Industry Assistant Programs, an increase of $0.750 million over FY96 and $2 million over the FY97 request.
Finally, the conference agreement included $8 million for the NOAA Fleet Modernization Program, $2 million above the House-passed bill, but the same as the Senate-passed bill. The conference agreement provides funding for necessary maintenance costs as well as funds to complete the outfitting of the oceanographic vessel scheduled to come on line in FY97. In addition, the conference agreement includes language permitting NOAA to develop long-term plans to support its fisheries research requirements.
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House and Senate conferees agreed upon a final version of H.R. 3666, the VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies appropriations bill for FY97, and President Clinton signed the measure on 26 September.
The conferees provided $13,704.2 million for FY97, which was equal to the Senate recommendation and greater than the House mark, but was $100 million less than the president's request of $13.8 billion.
The conferees provided the full administration request of $5,362.9 million for the Human Space Flight account for the year, and, in the area of science, aeronautics, and technology (SA&T), the conferees provided $5,762.1 million (equal to the Senate recommendation and greater than the House mark). This amount is 98.3% of the president's request, or a reduction of $100 million. The SA&T account includes space science and Mission to Planet Earth. The Office of Space Science was funded at the requested level of $1,957.3 million. The conference report emphasized that "the conferees are directing no specific reduction to Mission to Planet Earth programs." The administration request was $1.4 billion for Mission to Planet Earth, and the conferees provided $1.397 billion.
In addition, a general reduction of $95 million was made to the SA&T request. However, within the SA&T account, the conferees provided the following increases to the requests for the following programs: $4 million for cardiac imaging, $4 million for the space radiation program, $2 million for high-speed civil transport research, $5 million for the WindSat program, $12 million for radar satellite, $10 million for museum programs, $12 million for advanced space transportation, $10 million for the TIMED program, and $10 million for education programs.
The administration requested $2,562.2 million for mission support in FY97, and the conferees provided the full amount. Within the mission support account, "the conferees direct the NASA administrator to submit a multiyear workforce restructuring plan on how NASA will achieve its stated fiscal year 2000 full-time equivalent goal . . . The plan shall minimize social and economic impacts, using reductions in force to the minimum extent practicable."
Concerning administrative provisions, the conferees included an administrative provision providing transfer authority to NASA. "It is the intent of the conferees that this authority will be used to transfer funds between the Science, Aeronautics, and Technology account and the Human Science Flight account to the extent required for development/construction to maintain the schedule of the space station program," the report reads. "To ensure that there is no adverse effect on any NASA program, the conferees provide general transfer authority of up to $177,000,000 to be used at the discretion of the administrator and subject to the case-by-case approval by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. The conferees note that this authority is required because the current split between development/construction funding and science funding is not properly phased."
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Congressional conferees agreed on a FY97 appropriation of $3.270 billion for the National Science Foundation (NSF), an amount that is $50 million, or about 2%, over the FY96 level.
For research and related activities, the conferees adopted the Senate's recommendation of $2.432 billion, which is $118 million, or 5.1%, over the FY96 level. The appropriation for research and related activities includes $50 million for large-scale academic research instrumentation. Also available in this appropriation account is $1.4 million as a contingency to meet tariff requirements associated with the Gemini telescope project.
The education and human resources activity is to be funded at $619 million, an amount equal to the budget request. This is $7 million above the House recommendation and $5 million below the Senate's recommendation. Within the agreed-upon funding level, the conferees made the following changes to the education budget request: plus $10 million for informal science education to be used in conjunction with overall systemic reform efforts; plus $2.5 million for EPSCOR; minus $2 million from graduate programs; minus $5 million from undergraduate programs; minus $2.5 million from precollege curriculum development; and minus $3 million from research, evaluation, and communications.
The major research equipment (MRE) activity, which supports the construction of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) and South Pole Station Safety Project, is funded at $80 million. The MRE appropriation is sufficient to keep those two important projects on schedule, according to NSF officials.
The conferees agreed to fund NSF's salaries and expenses account at the Senate level of $134 million. This amount is equal to the NSF request for FY97 and averts the staffing and operational disruptions that could have occurred under the House-passed level for this account. The Office of the Inspector General is to be funded at $4.69 million, which is identical to the budget request.
Official allocations to the divisions within NSF have not been made at this time. However, it is estimated that the ATM budget for FY97 will be about $150 million, which will permit modest increases in the U.S. Weather Research Program, the National Space Weather Program, the Global Change Research Program, and Basic Activities.
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DOE's Office of Health and Environmental Research (OHER) will receive $389.1 million in FY97 funds, an amount that is $10 million more than requested by the president, but $10.5 million less than it received in the FY96 budget. The president had requested $379.1 million for FY97. The FY96 budget was $399.6 million.
For Global Change Research, OHER will receive $112.3 million in FY97 funds.
| Subprogram | FY96
Total | FY97 Request | FY97 Total |
| Atmospheric Chemistry and Carbon Cycle | $29.0 | $26.5 | $26.0 |
| Climate and Hydrology | $61.0 | $63.9 | $63.7 |
| Ecological Processes | $11.8 | $11.2 | $11.0 |
| Human Interactions | $ 9.0 | $ 9.2 | $ 9.0 |
| Small Business Innovation Research | * | $ 2.6 | $ 2.6 |
| Total | $110.8 million | $113.4 million | $112.3 million |
* Prior to FY97, the SBIR funding was included in the subprogram.
OHER addresses the impacts of energy production and use on the global earth system primarily through studies of climate response and includes research in climate modeling, carbon sources and sinks, impacts on vegetation and ecosystems, critical data needs for global change research and early detection of climatic change, and funding for education and training of scientists and researchers in global change.
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As part of the $600 billion omnibus spending bill that funds a number of departments and agencies, NIST received $588 million for FY97.
That amount represented 71.2% of the Clinton administration request for $825.9 million.
"In a time of tight fiscal constraints, this is a very good budget for NIST," according to NIST officials. "It provides the resources that will allow NIST to continue" its major programs in scientific and technical research and services, advanced technology, and manufacturing extension partnership. The budget for construction of research facilities, however, suffered a major setback.
With scientific and technical research and services, NIST was given $268 million, or 99% of the $270.7 million requested by the president. The budget provides funding for laboratory and research services and the Baldridge National Quality Program ($2.9 million). It can be expected that $27 million will be provided for the Physics program and $52 million for the Material Sciences and Engineering program, in addition to other physics and materials sciences research in other programs, officials explained.
The administration requested $345 million for the Advance Technology Program (ATP), and Congress provided $225 million, or 65.2%.
The budget agreement on advanced technology programs "provided NIST with enough funding to meet all of our past commitments and to make new awards, even though the ATP did not receive the full amount requested by the president," NIST officials commented. "This outcome is particularly welcome in light of serious efforts by some in Congress to eliminate the program entirely. NIST now will determine exactly how much funding is available for new awards and then will move ahead."
The administration requested $105 million for manufacturing extension partnerships (MEP), and Congress provided 90.5% of the request, or $95 million. In regard to that amount, NIST officials said, "The budget provides sufficient funding to maintain the federal government's share of funding to support all of the centers located around the country. That includes the new centers we announced last month, which gave smaller manufacturers access to MEP centers in all 50 states and Puerto Rico."
Congress declined to fund an administration request of $105.2 million for construction of research facilities and rescinded $16 million of unobligated prior-year funding.
NIST officials described this action as a "clear setback to our efforts to remedy critical facilities shortcomings . . . we now must reassess our facilities plans again. Prior-year funding that remains will only cover maintenance and necessary fire and life safety upgrades for existing NIST facilities and completion of the Advanced Chemical Science Laboratory now under construction in Gaithersburg, MD."
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Congressman George E. Brown Jr. (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Science Committee, released a proposal for a 6-year national investment plan that would increase funding in domestic national investments and balance the budget by FY2002.
The proposal, released on 25 September, is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of reorienting national priorities toward investment rather than consumption, he said.
The central feature of the Brown plan is a 5% annual increase for all federal R&D, he explained. "This provides about $38 billion more than the president and $49 billion more than the Republicans for R&D over the 6-year period," he said. "This is hardly a radical spending plan—if enacted, it would only hold national R&D investment at the current level of 2.4% of national GDP (gross domestic product). Because approximately half of economic growth can be traced to science and technology breakthroughs, this plan promises to build a solid base for future economic growth.
"This proposal . . . is intended to ensure that our investment in science and technology will keep pace with the growth of the overall economy. The objective here is to encourage R&D expenditures, both public and private."
The Brown proposal also provides for stable funding in other areas of domestic discretionary spending throughout the 6-year period, he explained. It provides about $33 billion more than the president and $103 billion more than the Republicans for other investment areas of domestic discretionary spending.
"I advocate investment not just in R&D," he said, "but in other domestic programs that will enhance our economic vitality."
The recommendation for overall discretionary spending still provides $187 billion in savings over the current baseline, Brown explained.
When asked if he expected President Clinton to move toward the Brown plan, Brown cited a recent interview with the president published in the October Atlantic Monthly.
"I am just helping the president with my proposal," he maintained. "The president has said he will try to make the case for a 'dramatic increase' in research spending by 'elevating the argument that I've been making that economics is part of our national security.' I believe that my plan may show him the way toward what he knows we need to do."
The plan calls for defense discretionary spending to be held at the president's 1997 request level throughout the 6-year period. This spending profile includes neither the reductions contained in the president's proposal in the next 2 fiscal years nor increases in the out years built into the current presidential or Republican proposals. "This funding level is more than adequate to maintain our forces in a high state of readiness while adjusting to a world in which we no longer face threats from any major world power. There are some in Washington who have begun to call for radically deeper cuts in defense spending, but I am not convinced that would be prudent."
For mandatory spending, the Brown proposal adopts the recommendation of the Conservative Coalition budget that was offered on the floor of the House on 16 May, he explained. For revenues, this proposal adopts the recommendation of the Coalition budget. This includes several revenue enhancing initiatives such as spectrum auctioning and elimination of tax loopholes, but is most heavily influenced by the absence of a tax cut.
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Although there have been a variety of noteworthy weather and climate events across the nation during 1996, statistics indicate that the year thus far has been rather typical.
That's the consensus of NOAA scientists who discussed climate in the United States with a focus on summer's weather at a press conference at the National Press Club on 19 September.
Presenters included Chester Ropelewski from the National Center for Environmental Prediction Climate Prediction Center, Camp Springs, MD; Thomas R. Karl from the National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, NC; Randall M. Dole from the Climate Diagnostic Center, Boulder, CO; and Jonathan T. Overpeck from the National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder. The program was moderated by Michael Hall, director of NOAA's Office of Global Programs, Silver Spring, MD.
Ropelewski pointed out that while there was above-normal precipitation over New Mexico during June and July and over large portions of Texas during August in association with Hurricane Dolly, extreme dry conditions existed over much of the region throughout the winter and spring. He explained that hot and dry conditions throughout the summer over the western United States brought on increased wild fires, extremely wet conditions existed in the Midwest in June, wet and cool conditions were experienced across the mid-Atlantic states during mid-July into August, and wet conditions in the northeast in July were followed by extremely dry conditions in August.
"NOAA scientists," he said, "thus far have not been able to ascribe this summer's climate to any particular cause—and researchers in NOAA's Climate Prediction Center are quick to note that this summer's climate falls well within the envelope of natural variability."
He said that highly atypical circulation, temperature, and precipitation patterns that dominated global circulation prior to the summer likely were a contributing factor to what happened in the summer. There were prolonged rainfall and temperature anomalies during October 1995–May 1996, he explained, the most prominent of which were a stormy and cold winter across the Northeast, a wet winter in the Northwest, and the development of a major drought in the Southwest.
"Each of these features is attributed to a highly persistent, planetary-scale atmospheric circulation (wind) pattern that extended across the North Pacific, North America, and the North Atlantic," he said. "This pattern was associated with the simultaneous occurrence of cold-episode conditions in the tropical Pacific (a La Niña) and the development of the pronounced negative phase of the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO)."
The overall pattern of drought and wetness during the first 7 months of 1996 was quite similar to the pattern observed in 1971, explained Karl, although the dry and wet conditions have been significantly more widespread and intense than in 1971.
Analyses indicate that on a national average about 10% of the total precipitation is derived from daily precipitation events exceeding 2 inches and about 60% is derived from more moderate precipitation events between 0.1 and 1 inch per day, according to Karl. During the first half of 1996, he explained, the century-long trend continued with an increasingly greater portion of the precipitation arising from extreme precipitation events (two or more inches a day) at the expense of the more moderate precipitation events. Temperatures during the first 7 months of the year were very close to normal, he said.
Dole pointed out that important features of U.S. weather, extending as far as last fall, included an unusually strong and persistent high pressure ridge over the Southwest and a somewhat weaker (and more variable) low pressure trough in the East.
The high pressure ridge had several effects on weather over the Southwest, including a tendency to divert Pacific storm systems well to the north of the region to oppose inflow of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and to produce descending air motions near and to the east of the high pressure center, according to Dole.
"All of these factors," he explained, "suppress precipitation over the region, and it is therefore reasonable to consider this persistent ridge as the primary direct, or immediate, cause of the Southwest drought. In contrast, although a trough in the East favors storm development and moisture transport into the region, the links to the observed excessive precipitation are more complex. Several distinct phenomena have contributed to the recurrent heavy precipitation, including large-scale storm systems, often with heavy snowfall (predominantly winter), a nearly stationary frontal boundary (predominantly spring), and, most recently, a hurricane."
Overpeck said that climate variations that took place over the past 10,000 years should give scientists a clue to weather patterns of the future.
"If the climate system turns out to be highly sensitive to elevated atmospheric trace gas concentrations," he said, "then we may be confronted with modes of climate variability without precedent."
He explained that most attention in the growing area of abrupt climatic change research is focused on large changes observed during glacial periods, when large quantities of glacial meltwater were available to influence ocean circulation and climatic change. In contrast, he said, the current warm interglacial climate is often characterized as relatively stable, leaving the impression that climates of the future are likely to be more or less "well behaved."
The weight of the paleoclimatic evidence now being collected, he explained, suggests that these conclusions may be incorrect. A major challenge of the future will be to anticipate future climate surprises of the type recorded in the paleoclimatic record of the past 10,000 years.
"The primary goal of climate research is to enhance our predictive ability," he said. "Major warm-climate surprises of the type apparent in the Holocene interglacial paleoclimatic record may be our biggest worry in the years to come."
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CSC has been awarded a contract to operate the Central Satellite Data Processing Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Suitland, MD. CSC will perform the 8-year contract with a base year valued at $4.3 million and seven 1-year options, with a total value of $35 million if all options are exercised. The contract also includes the capacity to acquire an additional $35 million in incidental hardware, software, software licenses, and software development over its 8-year duration.
CSC will provide project management, system design and analysis, programming, applications and system software development and maintenance, hardware maintenance, system/software engineering support, product assurance, and procurement services.
The Satellite Data Processing Center is a part of the Information Processing Division of NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). The center receives and processes real-time environmental satellite data from NOAA's polar and geostationary satellites, DOD's Defense Meteorologic Satellites, the European METEOSAT and ERS-3 spacecraft, and the Japanese GMS and ADEOS satellites.
The contract will be performed by about 40 specialists in meteorology, computer analysis and programing, systems programming, and local area network administration. Teaming with CSC are Science and Technology Corp. (STC) of Hampton, VA; Alta Systems, Vienna, VA; and Westover Consulting, Silver Spring, MD, which will share at least 40% of the subcontracted labor costs. Other CSC teammates are Amdahl and Computer Associates.
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Global Atmospherics, Inc. (GAI) in Tucson, AZ, was awarded a 1-year contract to provide lightning data to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and several other federal agencies. The contract includes four 1-year renewal options for a maximum potential value of $9.8 million among NOAA, NASA, the Defense Department, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Interior Department.
GAI gathers lightning data in real time using land-based sensors that detect atmospheric electrical currents caused by lightning and pinpoint strike locations from hundreds of miles away. The lightning data are provided by GAI to NOAA's National Weather Service and about 500 other government user sites through satellite links and telephone lines.
"Lightning data will give our forecasters better insight into the evolution of thunderstorms—and that will translate to improved local forecasts of severe storms," said Susan Zevin, deputy director of operations for the National Weather Service. While we can't predict lightning, better information about the frequency and precise location of lightning strikes, can, for example, help dispatchers give better directions to fighters of wildfires and help pilots planning flight paths.
The United States averages more than 100,000 thunderstorms a year, producing about 20 million cloud-to-ground lightning flashes annually. In 1995, lightning killed 76 people and injured 422 in the United States.
The National Weather Service combines lightning data with information from Doppler weather radars, geostationary operational environmental satellites, and other sources of weather data to generate animated graphic images of lightning activity throughout the United States and its coastal areas.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded a $5.2 million 1-year contract to Hughes STX Corporation of Lanham, MD, for Systems Engineering and Technical Support Services (SETSS) to the National Weather Service. The contract, which includes four 1-year option periods, has a total estimated value of $27.8 million.
Under the contract, Hughes STX will support NWS development and fielding of automated weather observation systems and weather forecast information systems. The contractor will also support the process of restructuring NWS field operations, facilities, and support services, and the communication of meteorological and hydrologic data among the various NWS forecast offices throughout the nation.
Hughes STX will provide services to include identifying and making technical recommendations on the relative merits of alternative solutions to system problems, evaluating test data and conducting design studies, testing and evaluating the performance of weather observation sensors, monitoring other contractor activities and evaluating their reports, and assisting in preparing and updating NWS strategic plans and schedules.
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Landmark Communications, Inc. (Landmark) and Pelmorex, Inc. (Pelmorex) announced today that The Weather Channel, Inc. (TWC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Landmark, has acquired a significant interest in Pelmorex. As a result of the investment, the two companies will be pursuing joint opportunities in the international weather programming services market. The alliance calls for an international joint venture that will develop weather programming services in countries outside the United States and Canada.
The Weather Channel has acquired shares of Pelmorex constituting a 50% equity and 29.9 % voting interest. Pierre Morrissette, president and CEO of Pelmorex, continues to hold voting control of Pelmorex.
Landmark owns Atlanta-based TWC, the largest 24-hour weather programming service in the world. TWC also operates weather programming services in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and Benelux and has investments in a German language weather network serving Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. TWC will also be launching a Latin American service on 1 October 1996.
Pelmorex, based in Mississauga, Ontario, operates The Weather Network and MeteoMedia, English and French weather specialty services based in Montreal and Quebec. Pelmorex also has investments in La Chaine Meteo in France, The Weather Network in the United Kingdom, and The Weather Network Italy, which is to be launched later this year.
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President Bill Clinton released a new national space policy on 19 September, addressing objectives and commitments for the civilian space program, the space-related portion of national defense, and federal policies relating to the commercial space sector.
The document, described as "the first post-Cold War assessment of American space goals and opportunities," unveiled no revolutionary changes for the civil space program, but did underline U.S. commitment to the International Space Station, next-generation launch vehicles, greater international cooperation, and space and earth sciences.
As outlined in the document, the goals of the new policy are to
The policy clearly establishes NASA as the "lead agency for research and development in civil space activities." However, it also defines important roles for the Department of Commerce (DOC), through NOAA; the Department of Interior (DOI), through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); and the Department of Energy (DOE).
NASA, in coordination with other departments and agencies, "will focus its research and development efforts in the following: space science to enhance knowledge of the solar system, the universe, and fundamental natural and physical sciences; earth observation to better understand global changes and the effect of natural and human influences on the environment; human space flight to conduct scientific, commercial, and exploration activities; and space technologies and applications to develop new technologies in support of U.S. government needs and our economic competitiveness."
In the earth science area, the policy dictated the establishment of "a program of long-term observation, research, and analysis of the earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, and their interactions, including continual measurements from the Earth Observing System (EOS) in 1998."
In carrying out these commitments, NASA is expected to "develop new and innovative space technologies and smaller, more capable spacecraft to improve the performance and lower the cost of future space missions," according to the document.
The document urged NASA "to privatize or commercialize its space communications operations no later than 2005."
The DOC, through NOAA, according to the new policy, "has the lead responsibility for managing federal space-based civil operational earth observations necessary to meet civil requirements": 1) acquiring data, conducting research and analysis, and making required predictions about the earth's environment; 2) consolidating operational U.S. government civil requirements for data products and defining and operating earth observation systems in support of operational monitoring needs; and 3) providing for regulation and licensing of the operation of private sector remote sensing systems.
The DOI, through USGS, will maintain a national archive of land remote sensing data and other surface data, and DOE will maintain necessary capability to support civil space missions, including research on space energy and space radiation effects and safety, according to the document.
To a large extent, the document validates NASA's current activities and urges the United States to maintain a leadership role in space exploration while pursuing greater levels of national and international partnerships.
Regarding the government's policies toward the commercial space sector, the document emphasizes enhancing the global competitiveness of the U.S. commercial space industry.
In addition to pursuing international collaborative missions, the United States is encouraged to explore "possible adoption of international standards for the interoperability of civil research spacecraft communications and control facilities."
As part of a strong commitment to space and earth sciences, the policy directs NASA to undertake an effort to support a robotic presence on the Martian surface by the year 2000, as well as long-term programs to explore other bodies in the solar system, to identify and characterize planets in other solar systems, and to observe and analyze Earth's systems. The document does not advocate manned exploration of Mars or other destinations at this time.
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Daily global mapping of the earth's ozone layer from space has resumed with the acquisition of the first image from the U.S. Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument aboard the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) on 12 September.
"We are extremely pleased with the quality of this first image" said P.K. Bhartia, TOMS project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. "We're looking forward to continuing our monitoring of the global ozone situation and especially the upcoming season in the Antarctic."
ADEOS continues the series of TOMS total ozone and volcanic sulfur dioxide observations that began with the Nimbus-7 satellite in 1978 and continued through the operation of a TOMS on a Russian Meteor-3 satellite, until that instrument ceased functioning in December 1994.
Data from another TOMS instrument flying on the recently launched NASA TOMS Earth Probe spacecraft complement the global ADEOS data by providing high-resolution imagery of atmospheric features related to urban pollution, biomass burning, forest fires, desert dust, and small volcanic eruptions, in addition to ozone measurements.
In recent years, the depleting effects of industrial chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on ozone were demonstrated through the sudden appearance of the Antarctic ozone hole and other, more gradual losses in global ozone. The principal mission of TOMS/ADEOS is to monitor global ozone trends during the period when CFC-related depletion is predicted to be near its maximum.
"Stratospheric concentrations of chlorine from CFCs are expected to peak near the end of the century and then decline as a result of the Montreal Protocol," said Arlin Krueger, principal investigator for the TOMS/ADEOS mission. "TOMS/ADEOS will help us track this prediction. It also will continue to measure the concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere in the wake of volcanic eruptions, thus extending the existing database of more than 100 eruptions, including Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 and El Chichon in 1982."
TOMS complements four of the Japanese instruments on ADEOS. The Improved Limb Atmospheric Sounder measures the vertical profiles of ozone and other trace gases in polar regions, while the Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse Gases measures ozone beneath the orbital track, and the Retroreflector In Space determines trace gas profiles as ADEOS passes over ground-based laser stations. In addition, TOMS will provide information to help correct data from the Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner for atmospheric absorption at visible wavelengths.
ADEOS is an international global change research mission of the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) that includes instruments from the United States, Japan, and France, with investigators from many other countries. The satellite is a key part of an international environmental research effort that includes NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE), a long-term, coordinated research program to study the earth as a global environmental system. The goal of MTPE is to allow humans to better understand natural environmental changes and to distinguish between natural and human-made changes and impacts.
MTPE-related data, which NASA distributes to researchers worldwide, are essential to helping humans make better informed decisions about their environment.
During its lifetime on Nimbus-7, TOMS helped make "ozone" a household word through its false-color images of the Antarctic ozone hole. Even after 14 years of operating the instruments, TOMS scientists are testing new concepts such as the monitoring of absorbing aerosols that are produced in fires, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions, estimation of ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation at the earth's surface, and detection of volcanic hazards to aviation. TOMS measures ozone by comparing the level of ultraviolet light emitted by the sun to that scattered from the earth's atmosphere back to the satellite.
The first TOMS/ADEOS image is available electronically at the following URL: http://jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov/adtoms/adeos.html
The TOMS program is managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, for NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth, Washington, DC.
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The first images of winds over the oceans taken by the NASA Scatterometer (NSCAT) science instrument onboard Japan's Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) show two typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean as they were seen on 20 September.
Typhoon Violet eventually ran into the coast of Japan, killing several people and causing severe property damage. Typhoon Tom was observed in the open ocean east of Japan. The Scatterometer measured winds in the storms at about 60 miles per hour.
"We are very pleased with the quality of these first images," said Jim Graf, NSCAT project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, CA. "These images are typical of the operational data that will be generated using NSCAT and then made available to meteorologists all over the world. NSCAT will provide regular measurements of ocean surface wind speeds from space, which will enhance the ability of weather forecasters to predict the behavior of storms such as Typhoon Violet. In addition, earth science researchers will use NSCAT data to better understand climate changes occurring on our planet."
The Scatterometer takes 190,000 wind measurements per day, mapping more than 90% of the world's ice-free oceans every 2 days. The instrument will provide more than 100 times the amount of ocean wind information currently available from ship reports. Since the Scatterometer is a radar instrument, it is capable of taking data day or night, regardless of sunlight or weather conditions.
"This preliminary analysis of the first set of NSCAT data clearly demonstrates that the high resolution of the NSCAT instrument improves the monitoring of severe storms, such as typhoons. It also shows that the repeated global coverage provides a better description of atmospheric circulation over the oceans, which has not been adequately sampled in the past, and it contributes to a better understanding of air–sea interactions," said Dr. W. Timothy Liu, NSCAT project scientist at JPL.
Information gathered by the Scatterometer is being used by the National Weather Service, an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Japanese Meteorological Agency. NOAA processes the data from the Scatterometer and distributes related products to researchers around the globe. The ocean surface wind measurements, used in numerical computer models, will help weather forecasters more accurately predict the path and intensity of hurricanes, winter storms, and other weather systems that form over the oceans.
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A hearing, entitled "Life on Mars," might be expected to generate a lot of enthusiasm, but at the House Space Subcommittee's 12 September hearing of that name, the excitement was somewhat dampened by the reality of a declining NASA budget. Much of the discussion revolved around what immediate steps could be taken in labs on Earth to support the evidence for past life on Mars before implementing costly space missions. Subcommittee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) announced that, "instead of debating the implications of the discovery, we're going to discuss the science behind it . . . What is NASA planning to study on Mars? Is it appropriate to view this discovery as a reason to change public policy? What do we do now, and where do we go from here?" Ranking minority member Ralph Hall (D-TX) made a plea for stabilizing space funding, saying Congress can't keep giving NASA "challenging new assignments, and at the same time continuing to cut their budget."
Richard Zare of Stanford University and David McKay of NASA's Johnson Space Center, two of the principal investigators of the Martian meteorite, described the chain of reasoning leading to the inference that the meteorite contains microfossils, but admitted the evidence is not conclusive. Zare explained that the research teams have "put forward the best interpretation we can think of," but added that they "reserve the right" to change their conclusions in the face of conflicting evidence. Zare used the discovery of the Martian meteorite in an Antarctic ice field to stress the "inherent unpredictability of fundamental research." He urged consistent, long-term support across the full spectrum of science, saying the analysis of the meteorite could not have been performed without contributions from many fields of science and technology.
NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science, Wesley Huntress, agreed that the first step is more research here on Earth to replicate the researcher's findings and affirm their validity. At the same time, NASA would continue to plan for robotic missions to return additional samples from Mars. "It will take at least another year to better understand the approach needed and what level of resources are required and available." The Mars Science Working Group is currently developing strategies for three different rates of progress for Mars exploration, with a final report expected within the next month.
Huntress reported that the agency has for several years been planning a series of Mars exploration missions, with a goal of returning the first samples by 2008. In light of the new data, NASA would be likely to put more emphasis on surveying and mapping the Martian surface to maximize the possibility that any samples returned might provide clues to early life on the planet. If a scientific consensus develops for evidence of past life within the meteorite, Huntress said, "I suspect we may have to accelerate" the planned exploratory missions.
Based on feedback from the hearing, even the possibility of other life in the universe does not seem sufficient inducement right now for Congress to increase NASA's space science funding. Even NASA officials took a "wait and see" approach. Huntress added that while NASA is reviewing various strategies for Mars exploration, "the resources needed for these activities must be carefully weighed against all of the administration's priorities."
(From American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News, No. 135.)
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contributed by Alan Weinstein
The Seventh Conference on Mesoscale Processes of the American Meteorological Society and the Royal Meteorological Society was held at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom on 9–13 September 1996.
The conference reflected the current expanded definition of mesoscale by devoting the first full day and much of the third (almost 1/3 of the total conference) to the study and forecasting of extratropical cyclones. The remainder of the conference dealt with the more standard mesoscale topics of convection (both tropical and extratropical), orographic forcing, the boundary layer, and gravity waves. This expansion into the traditional synoptic scale reflects the increasingly scale-interactive nature of weather research and operations these days.
The majority of the approximately 300 attendees came from the United States and the United Kingdom. However, there was considerable participation from mainland European countries, as well as other North American and Asian countries. From the attendance, it is clear that mesoscale meteorology is of worldwide interest these days. This forum was an excellent opportunity to bring together this varied geographic interest.
Notable among the overall observations were the following.
Two upcoming programs were discussed that hold potential for extratropical cyclogenesis and orographic forcing. The former is called the Fronts and Atlantic Storm Track Experiment (FASTEX). Led largely by British and French scientists, but with a growing U.S. presence, this program will go into the field over the North Atlantic during the winter of 1997. Its primary focus will be on the prediction of cyclogenesis upstream of Europe. The organizers of this experiment have assembled an impressive array of aircraft and ships and have interested some of the world's leading modeling centers.
The second new project is still in the early planning stages. Called the Mesoscale Alpine Program (MAP), this project will focus on mountain airflow dynamics (upper-level wave breaking, potential vorticity banners, and airflow over mountains) and orographic precipitation mechanisms (dynamics and microphysics). As the name implies, the venue for MAP will be the Alps. Present plans call for a major field campaign during the fall of 1999. As might be expected, this program is primarily spearheaded by scientists from central Europe, from France, through Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, to Italy. To date, U.S. interest has been led by Joachim Kuettner of NCAR and Ron Smith of Yale.
Mesoscale meteorology, both from the viewpoint of operational forecasting and research, is an international undertaking that is both healthy and vigorous. Recently completed tropical programs (e.g., TOGA COARE) and new ones on midlatitude marine cyclogenesis (FASTEX) and mountain phenomena (MAP) should provide the kind of data and modeling studies that will allow the continuation of progress in this exciting weather scale.
For copies of the preprint volume of the conference, contact AMS at 45 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108; 617-227-2426.
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UK Oceanography '96 was held at the University of Wales, Bangor (UWB) on 2–6 September 1996. The topics discussed at this year's conference covered the spectrum from physical, through biogeochemical, to biological oceanography. The domains covered the full spectrum from coastal margins (including estuaries and beaches), through the shelf and shelf seas, to the deep ocean. In the vertical, the domain went from the ocean bottom (primarily sediments), through the volume, to the surface and into the atmosphere above.
UK Oceanography '96 is the latest in the biennial series sponsored by the Challenger Society of Marine Science, the United Kingdom's societal focus for oceanography. The society is headquartered at the Southampton Oceanography Centre and operates on an annual budget of approximately £18,000 ($29,000). Their primary communication vehicles are their thrice-annual Ocean Challenger magazine, their biennial UK Oceanography meeting, and other meetings as appropriate. Started in 1984 at the University of Wales, the UK Oceanography series has been held successively at Southampton, Norwich (University of East Anglia), Plymouth, Liverpool, and Stirling (Scotland). The 1998 conference will return to Southampton.
Based upon the large number of attendees, many being students and postdocs, and the varied distribution of topics presented, UK Oceanography '96 indicated a healthy and vigorous ocean science research community in the United Kingdom. Like similar communities elsewhere, U.K. oceanographers are worried about funding, ships, employment for newcomers, and many other things, but most felt optimistic about the future.
The emergence of the European Union as a major source of funding support has drawn the U.K. oceanography community closer to their colleagues in Europe. This support, along with that from within the United Kingdom itself, has led to many field campaigns whose success has generated a wealth of data about individual areas and processes. In many cases these areas and processes bear striking resemblance to similar ones studied by ocean scientists in the United States (and probably elsewhere as well). Unfortunately little reference was made to this similar work.
The most important payoff from all of the exciting ocean science activity displayed at this conference will be the synthesis of individual observations into a collective understanding of processes worldwide (or at least throughout the United Kingdom). Not everything is the same in different areas, but similarities and differences must be identified for real progress to be made. That identification has yet to take place.
Far outnumbering the normal retinue of established U.K. ocean science community members, this year's conference, by design, attracted a large number of U.K. students and postdocs. Based upon attendance alone, the leading centers of ocean science research in the United Kingdom are Southampton, Bangor, Norwich (University of East Anglia), Liverpool, Birkenhead (Proudman Marine Laboratory), and Plymouth, in that order. Attendees from other places such as Reading, Oxford, Cambridge, and several places in Scotland were also present, thereby indicating a broad spectrum of interest in oceanography in the United Kingdom. Participation from outside the United Kingdom included attendees from Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Norway, and Russia in Europe, and India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Unites States participation was limited to attendance by three members of the ONR Europe office and several coauthors of papers presented by others.
Based upon papers presented at specific sessions, Southampton focuses most on coastal margins and the deep ocean, Bangor on shelf seas and the coastal zone, Norwich on the deep ocean and air–sea interaction, Liverpool on biological oceanography and air–sea interaction, Proudman on shelf seas, and Plymouth on estuaries. Viewed another way, coastal margins are studied more at Southampton and Bangor than elsewhere, surface/air–sea interaction at Norwich and Liverpool, the deep ocean at Norwich and Southampton, shelf seas at Bangor and Proudman, estuaries at Plymouth, and biological oceanography at Liverpool. However, virtually all of the centers had at least one paper in every session and virtually every session had papers by all of the centers. Ten papers were presented by authors from outside of the United Kingdom, mostly from mainland Europe.
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The recent collapse of the lava dome of the underwater volcano Loihi off Hawaii has created a murky crater a half-mile across and a thousand feet deep, according to researchers just back from the site.
The ongoing birth of the next Hawaiian island has given scientists in a research minisub a close-up look at the underwater activity.
The research expedition aboard the RV Ka'imikai-o-Kanaloa (Hawaiian for "investigator god of the sea"), which began on 25 September and was to continue off the big island of Hawaii through 12 October, is sponsored by the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and led by Alexander Malahoff, director of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
"This was a 'Mount St. Helen–sized' volcanic activity," Malahoff said. "Pele's Dome, an area on the southern rim of the volcano that previously had been considered very stable, has simply vanished into a giant pit, which we have named 'Pele's Pit Crater.' What we learn from this event will have profound implications for virtually everything we now know about undersea volcanism—including the effects of volcanic carbon dioxide emissions on climate and the impacts on the microscopic organisms that lie in and near sea floor vents."
In a series of six dives into the volcano aboard the research submersible Pisces V, the NOAA-funded university scientists witnessed dramatic evidence of the impact of swarms of sea floor earthquakes that have struck Loihi since mid-July, including the collapse of giant lava rock formations, continuing subsea tremors and landslides, and the creation of new vents spewing a mix of superheated water, dissolved minerals, and massive mats of chemosynthetic bacteria that limited the scientists' visibility to a meter (3 feet) or less.
Researchers also produced a new sonar map of the volcano and used Pisces V to photograph the new topographic and hydrothermal venting there, sample seawater in and near the vents to measure concentrations of bacteria and minerals, and install sea floor pressure monitoring devices that would signal further collapses of the sea floor and identify locations to safely position other measuring devices for long-term monitoring.
The whole summit of the volcano, about 3,000 feet below sea surface, has collapsed, shaken by swarms of sea floor earthquakes and the withdrawal of magma within the volcano, according to Malahoff, who made the first three of six dives into Loihi in Pisces V during 25–27 September.
"A 4 to 5 square mile area of the sea floor is completely devastated, strewn with bus-sized volcanic boulders, some so precariously perched that we had to be careful not to bump them with the sub. Compared to what I've observed here in past dives, perhaps 325 million cubic yards of volcanic rock slid into the volcano," he explained.
"The currents are very tricky there. Water is slowing down into this newly formed pit on the northern end, where it percolates through the volcano, mixes with minerals and bacterial matter, then rushes out over a lip on the western edge of the volcano," he said. "We had to be careful in the sub not to get sucked down by the inflow on the north side of the volcano and buoyed up by the outflow on the western rim.
"The southern face . . . is the most active area now, but the whole volcano is very unstable. We think the landscape is still changing since vents that we had found in an earlier dive are no longer there. The northern end appears intact—for now."
The water in the volcano is very turbid, clouded by a combination of dissolved minerals and huge floating mats of chemosynthetic bacteria. The bacteria, which feed on dissolved nutrients, have begun colonizing the new hydrothermal vents, according to University of Hawaii at Manoa biologist James Cowen, who also dove into Loihi, as did his assistant, Charles Holoway, on 28 September and 30 September, respectively.
University of Hawaii at Manoa seismologist Fred Duennebier dove into the less active northern end of Loihi on 29 September. He will return to Loihi this winter to establish a permanent undersea geological observatory on the volcano to monitor future volcanic activity.
Submersible pilots Terry Kirby and Allen Wright of the Hawaii Undersea Research Laboratory operated the three-person Pisces V on all dives.
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As federal budgets grow ever tighter, the themes of accountability and efficiency with taxpayers' money are receiving increased attention. By fiscal year 1999, all federal departments and agencies will be required to produce a report assessing progress toward their stated goals, as called for in the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993.
While some federal programs are amenable to judgment by quantitative measures, it is widely recognized that the performance of the basic research enterprise cannot be evaluated so easily. Outcomes and impacts of basic science are frequently not apparent for decades and can come in unexpected ways and unpredictable areas.
With the help of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), the government agencies that perform science have implemented pilot programs to develop metrics and methods for judging the government's performance of fundamental research. The data accumulated so far are described in a July 1996 report by the NSTC's Committee on Fundamental Science, entitled "Assessing Fundamental Science."
According to the report, a central issue is defining a goal against which progress can be measured. Because basic research contributes to myriad national goals in a complex way and over long time periods, the administration has identified an intermediate, or enabling, goal against which to assess progress: U.S. leadership across the frontiers of scientific knowledge. If the United States can remain at the forefront in all areas of science, it will be well positioned to achieve other national goals, such as improved health, environmental preservation, economic prosperity, national security, and quality of life. This objective, according to the report, will provide "the principle yardstick for GPRA assessment strategies for fundamental science programs."
The report admits that assessment techniques for fundamental science are still in their infancy, but concludes from experiences so far that "merit review based on peer evaluation will continue to be the primary vehicle" for assessing excellence. It cautions that preexisting quantitative metrics are not sufficient to measure such aspects of basic science as innovation and warns against indicators that might discourage risk taking and creativity.
The report sets out the following principles for evaluation: clearly defined program goals, criteria that will encourage excellence and responsiveness, performance indicators that are useful and appropriate, avoidance of burdensome and counterproductive assessments, incorporation of merit reviews and peer evaluation, multiple sources and types of evidence, experimentation to develop effective assessment tools, reports that will inform and refine policy development, and results that can be understood by policy makers and the public.
"The passage of GPRA offers scientists and science managers the opportunity to adapt the best planning and management methods to build world-class science programs," the report concludes. The appendixes detail progress in pilot programs underway in NSF, DOE, NIST, NIH, and USDA. The report, which runs 71 pages, can be found on the Internet at www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/ostp/assess/start.htm
(From the American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy No. 140.)
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Although fiscal year 1997 is just a few days old, attention already is shifting to fiscal year 1998. While Congress and the president avoided a budget war that shut down the government a year ago, the path to a balanced budget by 2002 promises to be tortuous, according to budget observers.
Already, there has been talk about the difficulties that lie ahead, with the House Science Committee having devoted 2 days of hearings last summer to outyear (or future) projections for science spending. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) calculated that the Department of Energy's (DOE) General Science (Physics) budget could decline between an inflation-adjusted 12.6% and 20.7% under different scenarios between FY95 and FY2002.
The subject was raised recently at a 2-day meeting of the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee. At this meeting, Office of Energy Research Director Martha Krebs said that "outyears are crucial," calling the administration's projected spending plans "extremely stringent." She warned that funding for the Large Hadron Collider, the Scientific Facilities Initiative, the Human Genome Project, and global warming research cannot be sustained under the projected outyear budgets.
Krebs said that she is working to make this case with the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), but explained that while her message is being heard, nothing has changed officially. The "outyear issue is not resolved," she said, and while guardedly optimistic, she explained that numbers will not start to become available until November or December (if President Clinton is reelected).
On 13 September, 12 university presidents or chancellors wrote to President Clinton to express concern about DOE outyear projections. Undoubtedly, they did so now because Congress—whichever party controls it—is unlikely to increase significantly either a Clinton or Dole administration budget request. Congress generally moves budgets down, not up. These next few months will be critical for the eventual size of the DOE's FY98 budget, with decisions being made behind closed doors at DOE, OMB, and OSTP.
The letter was signed by or on behalf of the presidents or chancellors of Stanford University, University of California, The Johns Hopkins University, University of Colorado, University of Washington, University of New Mexico, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Southern California, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, and Washington University in St. Louis.
The text of the letter read as follows.
"Dear Mr. President:
"We strongly support and commend your efforts to balance the budget while working to protect federal funding for basic research. Your commitment to science is clearly demonstrated in this year's research and development budget. However, as the fiscal year 1998 budget process begins, we are concerned about the long-term budget outlook for basic science, which you have pointed out is the cornerstone of the United States' technological preeminence. And we are particularly anxious about the programs in the Office of Energy Research of the Department of Energy. If the fiscal year 1997 budget's outyear projections for the Office of Energy Research are realized, some of this country's most fundamental and exciting scientific research could be compromised.
"The Office of Energy Research is the largest federal supporter of research in the physical sciences. It builds and operates major research facilities that are essential for work in many fields. These include the particle accelerators used by high-energy and nuclear physicists; the synchroton light sources and research reactors used by biologists, chemists, materials scientists, and condensed-matter physicists; the fusion machines used by plasma physicists; and so on. About 15,000 scientists, mostly from universities, rely on these facilities for their research. You have recognized the importance of the facilities, even in tight budget times, with the 'Facilities Initiative.' This added $100 million to the Office of Energy Research budget to increase available operating time in fiscal year 1996 and again in fiscal year 1997.
"The outyear projections in the fiscal year 1997 budget, however, showed a decline in the Office of Energy Research funding of about 25% in dollar terms by fiscal year 2000, implying a 34% cut in the level of effort, including inflation. Because a large fraction of the Office of Energy Research budget supports its unique research facilities, this budget cut is particularly damaging. If the facilities were maintained, there would be little funding for the university groups to use them. If the facilities were cut back, there would be little opportunity for the university groups to carry out research. In either case, both science and the country's long-term research program would be damaged.
"We very much hope that you can correct this situation as the fiscal year 1998 budget is being formulated and fund the Office of Energy Research at a level that sustains this fundamental branch of scientific inquiry not just in the next fiscal year, but for the future."
(From the American Institute of Physics Bulletin of Science Policy News, No. 141.)
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A second annual "University Night" will be among the featured activities at the 77th Annual Meeting of AMS, to be held in Long Beach, CA, 2–7 February 1997. The activity is scheduled for Sunday evening, 2 February, at 7:30 P.M.
Last year, more than 700 people attended the first "Night," which afforded students, friends, and colleagues an opportunity to meet, socialize and watch the Super Bowl. No such luck for football fans in 1997. Super Bowl XXXI will be played on 26 January in New Orleans.
Colleges and universities are invited to host tables for display of brochures, curricula material, newsletters, and alumni information.
There will be a cash buffet and refreshments as well as planned activities, such as a weather video show. There is a $100 fee for a display table to help defray the cost of setup. Each table will be 8' x 30' and will include appropriate draping.
For further information, contact Jane Dannenberg at 617-227-2425, x200 or by e-mail at jdannen@ametsoc.org
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NOAA will hold a public meeting on Space-Based Data Collection and Location Systems in Silver Spring, MD on 12 and 13 December, according to a Department of Commerce announcement. Providers are invited to brief their capabilities and have exhibits during the first day's session, and a public meeting will take up the second day in which presentations will be transcribed, according to the announcement.
The meeting is being sponsored by DOC's Office of Air and Space Commercialization and is designed to help the government become more informed about the current and planned capabilities of commercial providers.
For further information, contact Dane Clark, NOAA/NESDIS, Direct Services Division, Federal Building 4, Room 0160, 4401 Suitland Road, Suitland, MD 20746. Telephone: 301-457-5678; e-mail: satinfo@nesdis.noaa.gov
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An online database, "Global Population Distribution (1990), Terrestrial Area and Country Name Information on a One by One Degree Grid Cell Basis," is available through the Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC).
The numeric database was contributed by Yi-Fan Li of the Canadian Global Emissions Inventory Centre and prepared by CDIAC's Antoinette Brenkert.
The database contains gridded information of the worldwide distribution of the population for 1990, country-specific information on the percentage of the country's population present in each grid cell, the percentage of a country's total area in a grid cell and the country's percentage of the grid cell that is terrestrial, the latitude and longitude coordinates of each grid cell, a grid code number [which is a translation of the latitude/longitude value and is used in the Global Emission Inventory Activity (GEIA) databases], the country or region's name, and the United Nations' three-digit country code that represents that name. The database, DB-1016, is available via the Internet from CDIAC's anonymous FTP area (cdiac.esd.ornl.gov) and World Wide Web site (http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov). It also is available on a variety of magnetic media. Write Robert Cushman, CDIAC, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Building 1000, Mail Stop 6335, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6335.
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Dr. Robert Watson of the World Bank has been chosen to replace Bert Bolin as chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC was established in 1988 to assess the most up-to-date scientific and technical research in the field of climate change, primarily in support of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate change. The IPCC is cosponsored by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.
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Dr. Henry R. Frey, oceanographer, diver, author, and former academician, has been named director of NOAA's National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) in Silver Spring, MD.
A physical oceanographer by training, Dr. Frey joined NOAA/NESDIS after having served as deputy director of the Office of Oceanic Research Programs in NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR). His activities there included management of the National Sea Grant College Program and the National Undersea Research Program.
Prior to joining NOAA/OAR, Dr. Frey served as chief of the Coastal and Estuarine Oceanography Branch, National Ocean Service (NOS).
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Gregory Mandt, a recent graduate of the Senior Executive Service (SES) Candidate Development Program and former program manager of NOAA's Polar Satellite Program at NESDIS, has been named chief of the Science Division for the NWS Office of Meteorology (OM). He reported to his new position on 30 September.
Prior to NESDIS, Mandt worked for the air force on the DMSP program and other systems development activities.
Mandt will lead the Science Division in the development of requirements, implementation strategies, operational methodologies, and operational assessments for all systems supporting observations, forecasts, dissemination, training, and professional development activities. Also, in conjunction with the principal scientist, he will be responsible for coordinating collaborative interactions with the research community to ensure the latest science supports the entire NWS forecast process and is linked to NWS's efforts to improve weather services for the entire nation.
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Wesley T. Huntress Jr., associate administrator of NASA's Office of Space Science, has announced that he will not fill three key vacant positions at NASA Headquarters until after the presidential election in November.
The vacancies are chief scientist, formerly held by Dr. France Cordova; associate administrator for Mission to Planet Earth, formerly held by Dr. Charles F. Kennel; and Associate Administrator for Life and Microgravity Sciences, formerly held by Dr. Harry C. Holloway.
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Three-time shuttle veteran Curtis L. Brown Jr. (Lt. Col., USAF) will command the crew of STS-85 during Discovery's 11-day mission to study changes in the earth's atmosphere. STS-85 is targeted for a July 1997 launch.
During the flight, the crew will use Discovery's robot arm to deploy the CRISTA-SPAS (Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite) payload for approximately 48 hours of free flight. CRISTA-SPAS consists of three telescopes and four spectrometers that will measure trace gases and dynamics of the earth's middle atmosphere. Two other instruments, also mounted on the pallet, also will study the atmosphere. They are the Middle Atmosphere High Resolution Spectrograph Instrument (MARSHI) will measure hydroxyl and nitric oxide by sensing UV radiation emitted and scattered by the atmosphere, while the Surface Effects Sample Monitor (SESAM) will evaluate the effects of atomic oxygen on optical materials.
STS-85 will mark the fourth in a series of missions designed to study the earth's atmosphere.
Other crew members include Jeffrey S. Ashby (Cmdr., USN), pilot; and N. Jan Davis, Ph.D; Robert L. Curbeam Jr. (Lt. Cmdr., USN); and Stephen K. Robinson, Ph.D., mission specialists.
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The American Meteorological Society is pleased to announce the recipients of the 1997 AMS awards. The medals and citations will be presented at the awards banquet at the 1997 Annual Meeting in Long Beach in February.
The Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal is presented to individuals on the basis of outstanding contributions to the understanding of the structure or behavior of the atmosphere: Dr. Robert E. Dickinson, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Arizona.
The Jule G. Charney Award is granted to individuals in recognition of highly significant research or development achievement in the atmospheric or hydrologic science: Timothy N. Palmer, ECMWF, United Kingdom.
The Verner E. Suomi Award is granted to individuals in recognition of highly significant technological achievement in the atmospheric or related oceanic and hydrologic sciences: Prof. John E. Hart, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado.
The Charles Franklin Brooks Award for Outstanding Services to the Society is presented to an individual who has made important contributions to the Society, usually over a period of years: Robert T. Ryan, NBC TV, Washington, DC.
The Cleveland Abbe Award for Distinguished Service to Atmospheric Sciences by an Individual is presented on the basis of activities that have materially contributed to the progress of the atmospheric sciences or to the application of atmospheric sciences to general, social, economic, or humanitarian welfare: Dr. James R. Mahoney, director, International Technology Corporation.
The Award for Outstanding Achievement in Biometeorology is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the field of biometeorology: Dr. Gerd Jendritzky, director, Zentrale Medizin-Meteorologische Forschungsstelle in Freiburg, Germany.
The Sverdrup Gold Medal is granted to researchers who make outstanding contributions to the scientific knowledge of interactions between the oceans and the atmosphere: Dr. Kristina Katsaros, Department of Oceanography from Space, Plouzané, France, and the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington.
The Henry Stommel Research Award is granted to researchers in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of the understanding of the dynamics and physics of the ocean: Prof. George Veronis, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University.
The Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award is given to individuals in recognition of research achievement that is, at least in part, aerological in character and concerns the observation, theory, and modeling of atmospheric motions on all scales: Dr. Chin-Hoh Moeng, NCAR/Mesoscale and Microscale Meteorology Division.
The Henry G. Houghton Award is given to individuals in recognition of research achievement in the field of physical meteorology, including atmospheric chemistry: Dr. Piers J. Sellers, NASA Johnson Space Center.
The Award for Outstanding Services to Meteorology by a Corporation is granted to corporations for contributions to the advancement of the science or the applications of meteorology: Bernard Schwartz, CEO, Space Systems/Loral.
The Louis J. Battan Author's Award is presented to authors of an outstanding, newly published books on the atmospheric sciences of a technical or nontechnical nature, with consideration to those books that foster public understanding of meteorology: Dr. Jack Fishman, Chemistry and Dynamics Branch, NASA/Langley Research Center;The Weather Revolution.
Special Awards and Citations are presented to individuals or organizations not appropriately recognized by more specifically defined awards and who have made important contributions to the science or practice of meteorology or to the society. These honors are appropriate for individuals employed at other than the professional level—such as cooperative observers and amateurs who have made important contributions to meteorology, or to professional meteorologists for special accomplishments: National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteoological Group, Johnson Space Center; Dr. James W. Purdom, CIRA, Colorado State University; Dr. Paul Menzel, NOAA/NESDIS; and Dr. Dennis Chesters, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
The following two awards are for outstanding service by a weather forecaster.The Charles A. Mitchell Award is for long-term service by people engaged in weather forecasting activities: Kermit Keeter, National Weather Service, Raleigh, NC. The Francis W. Reichelderfer Award is for distinguished public service contributions by personnel of the weather services: Gregory E. Jackson, National Weather Service, Midland, TX.
The Award for an Exceptional Specific Prediction:Ira Kosovitz, lead forecaster, National Weather Service, Portland, OR; Bruce Renneky, lead forecaster, National Weather Service, Seattle, WA; and David R. Willson, journeyman forecaster, National Weather Service, Portland.
Outstanding Contribution to the Advance of Applied Meteorology is granted to individuals for contributions to the direct application of meteorological or climatological knowledge to the fulfillment of industrial or agricultural needs or to the research and development of scientific knowledge that can meet such needs: Leslie R. Lemon, Unisys Corporation.
Outstanding Service by a Broadcast Meteorologist: Thomas E. Skilling III, WGN, Chicago, IL.
The Editor's Award is given to an individual who has contributed a referee's report of outstanding merit on a manuscript submitted for publication in one of the Society's journals. For the Monthly Weather Review: Dr. John W. Nielsen-Gammon, Department of Meteorology, Texas A&M. For the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology: Dr. Walter F. Dabberdt, Atmospheric Technology Division, NCAR. For the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences: Dr. David Raymond, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. For the Journal of Climate: Dr. Clara Deser, CIRA, Colorado State University. For the Journal of Applied Meteorology: Dr. Grant Petty, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Purdue University. For Weather and Forecasting: Dr. Allan H. Murphy, Prediction and Evaluation Systems, Oregon State University. Finally, for the Journal of Physical Oceanography: Dr. Edward C. Monahan, Marine Science Institute, University of Connecticut.
1997 Honorary Members: Dr. Paul Crutzen, Max-Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany; Dr. Mario Molina, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Prof. Robert O. Reid, Department of Oceanography, Texas A&M University; and Dr. Sherwood Rowland, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine.
1997 AMS Fellows: Mr. Raymond J. Ban, The Weather Channel; Dr. Robert Peter Davies-Jones, NOAA, National Severe Storms Laboratory; Prof. Russ E. Davis, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Prof. William Frank, Department of Meteorology, The Pennsylvania State University; Dr. Daniel L. Fread, director, Office of Hydrology, National Weather Servicel; Mr. Todd S. Glickman, assistant executive director, American Meteorological Society; Dr. John L. Hayes, Commander, Air Force Global Weather Central, Offut Air Force Base, NE; Mr. Thomas J. Henderson, Atmospherics, Inc.; Mr. Miles B. Lawrence, National Hurricane Center, Tropical Prediction Center; Dr. Stephen J. Lord, National Center or Environmental Prediction/Environmental Modeling Center; Dr. M. Patrick McCormick, Physics Department, Hampton, University; Prof. Kingtse C. Mo, Climate Prediction Center, National Center for Environmental Prediction; Prof. Edward C. Monahan, Marine Sciences Institution, University of Connecticut; Prof. Leonard J. Pietrafesa, Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University; Dr. Gadikota V. Rao, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Saint Louis University; Dr. John C. Schaake, Office of Hydrology, National Weather Service; Prof. Wayne H. Schubert, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University; Prof. John D. Spengler, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard University; Dr. Joseph J. Tribbia, head, Climate and Global Dynamics Division, NCAR; Prof. John E. Walsh Jr., Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign; Dr. Eric F. Wood, Department of Civil Engineering and Operations Research, Princeton Universityl; and Dr. Dušan S. Zrnic, Doppler Radar and Remote Sensing Research, National Severe Storms Laboratory.
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Sixteen recipients—10 individuals and six institutions—have been named to receive the first Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. The group comprises outstanding individuals and institutions that have encouraged minorities, women, and people with disabilities to earn degrees in science, mathematics, and engineering.
The White House established the awards as one strategy to achieve the goal of developing a pool of highly trained scientists and engineers that reflects the nation's diverse population. The award, to be administered by NSF, includes a $10,000 grant and a presidential commemorative certificate. It is made to individuals who have demonstrated outstanding and sustained mentoring and provided effective guidance to a significant number of students at the K–12, undergraduate, and graduate levels. Institutions that have enabled a substantial number of students from groups traditionally underrepresented in science, mathematics, and engineering to earn degrees are eligible.
This year's individual recipients are Martha G. Absher, Duke University, Durham, NC; Howard G. Adams, National Institute of Mentoring, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA; Diola Bagayoko, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA; Juaquin Bustoz, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ; Carlos G. Gutierrez, California State University, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Janet S. Herman, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA; Susan J.S. Lasser, Clemson University, Clemson, SC; Melvin B. Robin, Science High School, Newark, NJ; Walter S. Smith, University of Akron, Akron, OH; and Richard A. Tapia, Rice University, Houston, TX.
Institutional recipients are Columbia University Double Discovery Center, New York, NY; Dartmouth College Women in Science Project, Hanover, NH; National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME), New York, NY; New Mexico MESA, Inc., Albuquerque, NM; Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology Saturday Academy Program, Portland, OR; and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County, MD.
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