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NOAA has requested a budget of $2.18 billion for FY99, an increase of $107 million over last year's request. However, the request for NESDIS is $180 million greater than 1998. In contrast to other agencies, funding for research in NOAA decreases.
In a National Press Club budget briefing for constituents on 3 February, Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Administrator D. James Baker outlined major points of the budget request, pointing out that the agency was well on its way to achieving a 16% personnel reduction over 1993 by 1999.
A breakdown of the $2,178,404,000 budget by accounts shows that $1,553.6 million or 71.3% of the request is for operations, research, and facilities (ORF); $621.6 million or 28.5% for procurement, acquisition, and construction (PAC); and $3.2 million or 0.2% for other accounts.
A breakdown by line office shows the following.
| Office | FY 98 Req | FY 99 Req. | % of Budget | % Change |
| NWS | $653,045,000 | $655,023,000 | 29.6% | + 0.3% |
| NESDIS | $434,637,000 | $615,128,000 | 27.8% | +41.5% |
| NMFS | $342,299,000 | $351,376,0001 | 5.0% | + 2.9% |
| OAR | $272,366,000 | $251.217,000 | 11.4% | - 7.8% |
| NOS | $239,474,000 | $243,408,000 | 10.9% | + 1.7% |
In addition, the program support budget for 1999 is $68.6 million, and fleet maintenance/facilities is $26 million. Details of the NOAA Budget may be found on NOAA's Home Page at http://www.noaa.gov.
A summary of the programs follows.
National Weather Service
For FY99, the National Weather Service (NWS) requests a total of $655.0 million. This includes a total of $564.4 million for operations, research, and facilities (ORF), a net increase of $44.2 million, and $90.6 million for procurement, acquisition, and construction, a net decrease of $45.6 million.
As part of the 1995 Secretary's Report to Congress on Adequacy of NEXRAD Coverage and Degradation of Weather Services under National Weather Service Modernization for 32 Areas of Concern, the secretary of commerce requested that further studies be performed in Williston, ND; Caribou, ME; Key West, FL; Erie, PA; and South Bend, IN. The Department of Commerce expects to complete its review of the results, recommendations, and any proposed mitigation actions, if warranted, in early FY98. As such, the FY99 budget does not reflect any additional mitigation requirements.
The FY99 net increase of $44.2 million in operations, research, and facilities is divided in five major sections: mandatory pay-related cost increases, staffing and associated costs, nonlabor requirements, major initiatives, and systems acquisition. Included within these groups is the net of changes associated with the costs of the MARDI program being integrated into ongoing operations.
Major pay-related cost increases: NOAA requests an increase of $9.1 million to fund the full cost of the federal pay raise and associated locality pay during FY99.
Staffing and associated costs: NOAA requests an increase of $9.2 million to support a total staffing level of 5039 FTE for the National Weather Service.
Nonlabor requirements: NOAA requests an increase of $10.1 million to support nonlabor requirements.
Major initiatives: NOAA requests an increase of $3.4 million to continue the replacement of the upper-air radiosonde network. An increase of $4.2 million is requested to initiate the national implementation of the Advanced Hydrologic Prediction System, a real-time modeling and data analysis system to improve flood forecasting and water management. NOAA requests a decrease of $0.2 million for data buoy and CMAN operations in FY99. The FY99 request of $1 .7 million provides for the operation of 36 CMAN and data buoy stations that were previously funded by other agencies. NOAA requests a decrease of $1.0 million in ORF to reflect the completion of one-time activities as mandated by Congress during FY98, including installation of NOAA Weather Radio transmitters in Kentucky and southern Indiana and product enhancement activities under the Susquehanna River Basin Flood System.
NOAA requests a total of $38.3 million to operate and maintain the NWS network of 123 NEXRAD units. This request represents a net decrease of $1.2 million from the FY99 base. NOAA requests a total of $7.1 million to operate and maintain the NWS network of 314 ASOS units. This represents a net increase of $1.8 million over the FY99 base. $12.2 million is requested to begin the operations and maintenance phase of the AWIPS program, and $4.6 million is requested for the ORF portion of the Central Computer Facility upgrade.
In addition, under systems acquisition, funded in procurement, acquisition, and construction (PAC), NOAA requests an additional $9.2 million for NEXRAD Acquisition in the PAC account, an increase of $2.8 million over the FY99 base; $3.9 million for ASOS acquisition, a $0.6 million decrease from the FY99 base; $67.7 million for AWIPS acquisition in the PAC account; and a total of $9.9 million for the Central Computer Facility upgrade in the PAC account.
NESDIS
For FY99, the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) requests $615.1 million. This reflects program increases of $185.5 million and program decreases of $8.0 million from FY98 currently available funding. Of the total amount cited above, $514.8 million is requested in the PAC account.
NESDIS requests a decrease of $34.0 million in operations, research, and facilities (ORF) for the converged polar-orbiting satellite system (NPOESS). This decrease reflects the transfer of funding from the ORF to the PAC account for NOAA's share of the converged polar-orbiting satellite system. An increase of $1.1 million provides $51.5 million to maintain ongoing satellite operations and data processing and distribution.
In the PAC account, the FY99 request for POES includes an increase of $77.0 million to cover the continuation of NOAA-K–N prime spacecraft and additional instruments for the European satellites that will provide morning coverage starting early in the next century. Also included in this account is an increase of $64.7 million for NOAA's share of the NPOESS program due to a transfer of the program from ORF to the PAC account, as well as increased sensor development activities. The FY99 request for the GOES program includes an increase of $74.1 million, due primarily to ramp-up of activity in the GOES-N–Q spacecraft acquisition portion of the program.
NOAA requests a total of $44.9 million for Environmental Data Management Systems (funded in ORF) for environmental data and information products, services, and assessments in the atmospheric, marine, solid earth, and solar–terrestrial sciences for all of NOAA's programs. The FY99 request continues to provide global data and information to commerce, industry, agriculture, science and engineering, the general public, and federal, state, and local governments. Also included in this subactivity is NOAA's ongoing effort to rescue aging data and improve user access to all NOAA-maintained environmental data. Within this subactivity, NOAA requests a decrease of $2.5 million to reflect discontinued funding for the regional climate centers. Services provided by the regional climate centers can be provided by the private sector, according to officials.
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)
For FY99, NOAA requests $251.2 million for OAR. This is a net decrease of $21.1 million below FY99 base funding and consists of $12.3 million in program increases and $33.4 million in program decreases.
A total of $123.8 million is requested for climate and air quality research, an increase of $9.0 million over the FY99 base. An increase of $1.0 million is requested for the Health of the Atmosphere Program, and an increase of $1.0 million is proposed for the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program. NOAA requests a $2.0 million increase for the Climate and Global Change Program to expand climate assessment activities, particularly in the area of regional applications.
NOAA requests an increase of $5.0 million for the High Performance Computing and Communication Program to lease or purchase a massively parallel processing (MPP) computer. There are three major developmental activities for this next generation MPP computer: first, the MPP will be used to conduct data sensitivity analyses necessary to test and evaluate various observing system designs; second, software will be developed to ease the conversions of numerical software routines to run on a number of massively parallel, scalable architectures; third, NOAA components will continue to work toward implementing state-of-the-art numerical models for weather and climate prediction and assessment.
NOAA requests $45.0 million for atmospheric programs, a net decrease of $2.5 million from the FY99 base. A $1.0 million increase in NOAA's atmospheric programs will be directed to improved observations and short-term forecasting important to the NDRI, including the interagency U.S. Weather Research Program (USWRP).
NOAA requests an increase of $0.3 million to fund 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week forecaster staffing at the Space Environment Center's (SEC) Space Weather Operations (SWO) in Boulder due to the urgency of meeting increased customer demand occurring as the solar cycle approaches its maximum in the year 2000.
NOAA does not propose additional funding in FY99 for the Mt. Washington National Resource Center in New Hampshire (which was funded at $3.8 million in FY98.)
A total of $69.9 million is requested for the Ocean and Great Lakes Programs, a net decrease of $25.5 million from the FY99 base. An increase of $1.6 million to launch new mariculture efforts to successfully "farm" native commercially fished species is included. OAR requests an increase of $0.4 million as part of a $1.4 million NOAA-wide program to assess hypoxic conditions in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
The Marine Environmental Research request includes $9.7 million in proposed program terminations for programs such as arctic research; tsunamic hazard mitigation; Lake Champlain study; New Hampshire open ocean aquaculture; and the aquatic ecosystem, water quality, atmospheric research, and facilities construction at the Canaaan Valley Institute.
The Sea Grant College Program contains $5.8 million in proposed reductions, reflecting the discontinuation of lower-priority activities. A decrease of $11.4 million is also proposed for the National Undersea Research Program (NURP). The administration supports the NURP program at the $4.5 million level and is recommending no funding for the Odyssey Maritime Center or the Jason Foundation.
OAR is requesting a net decrease of $2.1 million for the acquisition of data in FY99, from $15 million to $12.88 million.
National Ocean Service
The National Ocean Service (NOS) is undergoing organizational changes to strengthen coastal stewardship, enhance research support for NOAA coastal management, and build better linkages among NOAA's coastal programs. This includes building a strong science foundation and improving the links between NOAA's coastal science efforts and coastal management responsibilities. Several important steps toward this goal are reflected in the FY99 base including the following transfers into NOS: the Charleston Southeast Laboratory from the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the Coastal Ocean Program and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory from OAR, and the Beaufort and Oxford Laboratories from NMFS. These facilities will help provide NOS with the regional presence necessary to conduct coastal research and form partnerships with governmental and nongovernmental stewards.
For FY99, NOAA requests $243.4 million for the National Ocean Service, a net increase of $3.9 million over the FY99 base. This change consists of program increases of $26.4 million and program decreases of $22.5 million.
The FY99 proposed appropriation establishes authority to collect fees to begin to offset costs associated with providing navigation services. A proposal for the fees is being developed in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard. The $2.5 million in estimated fees collected will be used to offset the overall NOAA Budget Authority and Appropriation in FY99.
NOS requests $68.8 million, a net decrease of $7.3 million, for Navigation Services for FY99. In FY98, $13.9 million was appropriated for contract support to acquire hydrographic survey data to reduce the survey backlog. The FY99 budget proposes to reduce that amount by $5.4 million. Of the remaining $8.5 million, $5.5 million will be used for contracts to acquire hydrographic data, and $3.0 million will be used for contract support for digital nautical chart products.
A decrease of $1.5 million is proposed for terminations in the geodesy program to eliminate funding for the South Carolina geodetic survey project and the National Height Modernization Study.
NOS requests a net decrease of $1.4 million from the FY99 base of $81.8 million for ocean resources conservation and assessment for FY99. This includes increases of $11.6 million and decreases of $13.0 million.
NOAA requests total funding for GLERL of $6.0 million, a decrease of $0.8 million from FY99 base funding, for the reduction of Great Lakes nearshore research and the zebra mussel research conducted by GLERL.
The Ocean Assessment Program includes a net decrease of $2.2 million, which is made up of six increases and six decreases.
An increase of $1.9 million is requested to continue NOAA participation in implementing the National Pfiesteria Research and Monitoring Strategy. An increase of $1.0 million is requested for the Coastal Resource Coordination Program to conduct natural resource protection and restoration activities. An increase of $1.9 million is requested to fund additional contributions to the administration's South Florida Interagency Ecosystem Restoration Initiative. An increase of $1.0 million is requested to support research on hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico where a persistent dead zone develops seasonally, significantly threatening nationally important fisheries.
An increase of $1.4 million is requested to support activities proposed under the Natural Disaster Reduction Initiative to expand work with coastal states to develop coastal risk atlases and provide new remote sensing data. NOAA proposes a decrease of $5.9 million for the cooperative agreement between NOAA and the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology. A decrease of $3.8 million is proposed for the NOAA Coastal Services Center, including a $1.5 million decrease for coastal hazards research and applications of defense technologies for environmental monitoring, and termination of $0.3 million for the one-time provision of a grant to implement the Charleston Harbor Project. A decrease of $1.0 million to terminate support for the Commission on Ocean Policy, a one-year project, is proposed, as well as a decrease of $1.0 million to terminate the one-time support for coral reef studies in the Pacific and Southeast regions. Within the damage assessment line item, an increase of $1.5 million is requested for the Damage Assessment and Restoration Program. Within the coastal ocean science area, NOAA requests an increase of $0.6 million for research through the multiagency ECOHAB program.
NOS requests a net increase of $12.7 million, to $66.5 million, for ocean and coastal management, composed of increases totaling $14.8 million and decreases totaling $2.1 million. NOAA requests an increase of $6.0 million to be provided to states through Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) enhancement grants to enhance and implement the approved Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control program. NOAA proposes a decrease of $1.3 million for the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) to reduce funding provided to existing reserve sites. An increase of $5.0 million for the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program is proposed for NOS. To facilitate tracking all activities and accounting with the Coastal Zone Management Program, funding obligated in the Coastal Zone Management Fund (CZMF) is now shown under the coastal management subactivity. An increase of $3.8 million in ORF is requested to reflect reduced funding availability in the CZMF. Finally, NOAA proposes a decrease of $0.8 million for the National Marine Sanctuary Program to reduce system-wide planning costs.
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Reflecting the current emphasis on increasing funding for research in science and technology, the administration has requested $3.8 billion for the National Science Foundation for FY99, a 10% increase over FY98. The request provides over $2.1 billion for investments in research project support, a 12% increase from FY98 ($1,898 million to $2,126 million). Education and training across the foundation would increase by 10.7% to a level of $737 million (from $666 million in FY98.) Administration and management would go up from $167 to $175 million, an additional 5.3%, and research facilities would increase from $699 million to $737 million, or up 5.4%.
In the area of geosciences (GEO), NSF proposes a budget of $507.3 million, an 11.5%, or $52.2 million, increase over FY98. Within GEO, atmospheric sciences proposed funding increased by 10.7%, from $153.82 million to $170.22 million, an increase of $16,400,000; earth sciences by 12.2%, from $95.13 million to $106.7 million, an increase of $11.57 million; and ocean sciences by 11.8%, from $206.16 million to $230.39 million.
The budget request includes an increase of almost $78 million for knowledge and distributed intelligence (KDI), which focuses on computers and communications to include research on networking, learning, and intelligent systems and new challenges to computation, including next-generation Internet and the very high speed backbone network service.
The budget adds $88 million for life and earth's environment (LEE), which encompasses research on life in extreme environments, urban communities, environmental technologies, global change, integrated environmental research challenges, and environmental observatories. Within LEE, funding for the U.S. Global Change Research Program increases by 12% with emphasis on climate modeling, earth system history, human dimensions of global change, and global ecology.
Educating for the future (EFF), which is intended to meet the challenge of educating students for the twenty-first century, would increase its funding by $107 million and includes $25 million to initiate a program on research on education and training technology, a joint research initiative with the U.S. Department of Education; $28 million increase for a joint effort with the U.S. Department of Education in K–8 mathematics education, focusing on teacher training and standards-based instructional materials; $9 million to initiate a children's research initiative that focuses on children's cognitive development; and increases for programs that stimulate the integration of research and education. Significant increases include 14.5% for the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program; 16% increase for the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program; and a nearly 35% increase for the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program.
Other highlights of the NSF budget include $80 million for investments in multidisciplinary arctic research and education across the foundation to expand logistical capabilities, research platforms, and facilities; extend education and outreach activities; make connections to Year of the Ocean activities; increase scientific cooperation at international levels; and further development of research programs on the human dimensions of global change.
The request includes $94 million for major research equipment, which will support initial investments in the construction of detectors for the large hadron collider; the ongoing modernization of South Pole Station; continued development of the prototype for the Millimeter Array; construction of the Polar Cap Observatory; and reconfiguration of polar support aircraft.
NSF will provide $40 million to continue investments in the Plant Genome Research Program, begun in FY98; $34 million (an increase of 13%) to facilitate collaborative research activities between academe and industry through the Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) program; and $50 million for EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research).
The breakdown of research and related activities is as follows.
| Research and related activities | $2.85 billion | +11.8% |
| Biological sciences | $417.82 million | +12.7% |
| Computer and information science and engineering | $331.14 million | +16.5% |
| Engineering | $400.55 million | +11.9% |
| Geosciences (includes atmospheric, earth, and ocean sciences) | $507.31 million | +11.5% |
| Mathematical and physical sciences | $792.03 million | +10.7% |
| Social, behavior, and economic sciences | $150.26 million | +15.0% |
| Polar programs | $244.96 million | +7.2% |
Atmospheric Sciences
The FY99 budget request for the atmospheric sciences subactivity (ATM) is $170.22 million, an increase of $16.4 million, or 10.7%, over the FY98 current plan of $154.82 million. The budget for atmospheric sciences research support increases from $92.99 million in FY98 to $102.44 million in FY99, a 10.2% increase. The National Center for Atmospheric Research budget increases from $60.83 million in FY98 to $67.78 million in FY99, an increase of 11.4%.
The FY99 budget request of $102.44 million for atmospheric sciences research support provides funding for individual and group research projects in physical meteorology, large-scale dynamic meteorology, experimental meteorology, climate dynamics, atmospheric chemistry, aeronomy, magnetospheric physics, and solar–terrestrial relations.
Highlights for FY99 include
The budget proposes $67.78 million for NCAR. NCAR scientists and facilities will be major participants in the USWRP and NSWP activities, in addition to continuing ongoing research activities. In addition, the primary building housing NCAR will begin a 3-year refurbishment. FY99 support for the refurbishment will be at least $2.0 million.
Ocean Science (OCE)
Within OCE, ocean sciences research support was increased 13.7% to $127.5 million, oceanographic facilities were increased 9% (total $56.9 million) and the Ocean Drilling program 10%, for a total of $45.9 million, giving the Ocean Sciences Division budget an increase of $24.23 million and a total budget request of $230.4 million.
Polar Programs
In FY99 polar programs requests an increase of 7.2%, to $244.96 million. Recognizing the importance of the Arctic to studies of resource development and global phenomena such as climate change and ocean circulation, NSF's FY99 request includes more than $80 million for investments in Arctic research and education across the foundation. Within this amount, funding for arctic logistics more than doubles.
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The NASA FY99 budget request is for $13.4 billion, a decrease of $168.5 million from the 1998 appropriation.
NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin outlined details of the budget request during a briefing at NASA Headquarters on 2 February. In his presentation, Goldin cited his agency for its reduction in personnel, lower spacecraft costs, improvements in launch schedules, its ability to meet its commitments, its greater concentration on science, and its hopes for the future of space exploration.
A budget summary shows the following, in millions of dollars.
| Activity | FY98 | FY99 | Inc/Dec |
| Human Space Flight | $5,679.5 | $5,511.0 | -$168.5 |
| Science, Aeronautics, and Technology | $5,552.0 | $5,457.4 | -$ 94.6 |
| Mission Support | $2,388.2 | $2,476.6 | $88.4 |
| Inspector General | $18.3 | $20.0 | $1.7 |
Under the Space Station Program, the FY99 request was for $2,270.0 million, or $231.3 million less than 1998. The United States–Russia cooperative program, which received $50 million in the 1998 appropriation, was zeroed out in the 1999 budget. Space shuttle operations, safety, and performance upgrades are budgeted for $3,059 million in FY99, compared to $2,992.8, or $136.2 million more than the previous year. In payload and utilizations operations, the FY99 request is for $182.0 million. That compares with $205.4 for 1998 or a decrease of $23.4 million.
In the science, aeronautics and technology area, the breakdown is as follows.
| Activity | FY98 | FY99 | Inc/Dec |
| Space science | $1,983.8 | $2,058.4 | $74.6 |
| Life and microgravity sciences and applications | $214.2 | $242.0 | $27.8 |
| Earth science | $1,367.3 | $1,372.0 | $4.7 |
Under aeronautics and space transportation technology, the breakdown is as follows.
| Activity | FY98 | FY99 | Inc/Dec |
| Aero research and technology | $907.1 | $786.0 | -$121.1 |
| Advanced space trans. | $417.1 | $388.6 | -$28.5 |
| Commercial tech prog. | $146.7 | $130.4 | -$16.3 |
| Mission comm. services | $395.8 | $380.0 | -$15.8 |
| Academic programs | $120.0 | $100.0 | -$20.0 |
Under mission support, the breakdown is the following.
| Activity | FY98 | FY99 | Inc/Dec |
| Safety, mission assurance, engineering, and advanced concepts | $37.8 | $35.6 | -$2.2 |
| Space comm. services | $194.2 | $177.9 | -$17.2 |
| Research and program management | $2,033.8 | $2.099.0 | $65.2 |
| Facilities construction | $18.3 | $20.0 | $1.7 |
Of the nine space centers and headquarters, only one facility, Dryden Flight Research Center, CA, is proposed to achieve an increase in the distribution of work years by institution in FY99. The proposed distribution shows the following.
| Facility | FY98 | FY99 | Inc/Dec |
| Johnson Space Center | 3,048 | 2,796 | -252 |
| Kennedy Space Center | 1,805 | 1,701 | -104 |
| Stennis Space Center | 223 | 214 | - 9 |
| Ames Research Center | 1,417 | 1,409 | - 8 |
| Dryden Flight Research Center | 584 | 586 | + 2 |
| Langley Research Center | 2,426 | 2,339 | - 87 |
| Lewis Research Center | 2,022 | 1,947 | - 75 |
| Goddard Space Flight Center | 3,300 | 3,235 | - 65 |
| Headquarters | 1,067 | 965 | -102 |
The Inspector General's office is proposed to increase its staff from its 1998 level of 198 work years to 210 work years in FY99.
In pursuit of his "faster, better, cheaper" theme, Goldin pointed out that average spacecraft development costs had decreased from $590 million in the 1990–94 time period to $175 million in the 1995–99 period and are projected to drop to $70 to $85 million in the 2000–04 period. Average development time dropped from 8.3 years in the 1990–94 period to 4.4 years in the 1995–99 time period and is projected to drop to 3.1 years in 2000–04. While those reductions have or will have taken place, he explained, the annual flight rate of an average of two launches a year in the 1990–94 period has improved to nine in the 1995–99 time frame and is projected to jump to 16 in the 2000–04 time period.
Between FY93 and FY97, he said, NASA realized a 14% increase in number of flights, a 9% increase in primary payloads, a 52% increase in the number of days in orbit, and a 133% increase in the number of crew days in orbit.
With personnel restructuring, Goldin explained, the agency has made great progress "without a forced layoff" of staff. The comparisons he listed show the following.
| Staff | FY93 | December 1997 | FY2000 |
| Civil Servants | 24,900 | 19,180 | 17,818 |
| Supervisor Ratio | 5.4:1 | 9.6:1 | 11:1 |
| Headquarters Staff | 2,200 | 1,022 | 954 |
| Service Support Contractors | 1,344 | 610 | 600 |
Goldin praised NASA's civil servants and the contractor personnel for their efforts, pointing out that because of them NASA has been able to meet its commitments to the American people.
He said 1998 will mark the start of work by the United States and 15 other nations to assemble the International Space Station,"the largest peacetime scientific and technological project," ever. He said the Pathfinder Mission to Mars has opened our eyes to new visions of space exploration, adding that plans are moving ahead on the Origins Initiative to launch the first mission to Jupiter's moon, Europa. Recent images from the Galileo spacecraft, he explained, have strongly suggested that Europa once had, and may still have, liquid water beneath its icy crust. The Europa mission is expected to launch in 2003 and will measure the thickness of the surface ice.
In the earth sciences area, Goldin said NASA is developing a series of spacecraft, airborne instruments, and ground-based programs to study our planet. Currently, he said, operating spacecraft include the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) Probe, the TOPEX/Poseidon studies mission, and the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). Ongoing data from the Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWIFS), which measures ocean productivity, and the Optical Transient Detector, which studies lightning, are obtained with data purchase agreements. Additionally, instruments aboard aircraft are measuring atmospheric chemistry, biomass burning, and land surface changes.
In 1998, he explained, the Earth Observing System (EOS) program will begin with the launch this summer of the EOS AM-1 mission and the subsequent launch of the Landsat 7 satellite.
EOS, the largest element of NASA's Earth Science enterprise, has a FY99 proposed budget of $659.1 million. The EOS Data and Information System (EOSDIS) will operate the EOS spacecraft and acquire and distribute the data. Data interactivity relationships with other nations, including Canada, Japan, Russia, Israel, Australia, and several European nations, are under development. Currently, there are more than 1700 earth science–related scientific activities being funded under NASA's Earth Science Program. Approximately 900 are carried out by universities, 100 by national research laboratories, and 700 by federal agencies in 45 of the 50 states.
This year's budget proposal also includes $85.9 million for earth probes; $70.5 million for operations, data retrieval, and storage; and $5 million for NASA's contribution to the national Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program, which connects scientific discovery with the education process by linking K–12 schoolchildren, teachers, and scientists from around the world together to make earth-related measurements and share the resulting data.
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The Department of Energy (DOE) FY99 budget request totals $18 billion, a 9% increase over the FY98 appropriation.
Under the science section of the budget, a total of $2.48 billion is requested, with funding for the major program areas proposed as follows.
Biological and environmental research, $393 million, a decrease of $13 million or 4%; high energy physics, $591 million, an increase of $11 million or 1.7%; nuclear physics, $333 million, an increase of $12 million or 3.7%; basic energy sciences, $863 million, an increase of $196 million or 29%; computational and technology research, $161 million, an increase of $10 million or 6.6%; multiprogram energy labs (facilities support), $22 million, down slightly from FY98, and university and science education, $15 million (this program was not funded in FY98).
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President Clinton has proposed a $806.9 million FY99 budget for the U.S. Geological Survey, a $47.7 million increase over the FY98 enacted level. The budget includes $3 million for the Global Seismographic Network and $6 million for the extramural research program of NEHRP, both the same amounts appropriated last year.
Program increases include $15 million for the Disaster Information Network, $2.5 million for the EROS Data Center's archiving capacity, $16.5 million for the Clean Water and Watershed Restoration Initiative, $11 million for species and habitat research, and $7 million for increased public access to water quality information. The increases are partially offset by program decreases, including $4 million in the mapping program, $3.5 million in coastal and marine geology, $1.7 million in national cooperative geologic mapping, $1.2 million in water resource investigations, and $2.3 million in biological research.
The Environmental Protection Agency has changed its budget presentation this year. Formerly, requests were listed by offices. Now they are listed in terms of goals and objectives. Sound science is listed as one goal, but it is unclear exactly what is contained under this subject, according to the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education in Washington.
EPA is requesting $336.8 million for sound science activities in FY99, a decrease of $37.9 million or 9.4% from comparable activities in FY98. The request for Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program and academic fellowships is not yet known, according to consortium officials.
In the Department of Defense, the president's budget would provide a total of $1.11 billion for Defense 6.1 (basic research) programs in FY99, including programs funded under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as Navy, Army, and Air Force research programs. This represents an increase of 6.6% over the final funding level for FY98. For Defense 6.2 (applied research) programs, the administration requests a total of $3.15 billion, an increase of 5% over FY98.
Within the defense-wide account, the budget would provide $338 million for basic research, an increase of 3.7%, and $1.53 billion for applied research, an increase of 1.9%. Within the Department of the Navy, the budget would provide $363 million for basic research, an increase of 7.1%, and $525 million for applied research, an increase of 6.3%. Within the Department of the Army, the budget would provide $201 million for basic research, an increase of 11% and $511 million for applied research, a decrease of 21%. Within the Department of the Air Force, the budget would provide $209 million for basic research, an increase of 6.6% and $582 million for applied research, an increase of 2.5%.
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Following the Kyoto Agreement of December 1997, the administration is proposing a program of tax cuts and research funding aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The total amounts to $6.3 billion over five years: $2.7 billion in new R&D and $3.6 billion in tax credits for fuel efficiency.
The R&D funding for FY99 is $474 million. This initiative increases federal support for research in DOE, EPA, and other agencies; it aims to spur research on technologies that will lead to greater energy efficiency and reduced carbon emissions from the most carbon-intense sectors of the economy. Carbon reduction, removal, and sequestration technologies are also included. Advanced technologies in appliances, home designs, automobiles, trucks, and industry can increase productivity and lower costs while leading to sharp reductions in the production of greenhouse gases and other emissions.
Research partnerships will be expanded for key renewable technologies such as wind, photovoltaics, geothermal, biomass, and hydropower to accelerate price reductions and improve performance. The FY99 budget proposes a 43% increase in solar and renewable energy R&D at the Department of Energy, a $117 million increase.
A total of $42 million in new research at the Departments of Energy, Agriculture, and Commerce will explore technologies to remove carbon dioxide from combustion gases and store carbon in forms that do not enter the atmosphere.
The tax package includes tax credits of $3,000–$4,000 for consumers who purchase highly fuel-efficient vehicles. Another tax provision provides a 15% credit (up to $2,000) for purchases of rooftop solar equipment. The taxes also include a 20% credit for purchasing energy-efficient building equipment, a $2,000 credit for purchasing energy-efficient new homes, an extension of the wind and biomass tax credit, and a 10% investment for the purchase of combined heat and power systems. The total would be $3.6 billion in tax credits for fuel efficiency.
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The administration's budget includes approximately $14.5 billion for university-based research in FY99, up 6% ($0.8 billion) over FY98 levels. The budget also includes more than $2 billion for the operation and construction of scientific facilities that are used heavily by the academic community. Most of the increase for university-based research is included in the budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where university-based research would grow by 12% and 9%, respectively. This growth rate is faster than the overall growth rate for these agencies.
Among the highlights of the budget are the following.
National Science Foundation: University-based research is projected to increase by 12%. NSF supports almost half of the nonmedical basic research conducted at academic institutions.
Department of Agriculture (USDA): the National Research Initiative competitive grants program increases by 34%, from $97 million to $130 million.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration: NASA will invest approximately $810 million in university-based research, with large increases for space science research.
Department of Defense: The academic research budget is approximately $1.2 billion. DOD supports university-based research in computer science, math, and engineering.
Department of Energy (DOE): Academic research in FY99 is up from $598 million to $617 million in physics, environmental science, computer science, engineering, materials science, and chemistry. DOE also provides $1.1 billion for the construction and operation of large-scale scientific facilities used by the academic community, which is not included in the academic R&D total.
National Institutes of Health (NIH): University-based research supported by NIH is expected to grow by 9%.
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Over the past five years, natural disasters have cost the United States an average of $1 billion per week. These costs are rising rapidly because of increased urbanization and complexity of our massively integrated infrastructure.
Five federal agencies are participating in a coordinated natural disaster reduction initiative that focuses on
In FY99, the Department of Commerce, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, and the National Science Foundation have coordinated their budget initiatives through CENR's subcommittee on natural disaster reduction. Each agency has identified efforts that are likely to give the greatest immediate payback.
This includes a $50 million FEMA budget request for the mitigation fund, including $30 million for the Disaster Resistant Communities Initiative; $15 million for the USDA Forest Service and the Department of Interior for prescribed burns, on top of a $40 million increase in FY98; $15 million for the U.S. Geological Survey for the Global Disaster Information Network (GDIN) requested by Vice President Gore to integrate federal disaster information; $49.5 million for USGS for real-time warnings of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as well as an upgrade of the river gauging network; $72 million for the Department of Commerce, including $55 million for NOAA, $20 million for the Economic Development Administration for rebuilding local economies after disasters and for mitigation planning, and $3 million for NIST for wind, seismic, and fire engineering; and $17.4 million for the National Science Foundation's National Space Weather Program and U.S. Weather Research Program.
Reducing losses from natural hazards involves integrating agency activities. For example, NOAA, the Office of Naval Research, NSF, and NASA are working with the private sector and research universities to improve forecasts of hurricanes, winter storms, and floods through the U.S. Weather Research Program. USGS provides river stage and discharge data to NOAA for flood forecasts and to other federal, state, and local agencies for flood control and other emergency operations. FEMA leads the earthquake hazard reduction efforts with USGS, NIST, and NSF as principal Federal partners. USDA and the Department of the Interior cooperate with universities, NASA, the Department of Energy, and state counterparts, as well as other national and international organizations to mitigate the threat of wildfire. NIST adds fire protection and control technology. USGS, NOAA, and the FAA work together to deal with volcanic ash clouds that might affect aircraft. The Department of the Interior works with state and local agencies to provide historical and real-time data to assess drought conditions and works with USDA, SBA, and FEMA to implement national drought policy. The Department of Defense, NOAA, NASA, USGS, DOE, and NSF are working together to reduce the danger of solar flares to communications satellites, GPS navigation systems, and electrical utilities. NIST, NOAA, USGS, and NSF work with university researchers and the engineering community to characterize wind, seismic, and fire hazards and improve building practice, codes, and lifeline engineering.
Budgeted expenditures among the federal agencies for warnings, emergency response, and mitigation are approximately $4 billion a year. A comparable amount, which varies year to year but averages another $4 billion a year, is currently associated with unbudgeted liabilities. The funds requested amount to only 2.3% of annual expenditures for disasters and less than 0.3% of the annual costs of disasters to the United States. The proposed efforts would reduce loss of life and economic impact and, supporters say, would pay for themselves in a few years.
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Both House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) and Ranking Committee Minority Member George E. Brown Jr. (D-CA) have applauded President Clinton for the support of science in his State of the Union address and budget presentation.
"I am pleased that he has joined the Congress in recognizing the need to adequately invest in scientific research," said Sensenbrenner in response to the State of the Union message. "However, my optimism is tempered by the fact that President Clinton acknowledged the need to invest in a lot of programs in his Tuesday speech."
Brown said, "More and more people have come to understand how important these programs are to our future. Today, I am pleased to report that the president has asked for increases in civilian programs that amount to a 6% increase of 1999."
He said also that the president's budget message calling for the establishment of a research fund for America "shows the most promise for bringing long-term returns to the American economy. This fund, which includes programs from NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, Commerce, and EPA, shows an 8% increase for 1999 and a 32% increase for 2003 (taking 1998 as the base year)."
"You have to be an optimist to be a scientist," Sensenbrenner said in a speech before the URA Council of Presidents annual meeting. "You must be optimistic to put a man on the moon, cure a disease, or develop the fastest computer. Today, the scientific community has good reason to be optimistic about the future of federal funding for science.
". . . President Clinton called for . . . the largest funding increase in history for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute.
"In fiscal year 1998, I led the fight for scientific funding that resulted in increases above the president's request in several important accounts.
"While I support increasing the federal budget for science, I believe that new money must be justified with a coherent, long-term science policy that is consistent with the need for a balanced budget. The historic balanced budget agreement reached last year puts limits on discretionary funding between now and the year 2002. Within this time frame, any large increases in federal R&D will be difficult and can only come at the expense of other popular federal programs."
In offering his comments, Brown said, "Almost 50 years ago, Sir Winston Churchill described the defeat of Rommel in the Battle for Egypt as, 'This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.' I believe this budget marks the end of the beginning of this long fight.
"It is said that success has a thousand fathers. I understand that some of my Republican colleagues who voted for that original Republican budget and subsequent science committee authorizations that were very hard on many, many programs are now claiming that they saved these programs and are chiding the president for being late to the party. Well, that isn't the way I remember it, but if they have found religion, we are always happy to welcome them into the faith."
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is funding a wide range of biological and weather research into how the current El Niño will affect conditions in U.S. coastal regions this winter and spring, the Department of Commerce agency announced.
"NOAA will award $2.1 million over the coming year to university, NOAA, and other government agency scientists to study unusual environmental conditions or impacts associated with El Niño, especially those having identifiable social or economic impacts," said D. James Baker, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator.
Daily measurements of ocean temperatures by NOAA's network of environmental satellites and climate buoys in the subtropical Pacific Ocean show that the current El Niño is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, El Niño event ever. But while this El Niño will certainly continue to have an enormous impact on the United States over the coming months, particularly as its effects move northward along the U.S. Pacific coast, scientists are not sure exactly what these impacts will be.
Will coastal storms be more intense and frequent? Will populations of fish be helped or hurt? Will coastal erosion be worse than normal, and by how much? What are El Niño's effects on coral reefs, and can we differentiate between El Niño's effects and local impacts on corals, such as pollution? The research NOAA is funding should go a long way toward answering these and other questions so important to American coastal residents and the nation as a whole.
The following are the funded research projects, listed by principal investigator.
A. Alldredge and M. Brzezinski, University of California, Santa Barbara, Impact of El Niño on Linkages between Water Column Processes and Sedimentation in Santa Barbara Basin.
J. Bane, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Synoptic Observations of the Coastal Atmosphere in the Southern California Bight during a Large El Niño Event.
M. Bushnell, NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, Drifting Buoy Arrays in U.S. Coastal and Offshore Regions.
D. Crocker, D. Costa, and B. Le Boeuf, University of California, Santa Cruz, The Effect of the 1997–1998 El Niño on Foraging Behavior and Reproduction of Northern Elephant Seals.
D. Croll, University of California, Santa Cruz, El Niño Impacts on Trophic Links in Monterey Bay.
T. Hayward, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Technical Support for Monthly CalCOFI Monitoring Surveys.
A. W. Kendall and J. M. Knapp, NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Impacts of the 1997–1998 El Niño on the Ecosystem of the Coastal Gulf of Alaska: Augmentation of the Ongoing FOCI Monitoring.
O. Persson, University of Colorado, Airborne Measurement of Air–Sea Fluxes in the Eastern Pacific Ocean during an El Niño Winter.
F. Ralph, NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory, Improved Measurement and Prediction of Severe Coastal Weather in Winter Storms in California during the 1997–1998 El Niño.
D. Rogers, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, The Response of the Coastal Ocean and Atmosphere to an ENSO Event.
M. Shapiro, NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory, Enhancement of Upper-Air Measurements during El Niño for Research and Operations.
J. D. Schumacher and P. J. Stabeno, NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, Impacts of the 1997–1998 El Niño on the Ecosystem of the Coastal Gulf of Alaska: Augmentation of the Ongoing FOCI Monitoring.
P. Smith, G. Moser, and J. Hunter, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, CalCOFI, Monitoring of the 1997–98 El Niño: Technical Support for Measuring Reproductive Response of Fishes.
W. Sydeman and N. Nur, Point Reyes Bird Observatory; D. Bertram, Simon Fraser University; V. Byrd, U.S. F.W.S.; S. Hatch, U.S.G.S.; J. Parrish, University of Washington; and E. Murphy, University of Alaska at Fairbanks, El Niño 1997–1998 and Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Productivity for the California Current, Gulf of Alaska, and Bering Sea Coastal Marine Ecosystems.
M. Tegner, P. Dayton, and J. Largier, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Nutrient Effects on Primary and Secondary Productivity in Kelp Forest Communities.
J. Wilczak, NOAA Environmental Technology Laboratory, Upper-Ocean Thermal Structure and its Influence on Land Falling Storms.
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NOAA'S National Climatic Data Center has developed a page on the World Wide Web that covers the climatology for the Winter Olympics now going on in Nagano, Japan.
The climatology answers questions such as, how cold is it generally in Nagano? Does it snow there in February? The Web page includes graphs, tables, narrative information and additional links. The address is http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/reports/olympics98/nagano.html.
Satellite imagery of Japan, updated daily around noon EST, is available at http://www.ceos.noaa.gov/SPECIAL/SNOW/olympic.gif.
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The sun's 11-year solar cycle may be the driving force behind periodic changes in temperatures and pressure heights of the earth's lower stratosphere from pole to pole, according to a new analysis presented 7 February at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Philadelphia.
Harry van Loon, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, CO, and Karin Labitzke of the Free University of Berlin (FUB) had previously found that a 10–12-year oscillation in the stratosphere of the Northern Hemisphere corresponded to four 11-year solar cycles, beginning in 1958. Now, with the help of a vast data reanalysis conducted by NCAR and the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, the two researchers have revealed a mirror image of the solar–stratosphere correlation in the Southern Hemisphere, spanning three solar cycles from 1968 to 1996. NCAR's primary sponsor is the National Science Foundation.
Solar activity cycles from one minimum to the next about every 11 years. During the intervening maximum, explosive activity on the sun intensifies, radiative output increases, and more sunspots are visible on the solar surface. As the measure of this cycle, van Loon and Labitzke used the flux in the 10.7-cm radio waveband, an objectively observed quantity highly correlated with the 11-year cycle. They compared these radio data with FUB's daily analyses of the stratosphere. The results show a strong correlation between the solar cycle and the 10–12-year oscillation of the lower stratosphere's mean temperatures and constant pressure heights above sea level.
"The emergence of a correlation in the Southern Hemisphere similar to that in the Northern Hemisphere has increased our confidence that the solar–stratospheric relationship is more than a statistical coincidence," says van Loon.
For many years scientists have tried to find an earthly link to the sun's 11-year cycle. Previous attempts have turned up humorous correspondences to the number of Republicans in the House of Representatives and the length of women's skirts. Until van Loon and Labitzke's research on the stratosphere, even serious scientific stabs at the problem eventually proved false. A solid link takes on added significance now as scientists search for a clear sun–earth connection for computer models used to predict climate change.
"The role of the sun in climate change is still an unsolved problem," says van Loon. "Any relationship between changes in solar output and what happens here on earth is important for understanding long-term climate"
The sun's output has varied about 0.1% over one solar cycle during the past several decades. Over centuries, however, larger variations may occur. For example, an extended quiet period on the sun may have chilled the earth during the Little Ice Age between the mid-1550s and mid-1800s. During the long, severe winters and short, wet summers of that period, alpine glaciers advanced down river canyons, Dutch canals froze over, and farming became difficult farther north.
Van Loon and Labitzke found that the highest correlations of the stratosphere's pressure heights with the solar cycle are concentrated in two well-defined latitude zones, which move from lower latitudes in winter to higher latitudes in summer, thus tracking the sun's interseasonal journey.
The annual mean temperatures of the lower stratosphere are well correlated with the solar cycle in the summer of either hemisphere but are only weakly correlated in winter. That is, during the summer months in either hemisphere, the average temperatures of the lower stratosphere rise and fall with the waxing and waning of the sun's energy output over its 11-year cycle.
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Stronger hurricanes may accompany global warming, according to a study released by scientists at the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study used an operational hurricane prediction model that simulates realistic hurricane structures.
Most hurricanes do not reach their maximum potential intensity before weakening over land or cooler ocean regions. However, those storms that do approach their upper-limit intensity are expected to be slightly stronger in the warmer climate due to the higher sea surface temperatures. A 5%–12% increase in wind speeds for the strongest hurricanes is projected if tropical sea surfaces warm by 4°F, according to the study in the 13 February issue of Science by Thomas Knutson, Robert Tuleya, and Yoshio Kurihara, all meteorologists at NOAA's Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, located in Princeton, NJ.
The NOAA scientists simulated samples of hurricanes from both the present-day climate and from a greenhouse-gas warmed climate by linking information from their laboratory's global climate model into a high-resolution hurricane prediction model. The hurricane prediction model is the one currently used at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction, the nation's center for computer-based weather prediction.
In the study, only storms for the northwest tropical Pacific near the Philippine Islands were examined. The strongest typhoons in the present climate are found in this region. Possible changes in the frequency or location of occurrence of hurricanes were not addressed in the study.
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NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have awarded a $423 million contract to Hughes Space and Communications, El Segundo, CA, for the manufacture, launch, and delivery on-orbit of up to four weather-monitoring Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES).
The procurement of the GOES-N–Q spacecraft marks the extension of this multisatellite program designed to provide continuous monitoring of the earth's weather systems and the related space environment. The new spacecraft will be used to continue and enhance the functions of the current GOES-I–M series of spacecraft.
GOES spacecraft are a mainstay of modern weather forecasting, providing meteorologists and hydrologists with visible and infrared images of weather systems and precise atmospheric soundings. They orbit above the equator at a height of 22 238 miles, stationed at 75°W longitude and 135°W longitude to provide broad views of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans where storms can be monitored while first forming.
The basic contract value of $423.1 million provides for two spacecraft, GOES-N and -O, at a fixed total price. There are separate, fixed-price options for two additional spacecraft, GOES-P and -Q, priced at $190.9 million and $185 million, respectively.
Along with these options, there are additional, separately priced potential contract costs. They include government-directed task assignments, additional integration and test support, changes to government-furnished equipment deliveries, program-related launch vehicle changes, directed launch delays (due primarily to on-orbit satellites lasting longer than expected) and related spacecraft ground storage, and post-storage testing.
The GOES program is a partnership between NOAA and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. NOAA is responsible for program management and budget, determining the technical requirements for the spacecraft, operating the spacecraft in orbit, and disseminating the resulting data. The NASA Goddard GOES project office is responsible for the acquisition of the spacecraft and oversight of the contract and will support NOAA during the post-launch operations phase.
The first spacecraft purchased under this contract will be ready for launch in October 2001. GOES-N–Q will carry an imager and a sounder to provide regular measurements of the earth's atmosphere, cloud cover, and land surfaces. Two of them also will carry a solar X-ray imager and space environment monitor instruments.
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Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, Boulder, CO, has been selected to provide the spacecraft for the Laser Altimetry Mission scheduled to be launched in a near-polar orbit in July 2001.
Total cost of the mission is set at under $200 million, including the launch vehicle and three years of science and data analysis. Total value of Ball Aerospace's delivery order will be announced after the contract is finalized and awarded in early February.
The Laser Altimetry Mission, recently known as ICESAT for Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite, will accurately measure the elevations of the earth's ice sheets, clouds, and land and answer fundamental questions about the growth or shrinkage of the earth's polar ice sheets and future global sea level rise or fall. ICESAT also will measure the heights of clouds for studies of the earth's temperature balance and will measure land topography for a variety of scientific and potential commercial applications.
In addition to providing the spacecraft, Ball Aerospace will integrate and test the primary instrument on the ICESAT satellite, the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System. The laser altimeter is being developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and will provide precise elevation of the land, ice, and clouds that are overflown.
The laser is completely eye-safe to individuals on the ground. It works by transmitting short pulses of infrared light and visible-green light to measure ice sheet elevation and land topography (infrared light) and measurements of clouds and aerosols (green light). The distance from the spacecraft to clouds and to the earth's surface will be determined from measurements of the time taken for the laser pulses to travel to these targets and return. Similar instrumentation has been flown on aircraft over the Greenland ice sheet for proof-of-concept experiments.
The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets cover 10% of the earth's land area and contain 77% of the earth's freshwater and 99% of its glacier ice. Measurements of the ice sheets are essential for assessing whether future changes in ice volume will add to the sea level rise, which is already occurring, or whether the ice sheets might grow and absorb a significant part of the predicted sea level rise.
ICESAT is one in a series of spacecraft for NASA's Earth Science Program that will study the earth's system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment.
ICESAT is being developed by a partnership of NASA, industry, and university teams. ICESAT will be placed into an orbit 379 miles above the earth with an inclination of 94° to the equator. A launch vehicle for the ICESAT mission will be selected from the stable of medium-light expendable launch vehicles. ICESAT's designed lifetime is for 3 years of operation with a 5-year goal.
Ball Aerospace's selection was made through an innovative procurement program developed at NASA to procure, build, and deliver spacecraft faster and more cheaply than ever before. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract will make it possible to go from procurement to launch in less than 4 years.
The ICESAT mission and the development of the laser altimeter instrument will be managed by Goddard for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. More information is available via the Internet at http://lam1.gsfc.nasa.gov/lamhome.htm.
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Starting 12 February, NASA will launch a two-month campaign in Puerto Rico to study space weather using rockets and ground instruments, including the world's largest radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The project is expected to provide information that ultimately will help improve the reliability of radio and satellite communications.
Using a temporary range at Tortuguero on the north coast of Puerto Rico, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, is scheduled to launch 11 suborbital rockets between 12 February and 9 April 1998 as part of a project called Coqui Dos. The project is a continuation of a 1992 project called El Coqui, named after a species of native frog that is an ecological and cultural symbol of Puerto Rico.
"NASA, in association with several universities and other organizations, will launch these rockets to make measurements of electrical and turbulent layers that occur in the ionosphere, approximately 62 miles above the surface of the earth," said Miguel Larson, campaign scientist from Clemson University, SC.
"People tend to think that space is a quiet place with no activity. However, over the years we have come to realize that the contrary is true," said Mike Kelley, a professor at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, and principal investigator for two of the rocket launches. In fact, the layers that are the focus of the Coqui Dos study are very active features that are responsible for disruptions of radio, television, and satellite communications.
The activity is the result of the interaction between "space weather" and the earth's atmosphere, according to Kelley, who also was the campaign scientist for NASA rocket launches from Puerto Rico in 1992. Space weather refers to the complex interactions of the solar wind (the fast-moving stream of particles emanating from the sun), the sun's magnetic field, and the earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. The 1992 project had a 100% success rate and 10 scientific papers have been published based on the data obtained, Kelley said.
Just as studies of the lower atmosphere in the 1960s led to our current understanding of weather and improved weather forecasts, the Coqui Dos studies are expected to lead to a better understanding of the ionosphere so that we can predict activity in this region in the future, Kelley said.
Puerto Rico was selected as the launch site due to the availability of the National Science Foundation's National Astronomy and Ionospheric Center. The Arecibo radio telescope provides unique capabilities for detecting the activity within the electrical layers. Such information is needed for both deciding when to launch the rockets and for the interpretation of the rocket measurements after the flight. The Arecibo radio telescope is the largest in the world and is an essential part of the scientific mission, Larsen said.
During the Coqui Dos campaign, a total of 11 launches will be carried out as part of six separate sets of measurements. All the launches will be during the nighttime hours when ionospheric instabilities are present in the high-altitude region above Puerto Rico. In some cases, two or three rocket launches may occur in one night.
Five of the rockets have payloads containing small amounts of the chemical trimethyaluminum (TMA), which will be released in the ionosphere at an altitude between 50- and 93-miles altitude. When TMA is released it forms a cloud that is luminescent for 10–20 minutes. These clouds can be tracked visually and with camera equipment to determine where the atmospheric turbulent layers occur. The milky-white clouds should be visible within several hundred miles of the launch site, across most of Puerto Rico and perhaps on some of the neighboring islands. The harmless by-products disperse for thousands of miles before settling into the upper atmosphere.
Three payloads being launched are chemical only, two payloads contain TMA and scientific instruments, and six payloads contain instruments only.
The rockets will be launched over the Atlantic Ocean to altitudes of 71–236 miles and will fall in the ocean beyond 30 miles offshore. The launches, which typically will occur between 7 and 11 p.m., should be visible from most of Puerto Rico, especially along the northern coast and San Juan. The flights will last approximately 10–15 minutes each.
Further information on the Puerto Rico project, including a schedule of the rocket launches, is available on the Coqui Dos home page at http://www.wff.nasa.gov/~web/PRCampaign/CoquiDos.html.
The Coqui Dos project is being conducted under the suborbital Sounding Rocket Program, which is managed at Wallops for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. The program consists of approximately 25 sounding rockets launched each year from various locations worldwide.
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The Department of Commerce kicked off the Year of the Ocean with a celebration at the end of January hosted by Commerce Secretary William M. Daley in which Secretary of the Navy John Dalton, White House Science Advisor John Gibbons, NOAA Administrator D. James Baker, and seven members of Congress addressed the need for the nation to pay attention to the ocean.
The highlight of the ceremony was the announcement by Secretary Daley that the federal agencies would sponsor a National Ocean Conference this year. The concept of a conference was originally put forth by Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA) in a letter signed by 78 members of Congress last summer. The letter called for a White House conference and that idea was supported by many in the ocean community. However, the White House passed on the idea, and other agencies, presumably with NOAA in the lead, will undertake the task. Information on Year of the Ocean activities may be found at http://www.yoto.com.
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Dr. Jack Gibbons will retire from the position of President's Science Advisor and director of the Office of Science and Technology policy.
Dr. Neal Lane, currently director of the National Science Foundation, was named by President Clinton to replace Jack Gibbons as the Presidential Science Advisor.
Dr. Rita Colwell (see below) was nominated for the position of director of the National Science Foundation.
President Clinton has announced his intention to nominate Dr. Rita Colwell as director of the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Colwell is the president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and a professor of Microbiology at the University of Maryland, College Park. Long active in national and international research and teaching in the areas of marine biotechnology and the molecular genetics of marine and estuarine bacteria and on the microbiology of the Chesapeake Bay, she is the author or coauthor of 16 books and more than 450 scientific publications.
She has been a member of the National Science Board and is past president of the American Society of Microbiology, the International Union of Microbiological Societies and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
She holds a B.S in bacteriology, an M.S. in genetics from Purdue University, and a Ph.D. in Marine Microbiology from the University of Washington.
Air Force Brigadier General John J. Kelly (Ret.) has been named the 13th director of the National Weather Service (NWS). Kelly is the former head of the Air Force Air Weather Service, which provides operational weather support for all Army and Air Force activities. Department of Commerce Secretary William M. Daley announced the appointment and said he had every confidence that Kelly’s experience and expertise would be of great benefit to the weather service, particularly as it nears the end of its modernization program.
Kelly replaces Joe Friday, who was reassigned as the director of NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research last June. Kelly joins the weather service at a critical time when serious concerns about sound fiscal management and systems development efforts have been raised. Daley said that he believes that Kelly’s past experience, strong leadership, and management ability are well suited to meet the challenges facing the National Weather Service in the twenty-first century.
Kelly assumed duties on 26 February. He will be responsible for completing the modernization of the weather service, ensuring its cost-effective and efficient operation, and maintaining the quality of daily weather forecasts and warnings. Kelly will also be responsible for maintaining strong working relationships, not only with the academic community and private sector, but also with Congress and state and local governments. “I am honored to be selected as the Director of the National Weather Service,” said Kelly. “I look forward to maintaining the high level of quality service the public has come to expect from this agency.” Kelly is a Fellow of the AMS.
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Dr. Ghassem Asrar has been selected as the new NASA Associate Administrator for Earth Science, Administrator Daniel S. Goldin announced recently.
Asrar currently serves as the chief scientist for the Earth Observing System in the Office of Earth Science at NASA headquarters. In this position, he has led an international team developing the scientific priorities and measurements to be obtained from a series of advanced earth-orbiting satellites that promise fundamental new insights into the connections between the earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice, and life.
"Dr. Asrar brings first-class interdisciplinary research skills and the respect of the scientific community to this challenging position," Goldin said. "Our Earth Science Program is poised to enter a new era with the launch of the first Earth Observing System mission this summer. This is an ideal time for Dr. Asrar to assume the leadership of this key NASA enterprise." Asrar's appointment is effective immediately.
Asrar has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed scientific papers, primarily in the fields of land surface studies and biosphere–atmosphere interactions, and has edited several remote-sensing reference books. He conducted research and trained undergraduate and post-graduate students for nine years in academia prior to joining NASA as a senior scientist in 1987. He has continued his interest in developing the next generation of earth scientists by establishing the NASA Earth System Science Fellowship Program, which has trained more than 400 young scientists to date. Prior to his research career, he earned graduate degrees in civil engineering and environmental physics from Michigan State University, East Lansing.
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There have been several recent leadership changes in the U.S. Navy Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) community, both in research and in operations. On the operational side, Rear Admiral W.G. Ellis will be relieving Rear Admiral Paul E. Tobin Jr., as oceanographer of the navy, in May. Rear Admiral Ellis is a long-standing leader in the U.S. nuclear submarine community who has been the Commander of the Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, since February 1996. Ellis graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964 and earned an MS from MIT's Sloan School in 1974. The oceanographer of the navy is the senior position in the U.S. Navy's METOC community.
The next most senior position in METOC is commander, Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command. Rear Admiral Kenneth E. Barbor assumed that position on 23 October 1997. Barbor holds degrees in meteorology and oceanography from the University of Michigan (B.S. 1972) and the Naval Postgraduate School (M.S. 1978). Rear Admiral Barbor replaced Rear Admiral Paul G. Gaffney II, the chief of naval research.
On the research side, the Chief of Naval Research's Office of Naval Research (ONR) International Field Office, headquartered in London, is undergoing changes in leadership with the departure of both the commanding officer and technical director. On 19 January Professor William Weldon, the Josey Centennial Professor in Energy Resources at the University of Texas at Austin, succeeds Dr. Craig Dorman as technical director. Prof. Weldon has served in various capacities of the Naval Research Advisory Committee since 1991, thereby giving him broad exposure to Navy S&T issues. Later in the month, Capt. Dennis Ryan relieved Cmdr. Larry Raithal as ONR International Field Office commanding officer. Captain Ryan was assistant CNR and past deputy to the head of Office of Naval Research's Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Science and Technology Department. He holds a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy (1970) and an M.S. in mechanical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.
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President Clinton has announced his intention to appoint John M. Deutch, institute professor in the department of chemistry at MIT, as a member of the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Deutch served as undersecretary of defense from March 1993 to April 1994, deputy secretary of defense from April 1994 to May 1995, and director of the Central Intelligence Agency from May 1995 to December 1996.
He obtained undergraduate degrees at Amherst College and MIT and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from MIT in 1965.
The President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) was established in November 1993 to advise the president on matters involving science and technology and to assist the National Science and Technology Council in securing private sector involvement in its activities.
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