Editor: Jim Elliott
Contributors: Alan Weinstein, Ginny Owen, and Julie Burba
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In a harshly worded press release, Democratic legislators on Capitol Hill criticized their Republican colleagues for proposing a cutback in a Senate proposal to double R&D funding in a decade (S. 1305) (see following story).
"During the last year," the press release noted, "there has been widespread cheering for S. 1305, a Senate proposal to double R&D in a decade. However, on 18 March, Republicans on the Senate Budget Committee, including Senator (Phil) Gramm (Texas), the prime sponsor of S. 1305, voted for a budget that not only failed to increase R&D but actually cut non-defense R&D by more than $3.5 billion from current levels between 1999 and 2003.
"Non-NIH civilian R&D fared even worse with a cumulative cut of $10.5 billion from current levels. The Senate resolution was passed out of committee on a straight party-line vote.
"The cuts are even more striking when contrasted with the widely-covered proposal to double science funding in a decade. The Senate Budget Committee provides $37 billion less than S. 1305's authorization level for civilian R&D and $32 billion less than S. 1305 for non-NIH civilian R&D.
"George E. Brown, Jr. (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Science Committee, asked the Congressional Research Service to assess the impact of the Senate Budget Committee resolution on civilian science . . ."
The news release went on to quote Brown: "I regret to say that all the sloganeering about doubling science in a decade turned out to be nothing more than talk. Even with key champions of S.1305 in the room, when it came time to make hard choices, the cheap talk stopped and dollars went to other purposes. I viewed S. 1305 as useful to the degree it raised the visibility of science and technology programs in the budget.
"However, I have been worried that the science and education community viewed the double-in-a-decade proposal as evidence that their struggles were over. I think the Senate Budget Committee's action should serve as a wake-up call to the community that it has yet to find its way out of the desert."
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A bill (S.1305) designed to double R&D spending over the next decade, now embroiled in controversy (see story above), outlines specific proposed authorizations for federal agencies and provides background for the spending increases.
The bill points out that in 1965, 5.7% of the federal budget was expended for nondefense R&D activities, while in 1997, the same R&D allocation was only 1.9%.
For the first time in 25 years, during the period beginning with FY92 and ending with FY95, the amount of funds expended by the federal government on research (expressed in real dollars) declined each year, according to the bill.
The bill also noted that during the period beginning with FY70 and ending with FY95, the United States had not, during any fiscal year, expended an amount for nondefense research and development activities that, expressed as a percentage of the gross domestic product, was greater than or equal to the percentage expended by Japan or Germany for that fiscal year.
The purpose of the proposal, as outlined in the bill, is "to double the annual authorized amount of federal funding for basic scientific, medical and pre-competitive engineering research over the 10-year period . . . so that the amount of federal funding for Fiscal Year 2008 is equal to $68,000,000,000."
Also, it is designed to "restore the high priority that science and technology has previously been afforded in the federal budget."
Funds covered under the bill would include appropriations for the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Standards and Technology, NASA, NOAA, the Centers for Disease Control, DOE, Department of Agriculture, Department of Veterans Affairs, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Department of Education.
The bill would authorize $37.4 billion for FY99, of which $14.96 billion would be for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For FY2000, $40.8 billion would be authorized, of which $16.32 billion would go to NIH.
For the following years the breakdown would be as follows.
| Fiscal Year | Total | NIH |
| 2001 | $44,200,000,000 | $17,680,000,000 |
| 2002 | $47,600,000,000 | $19,040,000,000 |
| 2003 | $51,000,000,000 | $20,400,000,000 |
| 2004 | $54,400,000,000 | $21,760,000,000 |
| 2005 | $57,800,000,000 | $23,120,000,000 |
| 2006 | $61,200,000,000 | $24,480,000,000 |
| 2007 | $64,600,000,000 | $25,840,000,000 |
| 2008 | $68,000,000,000 | $27,200,000,000 |
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There is both good news and bad news to report from the 1 April hearing on next year's National Science Foundation budget. This hearing was held before the money people—the House VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee. The good news is that everyone loves the NSF. The bad news is that no one is confident that the funding mechanism the Clinton administration proposes to use to pay for increases in NSF's budget will materialize.
Congressional Republicans are all expressing grave misgivings about the likelihood of using tobacco settlement money to finance the administration's Research Fund for America. "That money is probably not going to be forthcoming," subcommittee chairman Jerry Lewis (R-CA) told NSF Director Neal Lane. The chairman said few people in Washington are confident that the settlement will occur, including, Lewis stated, the people at the Office of Management and Budget. He called for some "honest budgeting" dialogue at the hearing, asking Lane what NSF programs Congress should cut in response to pressures to fund VA health care or environmental programs. Lane answered by citing the improvement in NSF's grants that would occur under the requested 10% increase (600–800 additional awards, grant duration increasing from 2.4 years to 2.7 years, and a 7% increase in award size). Lewis countered by asking what NSF's priorities would be if the increase was less ("I'm asking you to be specific"), to which Lane replied that under such circumstances "relative allocations remain pretty much the same." Both agreed to work together in determining where to make any cuts.
This exchange lasted only a few minutes out of the two-hour hearing. There were specific questions about other matters, including disappointing math student test scores, interconnecting foundation programs with the private sector, an unchanged budget request for systemic rural educational reform, phase out of two supercomputer centers, hurricane research, distribution of grants to the nation's leading research universities, community colleges, affirmative action, theproposed National Institute of the Environment, and investigations by NSF's Inspector General. Members generally seemed pleased by NSF's responses.
Early in the hearing, Lewis said NSF enjoys great support among members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. What is beyond his control, and that of NSF Director Lane and the research community, is whether that tobacco money is going to materialize—in time—for the foundation.
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from Audrey T. Leath, Public Information Division, the American Institute of Physics
As Congress moves on both authorization and appropriations fronts with respect to NASA, problems with growing cost estimates and Russian delays to the International Space Station (ISS) program still draw the greatest attention.
Lawmakers continue to question whether NASA's requests to transfer funds to the space station from other internal programs are damaging the science programs within the agency. A new report by a NASA-chosen panel of outside experts, presented to the agency on 19 March, estimates that the total U.S. costs for station development and assembly could run as high as $24 billion, $3 billion over NASA's earlier estimate. A NASA advisory council will now review the report and provide its comments to Administrator Dan Goldin. An authorization bill (S. 1250), passed by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee on 12 March, would limit U.S. expenditures on the station to $21.9 billion through the end of assembly and would also cap the U.S. share of transportation costs for assembly at $17.7 billion. However, the efficacy of cost caps is not clear; the 19 March independent panel report notes that some of the program's cost and schedule overruns might be attributable to annual caps implemented by the administration several years ago.
The Senate authorization bill would approve NASA funding of $13.63 billion for FY98 (the amount already appropriated), $13.46 billion for FY99 (equal to Clinton's FY99 request), and $13.68 billion for FY2000 (higher than the projected FY2000 request). A House authorization bill passed last year would authorize more than the Senate in years FY98 and FY99. It is worth noting that no NASA authorizing legislation has passed both the entire House and Senate and been sent to the White House since 1992.
At two hearings of the House VA/HUD Appropriations Subcommittee, on 12 and 31 March, Chair Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and other subcommittee members—most of them Space Station supporters—questioned Goldin about the impact of station cost growth on other NASA programs. Goldin responded emphatically and repeatedly that, even with a decreasing total budget, NASA science programs are more robust than ever. He cited as proof "major new space science programs" as well as enhanced research and analysis funding for earth science. He also pointed out that the science, aeronautics and technology (SAT) portion of the total NASA budget has grown from 31% in 1992 to 43% in the FY99 request. SAT "has been the big winner at NASA," he said, but "somehow this message has not gotten across. I feel each year we've made continued progress in increasing the capacity of science." He added, "If anything, I worry we've overcompensated space science," while cutting human space flight too deeply. He also reassured subcommittee members that despite difficulties, both the AXAF and Gravity Probe B/Relativity space science missions continued to run under budget.
Prompted by congressional dismay that NASA continues to see a declining budget under the FY99 request even as most R&D agencies are slated for increases, Goldin said it was difficult, but he thought it was because NASA was better than other agencies at "doing more with less." He admitted, though, that once he has been successful at "trying to reform NASA to do things differently," he intends to ask for larger budgets.
Much of the concern about ISS cost growth is due to continued funding delays in the Russian portion of the effort. As recently as 23 March, the Russian government experienced a shake-up that removed Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin from power. Chernomyrdin had been prominently involved in the space station program. Goldin reported that, even during the shake-up, the Russians continued to incrementally make up for shortfalls in program funding, and he viewed this as a signal of their commitment. He said that in mid-May, NASA has scheduled a decision point at which it will reevaluate the status of Russia's commitment and determine whether further U.S. funding will be necessary to keep the program on track. At both hearings, Lewis urged Goldin to consider what would be necessary if the Russians proved unable to fulfill their commitments. "I think it's about time for us to begin to discuss up front the 'what if' scenario," Lewis said. Goldin hesitated, saying there was "time for us to collect the next level of detail" if the question arises this summer. The Associate Administrator for Human Space Flight Joe Rothenberg noted that a default by the Russians "could run up to billions quickly." Lewis warned, "If this thing explodes, and we're not prepared, it could undermine the whole program."
Questions were also plentiful about NASA's recent request for authority to transfer $173 million from current funds ($45 million from mission support and $128 million from SAT) to the station in an FY98 supplemental request. The agency would combine this with $27 million from the shuttle, which it already has authority to transfer, for a total of $200 million in new funds for FY98. Last year, Congress approved a transfer of funds from the shuttle program but refused to grant authority for NASA to shift additional money from other budget areas for the station. (In addition, NASA has moved nearly half a billion dollars from life and microgravity science programs for the station to station development, with the intent of repaying much of it in future years as research capacity on the station becomes available.) NASA Comptroller Malcolm Peterson testified that the FY99 request "is predicated on the assumption that [the total $200 million in transferred funds] would be available" for the station. If it is not made available in FY98, he said, NASA will need those funds in FY99. Goldin argued that uncosted carryover funds from earth and space science (unspent funds from previous years) could be shifted to station development without hurting the science programs. Currently, a Senate-passed version of the FY98 supplemental denies NASA the transfer authority it is seeking, while a House version, which would give NASA that authority, awaits floor action.
Congress is due back in session the week of 20 April. As Lewis's VA/HUD subcommittee drafts its bill, it will be watching for the outcome of the mid-May decision on the status of Russia's space station effort and what that means for the U.S. program. It will receive NASA's comments on the independent panel's station cost estimate. Whether NASA is given the transfer authority it seeks for FY98 funds will also be a factor. In recent years, the VA/HUD bill has usually been sent to, and passed by, the full appropriations committee in mid-June or July. Based on past history, it seems unlikely that the authorization bills will see much further progress.
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The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on 12 March approved by voice vote S.1250, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act. The bill authorizes a total of $13.6 billion for FY98, $13.5 billion for FY99, and $13.7 billion for FY2000. Several FY98 uncosted carryover accounts were reduced to offset cost overruns with the International Space Station (ISS).
Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, offered an amendment to cap the total development costs of ISS at $21.9 billion. Space shuttle launch costs related to the assembly of ISS would also be capped at $17.7 billion.
Other key provisions are as follows.
FY98 provisions:
FY99 provisions:
FY 2000 provisions:
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Two versions of the Commercial Space Act are pending in Congress. The House-passed version is H.R. 1702, and the Senate version is S. 1473. The Senate bill recently was marked up by the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and is expected to reach the floor soon.
Because of the interest in affordable access of unenhanced data to scientists and educators, those sectors might be interested in offering their views to their representatives and senators.
In reviewing the bills, NSF analysts determined that the House version imperils access to the unenhanced data for noncommercial purposes. If the House bill were passed, they indicated, the cost of data, in all likelihood, would significantly increase. They also reported the following.
In contrast, according to the NSF analysts, the Senate version protects scientific researchers' access to land remote sensing and space science data and maintains current data policy.
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House Commerce Appropriations Committee Chairman Harold Rogers (R-KY) gave new NIST Director Ray Kammer a hard time during an 11 March hearing on the budget.
Kammer presented NIST's $715.0 million request for FY99, an increase of $42.1 million over FY98 funding. The request would maintain the NIST labs world leadership in measurement and standards, allow for new general and focused competitions within the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), support existing Manufacturing Extension Partnership Centers and fund facility construction and renovation.
For FY99, $40.0 million is requested to begin construction of the proposed Advanced Measurement Laboratory (AML). The request asks for an additional $115.0 million in advance appropriations for FY2000–2002 for the AML, which Kammer said is expected to cost $218.0 million and take 44 months to complete, according to the American Institute of Physics Bulletin Science Policy News for 19 March.
Noting that the administration proposes to pay for the NIST funding increases with revenues from a tobacco settlement, Rogers challenged Kammer, saying, "Suppose (the tobacco funds) don't show up?"
Kammer responded that he understood that if a tobacco settlement is not reached, funds could be taken from the projected budget surplus. Rogers countered that President Clinton had designated the surplus to go toward fixing Social Security. "The offsets you're proposing," Rogers said, "are not in the purview of this committee to make happen . . . So what are we to do?"
Those decisions, Kammer replied, are made by the White House and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). "That's above my pay grade."
Rogers explained that the committee faced a tight FY99 budget situation because of expected ramp-up in funds for the Commerce Department's year 2000 census and said the committee would either have to "deny the increases you're requesting or cut other programs. What can we cut within NIST, then?"
Kammer said the "actual programmatic expansion is $92 million," but NIST already had found $50 million in internal offsets based on getting an advance appropriation for the AML, leaving only a requested increase of $42 million.
Rogers responded: "If I've told you one time, I've told you a hundred times; we don't do advance appropriations here . . . Yet you continually come up here and make a plea on advance appropriations."
Kammer said he had "hoped for a dialogue and hoped to be persuasive."
"You're half right," Rogers replied, there was a dialogue, but "you're not going to be persuasive . . . You're hiding behind a gimmick that allows you to not make hard choices. If you want something, you've got to give up something . . . It just means we have to throw the whole thing in the wastebasket and come up with our own scheme. It's tragic."
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from Audrey T. Leath, Public Information Division, the American Institute of Physics
On 25 March, the House Science Committee took a second look at scientific collaborations. An 11 March hearing had examined research partnerships to provide input for the National Science Policy Study being chaired by Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI). Ehlers returned to the topic in a 25 March hearing reviewing the benefits to the United States from international scientific cooperation. The witnesses agreed that because of constrained science funding in the United States and the increasing quality of research done in other countries, in many cases the United States can effectively leverage its resources by partnering. This, said Ehlers, enables American researchers to "reap the full benefits of that research at a fraction of the cost of performing the research ourselves."
Caroline Wagner of the Critical Technologies Institute at RAND noted that international partnerships were becoming a necessity in fields where the cost of facilities was more than one nation could support and in research of a global nature. National Academy of Sciences President Bruce Alberts added that international research collaborations helped forge bonds between nations and called the science and technology community "a great force for rationality and democracy in the world." He thought that the United States, as world leader in many fields of science, could use that to much greater advantage in foreign relations than it currently does.
However, the witnesses echoed Ranking Minority Member George Brown (D-CA) when he called the U.S. approach to international collaborations "disjointed, to say the least." They agreed that research does not have a sufficiently high profile within the State Department. Former Energy Secretary James Watkins, now president of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education, said the State Department has "little concern for international science and technology." During his tenure as energy secretary, he recalled being unable to get sufficient support from the White House and the State Department when seeking contributions for the SSC from the Japanese government. "I was embarrassed," he admitted.
Thomas Ratchford, director of the Center for Science, Trade and Technology Policy at George Mason University, said the federal government needs to do a better job of incorporating science into foreign policy decisions and developing policies to guide international scientific cooperation. Thus far, he thought, efforts to strengthen the role of science within the State Department "have failed." While Homer Neal of the University of Michigan Physics Department said that federal involvement in small-science collaborations was unnecessary, he agreed with Watkins that for large projects, the administration, the State Department, federal agencies, and congressional committees need to be involved from the outset. Alberts reported that the State Department has asked the academy to study how science and technology fit into the department's mission.
Noting that "policymakers are increasingly being asked to justify the benefits of R&D," Wagner urged that such measures be built into collaborations from the start. She described a RAND effort to assess some of the concerns commonly raised about such partnerships, using the field of seismology and earthquake science as a case study. The RAND study found that because most collaborations focused on basic science, the United States was not giving away critical technologies; on average, the United States was leveraging its resources dollar for dollar; the collaborations supported high quality science; and U.S. researchers gained knowledge and experience to enable them to stay at the forefront of the field.
In closing, Ehlers said he hoped his policy study would develop a more effective process for bringing all the players on board at the beginning of a large international collaboration. He added that while many see risks of failure in committing to large projects, such as ITER, current policies and technologies are not always sufficient for the future. "We can fail by not going forward, too," he declared.
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Commerce Secretary William M. Daley has approved the National Weather Service's plan for a full production and installation of interactive weather computer and communications systems that will help provide better weather- and flood-related services to protect life and property. This decision authorizes production of 95 additional systems necessary to improve the data flow and forecast and warning services of the National Weather Service. In total, 152 Advanced Weather Interactive Processing Systems (AWIPS) will be installed nationwide by the end of FY99.
"This decision is a significant milestone in our commitment to the American people to finish the modernization and restructuring of the National Weather Service," said Secretary Daley. "When AWIPS is installed in weather forecast offices all over the United States, our forecasters can take full advantage of the many modern technologies we've added over the past several years and serve the public more effectively and efficiently."
"Completing the National Weather Service modernization is the top priority with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration," said D. James Baker, undersecretary for oceans and atmosphere. "AWIPS lets our forecasters display weather data in a variety of ways, quickly analyze evolving weather systems, and issue timely forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property."
The AWIPS system will replace the National Weather Service's existing 1970s-era weather communications system known as Automation of Field Operations and Services (AFOS). AWIPS will allow forecasters to display and analyze satellite imagery, radar data, automated weather observations, and computer-generated numerical forecasts, all in one workstation.
"The feedback I get from our offices that already have AWIPS is that it's an outstanding tool," said Jack Kelly, NOAA assistant administrator for weather services. "Before AWIPS, our forecasters relaied on three or more systems to view the information needed to produce forecats and warnings. With AWIPS, our forecasters can quickly see and use weather data from a variey of systems, all at one workstaion."
Over the past year, early versions of the sophisticated workstation and communications network were installed at a number of sites around the country for operational testing and evaluation. The tests demonstrated AWIPS' capabilities, including communication of weather satellite imagery and weather forecast gudance via a satellite broadcast network; the state-of-the-art workstation's ability to display and manipulate radar, satellite, and other weather data; and the operations of a central monitoring communications facility.
The National Weather Service is using an incremental software development approach for this program as a risk reduction measure. Seventeen systems were installed in early 1997 for a limited deployment; installation of these systems is complete. An order for 19 additional limited deployment systems was placed in December 1997; installation of these 19 systems begins in June. By accelerating the installation of the remaining 95 systems to an average of 10 per month, the NWS will complete deployment by June 1999.
To date, a network of 120 state-of-the-art NWS Doppler radars and 264 of the planned 314 NWS automated surface observing systems are operational nationwide. Two advanced geostationary weather satellites, GOES-8 and GOES-9, are keeping watch over the United States and well into the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.An identical third satellite, GOES-10, is available if one of the operational satellites fails. In addtion, 13 river forecast centers and 119 of the planned 121 new weather forecast offices are serving the country.
AWIPS is being developed by the NWS; NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado; and PRC, Inc., of McLean, Virginia.
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Tornado and other weather experts from around the nation gathered in Oklahoma in March for a three-day celebration sponsored by the Oklahoma Weather Center and Tinker Air Force Base and for a science symposium at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, where two military meteorologists were honored for making the first tornado forecast 50 years ago.
Actually, there were two tornadoes—one on 20 March 1948, for which no forecast was made, and one on 25 March, which was forecast. Captain Robert Miller and Major E. J. Fawbush, new to the area at the time, were caught off guard by the first one and had called for nothing more than gusty winds. Instead, the airfield was raked by an F3 twister than destroyed 52 aircraft, injured eight people, and caused damage estimated at $10 million.
On 25 March, however, the two meteorologists recognized that atmospheric conditions closely resembled those of 20 March and "in spite of a sinking feeling in the pits of our stomach" issued the world's first tornado forecast.
The conditions produced the base's second F3 twister in five days. This time, however, the base's tornado safety plan went into effect. The tornado left $6 million in damage, tearing down power lines and damaging the main runway. But there were no fatalities.
"The first tornado forecast was instrumental in advancing the nation's commitment to protecting the American public from the dangers caused by tornadoes and other natural hazards," said D. James Baker, administrator of NOAA. "We mark the anniversary of this historic forecast by reminding people to stay alert during the severe weather season, pay close attention to watches and warnings issued by NOAA's National Weather Service, and listen to NOAA Weather Radio."
"This was the first time in U.S. history that a forecast was issued to warn the public about the possibility of a tornado," explained NOAA assistant administrator for weather services John J. Kelly. "We're proud to acknowledge this Air Force achievement and want to emphasize the long-term continuing cooperation of the Air Force and NOAA in providing weather services."
A historical marker was unveiled at Norman in honor of those who issued the first forecast.
Fawbush and Miller later established a severe storms forecast unit at Tinker. Their operation served as a forerunner to a similar activity being established in Washington by the then U.S. Weather Service in 1952. The Weather Service office moved to Kansas City in the mid-1950s and moved back to Oklahoma as the Storm Prediction Center in 1996.
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The NWS plans to participate in a data exchange meeting with the European Community in Paris in May. The U.S. delegation to the meeting will include NOAA Administrator D. James Baker and NWS Director Jack Kelly.
The meeting is a follow-on gathering to a meeting held at the AMS annual meeting in Long Beach, California, in 1997. At that meeting, the European Union explained that it would continue to impose restrictions on selected data reimported into the host countries. The commercial sector argued that those restrictions were unfair and were only in place to keep the private sector out of the weather industry.
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Two University of Alaska researchers, using model data, theorize that ice in the Arctic Ocean circulates under the influence of wind in a regular pattern during a roughly 15-year oscillation.
During the first 5–7 years of the oscillation, the ice moves around the North Pole more or less clockwise; in the next 5–7 years, it goes counterclockwise, according to Andrey Proshutinsky and Mark Johnson.
In a report in the Winter Issue of UCAR Quarterly, the two suggest that in the counterclockwise phase, arctic temperatures and humidity are naturally higher, and, according to their model, the Arctic currently is in its counterclockwise phase.
The researchers recognize that this circulation shift is a radical idea, the report noted. "Scientists have been educated to believe that ice in the Arctic Ocean circulates in one way only—in a clockwise direction," Proshutinsky said. "This is something we were all taught in school as a fact, like the earth is round."
The computer model created by the researchers shows that when higher atmospheric pressure prevails over the Arctic Ocean, wind and ice move clockwise, generating conditions considered typical of the Arctic, such as cold, dry air. The few research expeditions that have gathered data on Arctic ice and wind have occurred in such high pressure periods.
When air pressure is low, however, wind, and ice move counterclockwise, generating warm, moist air, such as has been observed recently, the report indicated.
If Proshutinksy and Johnson's theory is accurate, wind and ice in the Arctic Ocean will revert from counterclockwise to clockwise in a year or so, with accompanying changes in atmospheric pressure and circulation.
Proshutinsky said the theory does not eliminate the possibility of an Arctic global warming signal. The 15-year oscillation in the model seems to exist in a context of increasing overall temperatures in the Arctic, the article noted. The researchers also point out that they lack observational data to test their theory.
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The GEWEX Continental-Scale International Project (GCIP) together with the NOAA Office of Global Programs, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, the American Geophysical Union and the American Meteorological Society are pleased to announce the GCIP Mississippi River Climate Conference.
The conference will take place on 8–12 June 1998 in the Regal Riverfront Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. More than 200 papers will be presented by scientists doing work in hydrology, meteorology, climatology, water resource and agricultural applications, paleoclimatology, remote sensing, and GIS applications with a special focus on the Mississippi River Basin.
The conference will have three scientific streams including the following.
3. Societal and environmental responses to climate variability and predictions with papers on long-term geologic variability, impacts of climate variability, nonclimatic variability in the Mississippi River's environment, diversions and depletions from the Mississippi River System, loading and transport of nutrients in the Mississippi, and regional variability in agricultural production.
For details on registration procedures, hotel registration, and further information on the associated Mississippi River Summer please see the World Wide Web site at http://www.ogp.noaa.gov/gcip/miss/missceleb.html.
Other meetings in the planning stages for the conference include special sessions by the Climate Institute on Climate Variability and Change, a summer school on GCIP datasets, a round table discussion on the management of water resources with uncertain information, and a science teachers' workshop on climate. The conference will also feature four evenings with a series of public events and lectures. Included in these meetings will be an evening devoted to the history of the Mississippi River Basin's development and, on another evening, a panel discussion on the future of the Mississippi River.
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BOULDER—Researchers from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are charting the high winds at Juneau Airport in Alaska this spring in a project funded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Their goal is to develop a turbulence detection and warning system customized to the airport's challenging terrain. Until 15 April, the researchers will be matching measurements from specialized weather instruments on the ground to readings taken aloft by the University of North Dakota's Citation aircraft. The UND Citation is a high-performance research jet that is taking to the air over Juneau in winds that keep other aircraft on the ground. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is providing collaborative funding, and Alaska Airlines and the city and borough of Juneau are providing in-kind support for the project. NCAR's primary sponsor is the National Science Foundation.
The mountains that tightly encircle Juneau Airport don't just restrict flight paths; they also set up a complex wind-flow pattern. Under certain wind conditions, the only way to fly out is by making a 180° turn while turbulent winds coming over the mountains buffet the aircraft.
Accidents caused by turbulence cost U.S. commercial airlines about $100 million a year, according to a recent analysis of airline and National Transportation Safety Board data by NCAR's Tenny Lindholm. According to the NTSB, encounters with turbulence account for the majority of nonfatal air passenger injuries. Last December, en route from Japan to Hawaii, a United Airlines Boeing 747 caught in turbulence dropped 30 m (100 ft), resulting in one death and more than 100 injuries.
Turbulent winds at Juneau Airport were implicated in severe upsets at least three times in the early 1990s. To reduce this risk, the FAA required that two major departure routes be closed to commercial aircraft whenever three anemometers on nearby mountains measure wind speeds of over 35 kt (40 mph). But these threshold standards don't account for wind direction, which is also important at Juneau, nor do they provide a quantitative evaluation of turbulence at the airport.
In addition to instituting the current guidelines, the FAA asked NCAR to figure out ways to keep Juneau's turning-departure routes open to commercial aircraft and give pilots up-to-the-minute warnings of dangerous winds. The current research may lead to a new prototype system in Juneau to detect turbulence and warn pilots in time to prevent injuries to passengers and crew. "The goal is to quantify the hazard at any point in time and to base operational decisions on those data," says NCAR scientist Peter Neilley, who coordinates field operations for the project.
For field testing, the NCAR team, led by Larry Cornman and Robert Barron, has set up three Doppler wind profilers, a forward-looking wind-shear radar, and a Doppler lidar. Six more anemometers are measuring winds in key locations closer to sea level.
A Doppler wind profiler is an upward-looking radar that can measure winds and turbulence both in clear air and when clouds are present. It gives researchers a profile of horizontal winds and turbulence at 60-m increments up to about 2.5 km (about 200-ft increments up to about 1.5 miles). NCAR researchers first tested the profilers in Juneau's convoluted terrain during a feasibility study in March of 1997.
Also being tested is a forward-looking wind-shear radar manufactured by AlliedSignal, Inc. This instrument senses turbulence in the presence of raindrops or ice particles; it can't see in clear air. There are about 1000 airborne wind-shear radars mounted on commercial airplanes to detect wind shear at low altitudes, although for this experiment the radar is mounted on a truck. The Juneau experiment will determine whether this instrument can be used to detect turbulence in the presence of precipitation at any altitude. Since the radar is already flight-tested and FAA-certified for commercial aviation, "this could be an opportunity to provide some near-term convective-turbulence detection capability for the airlines," says Cornman.
While the forward-looking wind-shear radar's radio waves need precipitation to reflect signals, Doppler lidars bounce their laser beams off of dust particles and aerosols in clear air to detect wind motion. The new generation of lidars provides both rapid scanning and very high spatial resolution as far away as 10 km (just over 6 miles). The lidar deployed at the Juneau Airport was manufactured by Coherent Technologies, Inc., of Lafayette, Colorado. NCAR researchers are evaluating the lidar as a ground-based turbulence detector. In another part of the NASA-sponsored lidar evaluation program, researchers are testing airborne lidar aboard the National Science Foundation/NCAR Electra aircraft. (See related story below.)
The UND Citation aircraft takes 25 high-precision wind and turbulence measurements per second as it flies along the airport's departure and approach routes in high winds. The researchers use the aircraft readings to verify and fine-tune the ground-based instrument measurements. They check the mathematical formulas they are developing to infer turbulence strength against the real-world data from the Citation. The researchers are also collecting local pilots' reports of hazardous conditions to calibrate the system to the capabilities of the aircraft flying in and out of Juneau.
When completed some time in late 1999, the prototype warning system for Juneau may include a geographic situation display (GSD). Similar to one already installed at the new Hong Kong airport (scheduled to open in July), the system would relay Juneau wind-hazard information to air traffic controllers, airline dispatchers, and pilots. A prototype GSD is already in place in Juneau, displaying wind speeds and directions on a computerized map of the airport and surrounding area. An operational warning system could be available in Juneau in 2002.
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NASA is testing a new sensor that could make air travel safer by detecting previously invisible forms of clear air turbulence, the leading cause of in-flight injuries among the flying public.
Early tests of the sensor device, called Airborne Coherent LIDAR for Advanced In-Flight Measurement, are promising, according to NASA officials.
Clear air turbulence is an invisible safety hazard for aircraft. Currently, there are no effective warning systems to warn pilots of the "rough air" or "air pockets." They can be felt but not seen. If a pilot could identify such areas, he could request passengers and crew to remain seated with seat belts fastened and prevent injuries.
"During the tests, the system observed turbulent regions of air ahead of the aircraft as it moved forward," said Project Manager Rod Bogue of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. "The aircraft experienced disturbances as it penetrated the turbulence. In that scenario, if an alarm were sounded when turbulence was first detected, passengers could have quickly returned to their seats and fastened their seat belts before the encounter."
Flights of the detector originated from Jefferson County Airport, near Broomfield, Colorado. The experiment was flown on three separate flights for a total of more than 7 hours at altitudes as high as 25 000 ft. Additional flights are planned to add to the turbulence database and to fine-tune the sensor for better measurements.
The device was designed and built by Coherent Technologies, Inc., Lafayette, Colorado, for NASA. It relies on a form of laser technology called Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) to detect changing velocities of tiny particles in turbulent air. As long as the wind velocity remains uniform, no turbulence exists. But if the laser beam detects changes in the velocity, it's a clear indication of turbulence ahead.
"The infrared radar concept uses a light pulse transmitted from the laser," Bogue explained, "and some of the light is reflected off the particles back to a sensor at the source. The reflected light has a slight shift in frequency, called a Doppler shift, due to the aircraft's motion relative to the particles. By analyzing the frequency of the Doppler shift, the changes in wind velocity along the laser beam's path can be determined."
The NASA research center is using an aircraft owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, Colorado.
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Fans of global weather facts now have a new resource on the World Wide Web, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced.
NOAA's new Web page answers questions such as, What's the hottest temperature recorded in North America? What's the rainiest place in Asia? What spot takes top honors for the coldest temperature?
Answers to these and other questions about extremes of temperature and precipitation from around the world can be found at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/globalextremes.html. The new Global Measured Extremes of Temperature and Precipitation page is also accessible through http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/severeweather/severeweather.html.
The new page is courtesy of NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina. The center, now headed by its former senior scientist, Thomas Karl, is the world's largest data center for climate data and information. The center archives worldwide weather observations, satellite, and radar information. It also produces a suite of climate products that are used by scientists and researchers around the world. The center also conducts research dealing with global climate change.
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AMS has developed a colorful 8.5" X 11" slide chart that describes variations of oceanic and atmospheric conditions of the tropical Pacific.
Designed for educational and classroom support and called the ENSO-lyzer (for El Niño–Southern Oscillation), the slide chart allows users to determine visually the differences between El Niño and long-term conditions. Pictorially, it displays the relationships of these conditions, which also impact weather and climate on regional and global scales.
Using data provided by NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, one side of the slide chart shows the impact of El Niño in the Northern Hemisphere in winter (December–February) and in summer (June–August).
On the other side of the slide chart, learners can manipulate the chart to investigate El Niño, the Southern Oscillation, and La Niña. Separate windows indicate rainfall, surface air pressure, trade winds, surface currents, sea surface temperature, sea surface height, and thermocline depth.
The ENSO-lyzer was developed by Ira W. Geer, Donald E. McManus, Robert W. Weinbeck, and Bernard A. Blair (AMS Education Program) and Joseph M. Moran (University of Wisconsin—Green Bay), with assistance from Eugene M. Rasmussen (University of Maryland), Tom Murphree (Naval Postgraduate School), Jennifer Saltzman (U.S. Naval Academy), and Michael Halpert (NOAA).
Copies of the slide charts are available through AMS Education, 1200 New York Ave. NW, Suite 410, Washington, D.C. 20005. A single copy with instructional booklet costs $7.95 while a class set of 15 with booklets runs $99.50. Shipping and handling charges are $5.00 for the United States and $6.00 for Canada. A 5% sales tax also applies to Massachusetts residents.
International orders must be prepaid in U.S. funds. Shipping and handling charges for international orders (other than Canada) are $10.00.
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Lake Havasu, Arizona, recorded the nation's highest temperature on more days than any other location, except Death Valley, while West Yellowstone, Montana, recorded the nation's daily minimum temperature more times than any other location in the United States, according to Weatherwisemagazine.
In its March/April issue, the magazine reported that the overall average of daily minimum and maximum temperatures across the United States was 56.2°F, the warmest since the magazine began its reports in 1981 and a figure that supports data collected by NOAA and NASA scientists, backing up their contention that 1997 was an unusually warm year.
The daily national low temperature, the magazine noted, averaged 6.8°F, the warmest since 1990. April's daily minimum temperature was especially noteworthy, the magazine reported, averaging -0.4°F, nearly 5°F colder than any other April since 1981.
However, the average minimum temperature recorded in other months often was among the highest since 1981. The average minimum temperature in August was 35.1°F, the highest since 1984. September's 29.5°F was the highest since the magazine began its reports, and the average minimum temperature in October (16.5°F) was the highest since 1984.
Average minimum temperatures were warmer than the 10-year average in 6 months, colder in 5 months, and the same in February, according to the magazine.
The daily national high temperature in 1997 averaged 97.3°F, slightly cooler than the last three years. Only four months—February, March, May, and August—the magazine reported, had average daily maximums warmer than the 10-year average.
April was especially cool as its average maximum temperature of 93.9°F was the second lowest since 1981. May's average maximum (105.9°F) was the second warmest on record, the magazine noted. The average of both maximum and minimum temperatures during August—73.7°F—was the warmest since 1984, and September's 67.9°F was the warmest since 1981.
The temperature range—the difference in the daily maximum and minimum temperatures—was greatest on 9 March when the low was -30°F and the high was 99°F, a difference of 129°F. On 7 June, the low was 35°F with a high of 99°F for a range of 64°F, the smallest range in 1997, according to Weatherwise.
During 1997, 26 states recorded the nation's minimum temperature (Alaska excluded), the most since 1981. The states with the most national lows were Colorado, 84; Montana, 64; Minnesota, 44; California, 33; Wyoming, 32; Maine, 29, and Idaho, 12. West Yellowstone recorded the national low on 26 days, more than any other location, the magazine reported.
Based on reports from NWS offices and cooperative stations, the magazine listed the top hot and cold spots in the Nation for the year. The top cold spots in order (listing their 1996 ranking in parenthesis) were West Yellowstone (4); Fraser, Colorado (1); Winter Park, Colorado (*); Alamosa, Colorado (*), and Stanley, Idaho(*).
The top hot spots, also in order, were Lake Havasu (1); Bullhead City, Arizona (2); Coolidge, Arizona (*); Fort Myers, Florida (4); and Casa Grande, Arizona (*).
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NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) mission, launched 30 March 1998 will greatly improve understanding of events in the sun's atmosphere, including intense storms and flares, which can have an impact on power and communications systems on Earth.
The TRACE mission will join a fleet of spacecraft studying the sun during a critical period when solar activity is beginning its rise to a peak early in the new millennium. The sun goes through an 11-year cycle from a period of numerous intense storms and sunspots to a period of relative calm and then back again. The coming months in the sun's cycle will provide solar scientists with periods of strong solar activity interspersed with periods when the sun is relatively passive and quiet. This will give TRACE the chance to study the full range of solar conditions, even in its relatively short planned lifetime.
TRACE will train its powerful telescope on the dynamic so-called transition region of the sun's atmosphere, between the relatively cool surface and lower atmosphere of the sun, where temperatures are about 6000°F, and the extremely hot upper atmosphere called the corona, where temperatures are up to 16 000 000°F. Using instruments sensitive to extreme-ultraviolet and ultraviolet wavelengths of light, TRACE will study the detailed connections between the finescale surface features and the overlying, changing atmospheric structures of hot, ionized gas, called plasma. The surface features and atmospheric structures are linked by finescale solar magnetic fields.
The power of the TRACE telescope to do detailed studies of the solar atmosphere makes this observatory unique among the current group of spacecraft studying the sun.
"The spacecraft has roughly ten times the temporal resolution and five times the spatial resolution of previously launched solar spacecraft. Its findings are eagerly awaited by the solar science community," said Dr. Alan Title, TRACE principal investigator from the Stanford Lockheed Institute for Scientific Research in Palo Alto, California. "We can expect to resolve some present mysteries of the sun's atmospheric dynamics as well as discover new and exciting phenomena."
TRACE will be launched into a polar orbit to enable virtually continuous observations of the sun, uninterrupted by Earth's shadow for months at a time. This orbit will give the mission the greatest chance of observing the random processes that lead to flares and massive eruptions in the sun's atmosphere.
The TRACE telescope is really four telescopes in one. Its 30-cm (12-in.) primary and 6-cm (2-in.) secondary super-polished mirrors are individually coated in four distinct quadrants to allow light from different bandwidths (colors) to be reflected and analyzed. An electronic detector collects images over a 231 000 by 231 000-mile field of view, nearly 25% of the sun's disk. A powerful data handling computer enables very flexible use of the detector array including adaptive target selection, data compression, and image stabilization.
"TRACE was completed on time, under budget, and met all performance goals," said Jim Watzin, Small Explorer project manager, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "I'm really proud of this team. They have produced a magnificent observatory in a manner that saved NASA nearly $9.7 million over the initial cost estimate." TRACE, which costs $49 million, is the third launch in the Small Explorer series of small, quickly developed, relatively low-cost missions.
TRACE was launched on an Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia, Pegasus-XL rocket released from an L-1011 jet aircraft at the Western Range, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
TRACE will be the first space science mission with an open data policy. All data obtained by TRACE will be available to other scientists, students and the general public shortly after the information becomes available to the primary science team.
The TRACE telescope was designed and developed in cooperation between Lockheed Martin Corporation and Stanford University. The spacecraft was designed and tested at Goddard, which manages the mission for the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
Further information about the TRACE mission can be found on the World Wide Web at http://sunland.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/trace.
TRACE science information can be found at http://www.space.lockheed.com/TRACE/welcome.html.
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The Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., and the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder have been selected by NASA's Office of Earth Science to conduct parallel six-month definition studies of a new small satellite to monitor variations in the amount of radiant solar energy that reaches Earth.
The precise measurements to be obtained by the Total Solar Irradiance Mission (TSIM) will help scientists better understand the relationship between the sun's variable energy output and its effects on Earth's climate. The six-month feasibility studies will focus on the development of a preliminary system design and operations concept for the cost-capped $23 million mission.
NASA has been measuring the total radiative output of the sun from the unique perspective of space since the late 1970s. The current sensor being used is called the Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitor (ACRIM). NASA has flown two ACRIM instruments, including the ACRIM-II instrument on board NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. A third ACRIM instrument is scheduled for launch aboard a dedicated small satellite in October 1999.
TSIM will extend the broad dataset gathered by the ACRIM series while exploring a new capability to measure solar irradiance in two discreet spectral bands. Once proven, this operationally oriented capability is a candidate for flight aboard future National Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite System missions being planned by a tri-agency partnership among NASA, the Department of Defense and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"TSIM will be developed in 36 months or less using the same key principles of 'faster, better, cheaper' spacecraft demonstrated by the agency's Discovery Program," said Dr. Ghassem Asrar, NASA associate administrator for earth science. "We hope to obtain an instrument payload that is lighter and more technologically advanced, yet provides an exciting additional capability that will give us new knowledge about our climate and why it varies."
TSIM is part of NASA's Earth Observing System, a series of advanced remote-sensing satellites designed to provide simultaneous measurements of a broad range of physical, chemical, and biological processes to enable researchers to study the earth's land, oceans, air, ice, and life as a total system. TSIM also will serve as NASA's contribution to the joint small Science Satellite (SciSat) program with the Canadian Space Agency. NASA and Canada have committed to developing independent science research missions to be launched on a NASA-funded launch vehicle in December 2001, with shared data after launch.
The two selected teams will document their analyses for NASA review by the end of 1998, with one team being selected to proceed with development. TSIM program management will be provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
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House Science Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-WI) and Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) expressed disappointment and concern that funding remains significantly in doubt for Russian components of the International Space Station following their visit to Moscow.
The bipartisan Science Committee delegation met with a series of Russian government officials including senior officials in the Ministry of Finance, the Russian Space Agency (RSA), the Duma, and the Russian president's space advisor, Marshal Yevgeny Shaposhnikov.
Among the delegation's findings were the following.
After departing Moscow, Chairman Sensenbrenner informed NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin of the delegation's findings and urged him to involve President Clinton in securing a commitment from President Yeltsin and the new Russian government to provide funding adequate to complete, on schedule, the service module and all other agreed upon Russian hardware contributions to the International Space Station.
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Researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute of Space Studies and Columbia University suggest that rising levels of "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere will lead to further depletion of the earth's protective ozone layer and could produce an Arctic ozone hole equivalent to the one in the Antarctic.
Drew T. Shindell and colleagues at Columbia, writing in the journal Nature, report that those who thought the treaty limits on CFCs and other ozone-depleting substances might solve the ozone problem might be disappointed.
The computer-based model by the researchers is controversial and represents projections that are a paradox. Enhanced greenhouse warming is likely to cause cooling of the stratosphere. That helps destroy the ozone layer that absorbs much of the harmful ultraviolet radiation before it reaches the earth.
One NOAA scientist pointed out that this is "exactly the opposite" of what happens at ground level. Warming begins when greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane rise into the lowest level of the atmosphere (the troposphere) and trap heat in the air that otherwise would radiate into space and warm the troposphere.
However, the NASA team reports that the situation is different in the atmosphere—the next highest level in space. First, they contend, small amounts of greenhouse gases leak into the stratosphere and bleed off heat that otherwise would warm the air. Second, they report, higher tropospheric temperatures cause abnormally strong high-altitude winds to form at the boundary between warm midlatitude and cold polar air masses. They create a sort of flowing barrier that prevents midlatitude and tropical warmth from penetrating the polar regions, creating what is called "sudden warming."
Waves of warm air generated at the midlatitudes and Tropics typically go up and turn northward into the Arctic, the researchers report. "But in the greenhouse gas world," they noted, "the jet stream is stronger so you enhance the speed. It acts like a cross-current in the ocean. It blocks the waves from getting up to the north."
In extreme cases, polar air masses can stay nearly 20°F colder in winter than they ordinarily would be, scientists believe. That, they contend, is a death sentence for ozone, a form of oxygen that is made up of three atoms instead of the normal two, which allows it to absorb ultraviolet radiation.
The colder it is, the faster compounds such as CFCs destroy ozone molecules by splitting them. That's why the Antarctic, with the coldest air on earth, has its ozone hole.
The NASA researchers' simulation of these processes projected maximum ozone losses in the period 2010 to 2019 at "about the same magnitude" as those over the Antarctic in the 1900s.
Many scientists believe, however, that by 2019 much of the ozone problem will ease because of the impact of the 1987 Montreal Protocol treaty that limited production of CFCs. Other scientists think the recovery will come later.
Moreover, some scientists are skeptical about the NASA's team's projections because they say that the theory of sharp tropospheric warming and the associated heat-transport effects are not universally accepted.
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The United Nations has declared 1998 the International Year of the Ocean. This declaration represents an opportunity to raise public awareness about the value of the ocean to all Americans, to celebrate our considerable accomplishments in understanding the ocean, and to learn from our experiences in managing ocean resources to assure that our children have a healthy and productive ocean to enjoy.
In recognition of the International Year of the Ocean, the ocean-oriented U.S. federal agencies have prepared a set of discussion papers (377 pages) on a variety of ocean themes and cross-cutting issues. They include 1) marine transportation; 2) ocean and national security; 3) ensuring the sustainability of ocean living resources; 4) ocean energy and minerals; 5) marine environmental quality; 6) coastal recreation and tourism; 7) global climate changes; 8) coastal hazards; 9) marine science, technology, and research; 10) international agreements; 11) marine education; and 12) marine exploration.
The discussion papers are designed to address what is working well and what is not in ocean resource management. The papers are also designed to identify needs and opportunities for the future. The discussion papers are intended to provide some of the background information needed to enable both the public and private sectors to work together to promote the conservation, exploration, and sustainable use of the ocean.
For more information or to request a copy, please contact Melissa Gordon, Ph.D., in NOAA's Office of the Chief Scientist. Phone: (202) 482-0013; e-mail: melissa.gordon@noaa.gov.
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A national ocean conference, designed to underscore the importance of the oceans to a vast range of U.S. interests and to enhance public awareness of the nation's dependence on the ocean, will be held in Monterey, California, 11–12 June.
Sponsored by the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Navy, the conference will be held at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, home to the nation's largest national marine sanctuary.
The conference will include other federal agencies, ocean scientists, and researchers; members of Congress; and representatives of state and local governments, industry, and interested ocean groups.
"The Year of the Ocean provides us with an excellent opportunity to examine the essential role the ocean plays in all of our lives," said Commerce Secretary William M. Daley. "The oceans provide food, medicines, transportation, and other aspects of marine commerce that contribute to our high standard of living. This conference will be an important forum to discuss these contributions and stimulate the debate as to how to ensure the long-term health of the Earth's vital ocean resources."
Navy Secretary John Dalton explained, "Despite the importance of the ocean to various sectors of the U.S. public, the overall impact of ocean activities to the nation as a whole is rarely addressed. The ocean is the navy's operating environment, and our national security, as well as our foreign trade, are dependent on preserving the high seas freedoms of navigation for military and commercial vessels worldwide. This conference reflects a growing awareness of the ocean's paramount importance to global peace and security, the world economy, and environmental well-being."
The four central themes of the conference are commerce, global security, environment, and exploration and education.
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Data Transmission Network Corporation (DTN) and Kavouras, Inc., announced an agreement in principal among DTN and the principal shareholders of Kavouras for the acquisition by DTN of their stock in Kavouras. Kavouras is engaged in the development, design, manufacture, marketing, and service of meteorological equipment and provides meteorological data services to government, aviation, commercial broadcast, and other industries, including DTN.
Upon closing the transaction, DTN will acquire the stock of Kavouras. Details of the acquisition were not disclosed and are subject to conditions of closing, including approval by regulatory authorities.
Data Transmission Network in Omaha, Nebraska, is an information and communication provider for the agricultural, automotive, energy, farm implements, financial, mortgage, produce, golf, turn management, construction, aviation, emergency management, and weather-related industries. DTN is committed to providing comprehensive, timely, and affordably priced information including weather, news, quotes, market analysis, and commentary to more than 160 000 subscribers in the United States and Canada.
Kavouras, Inc., with headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1976 and is a designer and manufacturer of advanced meteorological technology from 1 000 000 W Doppler radar to PC weather workstations, Kavouras serves aviation, broadcasting, agriculture, power utilities, government agencies, and universities with meteorological hardware and software. Kavouras currently has approximately 600 customers in the aviation, broadcast, government, and other industries receiving meteorological data.
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Primark Corporation announced that it has completed the sale of its TASC, Inc., unit to Litton Industries, Inc., for a cash purchase price of $432 million. Included in the sale is TASC's weather information subsidiary, WSI Corporation, and affiliated weather information companies in the United Kingdom. Primark's shareholders approved overwhelmingly the sale of TASC in a special meeting of shareholders on 30 March 1998.
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AccuWeather, Inc. has moved into its new world headquarters and global forecast and data center in State College, Pennsylvania.
The new 52 000-square-foot facility is approximately 50% larger than the group of seven buildings about 2 miles away previously occupied by the company.
The move occurred in several stages, a spokesman said, encompassing the relocation of 40 satellite dishes, a dozen dedicated T-1 telephone circuits, 400 computers, and 350 people.
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Thomas Karl, a well-known and widely quoted scientist whose work in climate change has been published in scientific journals around the world, has been named director of the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, North Carolina, a facility of the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"This is a challenging and exciting time for me," said Karl. "I am looking forward to leading the world's largest active archive of climate data and ensuring that it remains a viable resource for climate researchers around the world."
Karl, who has been with the climate center since 1980, most recently served as senior scientist there, where he analyzed global climate change, extreme weather events, and trends in global and U.S. climate over the past 100 years. He also led other scientists in their studies of the changing environment.
Karl holds a master's degree in meteorology from the University of Wisconsin. He is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and chairman of the National Academy of Sciences Climate Research Committee. He has written over 85 peer-reviewed journal articles, been coauthor or coeditor of numerous texts, and published over 200 technical reports and atlases.
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"There is never a perfect time for a decision like this, but I believe that after five and a half years as a member of the Clinton cabinet, the time is now."—DOE Secretary Federico Peña
DOE Secretary Federico Peña will leave the Department of Energy on 30 June. In a hastily called April news conference, Peña announced his resignation "for personal and family reasons," saying that he and his wife "have three wonderful children, and it is now time for us to focus on their futures."
Peña has been at the Department of Energy for about one year, having formerly served as the secretary of transportation. He said Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Moler was on the short list of replacements. Whoever is his replacement, Peña said that nuclear waste disposal would be his or her "biggest challenge."
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