Editor: Jim Elliott
Contributors: Alan Weinstein and Ginny Owen
Copy Editor: Anne Siefken
· Operational Weather Modification in Russia
Sea-Surface Data from TRMM Provides New Insight on La Niña
· SeaWinds Instrument to Fly on QuickSCAT Satellite
· Science Committee Hears Administration Plans for Space Station
· NASA Selects Quick Ride Contractor
· Products Selected for Second Phase of Earth Science Data Purchase
· Studies Show Reduced Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
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As the Senate and House recessed this month, the lawmakers looked back on some progress with some appropriations bills, but recognized they have a long way to go before finalizing the 13 appropriations bills necessary to fund all government agencies before the beginning of the new fiscal year on 1 October.
On 29 July, the House passed its VA/HUD/Independent Agencies Appropriation Bill, which funds NSF and NASA, and the following day, the Senate passed its version of the Defense Appropriations Bill. Both those bills have cleared both chambers and are ready for conference to reconcile the differences in the Senate and House versions.
The House debate on the VA/HUD/Independent Agencies bill took place over two weeks. Amendments to cut funding for both NSF and NASA were defeated. Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN), a space station opponent, offered an amendment to reduce the NASA budget by $1.6 billion and terminate the space station. It failed on a 109–223 vote. As they go to conference, the House appropriators have recommended $13.3 billion for NASA, and the Senators recommended $13.6 billion.
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-SC) tried to reduce the NSF research budget by $270 million, but his amendment was defeated by a voice vote. Another amendment, by Rep. Bruce Vento (D-MN) would have reduced NSF funding by more than $100 million to increase funds for an emergency food and shelter program. However, Vento withdrew his amendment without offering it.
Total NSF funding in the House bill remains at $3.69 billion, with Research and Related Activities (R&RA) receiving $2.8 billion. The Senate bill would give NSF $3.64 billion, slightly less than the House bill, and would provide $2.7 billion for R&RA.
The VA/HUD bill faces possible opposition from President Clinton because of language pertaining to the Kyoto Treaty on global climate and the elimination of funding for AmeriCorps, a Clinton national service program, according to the AIP's Bulletin of Science Policy News.
The Senate is scheduled to return from recess on 7 September and the House on 8 September.
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from Audrey T. Leath, The American Institute of Physics
On 29 July, President Clinton signed into law a bill that would reauthorize the programs of the National Science Foundation for fiscal years 1998–2000. Below is President Clinton's statement on the bill:
"Today I am pleased to sign into law H.R.1273, the National Science Foundation Authorization Act of 1998."
"Science, engineering, and technology are potent forces for progress and achievement. Over the past century, advances in science and technology have driven much of our economic growth and shaped the lives of every generation of Americans in previously unimaginable ways. As we approach the twenty-first century, many of our society's expectations for a better future are dependent upon advances in science and technology.
"The science and engineering investments made by the National Science Foundation (NSF) will create new knowledge, spur innovations, foster future breakthroughs, and provide cutting-edge research facilities to help power our nation in the next century. These investments will help secure the continued prosperity of our economy, improvements in health care and our standards of living, and better education and training for America's students and workers.
"This act will enable the NSF to continue to play an important leadership role in sustaining scientific and technological progress. I am pleased to note that the appropriation authorization levels in H.R. 1273 are the same as proposed in my FY99 Budget, and I urge that these amounts be appropriated.
"The proposed funding for the NSF is part of my administration's broader, aggressive agenda for science and technology investments throughout the federal government, which includes the NSF's participation in the Global Observations to Benefit the Environment Initiative, the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles Program, and the Education and Training Technology Initiative.
"I especially commend the Congress for authorizing the NSF's participation in the Next Generation Internet Program. This multiagency program will push the frontiers of computation and communications and help fuel the revolution in information technology.
"I want to acknowledge the bipartisan efforts in the House and the Senate that produced this important legislation and, in particular, remember the contributions of the late Steve Schiff of New Mexico, chairman of the House Basic Research Subcommittee. Throughout his life and career, Steve Schiff dedicated his time and talents to make life better for the people of New Mexico and for his fellow Americans. Even as he waged his final courageous battle against cancer, he continued his efforts to make life better for families across this country. This act is just one piece of his legacy and demonstrates how the Congress and the administration can work together to help continue U.S. leadership in science and technology. I am pleased to sign it into law."
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from Alan Weinstein, Office of Naval Research International Field Office in Europe
The following material provides a glimpse into the present state of operational weather modification activities in Russia. It contains some quotes from an English language newspaper in Moscow and some anecdotal information.
"In the presence of looming rain clouds for the opening ceremonies of the World Youth Games on 13 July, the Mayor of Moscow once again tinkered with the weather to ensure that no one, not even nature, rained on his parade" (quote from the 14 July 1998 issue of The Moscow Tribune, one of the growing number of English language newspapers in Moscow). The article continues by describing the activity as employing "six cloud seeding airplanes" of the "Weather Service." The planes used "two methods, one to make (the clouds) rain before getting to Moscow, and another to keep them from dumping their water until after they pass over the city." The article concluded that the "gambit apparently worked."
In a later paragraph, the article noted that "the mayor ordered similar action" before, in conjunction with Moscow's 850th birthday celebration last summer. In that case, "the technique was only partly successful" when a light drizzle fell on the closing ceremonies.
In travels during the first week in July, the undersigned heard anecdotes of other "operational" weather modification for such purposes as hail suppression, rainfall enhancement, and fog dispersal. However, no further information was offered, other than to suggest it was supported by the military.
Overall, it appears that Russian government leaders appear more willing to embrace operational weather modification than are American ones. The wisdom of that position will not be commented on here.
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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, under secretary 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 relied on three or more systems to view the information needed to produce forecasts and warnings. With AWIPS, our forecasters can quickly see and use weather data from a variety of systems, all at one work station."
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The latest NOAA long-lead climate outlook, issued on 16 July, calls for continued above normal temperatures throughout most of the Southwest United States and southern Florida in the late summer and fall.
Into the fall, warmer than normal temperatures are forecast for much of the Southwest, including Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and portions of Colorado. These conditions will extend across the Southeast during the winter months.
Cooler than normal temperatures are expected for the Pacific Northwest in the winter. Temperatures are expected to be cooler than normal across the Great Lakes and Northeast later in the winter into spring.
Drier than normal conditions will persist in west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona through August and into October. The late fall and early winter forecasts indicate continued dry conditions throughout much of the southern United States and into portions of the Midwest. Wetter than normal precipitation is predicted for the Pacific Northwest throughout the fall and into the winter months and in the Ohio and Tennessee River Valley in the winter.
The outlook is available online at http://nic.fb4.noaa.gov. Click on "forecasts" and then "multiseason."
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Two separate programs aimed at providing better weather information into the cockpit of aircraft are under development. In the first, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced that it is proceeding with its Flight Information System (FIS), which is designed primarily for general aviation applications. Aviation Week and Space Technology reports that the FAA will initiate FIS later this year with a development and implementation plan. Under FIS, FAA-authorized providers will retransmit information using four frequencies in the VHF aviation band. Some basic data will be free of cost to pilots; other value-added data will be available for a charge from the vendors. The onboard equipment required to receive these data has not yet been specified.
In another program, NASA has announced that eight teams have been selected to receive more than $8 million to define and develop Aviation Weather Information (AWIN) systems, which will be designed to serve commercial, business, as well as general aviation aircraft. According to Aviation Week, AWIN will be a "two-way" system, enabling aircraft to gather data in situ, and transmit these data back into the system. Cockpit display systems would show graphics of local and national real-time weather information. More information on AWIN is available at URL: http://zethus.larc.nasa.gov/~jayr/webpages/awin/index.htm
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Two specially equipped NASA aircraft, a heavily instrumented DC-8 and a high-altitude ER-2, are joining airborne NOAA and Air Force "Hurricane Hunters" during August and September to study the structure, dynamics, and motion of Atlantic hurricanes and tropical storms. The study, known as the Convection and Moisture Experiment (CAMEX), is designed to bring about a better understanding of the storms to improve ground-based predictions, thus increasing warning times, saving lives and property, and to decrease the size of evacuation areas, saving money, while giving scientists a better grasp of these dramatic weather phenomena. Results also will be used to validate existing measurements from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) of hurricane and tropical storms and to develop algorithms for future Earth science missions.
This season, when a hurricane or tropical storm erupts in the Atlantic, the DC-8 from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, California equipped with instruments to measure the storm's structure, environment, and changes in intensity and tracking, will fly into the storm at 35 000– 40 000 feet. At the same time, the specially equipped ER-2, also from Dryden, will soar above the storm at 65 000 feet. The high-altitude research aircraft will measure the storm's structure and the surrounding atmosphere that steers the storm's movement.
On the ground, a storm research team will launch weather balloons and monitor land-based sensors to validate the high-altitude measurements taken by instruments aboard the planes. NOAA aircraft will operate out of MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, and planes from the U.S. Air Force's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron will fly out of Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. NOAA flies a WP-3 "Orion", a four-engine turboprop aircraft, into storms at altitudes below 27 000 feet. The Air Force flies WC-130 aircraft, a four-engine turboprop aircraft, at 5,000–10 000 feet.
The study unites eight NASA centers, other government weather researchers, and the university community for a coordinated, multiagency and university hurricane and tropical storm study, according to NASA officials. The study is part of NASA's Earth Science enterprise to better understand the total Earth system and the effects of natural and human-induced changes on the global environment.
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Scientists aboard the world's largest scientific drill ship, the JOIDES Resolution, will soon study a cold-water current that today is 100 times the size of the mighty Amazon River. The geologists will set sail from Sydney, Australia, 16 August on an expedition supported in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a major contributor to the international Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), under the aegis of which the research will take place.
"Racing at remote southwest Pacific Ocean depths, the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) forms part of a global system of ocean circulation that distributes heat around the planet and may play a key role in controlling climate change," explains Bruce Malfait, ODP director at NSF. "This current channels 40% of the world's newly formed, cold deep water throughout the oceans."
The current's role in controlling climatic changes will be studied by a team of 26 scientists representing nine countries. Geologists Bob Carter of James Cook University (Australia) and Nick McCave of Cambridge University (UK) will head the scientific team that will reconstruct the history of the world's largest deep ocean current.
The scientists will seek answers to questions about climate change by analyzing samples of deep-sea mud, which is shaped by the deep currents to form great mounds on the sea floor. Core samples will be collected from deep within these mounds.
As the DWBC passes from the Southern Ocean into the Pacific, it runs adjacent to the landmass of New Zealand. Mountains associated with the active faults and volcanoes of New Zealand provide an abundant source of eroded rock detritus. This sand and mud is fed into the path of the DWBC along several large deep sea channels. Under the influence of the current, the fine grained muds are then molded into huge deep-sea sediment drifts. Some of these drifts are several hundred miles long, and their sedimentary layers preserve a unique archive of changes in climate.
"Previous ODP studies of deep-sea sediment drifts in the North Atlantic have contributed enormously to our understanding of climate change in the northern hemisphere," explains McCave."We anticipate that southern hemisphere drilling will result in a truly global picture."
To investigate the history of the DWBC and its sediment drifts, the scientific team will take core samples as deep as 1,500 feet below the seafloor, using advanced drilling technology aboard the JOIDES Resolution. A hydraulic piston corer will push directly into the upper layers of sediment, enabling scientists to recover delicately layered deep-sea muds in an almost undisturbed state.
Subsequent studies of the core materials, both aboard the ship and in land-based laboratories, will allow the scientists to reconstruct climate changes that have occurred in the southern Pacific ocean, as well as changes in the strength of the DWBC. Scientists will continue to study whether global warming changes the strength of the current. They also want to know if changes in the current would cause further warming, or whether it might trigger cooling and the onset of another period of glaciation.
Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas is science operator of the JOIDES Resolution. The JOIDES will return to Wellington, New Zealand on 8 October following the current expedition.
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With the growing interest in climatic and weather extremes, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration now has a Web site that links to all NOAA Web pages related to climatic extremes, weather events, climate change, El Niño/La Niña, natural disasters, and U.S. climatologies.
The recent surge in news media, government, and individual interest in these topics has lead to numerous inquiries for data and information from NOAA's National Climatic Data Center. Now, users can go to a single Web page to see what's online regarding these topics. Within this system, users will find a wealth of data, maps, images (e.g., satellite, radar), and reports for each topic, such as El Niño/La Niña, 1993–98, weather events, U.S. tornadoes, and historical global extremes. So, when an extreme event occurs, go http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ol/climate/severeweather/severeweather.html to see what's on line, and to obtain data and information for past years' events.
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This is a partial list of online addresses for current information on disasters and weather phenomenon.
1. Disaster Control—http://www.promit.com/d-central/discent.htm The National Building Protection Council has an interest in natural disasters, offering periodic updated summaries of catastrophic events. Also, it has dramatic photos of disasters and other natural events, including a spectacular lightning strike on the Empire State Building.
2. Savage Earth—http://www.pbs.org/wnet/savageearth/. PBS has launched a series about the planet's attempts to wreak havoc upon civilization. It has animations, scientific articles, and offers an opportunity to ask questions.
3. Earthquake Information—http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/. The U.S. Geological Survey tracks earthquakes all over the globe and updates the information constantly.
4. Disaster Relief—http://www.disasterrelief.org/. This site offers a combined effort of CNN, IBM, and the American Red Cross. It tracks disasters around the world and provides information about how one can help those who have been devastated.
5. Severe Weather—http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/nws/safety.html This is the National Weather Service's safety guide to help people be prepared for weather-based disasters.
6. Disaster Response—http://www.disasterresponse.org/ This is a central Web-based clearing house for disaster-relief strategies. One will find requests for volunteers to help in disaster situations and other information.
7. Hurricane Watch—http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/hurrwtch.htm. This also is run by the NWS. It keeps an on eye on hurricanes, providing information on tropical waves, depressions, and storms that is sent to news organizations, including tracking maps.
8. Disasters and Catastrophes—http://members.tripod.com/dogw/index.htm. This site specializes in the human element of disasters and describes itself as a site that is "all about information and entertainment for people who think disasters are fascinating."
9. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)—http://www.fema.gov. This site shows a more revealing side of helping people recover from disasters.
10. Disaster Finder-tip—http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/ndrd/disaster/. This NASA-run site is a search engine that tracks all the disaster sites on the Internet.
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DOE's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has added ice-core data from Law Dome (Antarctica) to its "Trends Online."
The data, collected by a number of international researchers, provide atmospheric CO2 mixing ratios from 1006–1978. The air enclosed in the ice-cores has unparalleled age resolution and extends into recent decades, according to the scientists.
Preindustrial CO2 mixing ratios were in the range 275–284 ppm, with the lower levels during the 1550–1800, probably as a result of colder global climate. The ice cores show major growth in atmospheric CO2 levels over the industrial period, except during 1935–45, when levels stabilized or decreased slightly.
The data can be found on http://cdiac.esd.ornl.gov/trends.co2/lawdome.html.
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Sea-surface temperature data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) spacecraft are shedding new light on La Niña. Having successfully received data from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) instrument aboard the spacecraft, scientists have been able to collect data on changes in sea-surface temperature in the Tropics from a spaceborne microwave instrument. The images show not only temperature changes, but also ocean current movement and the dissipation of El Niño.
While scientists believe drawing definite conclusions on the onset of La Niña, might be premature, they say the results appear to confirm its beginning. "TMI is an all-weather measuring instrument that can see through clouds," said Dr. David Adamec, oceanographer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland. "The standard instrument (infrared radiometer) used to measure sea-surface temperature, must contend with clouds and atmospheric aerosols. Clouds block the flow of data, yet an uninterrupted consistent data stream is crucial for long-term climate study."
Knowledge of La Niña is not as mature as that for El Niño, scientists point out. Acquiring quality sea-surface temperature data via a microwave scanner had been a long-term aspiration among oceanographers for more than a decade, when the last microwave imager ceased operations. In addition, none of the previously existing microwave scanners had the capability of the TRMM Microwave Scanner, officials said. Ideally, they explained, this new information will be used for the improvement of weather forecasting, anomalous weather study and a better understanding of ocean current alteration.
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A major milestone had been reached in NASA's development of "faster, better, cheaper" space missions with the delivery of the SeaWinds instrument to Ball Aerospace in Boulder, Colorado for integration with the Quick Scatterometer (QuickSCAT) satellite.
The instrument is NASA's next generation sensor for measuring wind speed and direction over the world's oceans.
The QuickSCAT mission is designed to complete turnaround from conception to orbit in a very short period of time and at less cost. It will restart an ocean–wind data stream that was lost when the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) with a NASA Scatterometer onboard ceased functioning on 30 June 1997.
Before the loss of ADEOS, NASA was able to obtain valuable data about summer and winter monsoon seasons and the onset of the El Niño event.
QuickSCAT is scheduled for launch in November onboard a Titan II launch vehicle and, if successful, will be the first Earth Observing System (EOS) spacecraft in orbit. EOS represents a major part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth mission.
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from Audrey T. Leath, The American Institute of Physics
Five days after his confirmation, the new director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jacob Lew, found himself in the hot seat at a 5 August House Science Committee hearing on problems with the International Space Station.
Committee members challenged the administration's optimistic, "wait-and-see" attitude toward Russia's fulfillment of its commitments and the focus on only the most immediate problems.
This was the third Science Committee hearing on this issue in three months. Having heard the findings and recommendations of NASA's Cost Assessment and Validation Task Force (the Chabrow report), the committee had requested the White House response.
The Chabrow report found the program's biggest threat to be Russia's inability to complete its commitments and that funding for the program, particularly in the FY99 budget request, is insufficient. Committee members wanted to hear a comprehensive, long-term strategy to end dependence on the Russian government and an estimate of the expected costs.
"Unfortunately," commented Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-WI), "the White House did not adopt the recommendation of the [Chabrow] Task Force or NASA to initiate a program to solve our long-term reliance on the Russians.... I think we are all anxious to hear," he added, "why it rejected NASA's recommendation to address our long-term dependence on Russia, why it will not provide the funds necessary to fix these problems...and why it thinks declining to address these issues now in the fiscal year 1999 budget process won't result in bigger problems later."
Lew was joined at the witness table by NASA Administrator Dan Goldin and OSTP Associate Director Duncan Moore. They explained that last year, at the urging of the Science Committee, NASA developed a contingency plan to deal with delays in Russian contributions and implemented the first step, development of an Interim Control Module as a potential backup for the Russian Service Module.
"Given continued Russian shortfalls," Lew stated, NASA and the administration are "now prepared to implement an additional step" by developing plans to modify the Space Shuttle "to meet a significant portion of the station reboost requirements" to keep the station in its orbit. He testified that sufficient funds (approximately $50–100 million) could be found within NASA's FY99 budget request to begin this action.
As for longer-term actions expected to cost more than $500 million, Lew said "I'm not prepared to discuss that today." The administration intended to review the issues this fall, he said, and its decisions would be reflected in the FY00 budget submission. "I know many of you would like to see a detailed plan today," he noted, but "we must be careful not to act in haste." The administration would prepare contingency actions "on a year-by-year basis as problems arise," he testified.
When pressed about the likelihood of needing further contingency actions, Lew characterized recent talks with the Russian government as "encouraging," and said it would be premature to presume default by the Russians. "The decision can't be made on worst-case scenarios," he said. "We do not share the view...that there is no more hope that the Russians will fulfill their commitments."
Sensenbrenner responded, "They've broken every other commitment and missed every other deadline; what leads you to believe anything's changed?"
Space station foe Rep. Tim Roemer (D-IN) mused, "What is the worst case?" because the U.S. is already "sending a buy-out package" to help save the Russian economy.
Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX) challenged the administration policy that to build the station at the lowest cost, NASA might have to cut or defer funding for station operations or research. Delaying research is "not desirable," agreed Lew; "Our, and your, goal is to have the major purpose of the station realized, which is research."
Ranking Minority Member George Brown (D-CA) declared that from the beginning, "committee members have made it clear that financing the space station cost overruns out of the research budget is not an acceptable solution." Brown aligned himself with most of Sensenbrenner's comments and described himself as "very, very deeply concerned that we're not taking the proper steps to assure ourselves that the station will come in, not on schedule and on budget, but a little less behind schedule and over budget."
Administration officials will begin this fall preparing the FY00 budget request, which will be submitted to Congress in February 1999.
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NASA has awarded a contract to a Maryland firm to procure excess space aboard commercial satellites for various scientific and engineering missions.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, has awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract known as "Quick Ride" to Final Analysis, Inc. of Lanham, Maryland. The contract, which has a maximum value of $49 million and a minimum ordering amount of $1,000, will allow for the placement of firm, fixed-price task orders within 30 days.
Under NASA's current contract consolidation initiative, any NASA Center along with other government agencies will be able to purchase excess space aboard commercial satellites for various Earth science, space science, and technology instrumentation payloads, thus resulting in faster, better, cheaper science missions.
During contract performance, NASA will be developing a catalog for potential customers, which will include information regarding satellite launch dates, intended orbits, and configuration of available space for each contractor participating in Quick Ride.
A precedent setting contractual mechanism under the Quick Ride contract called "On-Ramps" will allow NASA to solicit additional proposals and accept unsolicited proposals from commercial satellite firms during the contract's 5-yr performance period, thus allowing NASA to provide additional Quick Ride services to potential customers.
NASA's intent is for Quick Ride to conform with commercial industry practices. Government-provided instrumentation and/or payloads will be expected to conform to the accommodations onboard the commercial satellites in order to prevent any impact to commercial integration and launch schedules or primary payloads.
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Five offers have been selected for continuation into the second phase of NASA's purchase of Earth science data products that help meet the agency's scientific requirements.
"We are very pleased that the products we have chosen will provide NASA with valuable scientific data for our Earth sciences efforts," said Dr. Ghassem Asrar, associate administrator for NASA's Office of Earth Sciences, Washington, DC. "This purchase continues the multifaceted process of NASA working more aggressively with industry and other nongovernmental organizations to advance scientific understanding of our Earth as a total environmental system."
The U.S. Congress approved the plan to initiate the data purchase activity in the fiscal 1997 NASA budget. The program is managed by the NASA Commercial Remote Sensing Program at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, the agency's lead center for fostering commercial applications of NASA Earth science data and related technology.
A phase I request for offers was made by NASA in May 1997 to provide unique simulated or prototype Earth science data products for science assessment and validation. The phase II information will be used by research teams within NASA's Earth Science enterprise, which manages the agency's portion of an internationally coordinated research effort to study the Earth's land, oceans, atmosphere, ice, and life as a global environmental system.
"By purchasing data upon delivery from the private sector instead of developing, building, and launching new satellites, NASA may be able to conduct and expand its scientific investigations at a much lower cost, while encouraging the growth of this economic area," Asrar said.
Selected products were based on several criteria, including "best science value" to the government, and the degree to which the offered data met the business and performance characteristics of the solicitation, including scientific utility and data rights. The combined phase I and phase II data purchases are valued at approximately $50 million.
The following companies were selected for the data purchase:
Earth Satellite Corporation, Rockville, Maryland, Product: Geo-CoverTM, georeferenced LANDSAT global dataset.
Positive Systems, Inc., Whitefish, Montana, Product: ADAR 5500, 1-meter airborne imagery.
AstroVision, Inc., Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, Product: High Temporal Resolution Geostationary Imagery.
EarthWatch, Inc., Longmont, Colorado, Product: Star-3I, 3-meter airborne SAR imagery.
Space Imaging EOSAT, Thornton, Colorado, Product: IKONOS Original, Master, Model 1-meter spaceborne imagery.
Further information about these products and awards is available on the Internet at URL: http://procurement.nasa.gov/EPS/SSC/award.html
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Software problems in the Ground Control Software will cause a serious delay in the launch of the EOS-AM1 spacecraft, originally planned for late June 1998, according to EOS Senior Project Scientist Michael King. A new launch date has not been announced.
The problem, explained the Goddard Space Flight Center scientist, is with the Ground Control Software that supports the command and control of the spacecraft and instruments, monitoring of spacecraft and instrument health and safety, planning and scheduling of instrument operations and analysis of spacecraft trends and anomalies.
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Launch of the LANDSAT-7 spacecraft has been delayed indefinitely because of overheating problems discovered during thermal-vacuum testing, according to project officials at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
The power supplies shut down anomalously during the testing and were sent back to be reworked at Raytheon's Santa Barbara Remote Sensing (SBRS) facilities in California. The power supplies will be integrated with the instrument and spacecraft during the summer, officials explained.
The overheating, they said, was traced primarily to new diodes that were used within the power supplies. They were considered to be an improvement over diodes used previously, officials explained, and they were chosen because the older styles no longer are in production.
A formal launch date, originally planned for May 1998, will not be established until the power supplies have successfully gone through thermal-vacuum testing again, which is currently taking place. If the test is successful, officials are looking for a launch next March or April.
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A government assessment released recently shows that utility companies and other industries substantially have reduced sulfur dioxide emissions that cause acid precipitation, as required by the 1990 Clean Air Act, and that lakes and streams throughout the United States have decreased levels of sulfur pollutants as a result.
That's the good news, according to government officials. The bad news, they warn, is that if the rates of deposition of both sulfur and nitrogen emissions are not reduced further, they will continue to degrade forests, lakes and streams, particularly high elevation spruce and fir forests in the eastern United States and lakes and streams in the Northeast.
Using measurements made from 1980 through 1995 nationwide, the study by the National Acid Precipitation Program analyzed the costs, benefits and effectiveness of acid deposition control provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment, also known as Title IV or the Acid Deposition Program.
Significant findings include:
Measurements show decreasing trends in acidity in many lakes in New England. However, some sensitive areas, most notably the Adirondacks, have not shown decreasing trends.
Reduction in sulfur and nitrogen emissions is expected to reduce fine-particulate sulfate and nitrate concentrations. Results of epidemiological studies suggest that decreased emissions could lead to reductions in premature mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular and respiratory causes.
Some evidence suggests that quantifiable economic benefits could be relatively large in the areas of human health and visibility. The magnitude of potential benefits in these two areas alone could exceed the costs of complying with Title IV. Beneficial effects on ecosystems are expected to be large, but quantifiable estimates are not yet attainable.
Sulfur and nitrogen deposition have caused adverse impacts on certain high-elevation fir forests in the eastern United States. They are the most sensitive. If deposition levels are not reduced further in areas where they currently are high, adverse effects may develop in more forests due to chronic, multiple decade exposure. The gradual leaching of soil nutrients from sustained inputs of acid deposition eventually could impeded forest nutrition and growth in several areas.
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Former NSF Director Neal Lane was confirmed unanimously by the Senate as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on 31 July. Lane takes over the position left vacant when John Gibbons retired.
A White House press release on the confirmation read: "Dr. Lane also serves as assistant to the president for science and technology and is responsible for providing the president with advice in all areas of science and technology policy and works to coordinate science, space, and technology policy and programs across the federal government. The director also cochairs the president's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology and serves on the National Science and Technology Council."
Lane had served as NSF Director since 1993. Prior to that, he was provost and physics professor at Rice University, Houston, Texas. He also was chancellor of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs from 1984 to 1986 and director of NSF's Division of Physics from 1979 to 1990. The Senate also confirmed Rita Colwell as Lane's replacement at NSF.
In other action, the Senate confirmed former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson as secretary of energy and Rosina Bierbaum as OSTP associate director for environment. Richardson replaces Federico Pena.
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NOAA has appointed a 15-member Science Advisory Board to assist the agency in maintaining a complete and accurate understanding of scientific issues critical to NOAA missions, from forecasting weather to overseeing the nation's fisheries.
In announcing the appointments, NOAA Administrator D. James Baker said the members would provide technical expertise on both long- and short-term scientific issues. The group is composed of eminent scientists, engineers, resource managers, and educators. Members are appointed to serve 3–5-yr terms, with the possibility of renewing once.
Members are:
Alfred M. Beeton, Ph.D., NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.
Michael P. Crosby, Ph.D., executive director, NOAA Office of the Chief Scientist.
Vera Alexander, Ph.D., dean, School of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, University of Alaska.
Otis Brown, Ph.D., dean, Meteorology and Physical Oceanography, University of Miami.
Peter M. Douglas, executive director, California Coastal Commission.
Patricia Gober, Ph.D., professor, Department of Geography, Arizona State University.
Susan Hanna, Ph.D., professor, Department of Agricultural and Resources
Economics, Oregon State University.
Diane M. McKnight, Ph.D., associate professor, Civil, Environmental and
Agricultural Engineering Department, University of Colorado.
Arthur E. Maxwell, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Institute of Geophysics, University of Texas.
Leonard J. Pietrafesa, Ph.D., head, Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, North Carolina State University.
Jake Rice, Ph.D., Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Canadian Stock Assessment Secretariat.
Joanne Simpson, Ph.D., chief scientist for meteorology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Soroosh Sorooshian, Ph.D., professor, Hydrology and Water Resources, University of Arizona.
Denise M. Stephenson-Hawk, Ph.D., professor of physics, Clark-Atlanta University.
Warren Washington, Ph.D., National Center for Atmospheric Research, Climate and Global Dynamics Division.
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Larry Richard Johnson, 54, who served in a variety of assignments on the AWIPS program at Litton PRC, Inc. and was an outstanding member of AMS, died in Herndon, Virginia on 30 July.
A retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who served in a number of key positions in the USAF Air Weather Service, he had been with Litton PRC, Inc. for 10 years. He had been active in AMS for 29 years in numerous positions. His efforts were key to PRC's early and continued support for the AMS Scholarship/Fellowship program.
Litton PRC, Inc., with the support of AMS, is naming the AMS scholarship sponsored by Litton PRC as the Larry R. Johnson Minority Scholarship.
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Chris Scolese, EOS AM project manager at Goddard Space Flight Center, has been named associate director of Flight Projects for EOS, a new position aimed at strengthening the overall management of Earth science projects at the center.
Also, Rick Obenschain, manager of the Earth Science Data and Information Systems (ESDIS) project at Goddard, will serve as deputy associate director of Flight Projects for EOS Operations, with specific responsibility of ESDIS.
An additional position of deputy associate director of Flight Projects for EOS Development also has been established at the center, with specific responsibility for AM, PM, Chemistry, LANDSAT and IceSat projects. The position will be handled initially by Scolese in an acting capacity. Kevin Grady, deputy EOS AM manager, will serve as acting AM project manager.
Vicki A. Novak and Jeffrey E. Sutton have been named to key positions at NASA.
Novak, who has 25 years of Federal service and has served in a variety of human resources positions at the Departments of Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, and Transportation, has been appointed associate administrator of human resources.
Sutton, who has more than 27 years of federal service and has served in increasingly responsible positions in the Air Force and NASA, has been named associate administrator for Management Systems and Facilities.
Novak received her bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee and graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1973. She has received numerous awards during her career, most notably, the Department of Transportation's Secretary's Award for Meritorious Achievement and the NASA Exceptional Achievement Award.
Sutton has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Public Administration degree (with honors) from the University of Southern California. His awards include the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, the President's Council on Management Improvement Award of Management Excellence and the General Services Administration Excellence in Administration Award.
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