Editor: Jim Elliott

Contributor:Stephanie Kenitzer

Copy Editor: Anne Siefken

Special Edition—Fiscal Year 2001 Budget

• National Science Foundation FY01 Budget Request Has the Largest Increase among Science Agencies
• NOAA Budget Contains Significant Increase—Some Disappointments
• NASA FY01 Proposed Budget Climbs for First Time in Seven Years
• NASA’s Earth Science Program Loses Ground in FY01 Budget Proposal
• DOE’s Biological and Environmental Research Up 3%
• EPA Requests $757 Million for Research in FY01
• USGS FY01 Budget Request Up by 10%

National Science Foundation FY01 Budget Request Has the Largest Increase among Science Agencies

Overview

The president’s FY01 budget request for NSF provides an increase of $675 million to a level of $4.6 million or 17.3% over the current level. This is the largest dollar increase that has ever been requested for NSF. It has been credited to the statement made by Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, that the remarkable growth in the U.S. economy “appears to have its roots in ongoing advances in technology.” That has translated into a major investment in the basic research that is supported by the NSF as well as significant increases to other science agencies.

In the traditional way of decomposing the NSF budget, the support for grants is contained in the Research and Related Activities account, which is requested to increase by 19.7%–$3.54 billion. In FY01, the strategic goals that this budget will meet are in three areas: ideas (discovery across frontiers and connections to society), people (the development of a diverse, internationally competitive workforce of scientists, engineers, and scientifically literate citizens), and tools (accessible, state-of-the-art information bases and shared research and education facilities). The overhead required to manage the Foundation is in the Administrative and Management account. The budget distribution for these four strategic areas is shown in this table.

NSF Budget Request by Strategic Goal

(In millions of dollars)

Nearly half of the $675 million requested increase would be provided to NSF’s “core investments” in research and education activities. The funding for atmospheric science research flows from the Geosciences (GEO) directorate, which would receive a 19.5% increase for a total of $583.0 million in FY01. More details of this budget follow.

Among the other NSF areas that are of relevance to the atmospheric sciences community, the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) would receive a 36.2% increase over FY00 for a total of $528.1 million. The Engineering (ENG) directorate would receive $456.50 million in FY01, an increase of 19.6% over FY00.

In addition to the core disciplinary research programs at NSF, large increases are requested for a number of new and continuing major initiatives. These are crosscutting initiatives, which are open to proposals from a variety of research and education disciplines. It is important to note that in addition to $355 million in new funding, the president’s request would reallocate $135 million from NSF’s base funding to these emphasis areas.

• Information Technology Research (ITR), which received $126 million in FY00, would receive an increase of $200 million in FY01, an increase of 159.5%. The total funding for ITR would be $326 million.
• Nanoscale Science and Engineering would receive $216.65 million in FY01, an increase of $119.35 million or 122.7% over current NSF nanoscale activities.
• Biocomplexity in the Environment, which received $50 million in FY00, would receive an additional $86.31 million in FY01 for a total of $136.31 million. This is an increase of 172.6%.
• The Twenty-First Century Workforce activity, which involves research on the science of learning and the development of a more scientifically literate workforce, would receive $157.05 million in FY01, an increase of $83.39 million, or 113.2%, over FY00.

Finally, another area of interest for the atmospheric sciences, NSF’s Education and Human Resources (EHR) directorate would receive $760.01 million in FY01, an increase of 5% over FY00. Within EHR, the Undergraduate Education division would receive $140.56 million, an increase of 20.8% over FY00, while the Graduate Education division would receive a 14.4% increase for a total of $89.45 million. The Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCOR) program would receive a 5.8% decrease for a total of $48.41 million in FY01.

Details of Significance to the Atmospheric Sciences

As noted, the funding for atmospheric science research is primarily within the Geosciences (GEO) directorate. The details of the GEO budget are shown in this table:

GEO Budget Breakdown

(In millions of dollars)

GEO’s participation in the NSF crosscutting emphasis areas would be:

• $39.5 million in new funding for Biocomplexity in the Environment;
• $16.6 million in new funding for Information Technology Research;
• $7.84 million ($1.84 million in new money) in Nanoscale Science and Engineering; and
• $1.55 million in Twenty-First Century Workforce.

There have been no details released on how these funds would be awarded or within which division they will ultimately reside.

In 2001, GEO will focus support in the following emphasis areas: Natural Cycles within the Earth System ($28.84 million, an increase of $13.8 million with $4.6 million in atmospheric sciences), Natural Hazards ($56.84 million—details follow) and Sustained Time-series Ocean Observations ($20.15 million). Although NSF participation in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP) ($187.45 million) will not receive any increase in 2001, within GEO ($128.49 million), research within Biocomplexity in the Environment and the three GEO focus areas are all related to the GCRP objectives.

There are two ongoing significant focused atmospheric science programs within the Natural Hazards emphasis areas. The $56.26 million represents an increase of $1.6 million over FY00 funding. That entire increase is for atmospheric science within the U.S. Weather Research Program (USWRP) and the National Space Weather Program (NSWP). These programs are interagency activities directed at improving the predictive capabilities for severe weather (USWRP) and impact of solar storms on the atmosphere (nswp). With the FY01 request, each program would increase $0.8 million bringing support for the USWRP to $14.6 million and the NSWP to $16.7 million. Considering the percentage increases for NSF and GEO, it is disappointing that these programs with potentially profound importance to the nation would receive less than 6% increases.

The Major Research Equipment account at NSF would receive $139 million in FY01, an increase of $45 million over FY00. One new project is proposed for $17 million funding for geosciences’ research infrastructure—Earthscope, a geophysical instrument array. Another facility of interest for the atmospheric sciences is the South Pole Station, which would receive a $9 million increase for a total of $45 million in FY01.

In a disappointing development the budget request does not include continued funding for HIAPER, the high altitude environmental research aircraft. Congress began funding for this project ($8.5 million) through bipartisan action last year. HIAPER is an aircraft that is planned to be developed and operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research. It is anticipated that Congress will reverse this NSF budget decision.

NOAA Budget Contains Significant Increase—Some Disappointments

President Clinton's budget request for FY01 contains a significant increase for NOAA. At $2.9 billion, the proposed NOAA budget for FY2001 is approximately 20% over the budget approved for FY2000, but somewhat less than 20% when compared against the actual budget (reduced by a variety of actions, including the 0.38% across-the-board cut imposed as a part of the agreement between president Clinton and the Congress). The bulk of the requested increase, over $300 million, is for coastal ocean and fisheries programs, but climate and weather programs will also receive some increase if Congress approves the budget.

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

For the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the total request is for $319 million, representing a net increase of about $6 million. Some highlights include:

• NOAA has proposed $28 million for a climate services initiative, to be managed jointly by OAR, NESDIS, and NWS. This is a welcome, if long overdue, initiative, which may permit NOAA to deliver coordinated climate services, which are now scattered through the three line offices. Four million of the $28 million is designated to improve the archiving and access to climatological data.
• Nine million has been proposed for floating observatories capable of vertically sounding the temperature and salinity of the ocean, much as the radiosonde provides vertical profiles through the atmosphere. These observations are crucial for understanding the ocean–atmosphere coupled system, and for operational coupled ocean–atmosphere models for climate prediction.
• GFDL is to receive a $2 million increase to continue payments on its most recent supercomputer acquisition.

Note: the U.S. Weather Research Program is proposed to receive an increase of $1 million, to a total of $2 million. While laudable compared to the history of this program, the reader may compare this increase to the $300 million increase requested for coastal ocean and fisheries activities, and draw her or his own conclusions as to the priorities of the administration.

Some disappointments include:

• Atmospheric programs receive a reduction of about $2.6 million, to $47.6 million
• Ocean programs, especially NURP, are reduced by approximately $18 million.

In summary, the OAR request includes increases of about $29 million, and decreases of about $23 million, for a net increase of $6 million.

NOAA FY01 Budget Request

Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR)

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service

The total request for NESDIS in FY01 is $612.6 million, of which $108 million is in the Operations, Research, and Facilities area, and $504 million is in Procurement, Acquisition, and Construction. This represents a net increase of $41 million. In the ORF account, the $108 million is divided between Satellite Systems ($63 million) and Data management Systems ($45 million). In the PAC account are increases for the procurements of the polar-orbiter series K–N ($6.5 million), NPOESS ($16.9 million), and GOES ($25.2 million); and the initial start on a new operations facility at the Suitland Federal Complex in Suitland, Maryland.

Some highlights:

• The NOAA K–N series of polar orbiters will continue with the launch of NOAA-M in CY01, and the procurement of a new Delta launch vehicle.
• NOAA requests almost $17 million for its share of the converged NOAA/NASA/DOD polar orbiter program, the follow-on to the NOAA K–N series.
• $25 million is requested for the contract for GOES N–Q spacecraft, and for development funds for the GOES-Q satellite.
• The existing Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland, is housed in a structure originally built in 1945. In addition to being inadequate for modern technology, such as fiber-optic cabling, the facility has numerous problems of systems such as HVAC and power, and has a serious asbestos problem. The NOAA Central Computing Facility was housed in the same building until the fire in September 1999 finally forced a move to the Census Computing Center in Bowie. The Central Computing Facility was long delayed by faulty analysis by the DOC Office of the Inspector General, and recommendations, which proved to be extraordinarily unfortunate, even by the DOC/OIG's dismal standards. It is to be hoped that the NESDIS project will not be similarly hampered.

A disappointment: the Regional Climate Centers budget line of about $2.5 million has again been reduced to zero in FY01. Each year the president's budget proposes the RCCs' elimination, and each year the Congress restores the funding. It would seem that the RCC's should be a part of the new NOAA Climate Services initiative.

NOAA FY01 Budget Request

National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

NASA FY01 Proposed Budget Climbs for First Time in Seven Years

NASA's FY01 budget proposal is going up for the first time in seven years, climbing $435 million for a total of $14.0 billion, according to NASA Administrator Dan Goldin.

At his budget briefing at NASA Headquarters on 7 February, Goldin added that the agency's budget in FY05 could be expected to be $2 billion higher than the FY01 budget. The new budget calls for increases in all four of the main agency spending categories—Human Space Flight; Science Aeronautics and Technology; Mission Support, and Inspector General.

"The numbers and facts we are unveiling today will not only help revolutionize the space program, but it will also help develop the technologies essential to America's future," he said.

Goldin explained that NASA will "take on revolutionary new missions, like Living with a Star and the Small Aircraft Transportation System. We will take the next steps toward a permanent human presence in space. And we will build on our exciting missions to understand our planet, our solar system, and our universe."

"Today," he continued, "we take the next major step in decreasing our involvement in operations and increasing our investment in cutting-edge R&D. Th best indicator of this change is how we balance our human space flight with our science and aerospace technology investments. Over the past decade, our science and aerospace technology investment went from 31% to 41% of our budget. In the next five years, we will raise our investment to 51%."

Emphasizing that safety remains NASA's number one priority, he said the shuttle safety program spending will jump from $600 million to $2.1 billion over the next six years, allowing NASA to fly the shuttle for at least the next decade and "roughly double its safety."

As that upgrade takes place, he explained, NASA is aggressively investing an even larger sum of money in its number one development priority, the next generation of revolutionary resusable launch vehicles. Over the past seven years, he said, $1.8 billion has gone into that effort.

He said that for the first time in a decade, NASA plans to hire "close to 2000 new employees in the next two years— a gain of 550 after expected attrition.

"When we performed our Zero Based Review, we planned downsizing to 17 500. We also planned to monitor and to evaluate the impact on our people to ensure a safe and vibrant workplace. To reduce stress levels, improve our skill mix, and address the high number of imminent retirements, we are investing $600 million over five years for personnel and facilities."

NASA FY01 Budget Summary

(In millions of dollars)

NASA’s Earth Science Program Loses Ground in FY01 Budget Proposal

NASA’s Earth Sciences budget proposal for FY01 calls for expenditure of $1406 billion, a decrease from the FY00 appropriation of $1443 billion.

The agency’s budget statement issued at NASA Headquarters on 7 February noted that the agency has “restructured” its Earth Science budget to better display the resources devoted to research and technology requirements. As a result, those requirements have been allocated to three categories in the budget proposal: Earth Science/Program Science; Applications Commercialization and Education (ACE); and Technology Infusion. The new structure aligns the requirements with the way that they are managed within the agency, according to the statement.

“NASA is pioneering the emerging interdisciplinary field of research called Earth System Science, borne of the recognition that earth’s land surface, oceans, atmosphere, ice sheets, and biota are both dynamic ad highly interactive.

“In concert with other agencies, countries, the global research community, and commercial partners the ESE is providing the scientific foundation needed for complex policy choices that lie ahead,” the statement read.

“To that end, NASA is developing a series of spacecraft, airborne instruments, and ground-based field experiments to study our planet, a vast database management system to catalogue the subsequent findings and an active research program to utilize these tools.”

A summary of the Earth Science budget proposal shows;

NASA Earth Science Program Budget Summary

(In millions of dollars)

The major activities supported by Research and Technology include Research and Analysis, Earth Observing System Science, Airborne Science and Applications, and Commercial Remote Sensing cooperation with industry.

Currently, there are more than 1700 earth science-related activities being funded under the research and analysis program. Approximately 900 are carried out by universities, 100 by national research laboratories, and 700 by federal agencies in 45 states.

The Mission Implementation and Operations portion of the Enterprise comprises satellite missions, information systems, and operations. EOS, the largest element ($447 million) of NASA’s ESE is a program of multiple spacecraft designed to provide key measurements of the key, multidisciplinary parameters needed to understand global climate change.

The EOS program also includes several small spacecraft, and the Earth Probes program ($120 million) address specific, highly focused earth science questions.

The NASA, NOAA, and DOD converged weather satellite program is designing a new mission to gather research data simultaneously on atmospheric physics, land cover, and to demonstrate new instruments for the nation’s operational weather system.

The budget proposal calls for spending $252 million for the EOS Data Information System (EOSDIS), which has been providing data and information from NASA-sponsored programs since September 1995. Eight Distributed Active Archive Centers provided 1.2 million users with nearly six million data products in 1999. In addition, 19 public/private partnerships are generating data products for applications beyond science, including agriculture, urban and regional planning, and disaster management.

Under Technology Infusion, NASA is investing in science instrument technologies that are expected to reduce costs of future missions dramatically, paving the way to a “faster, better, cheaper” mission set, according to the statement. It noted that the New Millennium Program focuses on identifying and demonstrating advanced technologies that reduce cost or improve performance of spacecraft, instruments, and operations. “The program emphasizes partnering with industry, academia, and other government agencies and is committed to the development of cutting edge technologies,” the statement read.

The budget proposal recommends $69 million for Applications, Commercialization, and Education. ESE has established seven Regional Earth Science Applications Centers (RESACs) to target efforts on regional issues.

The Commercial Remote Sensing Program (CRSP) at Stennis Space Center, Mississippi, is working with industry to extend the utility of ESE’s science data with the broader U.S. economy. In the education area, ESE is working to train the next generation of earth scientists and to enable K–12 teachers to incorporate remote sensing information into their science curricula.

With the $10 million proposed allocation for investments, the money goes to higher education institutions, the federally mandated outreach to the nation’s historically black colleges and universities and other minority universities, including Hispanic-serving institutions and tribal colleges and universities. These strategies, the statement noted, are designed to create a broad-based, competitive aerospace research capability within minority institutions.

DOE’s Biological and Environmental Research Budget for FY01 Up 3%

The Biological and Environmental Research Program of the Department of Energy budget request for FY01 is $445.3 million, an increase of $10 million over the final FY00 appropriation. This is a modest increase of approximately 3% as compared to the 12% increase in the DOE’S Office of Science budget.

The Office of Science is requesting $3.15 billion in FY01, an increase of $363 million over the final FY00 appropriation. Basic Energy Research and Advanced Scientific Computing Research are requesting increases of 32% and 44%, respectively. The increases for Fusion Energy Science and High Energy Physics are only 1%–2%.

BER has three broad program objectives: to contribute to a healthy citizenry; to contribute to cleanup of the environment; and to understand and adapt to global environmental change. Table 1 shows the funding profile for BER’S four major program areas. The large increase in the Life Science program area reflects to a large degree the contribution of DOE to the human genome program.

Funding Profile

(In thousands of dollars)

There are four contributing areas to BER’s research program on Environmental Processes: Climate and Hydrology; Atmospheric Chemistry and Carbon Cycle; Ecological Processes; and Human Interactions. The Environmental Processes program includes over $16 million for the Administration’s Climate Change Technology Initiative that seeks the understanding necessary to exploit the biosphere’s natural processes to enhance the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Funding Schedule

aExcludes $2 800 000, which has been transferred to the SBIR program and $169 000 that has been transferred to the STTR program.

The climate modeling part of the Climate and Hydrology Program request in FY01 is $28 million, an increase of about $4 million over FY00. It will continue to develop coupled atmosphere–ocean–land models as well as methods to downscale global climate model simulations in support of regional studies of environmental change. With its partners in the Global Change Research Program, BER will continue to support multi-institutional teams for carrying out long-term simulations of the global environment regionally. Support will also continue for using the supercomputer at the LANL Advanced Computing Laboratory. Two multi-institutional teams involving national laboratories and universities will be established to access the primary data archives and computational facilities.

The ARM program request of $45 million in FY01 is essentially the same as in FY00. It will continue operations at the southern Great Plains and the North Slope of Alaska sites. The Tropical Western Pacific site will become operational this year. Five intensive operations periods are planned for the plains site. Extensive support for about 50 principal investigators will continue, including ARM Fellows at NCAR and ECMWF focusing on development and testing of models.

The Atmospheric Chemistry and Carbon Cycle program will continue on research related to the transport and fate of chemicals and particulate matter and expand support to the AmeriFlux program, and campaigns will be undertaken to improve estimates of terrestrial carbon sinks and models. Enhanced support will be provided to two carbon sequestration research centers involving national laboratories and universities that are focusing on ways of increasing the natural sequestration of carbon in terrestrial soils and vegetation and in the deep ocean.

The Free-Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment experiments will be continued under the Ecological Processes program, and the Integrated Assessment program will continue to support research that will lead to better estimates of the costs and benefits of possible actions to mitigate global climate change. Support for the DOE Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, Graduate Research Environmental Fellowships, and the NSF SOARS program will continue.

EPA Requests $757 Million for Research in FY01

EPA is requesting $227 million in FY01 for the administration’s Climate Change Technology Initiative, an increase of $124 millions over the FY00 appropriation for the area. The request for the Office of Research and Development in FY01 is $536 million, a decrease of $6 million from FY00.

The Climate Change Technology Initiative will focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through investments in energy efficient technologies, as well as partnerships with businesses, schools, state and local governments, and other organizations. The EPA program will promote voluntary measures to reduce energy use. Of the $227 million, EPA proposes to spend $80 million related energy use in buildings, $63 million related to industry, $65 million related to transportation, and the remainder for international capacity building and carbon removal.

EPA’s Office of Research and Development has research programs related to most of the EPA’s goals.

(In millions of dollars)

In FY01 in support of the Clean Air Goal, the EPA is requesting $65 million on particulate matter research, $17 million of research on air toxics and $8.5 million on tropospheric ozone research. The EPA will develop tropospheric ozone precursor measurements methods, emissions-based air-quality models, and observation- based modeling methods. Research is also planned to provide additional information on atmospheric concentrations, human exposure, and health effects toxicity of particulate matter. Air toxics research will seek to understand environmental and human health problems in urban areas.

The EPA is requesting $22.7 million in FY01 for climate change research, an increase of $2 million over FY00. EPA’s program will continue to support research to assess the vulnerability of human health and ecosystems to climate-induced stressors at the regional scale and to assess mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The EPA is proposing a major effort to establish baseline conditions from which changes, and ultimately trends, in the ecological conditions of the nation’s estuaries can be confidently documented. A major program is also planned to make measurements and to develop methods and models to evaluate exposures and effects of environmental contaminants on humans, particularly children.

USGS FY01 Budget Request Up By 10%

The USGS proposes to expand its core programs to promote understanding of the balance among earth’s living communities and to provide information to decision makers for managing a wide range of ecological systems. The USGS budget request for FY01 is $895 million, a net increase of $82 million over the FY00 enacted budget. The increase is the largest in USGS history. Included in this request is an increase of $18 million to cover salary increases and a decrease of $22 million for low priority projects being terminated.

The expansion of the USGS core programs in FY01 will be organized into four overarching initiatives: Safer Communities, Livable Communities, Sustainable Resources for the Future, and America’s Natural Heritage.

USGS Proposed Budget Increases for the FY01 President’s Budget

Safer Communities (+$7.1M)

• Earthquakes +2.6
• Volcanoes +0.5
• Floods +4.0

Livable Communities (+$47.0M)

• Urban Dynamics–Decision Support +10.0
• Community/Federal Information Partnerships +30.0
• Accessible Data Transfer +2.0
• Landsat +5.0

Sustainable Resources for the Future (+$15.3M) +4.0

• Columbia River–Aquatic Resources +4.0
• Great Lakes +0.5
• Greater Yellowstone Area +0.4
• Mojave Desert +0.4
• Decision Support for Resources Management +10.0

America’s Natural Heritage (+$16.7M)

• DOI Priorities +15.0
• DOI Science Priorities [+13.0]
• Amphibian Research & Monitoring [+2.0]
• Cooperative Research Units +0.7

The FY01 budget request for each of the USGS core programs (Table 2) reflects the emphasis on the use of geographic information systems and biological research. Mapping and Biology proposed increases are 22.5% and 16.0%, respectively, whereas Geology, Water Resources, and Science Support proposed increases are about 6%.

U.S. Geological Survey FY01 Budget Request

In FY01, USGS will be part of the administration’s “Land Legacy” initiative, which provides funding for conservation. There is $50 million in the USGS budget request to assist communities and local and state governments in dealing with issues related to urban growth and protecting natural resources in a sustainable manner; $25 of the $50 million are for a community matching grant program. In addition:

• $5 million is being requested under Mapping to assume program operations of Landsat-7;
• $10 million is being requested under Mapping for study of Urban Dynamics including understanding and predicting landscape change, factors that control growth, and the effects of growth on natural resources; and
• $10 million is being requested for Decision Support for Resource Management. This part of the program involves all of the core programs of USGS and will provide support tools for public and private resource managers addressing a wide range of resource issues.

The Safer Communities initiative focuses primarily on the modernization and expansion of monitoring networks for volcanoes, earthquakes, and floods. Under the Water Resource program $4 million is requested to build 25 streamgaging stations; to reactivate 25 former stations; and to upgrade 100 existing stations. Currently, there are 800 National Weather Service flood forecast points that do not have a nearby streamgage.

Under the Livable Communities initiative, $2 million is requested for the Science Support core program for improving the access of data by increasing the capacity and improving the reliability and speed of USGS information and data through the World Wide Web.

The Biology and Water Resource programs will lead a proposed $13 million initiative to provide multidisciplinary science information for the recovery of Pacific salmon, trout, and sturgeon in the Columbia River. Within the America’s Natural Heritage initiative, a wide range of research will be undertaken by all of the USGS core programs in support of ecosystem restoration and monitoring protocols, rangeland, and riparian health, declining species at risk and impacts of invasive species.