Connecting Research to Operations: Corporate Board Meets in Boulder

By Randee Exler
NWS Communications Office

"Cooperate and Communicate" was the message of last week's Corporate Board meeting conducted at the NOAA lab facilities in Boulder, CO. Led by NWS Director Brig. Gen. D.L. Johnson, USAF (Ret.), the board received briefings and demos from NOAA research officials; heard from Maureen Wylie, the NOAA Chief Financial Officer; and tackled issues including Climate Services, Central Weather Service Units, and AWIPS. "We need to be wise stewards of federal dollars and help move research to operations," Johnson said.

Lab Consolidation and Tours

NOAA plans to consolidate its five Boulder, CO, laboratories into a single center and Dan Albritton, Director of NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory, and Sandy MacDonald, Director of NOAA's Forecast Systems Laboratory, briefed the Board on these plans. In late FY 05 a new director will be in place and in charge. According to Albritton, NOAA requires collaborative research. Operating within one managed entity will better promote collaboration. He shared the vision of consolidated labs in Boulder.

In addition, the Corporate Board toured facilities including the Forecast Systems and Environmental Technology Laboratories. At the Space Environment Center, the group learned of warnings for a recent solar flare. The Space Environment Center (SEC) will transfer to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction when the FY 05 budget is passed. While the SEC continues conducting directed research, it continues to mature into an operational facility.

Budget

NOAA Chief Financial Officer Maureen Wylie briefed the Board on the NOAA budget process. She commended the NWS for having received a high PART (Program Assessment Rating Tool) score from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) but cautioned leaders "not to rest on their laurels." She said that the OMB will continue using the PART as a means to develop agency budgets, but in the future the NWS will not be rated as an individual organization but as part of a larger program. The Board believes that Performance is important and will remain the key attribute for any evaluation of the NWS.

Climate Services

Bob Livezy, Climate Services Division, Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services, led the Board in a discussion on developing Government Performance Results Act (GPRA) goals that best reflect strategic goals. He also briefed an overview of regional and local climate services. Randy Dole, Director of NOAA's Climate Diagnostics Center, gave a complementary briefing on bridging the gap between Weather and Climate. Dole discussed the Climate Forecast System Testbed, which will accelerate the transition of research and development into improved NOAA operational climate forecasts, products, and applications.

Science, Technology, and Infusion

Marty Ralph, NOAA's program manager for Science, Technology, and Infusion, provided an overview on his matrixed team's priorities which resulted in a board discussion on program coordination. According to Johnson, we need to work closely with all of the NOAA program managers to assure that they know our requirements for fulfilling our mission. The NWS is the only NOAA line office that has a Science and Technology Infusion Plan in place.

AWIPS

During an AWIPS brainstorming session led by Jack Hayes, Science and Technology Infusion Director, the Board looked at ways to provide the AWIPS function that may require less engineering, software, development, and maintenance resources. "We need to investigate how technology can make AWIPS simpler, more responsive, and less resource-intensive to manage," Hayes said. Following the plenary session, the Board's Science and Technology Committee continued work on this critical topic. The Board recognized this as a top priority issue and developed the concept of a program office with accountable leadership to guide future AWIPS efforts.

Center Weather Service Units

Jack May, Director of the Aviation Weather Center, updated the board on Center Weather Service Units. May said that before the NWS designs a system to help the FAA in its mission, we need to understand what the FAA expects from us. Following his presentation Johnson said, "We support the FAA. We know there are 'low-hanging fruit' actions we can and should take to get FAA to conduct Concept of Air Traffic Control courses and terminology familiarization.... We've also offered weather info to support the FAA 'Proof of Concept' effort, currently aiming at Chicago this spring."

Wrap-Up

Johnson concluded the meeting by encouraging his senior mangers to strengthen and accelerate the connection between research and operations. "We appreciate the research and development being conducted at the NOAA Labs," said Johnson. "By meeting in Boulder, we have broadened our awareness of what the labs are doing today that will ultimately improve our weather, water, and climate services tomorrow."

The next Corporate Board meeting will be in February in the Washington, DC, area.

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NWS Director Speaks to International Association of Emergency Managers

Brig. Gen. D.L. Johnson, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), NWS Director, addressed approximately 300 emergency management officials at the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) annual meeting in Dallas, TX, on November 10, 2004.

Johnson addressed ways IAEM and NWS can strengthen their already successful partnership, and discussed new and evolving products and services NOAA produces for emergency managers. To view Johnson's presentation slides, click here (this is a 7 MB Adobe Acrobat file).

"Even in a post 9/11 world, we can't forget that severe weather remains a real and present danger to America, to our citizens, and to our Nation's economy," Johnson told the audience. "The NWS is proud to be part of the team supporting our emergency managers and homeland security from the ravages of natural hazards, to the threats of human-made hazards."

Among other speakers were Mike Brown, Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security; Craig Fugate, Director of the State of Florida Division of Emergency Management; and Jack Colley, State Coordinator of the Texas Department of Emergency Management. IAEM is the premier international association of emergency management professionals.

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NWS, National Ocean Service Collaborating with Partners to Protect Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem

By Marcie Katcher NWS Eastern Region Public Affairs Officer The Wakefield, VA, Weather Forecast Office (WFO), NOAA's National Ocean Service, and NOAA's Chesapeake Bay Office are joining forces with several universities and state agencies to expand the environmental observing system for the Chesapeake Bay. The proposed Chesapeake Bay Observing System Cooperative Expansion and Integration Demonstration (CCEID) will combine the efforts of a deliberately diverse team presently engaged in separate observing efforts on the Chesapeake Bay.

Sunset over Chesapeake Bay from Port Isobel. Photo by Mary Hollinger, NOAA/NESDIS National Oceanographic Data Center biologist.

The project was sparked by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, which laid out a bold vision for stewardship of ocean resources for protecting human lives and property. This vision has set the stage for the U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), a wealth of real-time forecast and information products tailored to regional and national needs.

CCEID is a prototype program spearheaded by a consortium that includes: NOAA's National Weather Service; NOAA's National Ocean Service Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services in Chesapeake, VA.; University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Maryland Department of Natural Resources; Virginia Institute of Marine Science College of William and Mary; Chesapeake Bay National Estuary Research Reserves; and Old Dominion University. The group was brought together and funded by the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO), whose mission includes coordinating NOAA activities in the Chesapeake Bay region.

"By assembling a small team composed of key partners from academia and government, we identified three crucial elements to track," said Tony Siebers, Meteorologist-In-Charge, WFO Wakefield, and a Principal Investigator on the CCEID proposal. "The choice of the three products was straightforward: wind, water, and dissolved oxygen. We currently do not have a good capability to forecast and measure wind and wave height over the water. The third product, dissolved oxygen, was chosen because of the needs of the diverse group. It was chosen as the key variable indicating the overall health of the Chesapeake Bay," he explained.

"This is a great example of using the IOOS to serve the needs of a broad range of Chesapeake Bay interests," said Doug Wilson, oceanographer at NCBO and director of the CCEID grants. "These partnerships address the needs of forecasters, recreational and commercial Chesapeake Bay users, and scientists engaged in studying and forecasting the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. We hope it will strengthen the foundation for an even larger and more comprehensive system."

The regional needs of the Chesapeake Bay watershed are complex. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America and is on the list of the Environmental Protection Agency's impaired waters. The Chesapeake Bay is home to more than 3,600 species of plants and animals. More than 16 million people live along the coast, with more than 100,000 people added to the bay's 64,000 square-mile watershed area each year. The amount of impervious surface added by houses, shopping centers and highways has increased by 41 percent in the last decade. There is concern that the watershed's escalating population will overwhelm current cleanup efforts. The Bay includes parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, as well as the District of Columbia.

Siebers said existing coastal observing systems are not tailored to the unique regional needs of the Chesapeake Bay. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Association (MARA) is responsible for coordinating U.S. coastal observing systems for the area from Cape May, NJ, to Cape Hatteras, NC. MARA was established to oversee the development of region-wide observations required for national needs, while at the same time fostering the coordinated development of "sub-regional" systems addressing the common needs of smaller bodies like the Chesapeake Bay. MARA has recognized the Chesapeake Bay Observing System (CBOS) as a key regional component and will provide support for it and CCEID, fostering their development and integration in the national system.

The proposed demonstration focuses on establishing four wave-measurement stations in the Chesapeake Bay and assembling wind and wind-stress data over the Internet from all available real-time wind stations. Along with redesigning the Chesapeake Bay Observing System's web site to make the new information easy to understand and intuitive to use, there are strong education and outreach components included in the proposal. Other goals include expanding the initial effort by recruiting other partners into Chesapeake Bay Observing System and developing a strong relationship with MARA and OCEAN.US.

"By focusing on a set of key variables, we will demonstrate that we can combine efforts to produce valuable real-time data products. These will be disseminated over the Internet, on NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, the media and other outlets interested in Chesapeake Bay environmental data," said Siebers. "By working together with other NOAA offices as well as other public and private concerns, we will reduce coastal hazards, sustain marine resources, and improve the ecosystem health of Chesapeake Bay."

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Also On the Web...NSSL and Radar Developments Profiled

The current issue of NOAA Magazine offers a profile of weather radar history. Explore this and other NOAA Magazine stories online here.

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NWS Snapshots

Click here for a look at photos we've received from around the NWS.

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