Straight Talk:
NOAA's Environmental Real-Time Observation Network (NERON)

By General D.L. Johnson
NWS Director

Our programs need names that are memorable, descriptive, and linked to our services and users. One of our oldest programs has a new name that better captures objectives of the program. The Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) is now called "NOAA's Environmental Real-Time Observation Network" (NERON). We will continue using the name "Cooperative Observer" to refer to the individual volunteers whose commitment and dedication have built America's rich archive of climate data and will help us modernize this time-honored program.

NERON is essential for building NOAA's Integrated Surface Observing System and will provide the U.S. with a network of accurate, near real-time surface weather data obtained with state-of-the-art measurement, monitoring, and communication equipment. In addition to NOAA's NWS sites, NERON will include environmental data from non-NOAA surface observing networks that meet our standards. Our goal is to deploy around 8,000 NERON stations nationwide. Ken Crawford, Director of the NWS Integrated Surface Observing System Program Office, is overseeing this modernization.

We think NOAA's Environmental Real-Time Observation Network passes the "blink" test and hope you will help us educate our partners and customers about the new name for this important program.

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Central Computer System Sets On-Time Record

NOAA's National Weather Service forecasters and other users are now receiving model guidance at record-setting speeds, thanks to data flow improvements at National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP).

In 2004, the average for on-time product generation for NCEP Central Computer System (CCS) increased from 99.00 percent in 2003 to 99.60 percent in 2004, with an all-time record of 99.9975 percent achieved in November 2004. Throughout 2004, no monthly average was below 99.4 percent.

In January 2002, the average delay in the delivery of NCEP numerical forecast guidance to the weather forecast offices (WFOs) via the Advanced Weather Information Processing System (AWIPS) was over 20 minutes, with a maximum delay time of over 75 minutes. This delay was reduced to an average of 5 to 8 minutes during 2004.

During the past two years, staff from NCEP Central Operations and the NWS Telecommunication Operations Center (TOC) developed and implemented a new data flow mechanism that bypassed an overwhelmed TOC mainframe-based data flow mechanism. By mid-2004 using the new data flow mechanism, the average delivery time from the CCS production to AWIPS was reduced to less than 8 minutes, with a small number of large file transfers requiring 15 to 20 minutes. This effort has resulted in over 90 percent of AWIPS products being available well under the 12 minute goal, with several products available within 60 seconds.

"This was truly a team effort because achieving this high level of performance required consistently outstanding support from every aspect of NCEP's infrastructure," according to Louis Uccellini, NCEP Director. "The Telecommunications Operations Center reliably delivered the observational data required by the numerical forecast models, the IBM facility in Gaithersburg, MD, which houses the CCS supercomputer, operated flawlessly, and the NCEP-wide and local area networks provided the required connectivity."

In addition, during this period the volume of the model guidance produced by the CCS increased by about 50 percent. The fact that data delivery times were improved while the volume of data transmitted also increased demonstrates the magnitude of this technical achievement.

John Ward, NCO Production Management Branch Chief, Tom McNeal, NCO Networking and Communications Branch Chief, and Danny Starosta of the NWS TOC were the key leaders in the achievement of these levels of performance.

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Alaska WCM is NOAA Employee of the Month

February's NOAA Employee of the Month, Chris Maier, is the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the Weather Forecast Office in Juneau, AK. Also an NWS Incident Meteorologist (IMET), Maier has worked fire weather forecasting at numerous fires and had a few assignments working at state and regional command centers where the duties involve keeping track of numerous fires, not just one.

Maier has also received training in oil spill response. This training and his background at command centers made Maier the logical choice as the first IMET on site for the recovery and clean-up operations for the cargo ship M/V Selendang Ayu, whose grounding on December 11, 2004, and subsequent oil spill near Unalaska Island in the Aleutian Island chain created a major environmental crisis.

Weather conditions were a critical factor during the response to this incident, often grounding air and marine support operations and creating dangerous conditions for responders. Maier was successful in forecasting windows of opportunity when the team could safely operate. Mission-critical decisions made by the Unified Command regarding operations and resource planning were based upon his forecasts. The response/recovery effort was recently suspended until spring when the risk to response resources is lessened.

"Maier's work on the Selendang Ayu incident and his tireless dedication to customer service and exceptional professionalism make him well deserving of the NOAA Employee of the Month award," said Tom Ainsworth, Meteorologist-In-Charge of the Juneau Weather Forecast Office.

Read more about Chris Maier in the next issue of the NOAA Report.

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NOAA's Heritage Week Celebration Features "Treasures of NOAA's Ark" Exhibit

NOAA put some of its rare historic artifacts and documents on display in Silver Spring, MD, recently in an exhibit entitled "Treasures of NOAA's Ark" to support the first NOAA Heritage Week.

The February 7-11, 2005, exhibit was part of NOAA's participation in Preserve America. Preserve America is a White House initiative in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

More than 1,500 attendees discovered a wealth of artifacts that recall the agency's proud heritage and legacy of service to the Nation. The NWS contribution included 19th century weather maps, charts, and hydrology logs, in addition to early scientific instruments. The artifacts showed how early NOAA scientists used technology to prepare weather forecasts, and measure temperature and climate changes, as well as the evolution of America's meteorological services. The exhibit even featured a re-created Weather Bureau Office from 1891 showing the equipment early forecasters used to generate weather forecasts at the turn of the century.

The exhibit also showed how the advent of computer technology paved the way for today's state-of-the-art complex computer models, satellites, and weather surveillance radars.

The "Treasures of NOAA's Ark" exhibit kicked-off with a Grand Opening Ceremony on February 7, 2005, with opening remarks by Deputy Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere John J. Kelly, Jr., U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. (Ret). A letter from the President's wife, Mrs. Laura Bush, was read aloud. Guest speakers during the week included John Jones, NWS Deputy Director on February 9, who spoke on how NWS Forecast Office Operations have changed over time; and RADM Sam DeBow, Director NOAA Corps, NOAA Marine and Aviation Operations, who gave a presentation on the evolution of survey technology over time and how modern survey technology helped to locate and map the wreck site of TWA Flight 800.

"I found the Treasures of NOAA's Ark exhibit to be fascinating," said Leslie Miller, IT Specialist in NWS's Office of the Chief Information Officer. "It inspired great admiration for our NOAA predecessors who used instruments that seem antiquated by today's standard and worked under such harsh conditions to provide weather information to the country."

Beth Downs, a Management Analyst in NWS's Office of the Chief Financial Officer, enjoyed the exhibit also. "This whole exhibit was wonderful. It was put together very well which made the subject matter more interesting. Everyone involved should be commended for their work."

The mission of Preserve America is to encourage and support community efforts for the preservation and enjoyment of America's priceless cultural and natural heritage. For more about Preserve America and NOAA's role, click here.

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Employees Help Judge Community Science Fair Projects

Broward County, FL, Science Fair Student Vijay Rao stands by his project along with Christopher Juckins, Information Technology Officer, WFO Miami, FL, and Michelle Mainelli, Meteorologist/Programmer, Tropical Prediction Center. Photo by Sim Aberson, Meteorologist, NOAA/AOML/Hurricane Research Division.

Two NOAA National Weather Service employees in Florida recently helped judge entries in a county science fair.

Christopher Juckins, Information Technology Officer, WFO Miami, FL, and Michelle Mainelli, Meteorologist/Programmer, Tropical Prediction Center, enjoy working with students in the community and have served as judges in the "Earth and Space" category at the fair for the past three years.

Each year the Broward County Science Fair provides an opportunity for students to research topics in various fields of science and to display their results in a public setting. This year's event, held February 4, 2005, at the Coral Ridge Mall, Fort Lauderdale, FL, contained many skilled projects and included subjects ranging from hurricanes and beach erosion to Newtonian laws of gravity. Rao's project successfully calibrated new chemical analysis equipment at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

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Alaska Region Meteorologist Wins Big in the Netherlands!

Colin Sells (left) plays opponent E.A. Schmit from Heemskerk, the Netherlands, during a recent chess tournament in the Netherlands. The match being played in the photo was Sell's 8th out of 9 matches. The reason there are no other players in the photo is because they had already finished their games. At the time the photograph was taken, Sells and Schmit were heading into their sixth hour of play. The game was later called in a draw. Photo by David Rutten, a Dutch competitor in the tournament.

Not everyone gets the opportunity to play in a tournament along with the best in the world, but every January, for the past three years, Meteorologist Colin D. Sells, of the Anchorage Center Weather Service Unit, has done just that.

A strong amateur chess player, Sells has played in the Corus International Invitational Chess Tournament at Wijk aan Zee, The Netherlands for the past three years. The last two years he has been the only U.S. amateur invited to the world's most prestigious chess tournament. As a Class A player and Life Member of the U.S. Chess Federation, and a veteran of 32 years of tournament play, Sells has competed at the local, state, national, and international level.

This year's tournament had about 1,500 participants, split up in a variety of sections. Among the players were eight of the top ten players in the world. The portion of the Tournament that Sells participated in started on January 21, and ran through the January 30. During that time he played nine games, at the rate of one per day, with one rest day. Each game lasted anywhere from four to six hours.

Sells ranks tenth or so among the two or three hundred active chess players in Alaska.

"It makes me a fairly big fish in a very small pond here," says Sells. "Over there I was definitely a small fish among a great number of sharks with very big teeth. Still, after three years of playing there, as the only U.S. player amateur ever invited back, I am proud of having played them."

This year at Wijk aan Zee's prestigious event, Sells tied for third in his amateur section with a winning score over nine rounds against tough international competition, earning him a cash prize. "Congratulations Colin!"

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Office of Hydrology Rings In the New Year

On February 7, 2005, workers in NOAA's NWS Office of Hydrologic Development in Silver Spring, MD, treated their co-workers to a Chinese New Year Luncheon.

Chinese New Year fell on February 9, this year, and traditionally is a 15-day celebration. Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the biggest and most important holiday in the Chinese culture. The Chinese government observes the holiday by closing for seven days. This year is the year of the rooster, and also the year 4,703 by the Chinese calendar.

Click here for a look at pictures from the luncheon. But, be warned-some of these pictures will make you hungry!

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Also On the Web...nowCOAST from NOAA

NOAA recently introduced a Web mapping portal providing the coastal community with real-time coastal observations and NOAA forecasts for major U.S. estuaries and seaports, coastal regions, and the Great Lakes. With a few simple clicks of a computer mouse, nowCOAST enables a user to access thousands of real-time observing stations and forecast locations. Read more about this NWS and NOS partnership here.

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Snapshots

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

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