Seapower/NOAA

Sea Power, Jan 2002

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is the federal agency dedicated to predicting and protecting the nation's oceanic and atmospheric environment. Its mission is broad in scope: to be the eyes and ears of science in the atmosphere, in the sky, and under the oceans. The agency accomplishes its mission through several offices, including the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service; the National Marine Fisheries Service; the National Ocean Service; the National Weather Service; and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research.

NOAA's budget for fiscal year 2002 is included in the overall funding bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State. NOAA's budget in FY 2001 was $2.63 billion.

To continue its long-standing tradition of scientific service to the American people, NOAA's overall mission in the 21st century is two-fold: Environmental Assessment and Prediction; and Environmental Stewardship.

Environmental Assessment and Prediction

NOAA observes and assesses the state of the U.S. environment, while protecting public safety and the nation's economic and environmental security through accurate forecasting, by:

Advancing short-term warning and forecast services: NOAA's goal is to significantly improve the accuracy and speed of short-range forecasts. Weather forecasting is more than just telling people to carry an umbrella on a rainy day. Advance warnings of impending storms can mean the difference between life and death. By decreasing the time it takes to get these warnings to the public, hundreds of lives and billions of dollars in property damage can be saved, improving public safety and contributing to the nation's economic productivity.

NOAA's National Weather Service completed a modernization effort in August 2000 and has ushered in a new era for severe weather and flood warning and forecast services. With the addition of the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing Systems at 121 weather forecast offices and 13 river forecast centers, meteorologists and hydrologists have improved their capability to provide more timely and precise forecasts, warnings, and watches for severe weather. In addition, the nine national centers-including the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Fla., and the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.-are equipped with prototype high-speed computer and communication systems that allow forecasters to quickly access and compile weather data gathered by radar, satellites, and automated surface-observing systems.

The coverage provided by the nationwide 24-hour-a-day NOAA Weather Radio network also is being expanded. The network provides, to anyone who owns an inexpensive receiver, the same up-to-the-minute area weather reports and emergency information used by meteorologists and emergency personnel.

Implementing seasonal to interannual climate forecasts, and predicting and assessing climate change: Thanks to significant investments in research and development, NOAA and its national and international partners have made important strides in monitoring, predicting, and researching major climate events that affect weather patterns around the globe. NOAA's scientific advances now make it possible to predict such climate events as El Nino, an unusual warming of the seasurface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and its opposite, La Nina, up to a year in advance.

In addition, NOAA's Climate Prediction Center is now able to predict the typical weather patterns related to El Nino and La Nina more than a year ahead of time with increased accuracy. For example, in June 1997, the Climate Prediction Center correctly predicted that the United States would experience abnormal weather patterns during the fall and winter due to the developing strong 1997-1998 El Nino.

Providing this type of accurate weather information six months in advance enabled U.S. communities and businesses to better prepare and protect themselves. Improved El Nino and La Nina forecasts can allow people to make decisions that capitalize on the differences from normal climate. Those decisions-about crop choices, for example, or reducing inventories of storable commodities, or using hydropower rather than more expensive thermal power-either result in lower prices, which benefits consumers, or lower costs of production, which benefits producers.

NOAA continues to expand its investment in research, leading to an increase in its capability to predict weather for longer periods of time and with more precise regionality. Improved forecasts of seasonal and interannual climate variations, such as El Nino and La Nina, can result in savings amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars a year in the United States and abroad.

Promoting safe navigation: Ensuring the availability of safe and efficient marine and aeronautical navigation systems and information is another important NOAA mission. To meet the growing demand for safe and efficient marine and air navigation that is essential to many U.S. industries is NOAA's goal, and it does this by providing accurate navigation information and products that reduce risks to life, cargo, and property.