The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded its first Employee of the Month Award to John Hill of Valrico, Fla., for his work on NOAA's Gulfstream-IV high-altitude hurricane surveillance jet. Hill was cited for his outstanding technical accomplishments, enthusiastic and professional work ethic, and contributions as a team player.

Hill is a lead system engineer with the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations's Aircraft Operations Center, which is based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla.

The G-IV jet is NOAA's newest airborne meteorological platform. Since becoming operational in 1997, its data has helped NOAA forecasters improve hurricane landfall predictions by up to 20 percent.

In midstream, and more than once, while upgrading the aircraft's computer hardware for the upcoming hurricane season, tight budgets forced Hill to reconfigure both the scope of the work and his approach to it. He not only overcame the obstacles, but developed a more rugged, maintainable configuration, with even more capabilities than originally planned. This was accomplished in time for the year 2000 hurricane season, enabling the G-IV to play a vital role in providing data to forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami as well as to computer models at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Prediction in Camp Springs, Md. This year Hill's work has already made a big difference, providing a critical new evaluation tool for the G-IV's meteorologist and flight crew to use in gauging flight safety.

Hill, a native of Dailey, W.V., is a 1983 graduate of Tygarts Valley High School. He holds a bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology (1996) from Montana State University. Hill currently resides with his wife, Niki and his son, Hayes, in Valrico, Fla.

NOAA Employee of the Month Awards are awarded to those individuals who have made significant contributions to NOAA programs and have demonstrated exceptional and sustained effort toward NOAA's missions.

NOTE TO EDITOR: For a print or digital photo of John Hill, please contact Lori Sumner