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NOAA 99-R304 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Patricia Viets, Delores Clark 3/17/99 |
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Scientists from the United States, Japan, Asia-Pacific Rim and South America will meet next week in Honolulu for the 1999 Global Observation Information Network Symposium and technical workshop, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today. The GOIN 99 Symposium will be held at the East West Center, Honolulu, from March 22 to 25. The public is invited to attend on March 22 to see demonstrations using data bases from Japan and the United States. "The GOIN project uses electronic networks to exchange Earth observation data between Japan and the United States to solve critical science and technology problems as well as improve weather forecasting, monitor climate change, and improve natural disaster warning and mitigation," said the head of U.S. delegation, Greg Withee, NOAA's deputy assistant administrator for satellite and information services. Withee's counterpart from the Science and Technology Agency of Japan, Saichi Nakazawa, will represent his government's delegation at a GOIN Joint Program Working Group meeting on March 26. The meeting will highlight work over the past four years by U.S. and Japanese scientists to address major global environmental issues with discussions on the next steps to move these critical projects into the 21st century. The East West Center and the University of Hawaii were chosen as the site for GOIN 99 because of recent advances in their networking capabilities. The symposium and workshop will be the first active application of Internet2 at the University of Hawaii and East-West Center. Demonstrations throughout the week will show Hawaii's connectivity to the major international, federal, and academic research networks for global science and research projects by accessing and fusing data from U.S. and Japanese datasets. A joint project led by NOAA and the Science and Technology Agency of Japan, the GOIN electronic network bridges the Pacific Ocean, enabling researchers and policy makers in the United States and Japan to access data from one another by computer. GOIN participants use these data in their research, monitoring and prediction programs. Data sets exchanged include oceanographic and deep sea data sets; ionospheric sounding data and space weather forecasting data, used to determine environmental effects on man's technology in space; and geophysical data and topographic data, which are critical elements for better understanding of land cover and land use change and global environmental change. In addition to NOAA, participating agencies in the United States include: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of State, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of Agriculture, U.S. Forest Service, National Science Foundation and several American academic institutions, including the University of Hawaii. Participating agencies from Japan have included: the Japan Marine Science and Technology Center; National Space Development Agency; Earth Science and Technology Organization; Environment Agency; Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture; Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ministry of International Trade and Industry; Ministry of Transport; Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications; Ministry of Construction; Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as several academic institutions. Information about the GOIN workshop is
on the World Wide Web at: Note to Editors, Producers: The Symposium and meetings will be held at the East West Center, Jefferson Hall, March 22 to 25. The public and media are welcome to attend the presentations all day on March 22. Contact Delores Clark, NOAA Public Affairs, at 808-532-6411 if you wish to attend, or if you wish to interview participants. Presentations of specific interest to media on March 22 include: 9:40 - 9:55 a.m. — U.S. Presidential
Next Generation Internet and Information Technology for the 21st
Century |