NWS Implements NOAA Partnership Policy

NWS has now implemented the NOAA Policy on Partnerships in the Provision of Environmental Information by updating NWS Policy Directive (NWSPD) 1-10, Managing the Provision of NWS Environmental Information.

"We recognize that the public interest is served by the ability of all sectors - public, private, and academic - to provide diverse services to the public," says Edward Johnson, Director of NWS's Strategic Planning and Policy Office, "This policy sets the tone and the means for productive interaction among the sectors."

NWSPD 1-10 and its two supporting instructions (NWSI 1-1001, Tracking and Public Notification of NWS Information Services, and NWSI 1-1002, Termination of NWS Information Services) establish the following:

• Agency-wide guidance for documenting and seeking comments on NWS information services that provide environmental information to NWS users;
• Five principles guiding NWS's participation in the environmental information enterprise;
• A publicly available database and report with information on all significant proposed changes to NWS information services; and
• A process for nomination and review for termination of NWS information services.

"With the revision to NWSPD 1-10 and the two new instructions, we will have essentially covered all of the territory of the new NOAA policy," concludes Johnson.

The Strategic Planning and Policy (SPP) office expects to have its database on-line in August, providing the public one-stop shopping for information on changes to NWS products, services, and dissemination systems. SPP is also working on additional materials to help you interpret and use these policies – in the mean time, contact Peter.Weiss@noaa.gov at 301-713-0258, ext.142, if you have questions.

Back to Top

NOAA Economic Statistics Document Updated

A new revision of "Economic Statistics for NOAA" is available here. The booklet compiles economic statistics relevant to NOAA's mission and programs. The statistics serve as a common reference to the economic impacts and benefits of NOAA programs and provide a consistent set of economic data for NOAA management and staff to use when preparing for Congressional visits and testimony, budget preparation, speeches, and other external events.

If you have any additions to offer, send them to us at NWS.Focus@noaa.gov. Be sure to include the original source information (where and when published, and author, if known, so quotes can be verified) and we'll pass the information to the Strategic Planning and Policy Office at NWS Headquarters. Read the related NOAA news story here.

Back to Top

NOAA's NWS and State of Wisconsin Partner on Setting Up NWR All Hazards Transmitters

Two NOAA's National Weather Service Training Center (NWSTC) instructors and hundreds of pounds of support hardware and training materials made their way from Kansas City to Wausau and Madison, WI, recently to support the State of Wisconsin Educational Communications Board (WECB).

The WECB maintains 22 NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards systems in the state and recently purchased 13 new Armstrong transmitters. The NWSTC instructors supported their electronic technicians by helping install and troubleshoot the transmitters as well as training 17 technicians in three-day classes in Wausau and Madison.

"This is a win/win partnership and a great example of 'NOAA in your neighborhood' outreach and

Partnering with the State of Wisconsin to protect the public, NOAA NWS Training Center instructor Bill Ryman (facing camera) teaches Wisconsin technicians how to install and troubleshoot 13 new NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards transmitters.

support," said Dennis McCarthy, Director, NWS Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services.

Two new operational transmitters were used for the training and were fully operational at the end of the sessions. "We're very satisfied and appreciate the outstanding expertise, professionalism, and cooperation the NWSTC instructors provide," said WECB site manager Dean Andrewjeski.

WECB director of Engineering and Operations, Dennis Behr added, "We're really glad that the National Weather Service was able to partner with the State of Wisconsin in training our technicians and helping get the 13 /NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards transmitters operational so quickly. Now, the state has almost 100 percent coverage of the All Hazards radio for the safety of our residents."

Bill Ryman, NWSTC master instructor, expressed the win/win aspect of the effort.

"The partnership was important to us because we were able to train their technicians and most importantly help in their efforts to protect the public," Ryman said. "But there was also a shared training benefit for us. The WECB employees were professional radio frequency technicians who maintain many types of transmitters including radio and television transmitters and we learned from their experience. Good outcomes all around."

Back to Top

Rundquist Earns Max Kohler Award for Hydrologic Accomplishments

Larry A. Rundquist, Development and Operations Hydrologist at the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center, is being honored with the 2004 Max Kohler Award. The Max Kohler Award is presented annually to recognize individuals for sustained superior performance and distinguished accomplishments in support of NOAA's National Weather Service hydrology program.

"Larry is a pleasure to work with because I learn something new from him everyday," stated Robin Radlein, Hydrologist-In-Charge at the Alaska-Pacific River Forecast Center (APRFC).

Radlein said Rundquist has asserted himself as one of NOAA's leading scientists since joining the National Weather Service's (NWS) APRFC in June of 1987 as a Senior Hydrologist.

"Larry's commitment to excellence has put him in the hydrology forefront," said Radlein. "He's dedicated to the continued infusion of technology and science as a path to improved operations and accomplishing the mission of the NWS, and he has actively worked to bring innovative techniques into APRFC operations."

Kohler Award Winner Larry A. Rundquist

Rundquist has played a key role in the introduction of Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services (AHPS) in Alaska. He worked to create the AHPS identity within the NWS as a member of the AHPS Products and Information Team, earning a NOAA Team Bronze Medal for these efforts.

"Larry has made it a priority to improve data availability and quality throughout Alaska, building and using strong partnerships in pursuit of this goal," said Dennis McCarthy, NWS Director of the Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services.

Rundquist also has collaborated with others to identify innovative data sources to fill looming data voids, such as his work with the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center (NOHRSC) on acquisition of airborne gamma radiation snow water equivalent measurements.

"Larry's capable and enthusiastic contributions over many years to the NWS hydrology program and the NOHRSC make him an ideal recipient of the award," said NOHRSC Director Thomas Carroll.

Rundquist has looked outside national borders to other countries with similar data, terrain, and cold weather hydrologic issues as a member of the Northern Forum Arctic Flood Forecasting Working Group.

He has served as a mentor to several student volunteers and summer students as well. He maintains strong ties with the University of Alaska, and he builds strong partnerships with state and Federal agencies in Alaska. He is the NWS representative to the Interagency Hydrology Committee of Alaska, which serves as a water resources advisory body to the Governor of Alaska and provides a forum for coordination of hydrologic research, data acquisition, and planning.

One of his crowning achievements in the area of data collaboration was the installation of a NWS Cooperative Observer program modernization gauge on the Harding Ice Field in the Kenai Peninsula. This high elevation site had been a goal of several Federal agencies over the years. However, no one government entity was able to independently fund, install, and maintain a site in this remote yet critical headwater area. Rundquist coordinated the NWS purchase of the hardened equipment, the U.S. Geological Survey installation, and the National Park Service routine maintenance of the site, bringing a mission-critical resource online in 2004, and the dream to reality.

Back to Top

Forecast Office Participates in 200th Anniversary of Lewis and Clark Expedition

The Glasgow, MT, Weather Forecast Office (WFO) has had fun opportunities for outreach during the activities of the 200th Anniversary of Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery in northeastern Montana.

WFO Glasgow Warning Coordination Meteorologist Tanja Fransen gave presentations on the weather that the Corps encountered when they traveled through Montana. The presentations were at the Milk River Lewis and Clark Festival in Nashua, and again at the Two Rivers Lewis and Clark Festival in Glasgow.

Members from the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles and staff and family of the NWS Glasgow huddle around a campfire to stay warm on a cool and breezy May evening.

On Mother's Day (May 8) 2005, WFO Glasgow partnered with NOAA's National Geodetic Survey (NGS) to dedicate a survey marker at the Milk River Observation site above Fort Peck Dam. The Lewis and Clark Peace Medal geodetic survey marker will become a part of the National Spatial Reference System (NSRS), the federal standard and foundation for all positioning and navigation activities in the United States.

The dedication, which incurred winds gusting to 35 mph, included a welcome and thank you by Fransen and Montana State Geodetic Advisor Curt Smith from the NGS in Boise, ID. State Senator Frank Smith and John Daggett from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also made remarks before the audience heard a reading of the Lewis and Clark journals from May 8, 1805, by Bud Clark. Clark is the great-great-great grandson of William Clark, and has been traveling the Lewis and Clark trail with the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles.

The staff at WFO Glasgow also provided a chili feed one evening for the Discovery Expedition of St. Charles. This reenactment group has been following the historic Lewis and Clark trail and has spent the last two years along the Ohio River as well as on the lower portions of the Missouri River. Staff members from WFO Glasgow spent the evening at the camp learning about the group, the characters they portray and the interesting things they have encountered so far. The Discovery Expedition of St. Charles has a web site where they log all of their photos and journal entries. It can be viewed at: www.lewisandclark.net.

Back to Top

Snapshots

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