2007 Natural Gas Flaring Estimates to be Presented at International Meeting
The Earth Observation Group of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) has developed an updated set of natural gas flaring estimates for 65 countries for the year 2007. NGDC produces annual estimates of global gas flaring using nighttime earth imagery data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program. The 2007 estimates will be briefed by NGDC's Chris Elvidge at the International Energy Agency at their headquarters in Paris on December 1st, 2008 and to the Global Gas Flaring Reduction Initiative Steering Committee in Amsterdam on December 3rd, 2008. Dr. Elvidge will also attend the International Gas Flaring Reduction Forum on December 4 and 5, 2008.
Significance: Nighttime Lights products are of ongoing interest and usefulness to NOAA data users.
Outcome: This effort supports the Goal 4 objective to broaden and develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6121)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Recovers Data for the National Ocean Service (NOS)
NGDC serves as an offsite Continuity of Operations (COOP) of all hydrographic surveys the NOS is currently processing. NGDC stores all data from recently acquired surveys currently being processed at the Atlantic and Pacific Hydrographic Branches. These surveys are costly to acquire and by initiating the COOP at NGDC, the Hydrographic Branches are protected against a loss of data that could run into the millions of dollars to re-acquire. The NOS Atlantic Hydrographic Branch recently initiated a request to the COOP, transferring eight surveys, totaling 790 gigabytes of data, back to the branch. NGDC was able to provide all eight surveys back to the Branch in a timely manner.
Significance: NGDC serves as the official archive and distribution point for NOS bathymetric data collected by the Office of Coast Survey. Working with NOS, NGDC ensures the long- and short-term access to hydrographic data and products supporting the "collect once, use often" philosophy of the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping Program.
Outcome: This activity supports the general goal to improve our environmental and marine infrastructure and to develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6429)
NOAA National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Provides Bathymetric Maps for Tsunami Buoy Deployment
Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) buoys allow monitoring of sea-surface height (height of the ocean surface above the seafloor) and are an integral part of the Tsunami Warning System. Two DART buoys in the North Pacific went adrift on October 10, 2008 and August 21, 2008 and are no longer providing water column or Tsunami Event data. NGDC produced two custom bathymetric maps to assist the National Data Buoy Center in relocation and redeployment of these DART buoys. NGDC has produced 44 custom maps for DART buoy sites since 2006.
Significance: DART buoy placement is a key NOAA effort to reduce the loss of life from tsunami in U.S. coastal communities and minimize false alarms, which result in high economic costs for unnecessary evacuations. The pre-deployment information saves costly ship time and reduces the effort of deployment, increasing the efficiency of the operation.
Outcome: Broaden and develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-3158)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Participates in National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP)
NGDC's Susan McLean and Lisa Taylor attended the national meeting of the NTHMP on November 18-20, 2008 in Silver Spring, MD. The NTHMP is a Federal - State partnership to improve community resiliency to tsunami hazards. NOAA, the federal lead for the NTHMP, along with the U.S. Geological Survey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the National Science Foundation, work with coastal States and Territories on issues related to Tsunami Warning Products, Mapping and Modeling, and Mitigation and Education. NGDC is most active supporting Mapping and Modeling, with Ms. McLean as the current NOAA co-chair of this subcommittee and Ms. Taylor working with States on digital elevation model priorities and development.
Significance: The NOAA/NGDC efforts in data management and its role in archiving NOAA's tsunami and bathymetry data and developing high-resolution coastal digital elevation models are essential aspects of the NOAA effort to forecast and mitigate impacts from tsunami and other coastal hazard events. The integrated natural hazards archive provides data essential for coastal hazard assessment, improved data for research, and assured access to data related to past hazardous events for monitoring and mitigating the socio-economic impact of coastal hazards.
Outcome: This activity supports the general goal to improve our environmental and marine infrastructure and to develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6478)
NOAA Participates in DoD Space Weather Meeting
Drs. Eric Kihn and William Denig of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) participated in the Space Environment Applications, Systems, and Operations for National Security (SEASONS) conference held on November 19-20, 2008 at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Baltimore, MD. The SEASONS conference provides a forum for military space weather operators and support personnel to discuss the impacts of space weather on Department of Defense and intelligence community systems, and the applications and requirements for space-weather sensors and algorithms needed to mitigate adverse impacts and enhance operations. Attendance at the SEASONS meeting is restricted to U.S. citizens having the appropriate security clearances.
Significance: This meeting provided opportunities for Dr. Kihn and Dr. Denig to mutually introduce one another to their respective communities concerned with environmental modeling and simulation and with military space weather operations. Capabilities under development within NGDC were discussed and follow-on meetings are planned.
Outcome: This effort supports the Goal 3 objective to demonstrate global leadership in environmental issues and to broaden and develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6323)
National Geophysical Data Center Tsunami Team Receives DOC Silver Medal
Kelly Stroker, Paula, Dunbar, Lisa Taylor, and Susan McLean of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) attended the Department of Commerce 2008 Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on November 18th, 2008. They represented the federal half of the tsunami team at NGDC recognized for their significant efforts related to tsunami data management, digital elevation model development, tsunami hazard assessments, and support for DART deployment. Team members John Campagnoli, Joy Ikelman (retired), and Robin Warnken were unable to attend the ceremony.
Significance: The NOAA/NGDC efforts in data management and its role in archiving NOAA's tsunami and bathymetry data and developing high-resolution coastal digital elevation models are essential aspects of the NOAA effort to forecast and mitigate impacts from tsunami and other coastal hazard events. The integrated natural hazards archive provides data essential for coastal hazard assessment, improved data for research, and assured access to data related to past hazardous events for monitoring and mitigating the socio-economic impact of coastal hazards.
Outcome: This activity supports NOAA's priority for developing, valuing, and sustaining a world-class workforce.
( or 303-497-6478)
NOAA Participates in Department of Defense Disaster Exercise
CDR Carl Groeneveld of NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) attended the November 12, 2008, Joint Inter-Agency Coordination Group (JIACG) meeting at U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs. The focus of the forum was on the earthquake-based scenario (7.8 magnitude earthquake along the San Andreas fault) being used in Exercise Vigilant Shield 09 and the State of California's Golden Guardian exercise also known as the Great Southern California Shakeout. USNORTHCOM through JIACG strives to build relationships with other federal agencies and organizations so that emergency response is facilitated by leveraging the other agencies' expertise via the liaisons in the JIACG team.
( or 303-497-6216)
NOAA Work Continues in Nightsat Mission
Dr. Chris Elvidge of NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) is participating in the Nightsat Design Workshop at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) on November 17-20, 2008. Nightsat is a mission concept developed by Dr. Elvidge and others. GSFC is leading the development of the Nightsat mission proposal for the anticipated Venture class mission call for proposals.
Significance: The mission objectives for Nightsat are to produce annual updates of the location, brightness and spectral character of nighttime lights at moderate spatial resolution. Application areas include the measurement of urban growth, modeling the spatial distribution of energy consumption and carbon emissions, and independent estimation of economic indices such as gross domestic product.
Outcome: This effort supports the Goal 4 objective to broaden and develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6121)
NOAA Contributes to Department of Defense (DoD) Modeling
The Environmental Data Cube Support System (EDCSS) team met with Dr. Eric Kihn at the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) to discuss integration of space weather data into the EDCSS, which is the preferred method for DoD modeling and simulation applications to acquire environmental data. These environmental data products are used in training, acquisition and operational simulations.
Significance: NGDC has developed a system called the Space Environment Impacts Systems (SEIS) which provides similar information to the civilian community. The EDCSS team developed a plan with NGDC for joint operation through the use of networked application programming interfaces (API). This plan will be implemented in FY09.
Outcome: This effort supports the Goal 4 objective to broaden and develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6346)
Data Submission Agreement signed between NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) and Department of Defense Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) for Defense Meteorology Space Program (DMSP) data
On October 31, 2008 NGDC and AFWA finalized a support agreement for the long-term archival of DMSP data as stipulated in a Memorandum of Agreement. Over a year in the making, this document exemplifies an important tool utilized by NGDC for scientific data stewardship as it describes important details such as data type formats and transmission logistics that will ensure the long-term preservation of data for future generations. This data set provides valuable night time lights imagery used for a myriad of scientific applications from measuring the magnitude of gas flaring to evaluating the impact of natural disasters.
( or 303-497-6118)
NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Provides Data for Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) Determination
Interest in NGDC's collection of trackline geophysical data has increased significantly over the past year, possibly related to the upcoming deadline for many developing and small island states to submit their limits for extended continental shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. FY 2008 saw 9,009 downloads of custom packages of surveys from the Marine Trackline Geophysics On-line database, an increase of more than 24% from FY 2007. Each package of data can contain up to 1,000 surveys. NOAA's NGDC and Geophysical Data Management System (GEODAS) are frequently cited by countries as a primary source of data for their ECS efforts.
Significance: Under international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, every coastal state has a continental shelf out to 200 nautical miles from its coastal baselines (or out to a maritime boundary with another coastal state). The ECS is that area of the continental shelf that lies beyond this 200 nautical mile limit. Marine data, specifically bathymetric, seismic, gravity, magnetic, and marine geological data, are of significant use in determining a country's ECS area. The NOAA/NGDC role in marine data and metadata assimilation, management, archiving and dissemination are essential aspects of any effort to define and defend an ECS.
Outcome: This activity supports the Integrated Oceans and Coastal Mapping program and the general goal to provide bathymetric data, thus enhancing the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6542)
NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Provides Data and Assistance for Research on Extended Continental Shelf (ECS)
NGDC responded to requests from Dr. Do Chien Thang, Deputy Director for the Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology and Mohammad Khorshed A. Khastagir, Senior Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Vietnam and Bangladesh are working to define their country's ECS. Marine bathymetry, seismic reflection, gravity, magnetic, and geological data are essential to establishing the ECS and many countries rely on public data stewarded by NGDC for this task. Web addresses were provided for online access to NGDC's multibeam and single beam bathymetry. Seismic images from scanned microfilm, rescued under NOAA's Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP), were posted on File Transfer Protocol (FTP) for 29 cruises to aid their research efforts. NGDC is positioned to provide assistance to developing states and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in their activities to delineate the outer limits of their continental shelf. The U.S. ECS Task Force, a consortium of federal agencies, has delegated to NGDC the responsibility for establishing and maintaining a central data base and metadata repository for the U.S. ECS efforts.
Significance: Under international law as reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, every coastal state has a continental shelf out to 200 nautical miles from its coastal baselines (or out to a maritime boundary with another coastal state). The ECS is that area of the continental shelf that lies beyond this 200 nautical mile limit. The process to determine the outer limits of the ECS requires the collection and analysis of data that describe the depth, shape, and geophysical characteristics of the seabed and sub-sea floor, as well as the thickness of the underlying sediments. The NOAA/NGDC role in data and metadata management and stewardship in archiving these data are essential aspects of any U.S. Government effort to define and defend an ECS.
Outcome: This activity supports the Integrated Oceans and Coastal Mapping program and the general goal to improve our environmental and marine infrastructure and to develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6338)
International Council for Science (ICSU) establishes new World Data System (WDS)
At the recent ICSU General Assembly held on October 21-24, 2008 in Maputo, Mozambique, a new WDS was endorsed by the ICSU National and Scientific Union representatives. The new WDS replaces the 50 year-old World Data Center system and will employ state-of-the art data system technology, be committed to data systems interoperability, and will continue ICSU's commitment for full and open access to data for all scientists world-wide. The WDS will support ICSU's high priority programs, including the International Polar Year (IPY) and the Global Earth Observation Systems of Systems (GEOSS). To compliment establishment of the WDS, ICSU adopted a resolution which strongly endorses non discriminatory data sharing and long-term data preservation.
Significance: NOAA hosts seven World Data Centers (WDCs) collocated within its National Data Centers (NDCs). The WDS will have a critical role in the data activities of GEOSS and the IPY. Both of these programs are of high interest within NOAA. NOAA's NDCs may begin to address similar data activities related to these new ICSU programs through involvement with the new WDS.
Outcome: The activity supports the general goal to advance the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-4481)
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