Contact: Patricia Viets FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
10/11/96
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will hold a public meeting on Space-Based Data Collection and Location Systems on Dec. 12 and 13 in Silver Spring, Md., the Commerce Department agency announced today.
The first day, current and planned commercial, space-based data collection and location service providers are invited to brief their capabilities and have exhibits. The second day will be a public meeting, in which presentations are transcribed.
NOAA operates an environmental data collection system on its Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and an environmental data collection and location system on its Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites (POES). These systems collect data from such sources as automated weather observing stations, ocean buoys, migrating birds, tide and river gauges and seismic registers.
The POES data collection and location system is provided through a cooperative program with the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), the French national space agency, in which a French instrument, Argos, flies aboard U.S. spacecraft. The Argos data collection and location system is jointly managed by NOAA and CNES. The GOES data collection system is managed solely by NOAA.
Both the GOES and Argos systems are operated to support environmental applications such as meteorology, oceanography, hydrology, ecology and remote sensing of earth resources. In addition, the Argos system supports those applications that protect the environment such as hazardous material tracking, fishing vessel tracking for treaty enforcement, animal tracking, and oil and gas pipeline monitoring to prevent leakage.
In light of the fact that a commercial industry is starting to emerge in this area of data collection and location services, as well as the federal government's long-standing policy against competing with the private sector, NOAA will no longer promote the use of the Argos system for commercial, non-environmental applications. In addition, to help the government become more informed about the current and planned capabilities of commercial space-based, data collection and location service providers, NOAA, in cooperation with the Department of Commerce Office of Air and Space Commercialization, is sponsoring the December meeting.
The public meeting, which was announced recently in the Commerce Business Daily and the Federal Register, will bring together current and planned space-based data collection and location service providers and users to present, discuss and document pertinent information necessary to reevaluate and redefine general government policy and practice.
The public meeting will be held at the U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA Silver Spring Metro Campus Auditorium, 1301 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland. Parties interested in participating in the Dec. 12 technical session, particularly space-based service providers who would like to present current and future capabilities and display materials in the exhibit hall, and users who would like to present current and future requirements; or parties interested in participating in the Dec. 13 policy session, particularly those that would like to give oral and/or written presentations, should contact Dane Clark, NOAA/NESDIS, Direct Services Division, Federal Building 4, Room 0160, 4401 Suitland Road, Suitland, MD 20746: telephone 301-457-5678, E-mail satinfo@nesdis.noaa.gov.
Information concerning this public meeting can be found on the Public Meeting Homepage that can be assessed via www.nnic.noaa.gov. This homepage contains a complete information package with details on meeting location and dates, registration forms, program information, instructions for speakers and exhibitors, and hotels and transportation.