Contact:  Jeanne Kouhestani             FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                        6/4/98

A $625,000 contract to design and build a Doppler weather radar was awarded this month to Radtec Engineering Inc., of Broomfield, Colo. The radar will be placed aboard the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's research vessel RONALD H. BROWN, and used for the study of global climate change.

RONALD H. BROWN, commissioned in July of last year, is among the most technologically advanced seagoing research platforms in the world today. The Doppler radar will allow the vessel to study precipitation patterns and storm dynamics in particularly data sparse areas over the world's oceans. Although some atmospheric experiments with shipboard radars have been conducted in the past, the capability of this new radar will maximize detection of atmospheric phenomena to ranges never achieved before.

The 274-foot ship, which has state-of-the-art meteorological and ocean data- collecting capabilities, will study global climate change and other critical environmental issues around the world. The RONALD H. BROWN, named after the late Commerce Department secretary who died in a plane crash in 1996 while on an overseas trade mission, is the first new research ship constructed for NOAA in 17 years.

RONALD H. BROWN is commanded by Captain David Peterson of the NOAA Corps. The Office of NOAA Corps Operations, composed of civilians and commissioned officers, manages and operates the agency's fleet of ships and aircraft. BROWN's complement includes four commissioned officers, 20 civilian crew members, and up to 35 scientists.