NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research

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Providing a
Research
Foundation
for NOAA in:

Climate

Oceans, Great Lakes and Coasts

Weather and Air Quality

Outstanding
Accomplishments in Research

NOAA Research Matters: Technological Innovations and Scientific Advances that Improve Our Lives
Learn about the preeminent contributions OAR scientists and our partners have made to building the knowledge base, tools, products, and services through which we can better understand and address the dynamics of our changing planet.

Improving Hurricane Intensity Prediction with High Resolution Computer Models

To save lives and protect property when a ferocious hurricane threatens our shores, researchers at NOAA know that it’s not enough to correctly track these massive storms. They also want to better forecast the intensity of storms when they make landfall.

Dr. Marie Colton

NOAA has named a new director for its Great Lakes research laboratory -- Dr. Marie Colton of Virginia is the new Director of the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, MI. GLERL focuses on many issues affecting the Great Lakes, such as climate impacts, water resource management, and invasive species. .

(Credit: NOAA)

Climate Effects of Atmospheric Haze a Little Less... Hazy -- Scientists have used a new approach to sharpen the understanding of one of the most uncertain of mankind’s influences on climate—the effects of atmospheric “haze,” the tiny airborne particles from pollution, biomass burning, and other sources.

The new observations-based study led by NOAA confirms that the particles (“aerosols”) have the net effect of cooling the planet—in agreement with previous understanding—but arrives at the answer in a completely new way that is more straightforward, and has narrowed the uncertainties of the estimate. The findings appear in this week’s Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres.

Layers of Earth's atmosphere. (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA Study Shows Nitrous Oxide Now Top Ozone-Depleting Emission -- Nitrous oxide has now become the largest ozone-depleting substance emitted through human activities, and is expected to remain the largest throughout the 21st century, NOAA scientists say in a new study.

For the first time, this study has evaluated nitrous oxide emissions from human activities in terms of their potential impact on Earth’s ozone layer. As chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which have been phased out by international agreement, ebb in the atmosphere, nitrous oxide will remain a significant ozone-destroyer, the study found. Today, nitrous oxide emissions from human activities are more than twice as high as the next leading ozone-depleting gas.

The Coast Guard personnel at Kodiak, Alaska, make ready a C-130 aircraft for a Coast Guard flight carrying NOAA instruments north to the Arctic Circle. (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA, Coast Guard Hunt for Alaska Methane, Carbon Dioxide Sources -- Recent observations have suggested that the air above Alaska may already hold the first signs of a regional increase in greenhouse gas emissions that could contribute to climate change around the globe.

To learn more about the region’s emissions, NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colo., has teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard at Kodiak Island. The two partners are flying NOAA air-sampling devices aboard a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft conducting flights over the state through November.

Gas plume off Cape Mendocino, Calif. (Credit: NOAA)

NOAA and San Francisco’s Exploratorium Announce Educational Partnership: First Project to Focus on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer -- Today, at San Francisco’s Pier 27 along the city’s storied Embarcadero, NOAA and the Exploratorium announced a five-year partnership to bring cutting edge climate and ocean science to the public. Collaborating with NOAA scientists, the Exploratorium will develop interactive experiences to help explain and illustrate dynamic scientific discoveries.

NOAA Research maintains an active constituent relations program to ensure that OAR and NOAA leadership communicate effectively and often with their most important customers. For more information on the NOAA Research Constituent Relations program, visit the Constituent Relations website or contact us at oar.constituents@noaa.gov.

Learn about
NOAA RESEARCH
-- from A to Z!

Hazards Warnings– AWIPS HazCOLLECT – Did you know that NOAA is developing an automated message handling system to collect and disseminate non-weather hazardous event information to the public? Under the AWIPS HazCollect program, the system offers 17 different types of HazCollect messages, ranging from Earthquake and Avalanche Warnings, to Hazardous Materials and Radiological Hazard Warnings, to Amber Alert messages. [more]

NOAA Research Matters PODCASTS

The Shrinking Arctic Ice Cap Take-Home Points:

Arctic sea ice is projected to decline dramatically over the 21st century, with little late summer sea ice remaining by the year 2100.
The simulated 21st century Arctic sea ice decline is not smooth, but contains periods of large and small changes.
The Arctic region's surface air temperature is projected to warm at a rate about twice as fast as the global average.

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research.noaa.gov
Updated: September 25, 2009

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