Over a two-year period beginning in 2015, a panel of subject matter experts, the Space Platform Requirements Working Group (SPRWG), carried out an analysis and prioritization of different space-based observations supporting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s operational services in the areas of weather, oceans, and space weather. NOAA leadership used the SPRWG analysis of space-based observational priorities in different mission areas, among other inputs, to inform the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT)-based value model and the NOAA Satellite Observing Systems Architecture (NSOSA) study. The goal of the NSOSA study is to develop candidate satellite architectures for the era beginning in approximately 2030. The SPRWG analysis included a prioritized list of observational objectives together with the quantitative attributes of each objective at three levels of performance: a threshold level of minimal utility, an intermediate level that the community expects by 2030, and a maximum effective level, a level for which further improvements would not be cost effective. This process is believed to be unprecedented in the analysis of long-range plans for providing observations from space. This paper describes the process for developing the prioritized objectives and their attributes and how they were combined in the Environmental Data Record (EDR) Value Model (EVM). The EVM helped inform NOAA’s assessment of many potential architectures for its future observing system within the NSOSA study. However, neither the SPRWG nor its report represents official NOAA policy positions or decisions, and the responsibility for selecting and implementing the final architecture rests solely with NOAA senior leadership.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) is an integrated system of sensors concentrated in seaports that provide accurate and reliable real-time information about environmental conditions. PORTS measures and disseminates observations for water levels, currents, waves, bridge air gap, water temperature, salinity, and meteorological parameters. PORTS was developed and implemented in the early 1990s in response to an accident in Tampa Bay where a vessel struck the Sunshine Skyway Bridge resulting in a substantial loss of life and property. The programme was established as a public-private partnership where the local community funds the establishment and maintenance of the local observing system, and NOAA provides the programme and data management. Today, PORTS has grown to over 30 locations around the country and services over 80% of the tonnage and over 90% of the value of cargo transiting U.S. seaports. A number of economic benefit studies have shown PORTS can reduce accidents by over 50% and significantly increase efficiency. This article examines the evolution of the programme in terms of addressing emerging observational needs, infusing new technology, enhancing products, conducting economic benefit studies, adapting business models, and serving other societal needs.
Continuous sea level measurements have been made and recorded for more than 100 years, but their importance has increased dramatically in the past few years due to the great international interest for monitoring global levels in anticipation of climate warming. Since the National Ocean Service (NOS) is the primary agency for measuring and recording water levels in the United States, it is being encouraged to increase the number of permanent sea level measuring stations especially in the polar regions where the data are extremely sparse. Personnel from the Physical Oceanography Division (POD) and the Ocean Systems Division (OSD) of the Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment (OOMA) have been researching the status of the technology and the requirements for water level measurements in the polar regions with special emphasis on the needs of NOAA's Climate and Global Change Program and The Global Sea Level Observing System, known as GLOSS. It is called GLOSS because it measures the global level of the sea surface, a smooth level after averaging out waves, tides and meteorological events. GLOSS, coordinated by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), provides high quality standarized data from which valuable sea level products are prepared for international and regional research programs as well as for practical national applications. This report includes a survey of the work that NOS and others are or have been doing in this area and also assesses the state-of-the-art of the technology involved, the potential for future development, and provides recommendations for near and long-term projects. The report concludes that the technology and techniques exist for making sea level measurements in polar regions but that they must be site-specific; also, that stable bench mark connections and atmospheric pressure measurements are mandatory; that the field measurement system should be as automated as possible; and that near real-time transmission of data is highly desirable to ensure proper system operation and early availability of information to users. The report recommends the use of thermal bench marks in certain polar areas and the further development of acoustic and electromagnetic means of transmitting data from underwater sensors through the ice or land to nearby shore stations. It also recommends that Prudhoe Bay, AK be established as a pilot station for further investigations into the measurement requirements of other Arctic stations and that a cooperative program be initiated with the National Science Foundation for establishing stations in Antarctica.
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