New current meter at Stevens will feed data into NOAA’s real-time information system to allow ships to navigate more safely in New York harbor

April 29, 2013

NOAA is using data from a new current meter in New York harbor, operated by one of its academic partners, New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology, to provide enhanced real-time information to mariners travelling through the nation’s second busiest port.

The Stevens current meter measures the  direction, speed, and volume of ocean currents in the harbor’s navigation channels, north of the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island.  Its data will be used in NOAA’s Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) system, which delivers real-time environmental observations, forecasts and other geospatial information to mariners in 21 major U.S. harbors. The system makes maritime commerce more safe and efficient by giving ship captains instant measurements of the water levels and temperatures, and the direction and speed of the current and wind as they come in and out of port.

Stevens is a partner in the NOAA-led U.S. Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) , and is the first academic institution that is part of IOOS to have its research data incorporated into the NOAA real-time PORTS program.

"This new sensor will provide crucial current information halfway between the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and Manhattan, the primary navigation route into New York and New Jersey ports. It’s a great addition to PORTS,” said Richard Edwing, director of NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services. “This collaboration between Stevens and NOAA gives us access to previously untapped data to help us address marine commerce and other coastal issues.  It also lays the groundwork for future federal-regional collaborations.”

By providing real-time tide, current, and other information, NOAA’s PORTS program helps reduce the chances for accidents. Also, enhanced marine information can increase the amount of cargo moved through a port and harbor by enabling mariners to safely use every inch of dredged channel depth.

“This is how the national IOOS network – with federal, regional, academic, and private sector partnerships – is bringing more data and information to the table from more sources than the government has had access to before,” said Zdenka Willis, U.S. IOOS program director. “In these tough economic times, IOOS is really helping us do more for our nation at lower cost.”

IOOS brings together timely, reliable, and accurate data and information decision makers need to take action to improve safety, enhance the economy and protect the environment. These data provide a larger picture of the interaction between the ocean and global climate systems and advance our understanding of potential climate change impacts on our marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.

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Joint Polar Satellite System completes critical program reviews

June 27, 2013

NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) recently completed two key programmatic reviews at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and is continuing a steady, on schedule and on budget march toward the 2017 launch of JPSS-1, the second in the series of next generation polar-orbiting weather satellites.

These detailed reviews, known as the Program System Definition Review (P/SDR) and JPSS-1 Mission Preliminary Design Review (MPDR), show the program is on track as it moves forward to meeting even higher-level critical milestones later this summer. The P/SDR is an independent review that evaluates the proposed structure of the program and finalizes the content, schedule and cost. The MPDR is a milestone for an independent review of the design of the JPSS-1 mission, including how the satellite, ground system, launch service, and operations all come together to achieve the mission objectives.

“Completing these reviews demonstrates the success and progress we are making within the overall JPSS program,” said Harry Cikanek, NOAA JPSS program director. “I am proud of the work our combined NOAA/NASA team has done to aggressively implement this program and deliver our products on budget and on schedule.”

Next on tap for the JPSS-1 mission, for which the instruments are almost complete and the spacecraft construction is well underway, is Key Decision Point-C, and the JPSS program Key Decision Point-I. These two additional reviews will monitor the overall readiness of JPSS, and are expected to occur this summer. Following this, the next milestone for the JPSS-1 mission is a Critical Design Review in early 2014. The next major review for the program overall will be in 2015.

The JPSS satellites are a follow on from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) satellite, a joint NOAA and NASA satellite and the first spacecraft in the JPSS series, launched on Oct. 28, 2011. Since its launch, the Suomi NPP spacecraft, instruments, and ground system have demonstrated successful operation, showcasing the JPSS capabilities to come.

The JPSS satellites represent significant technological and scientific advances for more accurate weather forecasting to improve prediction capabilities that save lives, facilitate the flow of commerce, and protect the economic interests of both the public and private sectors during severe weather events. NOAA, working in partnership with NASA, ensures a continuous flow of global data for monitoring and forecasting environmental phenomena.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. For more information about NOAA satellites, please visit www.nesdis.noa.gov and follow us on Facebook , Twitter and our other social media channels.

For more information about JPSS, visit: http://www.jpss.noaa.gov

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Charleston, S.C., harbor becomes 23rd to use NOAA PORTS data system

June 27, 2013

Download image here. (Credit: NOAA)

Download image here. (Credit: NOAA)

A CO-OPS employee installs an air gap sensor which measures bridge clearance on the Don Holt Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina. The sensor is part of the Charleston Harbor Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (or PORTS®). Information from the sensor is critical for under bridge clearance, as ships continue to maximize channel depths and widths while, at the same time, push the bounds of bridge heights.

Officials from NOAA’s National Ocean Service and the South Carolina State Ports Authority will officially dedicate a new system to increase safety for ships in the harbor of Charleston, S.C. today.

The system, called Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®), provides real-time information that determines bridge clearance measurements from special air gap sensors, as well as water level and meteorological information from long-term tide stations, providing users with critical data when transiting the harbor. Charleston will become the 23rd U.S. harbor to use the system.

“By providing integrated real-time tide, weather and bridge clearance information, the Charleston PORTS will help reduce the chances for accidents,” said Richard Edwing, director of NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS). “For instance, the new sensors on the Don Holt Bridge in the harbor will provide crucial information for ships trying to pass under it. Also, enhanced marine information can increase the amount of cargo moved through a port and harbor by enabling mariners to safely use every inch of dredged channel depth and bridge clearance.”

Tailored to the specific requirements of each seaport, PORTS is a decision support tool that improves the safety and efficiency of maritime commerce and coastal resource management through the integration of real-time environmental observations, forecasts, and other geospatial information.

Knowledge of the currents, water levels, winds, and density of the water can increase the amount of cargo moved through a port and harbor by enabling mariners to safely utilize every inch of dredged channel depth. One additional foot of draft can increase profit per transit depending on the type of cargo transported.

The Port of Charleston is the fourth largest port on the East Coast handling commerce valued at more than $58 billion a year. It is a major economic driver of the region and state, facilitating 260,800 jobs in South Carolina. More than 20,000 companies in two dozen states use the Port of Charleston, including major global brands like Michelin, BMW, Adidas, Starbucks and Boeing.

“We consider the PORTS air gap system’s capability to provide real-time data as absolutely necessary for both navigation safety and the continued business development and job creation at our port facility,” said Stevenson E. Kemp Jr., Vice President, Terminal Operations, Port of Charleston.

In addition to providing useful information for maritime transportation, the use of the water temperature and tidal data can be used by fishers to improve their catch, while recreational boating excursions can occur more often and be safer through better real-time information available through PORTS.

Two major studies of the economic benefits of the PORTS system have shown that it can provide significant annual economic benefits in both cost-savings and in higher direct income. A 2007 study of PORTS operations in the Houston/Galveston areas showed benefits ranging between $14.1 and $15.6 million annually. An earlier study for the system operated in Tampa/St.Petersburg showed that the Tampa Bay economy receives more than $7 million a year in savings and direct income from NOAA PORTS.

CO-OPS, as part of NOAA’s National Ocean Service, is an organization of experts in understanding tides, currents and water levels, turning operational oceanographic data into meaningful information, products and services for the nation.

NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook , Twitter and our other social media channels.

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Voyager approaches edge of solar system

Next stop: Interstellar space.

NASA/JPL-Caltech via AFP/Getty Images

This artist's rendering released Tuesday shows Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 at the edge of the solar system.

NASA/JPL-Caltech via AFP/Getty Images

This artist's rendering released Tuesday shows Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 at the edge of the solar system.

The Voyager 1 spacecraft, launched from Earth in 1977, will be the first man-made object to leave the solar system, within the next year or two, scientists from NASA report.

"We are approaching the solar system's frontier," said Ed Stone, Voyager project scientist at CalTech in Pasadena, Calif.

The spacecraft is billions of miles beyond the orbits of the planets in our solar system, but it is still within the system, continuing to detect solar winds, or electrically charged gases ejected from our sun.

Based on new data from the craft, NASA announced last week that Voyager 1 was nearing the "heliopause," which scientists believe is the border between our solar system and interstellar space, says NASA research scientist Eric Christian in Greenbelt, Md.

The heliopause is the point where solar winds stop and magnetic fields shift from the solar system to that of deep space.

"The latest data indicate that we are clearly in a new region where things are changing more quickly," Stone says.

Voyager 1 and its identical sister ship, Voyager 2, also launched in 1977, between them explored all of the solar system's outer planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in the 1980s.

Back in 2004, the spacecraft crossed a boundary called the "termination shock," where the solar winds slow as they first meet interstellar space, which some scientists thought was the edge of the solar system.

Where exactly the solar system "ends" is an ongoing debate among scientists. Voyager provides answers as it traverses this unexplored region.

"The most surprising thing about the outer limits of the solar system is how dynamic it is," Christian says. "Even though the outer solar system is an extremely good vacuum, there is still a lot going on. We're going where no one has been before."

Both Voyagers continue to make unexpected discoveries about the physical structure of the solar system.

"We've been surprised by Voyager again and again," Christian says. "I actually think that the Voyager mission is one of NASA's best success stories. That both Voyagers are still working well, nearly 35 years after launch, and sending back important science from 10 billion miles away is truly amazing."

In about 200,000 years or so, one of the craft might come close to another star, Christian says.

Though they will lose the power to transmit data back to Earth sometime between 2020 or 2025, both will continue their journey into deep space.

"The spacecraft will go on forever," Stone says.

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First Nationwide Test of Emergency Alert System (EAS) to Be Held Nov. 9 (ContributorNetwork)

We've all heard the words "This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. This is only a test." Be ready because on Nov. 9, expect to hear those words wherever you live in the United States as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is partnering with the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to conduct the first ever nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS).

When is the Emergency Alert System Test?

This nationwide test will be conducted on Wednesday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. eastern standard time. It is estimated that the test will last approximately three minutes, after which, regular programming on television and radio stations will resume.

What is the Emergency Alert System?

The EAS sends alerts across television and radio stations in all 50 U.S. states and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. When emergency alerts are activated, regular programming is interrupted with special announcements about the emergency and includes instructions and information for citizens.

In the event of a nationwide emergency, the EAS would be activated by the president to provide important information to the public. Local emergency services and NOAA also use part of the EAS system to send local alerts about specific hazards such as weather alerts that most of us hear on our NOAA weather radios.

The EAS was created in 1994 and took over from the precursor Emergency Broadcast System which was created in 1963.

What is the EAS Test?

According to the FEMA website, the "EAS test plays a key role in ensuring the nation is prepared for any type of hazard, and that the U.S. public can receive critical and vital information should it ever be needed."

If you are watching television, listening to the radio or have your NOAA weather radio on at 2 p.m. November 9, you will hear the words "This is

Why is this test being conducted?

In the event of a real national emergency in which all citizens will need to be informed quickly and accurately about the emergency, the EAS would be activated to instruct and inform the public. This test on November 9 is being conducted to make sure that system is reliable and effective as a method of alerting the public during an emergency.

State and local tests of the system are conducted monthly and weekly, but before now, there has never been a coordinated nationwide testing of the alert system.

Why would the EAS be activated?

The EAS would be activated by a major national disaster -- for example a major earthquake or a tsunami -- as a means of providing the American public with warnings, information and instructions during such an emergency.

Tammy Lee Morris is certified as a Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and is a trained Skywarn Stormspotter through the National Weather Service. She has received interpretive training regarding the New Madrid Seismic Zone through EarthScope -- a program of the National Science Foundation. She researches and writes about earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes, weather and other natural phenomena.

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Indian Ocean tsunami warning system tested (AP)

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Nations along the Indian Ocean are testing a U.N.-backed early tsunami warning system put in place after the massive 2004 wave off western Indonesia that left more than 230,000 people dead or missing.

Wednesday's exercise — the first full-scale test of the system — tested communication and emergency response. Evacuation drills were held in India and Malaysia, with bulletins sent by telephone, email, SMS and fax to more than 20 countries taking part.

The switch was flipped by officials at Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency at 8:05 a.m. — the same time a magnitude-9.2 earthquake triggered a tsunami on Dec. 26, 2004, that barreled into a dozen nations.

The agency said the test would last until 8 p.m. and that no glitches were immediately detected.

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Warning system glitches found after Alaska quake (AP)

JUNEAU, Alaska – Glitches were reported in Alaska's tsunami warning system after Thursday evening's 7.2-magnitude earthquake in the Aleutian chain, causing some anxiety and bewilderment among residents.

State Department of Homeland Security spokesman Jeremy Zidek said Friday that tsunami warning messages were sent late via the emergency alert system to TV and radio stations, about the same time the warning was being canceled.

The Kenai Peninsula Borough reported its sirens, tied to a weather radio system, only went off when the alert was canceled. Normally, there's no siren when a warning is canceled, emergency management director Eric Mohrmann said.

"It's unfortunate it occurred" that way, he said Friday. "It's not a perfect system, that's for sure."

The reason for the glitches wasn't immediately clear, though Zidek said the state does not rely on just one system to alert communities to possible dangers. For example, he said officials also send emails and make calls, alerting communities to possible impending dangers. In all, 14 communities were notified Thursday, he said. Mohrmann said he learned of the tsunami warning by email.

It's not the only emergency management communication problem for the state this week.

Alaska State Troopers Capt. Barry Wilson told the Anchorage Daily News the agency is investigating glitches in this week's Amber Alert, including breaks in audio for some radio and TV listeners. There were also problems with television text scrolls that either didn't appear or moved too fast, and not everyone who signed up for Amber Alert email and text message alerts received them.

The tsunami warning glitches were cast more as the exception than the rule in a state where earthquakes are common occurrences.

Thursday's quake, a magnitude 7.2, according to the Alaska Earthquake Information Center, shook a huge section of Alaska's Aleutian Islands. Centered about 122 miles east of Atka and about 1,200 miles southwest of Anchorage, it was jarring enough to send residents of some small coastal towns, such as Unalaska, to higher ground. There were no immediate reports of damage.

It hit just after 7 p.m. Thursday.

Unalaska's mayor, Shirley Marquardt, was at the airport. The shaking wasn't violent but it lasted "long enough." Officials decided to evacuate the low-lying city as a precaution. This time of year, the community is bustling. The hotel, which is built around sea level, like many other buildings in town, was full, she said.

"We stand to lose everything in a tsunami," Marquardt said.

Unalaska City Manager Chris Hladick estimated that thousands of people evacuated to higher ground until they received the all-clear. He said the process ran smoothly, with sirens blaring and officials going through neighborhoods to rouse residents. Ships were sent out of the harbor.

Atka resident Rodney Jones said the shaking he felt lasted about 20 seconds and was "just a little rumbly."

He said it appeared all of the town's 61 residents moved to higher ground upon hearing the tsunami warning, which he heard issued over CB radio. Townspeople gathered on a high hill for about an hour, near the city's new water tank.

During their wait for the all-clear signal, a priest with the town's Russian Orthodox Church recited prayers, Jones said.

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Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen contributed from Anchorage.

Becky Bohrer can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/bbohrer.

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