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National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) participates in U.S. Law of the Sea Cruise to Map the Arctic Ocean [September 2009]
NGDC's Jennifer Henderson joined a 42 day cruise in the Arctic Ocean on board the icebreaker USCGC Healy as part of a joint U.S and Canadian effort to locate the outer edge of the North American continental shelf under the U.N Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Healy's purpose was to collect multibeam bathymetric data, gravity, and sub-bottom data while also clearing a path through the ice for the CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent seismic data collection work. The U.S. portion of the mission is led by the Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping/Joint Hydrographic Center of the University of New Hampshire with funding and scientific support by NOAA. NGDC is the data archive and integration center for the US ECS effort.
( or 303-497-6419)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Attends Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) User Forum [September 2009]
Francine Coloma of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) participated in the National Geodetic Survey's (NGS) CORS User Forum at the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center's (NAVCEN) 49th Annual Civil GPS Service Interface Committee Meeting (CGSIC) in Savannah, Georgia. CORS data users were given current information about CORS, its partners, tools and support for real time positioning, and gave experiences and ideas on how NGS can improve products and services. A panel of speakers discussed guidelines being prepared to help operate a real-time GNSS network (RTN) and those who use RTN positioning services. NGDC serves as the designated parallel facility required under the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) for the main NGS CORS facility in Silver Spring, Maryland. NGDC operates this CORS facility for ingest, storage, and distribution of CORS data which is ingested into NGDC's long term data archive.
( or 303-497-3692)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Geospatial One-Stop Harvest [September 2009]
NOAA's NGDC published 12,455 National Ocean Service (NOS) hydrographic survey metadata records with Geospatial One-Stop (GOS), which is an E-Government initiative and the metadata clearinghouse for the Integrated Ocean and Coastal Mapping program (IOCM). NGDC is the national archive and steward for NOS hydrographic survey data. This is an on-going partnership between NGDC and the NOS Hydrographic Survey Division. One common method of data discovery is searching through data and metadata repositories. GOS is one of the E-Government initiatives of the Presidents Management Agenda, that seeks to provide data in a "one stop shop" and is a government, cross-agency initiative, with the primary objective to provide access to many themes of geospatial data and web mapping services to portray that data. Under the IOCM, all government agencies collecting coastal and ocean data will coordinate efforts and publish metadata in GOS. This activity supports the general goal to improve our environmental and marine infrastructure and to develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6429)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Participates in Classified Discussions in Space Weather [September 2009]
NGDC's Dr. William Denig accompanied Dr. Tom Bogdan, Director of the National Weather Service (NWS)/Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), to the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) on September 9, 2009. The AFSPC has taken a lead role in assessing the space weather components of Space Situation Awareness (SSA) for the Department of Defense per National Space Policy Directive 49 (NSPD-49). This presidential directive also assigns responsibility for the operational civilian environmental space-based remote sensing systems (including the civilian space weather infrastructure) and management of the associated requirements and acquisitions to the Secretary of Commerce through the NOAA Administrator. Classified discussions were held regarding the impacts of space weather on military and civilian operations. These discussions were a first step in assessing classified inter-dependencies of space weather across the Nation's operational space weather units.NGDC's Dr. William Denig accompanied Dr. Tom Bogdan, Director of the National Weather Service (NWS)/Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), to the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) on September 9, 2009. The AFSPC has taken a lead role in assessing the space weather components of Space Situation Awareness (SSA) for the Department of Defense per National Space Policy Directive 49 (NSPD-49). This presidential directive also assigns responsibility for the operational civilian environmental space-based remote sensing systems (including the civilian space weather infrastructure) and management of the associated requirements and acquisitions to the Secretary of Commerce through the NOAA Administrator. Classified discussions were held regarding the impacts of space weather on military and civilian operations. These discussions were a first step in assessing classified inter-dependencies of space weather across the Nation's operational space weather units.
( or 303-497-6323)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Visits the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) [September 2009]
Dr. Eric Kihn and Dr. William Denig visited the AFWA near Omaha, Nebraska on September 11, 2009. The purpose was to discuss AFWA's requirements for archive, access and assessment of military space weather data and products. The meeting also attempted to formalize continued and future support for the archive, access and assessment of military space weather products and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data as an annex to the recently approved 5-year MOA among the NOAA NESDIS, NWS, and the Naval Meteorological and Oceanographic Command, and the Air Force Directorate of Weather on "Data Acquisition, Processing and Exchange", signed September 24, 2008. NGDC maintains the archive of military environmental data from the DMSP, the Solar Electro-Optical Network (SEON) and the Digital Ionospheric Sounding System (DISS). NGDC's scientific data stewardship for these data is detailed in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the AFWA and NGDC for the "Archive, Access, and Assessment of Solar and Geophysical Data and DMSP Data" which expires at the end of the current fiscal year. Drs. Kihn and Denig stressed the need for AFWA to articulate their requirements for the archive, access and assessment of space weather data and for AFWA and NGDC to jointly develop an annex to the former MOA.
( or 303-497-6323)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Briefs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Space Weather [September 2009]
NGDC's Dr. William Denig participated in discussions at the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) on September 10, 2009 with the GAO on space weather and the impacts of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Nunn-McCurdy certification on NOAA's operational space weather mission. Dr. Tom Bogdan, SWPC Director, noted for GAO that while the current reduced set of space environmental sensors on NPOESS addressed NOAA's prime mission needs prior to 2006, subsequent changes in NOAA's space environmental priorities, notably the growing importance of ionospheric specification, were seriously compromised as a result of the NPOESS certification process. Dr. Denig noted that the challenges for NGDC in the upcoming years will be accommodating scientific data stewardship, including archive, of NOAA's operational space weather data, environmental model outputs and related derived products.
( or 303-497-6323)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Hosts NOAA Tsunami Executive Meeting [September 2009]
NOAA's Tsunami Program executive council met at NGDC on September 1-3, 2009 to review program accomplishments and discuss the strategic direction, deliverables, and budget for FY10-16. Members of the executive council include Therese Pierce and Jenifer Rhoades, National Weather Service (NWS) Tsunami Program Management; Chip Mccreery and Paul Whitmore, Tsunami Warning Centers; Eddie Bernard, Oceanic Atmospheric Research (OAR) Tsunami Research; Allison Allen, National Ocean Service (NOS) Tide Gauge Network; and Susan McLean, National Environmental, Satellite, Data, Information Service (NESDIS) Data Management. All aspects of the Tsunami Program, including Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART®), Forecasts and Warnings, Data Archive, Research, and the International program presented accomplishments against planned strategic measures and proposed activities for the coming fiscal years.
Significance: NOAA's Tsunami Program is the second largest program in the National Weather Service and involves NESDIS, OAR, and NOS. NGDC's participation in the Executive Council enables collaboration between data collection efforts and the Marine Transportation Systems (MTS) Program and the Tsunami Program. NGDC's role in data management, the integrated hazards archives, and coastal digital elevation model development are essential aspects of the NOAA effort to forecast and mitigate impacts from tsunami events, improve data for research, and assure access to data for monitoring and mitigating the socio-economic impact of coastal hazards.
Outcome: This activity supports the general goal to improve our environmental and marine infrastructure and to develop a more robust Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).
( or 303-497-6478)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Scientist Attends Swarm and International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) Meetings [September 2009]
Dr. Stefan Maus traveled to Sopron, Hungary to attend the 11th Scientific Assembly of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA) held on August 23-30, 2009. Dr. Maus presented papers on magnetic field modeling and attended the business meetings for the World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map and Magnetic Modeling Working Group, which he chairs. Dr. Maus, the developer of the Department of Defense/NOAA World Magnetic Model (WMM), represents NOAA interest in obtaining high-quality magnetic observations for modeling of Earth's magnetic field. He chaired the discussion on the Calibration and Validation of Swarm magnetic field products and presented or co-authored four papers. Dr. Maus followed the science meeting with a visit to the Institute Physique du Globe de Paris to work on higher-level products for the Swarm mission and investigate methods to improve the navigational accuracy of the WMM.
Significance: NGDC develops models of Earth's main magnetic field used by NOAA, Department of Defense, Department of Transportation, and others for safe navigation and initial orienting of satellites after launch. NGDC actively participates in the planning of satellite missions to provide magnetic measurements in support of geomagnetic reference models. This conference provided a forum to discuss measurement platforms and products relevant for the production of the magnetic reference models WMM and International Geomagnetic Reference Field.
Outcome: This activity supports the NOAA Mission Goal 4, to support the Nation's commerce with information for safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation, Understand and Describe and Engage, Advise, and Inform. NOAA and the Federal Aviation Administration use the World Magnetic Model for nautical and aeronautical charting and navigation. NGDC is working with NOAA's National Ocean Service to deliver this information to support electronic navigational charting.
( or 303-497-6522)
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