[House Hearing, 112 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
NATIONAL PRIORITIES FOR SOLAR AND
SPACE PHYSICS RESEARCH AND
APPLICATIONS FOR SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON SPACE AND AERONAUTICS
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012
__________
Serial No. 112-107
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Available via the World Wide Web: http://science.house.gov
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77-037 WASHINGTON : 2012
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COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HON. RALPH M. HALL, Texas, Chair
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
Wisconsin JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ZOE LOFGREN, California
ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland BRAD MILLER, North Carolina
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland
W. TODD AKIN, Missouri BEN R. LUJAN, New Mexico
RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas PAUL D. TONKO, New York
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas JERRY McNERNEY, California
PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia TERRI A. SEWELL, Alabama
SANDY ADAMS, Florida FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
BENJAMIN QUAYLE, Arizona HANSEN CLARKE, Michigan
CHARLES J. ``CHUCK'' FLEISCHMANN, SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
Tennessee VACANCY
E. SCOTT RIGELL, Virginia VACANCY
STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi VACANCY
MO BROOKS, Alabama
ANDY HARRIS, Maryland
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois
CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota
LARRY BUCSHON, Indiana
DAN BENISHEK, Michigan
VACANCY
------
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
HON. STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi, Chair
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER JR., JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois
Wisconsin TERRI A. SEWELL, Alabama
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland
DANA ROHRABACHER, California FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma HANSEN CLARKE, Michigan
W. TODD AKIN, Missouri
MICHAEL T. McCAUL, Texas
SANDY ADAMS, Florida EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
E. SCOTT RIGELL, Virginia
MO BROOKS, Alabama
RALPH M. HALL, Texas
C O N T E N T S
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Page
Witness List..................................................... 2
Hearing Charter.................................................. 3
Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Steven M. Palazzo, Chair,
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, Committee on Science,
Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives........... 15
Written Statement............................................ 16
Statement by Representative Donna F. Edwards, Acting Ranking
Minority Member, Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics,
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of
Representatives................................................ 17
Written Statement............................................ 17
Witnesses:
Dr. Daniel Baker, Director, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space
Physics and Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences,
University of Colorado at Boulder; Chair, Decadal Survey in
Solar and Space Physics, National Research Council
Oral Statement............................................... 19
Written Statement............................................ 21
Mr. Charles J. Gay, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science
Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration
Oral Statement............................................... 21
Written Statement............................................ 47
Ms. Laura Furgione, Acting Assistant Administrator for Weather
Services and Acting Director, National Weather Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Oral Statement............................................... 55
Written Statement............................................ 57
Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Dr. Daniel Baker, Director, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space
Physics and Professor, Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences,
University of Colorado at Boulder; Chair, Decadal Survey in
Solar and Space Physics, National Research Council............. 74
Mr. Charles J. Gay, Deputy Associate Administrator, Science
Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space
Administration................................................. 86
Ms. Laura Furgione, Acting Assistant Administrator for Weather
Services and Acting Director, National Weather Service,
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration................ 90
NATIONAL PRIORITIES FOR SOLAR AND
SPACE PHYSICS RESEARCH AND
APPLICATIONS FOR SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION
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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2012
House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics,
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in
Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steven
Palazzo [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
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The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in
Room 2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Steven
Palazzo [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Chairman Palazzo. The Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics
will come to order.
Good morning, and welcome to today's hearing entitled
``National Priorities for Solar and Space Physics Research and
Applications for Space Weather Prediction.'' In front of you
are packets containing the written testimony, biographies and
Truth in Testimony disclosures for today's witness panel. I
recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement.
I would like to begin by thanking our witnesses for taking
time from their busy schedules to appear before us this morning
to examine the National Research Council's recommendations for
the U.S. solar and space physics research program and
applications for space weather prediction. I realize you and
your staff devoted considerable time and effort preparing for
this hearing, and we appreciate your expertise as we consider
these issues in the upcoming session of Congress.
Unfortunately, our Ranking Member was unable to join us
today, but before getting started, I did want to extend my warm
wishes to Subcommittee Ranking Member Jerry Costello, who is
retiring at the end of this Congress. He has been a genuine
pleasure to work with, and in the brief time we have served
together, I have come to admire his deep knowledge about this
institution, NASA, his deep insight into the FAA, and his sense
of grace. He has been a steady voice of reason, and I believe
we will all miss him.
Our hearing today will focus on the incredible work being
accomplished by NASA's Heliophysics Division and on the
important operational aspect this research has for space
weather prediction at NOAA. NASA has developed and launched a
broad network of spacecraft that allows researchers to better
understand the Earth-Sun system. Their findings are used daily
to help preserve our technological infrastructure by allowing
system operators to better react to variations of the Sun.
Building our knowledge in this field is essential for
maintaining our way of life on Earth as well as for improving
the capability of enabling human exploration beyond the
protection of Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere. Together
with a ground-based infrastructure of solar telescopes managed
by the National Science Foundation, NASA and NOAA coordinate
critical measurements into useable models that predict how
space weather will affect our satellites, electric power grid,
airline operators, and more. The Space Weather Prediction
Center, operated by NOAA's National Weather Service, provides
real-time monitoring and forecasting of solar and geophysical
events and is continuously exploring new models and products to
transition to operations.
Today's hearing will examine the requirements for a robust
space-based solar and space physics research program and
discuss the application of this research for an operational
space weather program. The baseline assessment in this
examination will be the set of recommendations outlined by the
National Research Council's Solar and Space Physics: A Science
for a Technological Society decadal survey. Notably, the survey
committee acknowledged the prospect of limited budgets and
therefore recommended NASA stay the course on major programs
under development, specifically for Solar Probe Plus. The
survey committee further recommended that NASA utilize its
current resources most effectively by focusing resources on
those activities that will DRIVE; or Diversify, Realize,
Integrate, Venture Educate, the next generation of solar and
space physics research. The survey committee also provides
specific recommendations for our Nation's space weather
enterprise and provides detailed recommendations to NASA, NSF
and NOAA on how to best accomplish a robust space weather and
climatology program for the future.
As we enter into the next solar maximum--an 11-year solar
cycle that is marked by increased solar activity--the
availability of solar wind measurements in particular are
essential for maintaining our way of life. As has been stated
countless times over the last several years, however, we face a
tough budget environment. In order to continue a robust solar
and space physics program, a prudent and careful examination of
the core capabilities and essential services this country needs
is first and foremost on our agenda.
I look forward to today's discussion, and wish to again
thank our witnesses for their presence.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Palazzo follows:]
Prepared Statement of Subcommittee Chairman Steven M. Palazzo
I would like to begin by thanking our witnesses for taking time
from their busy schedules to appear before us this morning to examine
the National Research Council's recommendations for the U.S. solar and
space physics research program and applications for space weather
prediction. I realize you and your staff devoted considerable time and
effort preparing for this hearing and we appreciate your expertise as
we consider these issues in the upcoming session of Congress.
Our hearing today will focus on the incredible work being
accomplished by NASA's Heliophysics Division and on the important
operational aspect this research has for space weather prediction at
NOAA. NASA has developed and launched a broad network of spacecraft
that allow researchers to better understand the Earth-Sun system. Their
findings are used daily to help preserve our technological
infrastructure by allowing system operators to better react to
variations of the Sun. Building our knowledge in this field is
essential for maintaining our way of life on Earth as well as for the
improving the capability of enabling human exploration beyond the
protection of Earth's atmosphere and magnetosphere.
Together with a ground-based infrastructure of solar telescopes
managed by the National Science Foundation, NASA and NOAA coordinate
critical measurements into useable models that predict how space
weather will affect our satellites, electric power grid, airline
operators, and more. The Space Weather Prediction Center operated by
NOAA's National Weather Service, provides real-time monitoring and
forecasting of solar and geophysical events and is continuously
exploring new models and products to transition to operations.
Today's hearing will examine the requirements for a robust space-
based solar and space physics research program and discuss the
application of this research for an operational space weather program.
The baseline assessment in this examination will be the set of
recommendations outlined by the National Research Council's Solar and
Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society decadal survey.
Notably, the survey committee acknowledged the prospect of limited
budgets and therefore recommended NASA ``stay the course'' on major
programs under development--specifically for Solar Probe Plus. The
survey committee further recommended that NASA utilize its current
resources most effectively by focusing resources on those activities
that will ``DRIVE--or Diversify, Realize, Integrate, Venture, Educate''
the next generation of solar and space physics research.
The survey committee also provides specific recommendations for our
nation's space weather enterprise and provides detailed recommendations
to NASA, NSF and NOAA on how to best accomplish a robust space weather
and climatology program for the future.
As we enter into the next solar maximum--an 11 year solar cycle
that is marked by increased solar activity--the availability of solar
wind measurements in particular are essential for maintaining our way
of life. As has been stated countless times over the last several
years, however, we face a tough budget environment. In order to
continue a robust solar and space physics program, a prudent and
careful examination of the core capabilities and essential services
this country needs is first and foremost on our agenda.
I look forward to today's discussion, and wish to again thank our
witnesses for their presence.
Chairman Palazzo. At this time I now recognize Ms. Edwards
for an opening statement.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you Chairman Palazzo, and thank you for
your gracious comments about Ranking Member Jerry Costello. I
know he regrets not being here, and like you, I too have
learned both from his graciousness but also from his work
ethic.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate your holding this hearing today
to examine the recommendations for the Nation's solar and space
physics research program and the benefits of this research for
space weather prediction.
A little more than a week ago, the Sun had two solar
events, in this case prominence eruptions, over a 4-hour time
span. NASA's Solar Dynamic Observatory spacecraft captured the
activity, and while the event would not affect Earth, this and
other solar events days earlier led to alerts of potential
high-frequency radio communication blackouts and weak power
grid fluctuations.
Because solar events such as these can have marked impacts
on ground- and space-based technological systems and services,
such as GPS-related services, communications, aviation, the
electric power grid, and pipelines, the Nation's basic research
programs have a direct bearing on protecting our Nation's
critical infrastructure.
In August 2012, the National Academies released its decadal
survey, ``Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a
Technological Society.'' The recommendations provided
independent, external input on the priorities and plans for
space and ground-based solar and space physics research
activities over the next decade, and on the applications of the
research to space weather prediction.
So, I am pleased to hear from our witnesses today on the
decadal survey recommendations, the current activities and
future plans for the NASA program, and the operational
activities related to space weather prediction. And Mr.
Chairman, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the budgetary
challenges for this research. In a crunch budget environment,
there are significant implications for our society if we don't
continue and expand research in this area. We need to protect
these R&D investments. Our assets, our quality of life and our
economic strength as a Nation depend on the research.
Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Edwards follows:]
Prepared Statement of Acting Ranking Minority Member Donna F. Edwards
Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding today's hearing to examine the
recommendations for the nation's solar and space physics research
program and the benefits of this research for space weather prediction.
A little more than a week ago, the Sun had two solar events-in this
case ``prominence eruptions''--over a four-hour time span. NASA's Solar
Dynamic Observatory (SDO) spacecraft captured the activity, and while
the event would not affect Earth, this and other solar events days
earlier led to alerts of potential high frequency radio communication
blackouts and weak power grid fluctuations.
Because solar events such as these can have marked impacts on
ground- and space-based technological systems and services, such as
GPS-related services, communications, aviation, the electric power
grid, and pipelines--the Nation's basic research programs have a direct
bearing on protecting our nation's critical infrastructure.
In August 2012, the National Academies released its decadal survey,
``Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society.''
The recommendations provide independent, external input on the
priorities and plans for space- and ground-based solar and space
physics research activities over the next decade, and on the
applications of the research to space weather prediction.
So, I'm pleased to hear from our witnesses today on the decadal
survey recommendations, the current activities and future plans for the
NASA program, and the operational activities related to space weather
prediction.
Mr. Chairman, I would be remiss if I did not mention the budgetary
challenges for this research, which has such significant implications
for our society.
We need to protect these R&D investments. Our assets, our quality
of life, and our economic strength as a nation depend on this research.
Thank you and I yield back the balance of my time.
Chairman Palazzo. Thank you, Ms. Edwards.
If there are Members who wish to submit additional opening
statements, your statements will be added to the record at this
point.
At this time I would like to introduce our panel and then
we will proceed to hear from each of them in order.
Our first witness is Dr. Daniel Baker. Dr. Baker is
Director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics,
University of Colorado at Boulder, and is Professor of
Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences and Professor of Physics
there. He currently is Lead Investigator on several NASA space
missions including the Messenger mission to Mercury, the
Magnetosphere Multiscale mission, and the NASA Radiation Belt
Storm mission. He was a member of the 2006 decadal review of
the U.S. National Space Weather Program and recently chaired
the National Research Council's 2013 to 2022 decadal survey in
solar and space physics.
Our next witness is Mr. Charles Gay, the Deputy Associate
Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Mr. Gay has
served NASA in senior management positions for many years
including Deputy Director of the Office of Systems Safety and
Mission Assurance at Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Deputy
Director of the Heliophysics Division at NASA headquarters. In
addition to his experience at NASA, Mr. Gay has over 20 years
of experience in the aerospace industry. Mr. Gay received a
B.S. in civil engineering and an M.S. in structural engineering
from the University of Maryland.
Our final witness is Ms. Laura Furgione, who serves as the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Acting
Assistant Administrator for Weather Services and Acting
Director of the National Weather Service. In this role, she is
responsible for the day-to-day civilian weather operations for
the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean
areas. Ms. Furgione has served NOAA in a variety of roles over
her career including the Deputy Director of NWS and as
Assistant Administrator for the NOAA Office of Program Planning
and Integration. Ms. Furgione holds a bachelor of science
degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of Missouri-
Columbia and a master's degree in public administration from
the University of Alaska Southeast.
Welcome, everyone. And as our witnesses should know, spoken
testimony is limited to five minutes each. After all witnesses
have spoken, Members of the Committee will have five minutes
each to ask questions.
I now recognize our first witness, Dr. Daniel Baker, for
five minutes to present his testimony.
STATEMENT OF DR. DANIEL BAKER, DIRECTOR,
LABORATORY FOR ATMOSPHERIC AND
SPACE PHYSICS, AND PROFESSOR,
ASTROPHYSICAL AND PLANETARY SCIENCES,
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER,
AND CHAIR, DECADAL SURVEY IN SOLAR
AND SPACE PHYSICS, NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Dr. Baker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you,
Representative Edwards. Thank you for the opportunity to
testify today. My name, as said, is Daniel Baker. I am at the
University of Colorado. It was my privilege to chair the
National Research Council's Committee for a Decadal Strategy
for Solar and Space Physics, or heliophysics, as it is referred
to at NASA.
Our study was requested by NASA and the National Science
Foundation and was carried out with the full cooperation of
these agencies and with NOAA. The study is national in scope,
and its recommendations are directed to all relevant agencies
engaged in solar and space physics research and applications. I
believe that implementation of the survey committee's
recommended programs will ensure the United States maintains
its leadership in space physics and will lead to significant,
even transformative advances in scientific understanding and
operational capabilities.
Space physics research provides new observations and
scientific knowledge about the Sun and how it interacts with
the planets and with the local reaches of our galaxy. Of most
importance to society, solar and space physics research
observations and modeling lets us understand the origins and
consequences of the Sun's interactions with the Earth and what
we refer to as space weather.
Our report is one that is responsive to both of these
drivers, the necessity to be innovative in the science field
with multi-agency, multi-scale observations and theoretical
tools, and a community that seeks to add value to a Nation that
is increasingly vulnerable to space weather effects.
The decadal survey committee's recommendations are also
responsive to budgetary constraints. Recognizing the importance
of crafting a resilient program in uncertain budgetary times,
the survey report includes decision rules to guide programmatic
changes should they become necessary.
NASA's existing heliophysics flight missions and NSF's
ground-based facilities form a network of observing platforms
that operate simultaneously to investigate the entire solar
system. The survey's first priority is to complete the ongoing
program, to support this ongoing existing program and complete
missions and programs in development.
Our second-highest priority is to implement a new,
integrated, multi-agency initiative, which we call D-R-I-V-E,
as was said, DRIVE, encompasses specific cost-effective
augmentations to NASA and NSF's space physics programs. DRIVE
will bring existing enabling programs to full fruition through
innovative, targeted programs and will also support larger-
scale activities recommended for later in the decade. Its
components are described more thoroughly in my written
testimony.
Our third priority is for NASA to accelerate and expand the
Heliophysics Explorer program. Explorer-class missions have an
outstanding record of delivering scientific results of great
consequence in a timely and cost-effective manner.
The fourth priority is that the committee also recommends
that NASA's Solar-Terrestrial Probes program should be
restructured as a moderate-sized competed principal
investigator-led mission line that is cost-capped at $520
million per mission, full lifecycle cost. The first recommended
new solar-terrestrial probe reference target, IMAP, is to
capitalize on Voyager observations to understand the outer
heliosphere and its interactions with the inner stellar medium.
Certain landmark scientific problems are of such scope and
complexity, they can only be addressed with major missions. In
our survey committee plan, major heliophysics missions would be
implemented within NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) program. The
survey committee recommends that they continue to be managed
and executed by NASA centers.
As this Committee knows full well, multiple agencies in the
Federal Government have vital interests related to space
weather. Our committee is concerned about the degree of
coordination between these agencies and the ad hoc nature of
partnerships and the limited nature of resources. For reasons
detailed in our report, our committee believes the first
necessary but insufficient step is to recharter the existing
space weather coordinating body, the National Space Weather
Program, under the auspices of the National Science and
Technology Council. Rechartering in this way may improve
interagency coordination but longer-term, additional resources
will be necessary to ensure continuing availability of the
requisite measurements. NASA research satellites such as ACE,
SOHO, STEREO, SDO, which are designed for scientific studies,
provide critical measurements essentially for specifying and
forecasting space environment systems. However, NASA has
neither the mandate nor the budget to sustain these
measurements into the future.
In the survey report, the committee articulates a vision
for an enhanced national commitment by partnering agencies--
NOAA, NASA, NSF, USGS, other agencies--for continued
measurements of critical space environment parameters. In this
partnership, we see NASA utilizing its unique space-based
capabilities as the basis for a new program that provides
sustained monitoring of key space environment observables.
Thank you again for the opportunity to bring these issues
from the NRC decadal survey to your attention. I look forward
to your questions. Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Dr. Baker follows:]
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Chairman Palazzo. Thank you, Dr. Baker.
I now recognize our next witness, Mr. Charles Gay, for five
minutes to present his testimony.
STATEMENT OF MR. CHARLES J. GAY,
DEPUTY ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR,
SCIENCE MISSION DIRECTORATE,
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Mr. Gay. Thank you. Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to discuss NASA's
heliophysics program, and in particular, NASA's response to the
heliophysics decadal survey released in August of 2012.
NASA's heliophysics program studies, the Sun, the Earth's
near-space environment and the heliosphere, the region created
by the solar wind that forms the boundary of our solar system.
By studying this interconnected system, NASA provides
understanding of the fundamental space processes that occur
throughout the university and drive our connected Sun-Earth
system.
NASA currently operates 18 heliophysics missions that can
be thought of as a single observatory: the Heliophysics System
Observatory, or HSO. The HSO has produced a number of
scientific discoveries over the last year alone. Voyager has
taken us to the edge of the solar system, and many believe they
will leave the solar system and reach interstellar space within
the next decade. The twin STEREO spacecraft have allowed us to
view space weather events throughout the solar system, and the
recently launched Van Allen probes are already making new
discoveries about Earth's radiation belts.
In addition, NASA continues to develop important new
missions to support the Heliophysics Research program: the IRIS
explorer mission, launching next spring, the Magnetosphere
Multiscale Mission, launching in 2015, the Solar Orbiter, a
collaboration with European Space Agency, planned for launch in
2017, and Solar Probe Plus in 2018.
NASA is pleased to receive the heliophysics decadal survey
and plans to work towards accomplishing the recommendations for
our science program. As its top priority, the survey endorses
NASA's current program of missions in development. The second
priority is the DRIVE initiative that Dr. Baker mentioned. Its
goal is to optimize the scientific return of current and future
missions by establishing a healthy research environment and to
also enable future missions through technology enhancements.
The next priority is the acceleration and expansion of the
Heliophysics Explorer program. The Explorer program has a long
history of returning focused, cutting-edge science and
providing tremendous value to this Nation. The decadal
committee recognized that we are operating in times of flat
budgets and understood that the modest increases for DRIVE and
Explorer would be achieved through a gradual rebalance of this
portfolio.
The survey then prioritized the science targets for four
recommended missions in the Solar Terrestrial Probes program
and the Living With a Star program. NASA appreciates the
flexible nature of this recommendation. By providing science
targets and leaving the detailed implementation to NASA, we can
ensure that these missions are guided by the latest science and
enabled by the latest technologies. Furthermore, the decision
rules embedded within the survey will allow us to ensure that
the highest priorities will be addressed.
In addition to the heliophysics science recommendations,
the survey also made recommendations related to space weather
applications that are addressed collectively to the relevant
government agencies. NASA recognizes the importance of the
recommendations and will continue collaborating with other
agencies. However, as the survey acknowledges, these separate
space weather recommendations are above and beyond current
funding resources. NASA and NOAA currently work together and
with other government agencies on satellite development,
operations, data processing, and modeling to inform space
weather predictions. NASA performs research that leads to
improved space weather prediction models and works with NOAA to
transition these research results to operations. NASA has also
committed to supporting its part of the National Space Weather
program, a federal interagency initiative established to
improve coordination on space weather activities.
I would like to express my appreciation to the survey
Chairs, Dr. Dan Baker and Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen, and to the many
volunteers and staff who worked tirelessly to develop this
decadal survey. They have provided an effective guide for NASA
to pursue the highest-priority science in heliophysics over the
next decade.
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate
your support of NASA's heliophysics program and the opportunity
to appear here today. I would be pleased to respond to your
questions. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Gay follows:]
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Chairman Palazzo. Thank you, Mr. Gay.
I now recognize our final witness, Ms. Laura Furgione, for
five minutes to present her testimony.
STATEMENT OF MS. LAURA FURGIONE,
ACTING ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR
FOR WEATHER SERVICES,
AND ACTING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE,
NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
Ms. Furgione. Good morning, Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Committee. My name is Laura Furgione, and I am the Acting
Director of the National Weather Service in NOAA. Thank you for
the opportunity to testify today about space weather.
While probably best known for our role in hurricane,
tsunami, flood and tornado forecasts and warnings, NOAA also
has operational responsibilities for space weather forecasts
and warnings. NOAA is the U.S. government's official and
definitive source of civilian space weather forecasts, warnings
and alerts for the general public, industry and government
agencies. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, commonly
called SWPC, operates 24 hours a day, providing real-time
forecasts and warnings of solar and geophysical events to a
society that is increasing its reliance on technology
vulnerable to the impacts from space weather.
Recognizing the importance of 24/7 forecasts and warnings,
in 2005, NOAA transferred its space weather prediction program
from an applied research environment to our operational
environment. NOAA geostationary spacecraft provide critical
observations of solar and geophysical events for NOAA's space
weather forecasts used by thousands of customers worldwide
including the Department of Defense, NASA, satellite companies
and airlines, as you said. In fact, 80 percent of the DOD space
weather alerts and warnings rely on GOES data. Currently, NOAA
polar satellites include the space environment monitor, which
is a suite of instruments that measure energetic particles in
the lower Earth orbit which may impact communications,
satellite operations, radar systems, and the International
Space Station. SWPC also uses data from the NASA Advanced
Composition Explorer, or ACE satellite, to issue warnings on
geomagnetic storms. ACE was launched in 1997 with a two-year
design life and as a single point of failure for these critical
measurements. SWPC also relies on the chronograph data from the
Solar and Heliophysics Observatory and the Solar-Terrestrial
Relations Observatory Missions to see coronal mass ejections,
or CMEs, that erupt from the Sun, allowing NOAA to issue
geomagnetic storm watches, which provide 1- to 3-day advance
notice of a geomagnetic storm.
There are extensive interagency interactions and planning
already underway to ensure continuity of solar wind data and
CME detection. NOAA is working with NASA to refurbish the Deep
Space Climate Observatory, or the DSCOVR spacecraft, to provide
space weather measurements from the L1 position, which is
between the Sun and the Earth, about a million miles upstream.
Data from this location provide 1 hour of warning for a
geomagnetic storm that will impact the Earth affecting the
electric power grid, satellites, GPS, radio communications and
other systems, as mentioned. NOAA and the Air Force have been
appropriated funding to refurbish, launch and operate the
DSCOVR satellite to provide continuity of solar wind
measurements as well as CME. NOAA is also working to
incorporate cutting-edge technology under development at NASA.
NOAA will continue interagency and international partnerships
as well as the use of commercial services to meet these data
requirements.
SWPC maintains a close working relationship with its user
community and adjusts its products and services to meet the
growing and changing needs of these customers. Through this
interaction, NOAA identifies operational data requirements and
space weather model requirements, which are made available to
NASA, NSF and the broader research community. NOAA transitioned
this research into operations as efficiently and effectively as
possible.
In 2011, NOAA successfully transitioned the first-ever
physics-based space weather prediction model into operational
use. This model was largely developed by NSF and transitioned
into research into operations from NASA. This model helps
forecasters understand when an eruption on the Sun may impact
the Earth and result in a geomagnetic storm.
The NRC decadal survey report emphasizes the importance of
space weather for society and therefore the value of work
conducted by NOAA to provide services that protect life,
property and enhance the economy. This report sets dates for
NOAA to continue fulfilling its critical leadership role in
space weather operations and applying forecasts and services to
the benefit of society. As the agency responsible for
integrating research into operations, NOAA looks forward to
working with our federal partners to ensure the latest
successful research is available and to be transitioned.
The report states, ``It is critical that we develop
predictive capabilities for space weather events while
maintaining comprehensive measurements for now casting solar
wind, energetic particle inputs into geospace.'' We must ensure
operational needs continue to be met. The report also discusses
distribution of essential operational data. NOAA believes that
as the operational agency, it should continue to distribute
these observations.
Our Nation remains vulnerable to space weather and needs
more timely and accurate forecasts to help mitigate the
potential impacts. The NRC report is an excellent first step
and identifies critical research activities that are necessary
to expand our comprehensive understanding of space weather as
well as improve our Nation's forecast and warning capability.
The Nation requires ongoing research and development that will
inform operations. As such, NASA, NSF and the academic
community conduct important research and development activities
that NOAA can access for its operations. The NRC report has
provided critical insight into the areas that the larger space
weather community and the agencies will continue to assess in
the years to come.
Thank you very much for your time and the opportunity to
comment today.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Furgione follows:]
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Chairman Palazzo. I thank the panel for their testimony. I
now recognize myself for five minutes for questions.
Mr. Gay, given the emphasis the survey committee places on
maintaining NASA's current portfolio of missions, can you
provide us a quick status update on the missions currently in
development, particularly the Solar Probe Plus, and what are
the greatest risks to cost and schedule at this point in time
and how does the current Continuing Resolution impact NASA's
ability to keep these missions on track? So about three
questions in one.
Mr. Gay. Yes, sir. The quick status of the missions in
development, and I mentioned most of them earlier in the oral
testimony, the IRIS Explorer mission is on track for a launch
in early 2013. The next large mission is the Magnetospheric
Multiscale mission on track for launch in 2015, and it is well
into development. Basically, we are putting that spacecraft
together right now at the Goddard Space Flight Center, and it
is undergoing environmental testing very shortly for launch in
2015. The Solar Probe Plus mission is in what we call phase B.
It is in its formulation phase. We are doing technology work.
We are doing preparations for the critical--the preliminary and
the critical design reviews. There are technical challenges
there associated with that mission as it is going to come
within 9-1/2 solar radii of the Sun so the thermal control
systems are one of the greatest challenges there. The
spacecraft exterior surfaces will see temperatures in excess of
2,000 degrees Fahrenheit while the electronics will operate at
room temperature. The applied physics lab is responsible for
implementing that mission, and they have--they are also the
organization that successfully launched and operated the
Messenger mission to Mercury. So they are used to those hot
environments, so we are very optimistic that they have got the
thermal control system, you know, well understood here.
The risks to cost and schedule, we are still in the
formulation phase for in particular Solar Probe Plus and it has
not been confirmed yet where NASA goes through all of the joint
conference level cost estimates and independent cost estimates
and determines the costs that it will take to implement this
mission. That will occur in, I believe, toward the end of 2013,
toward the end of next year where we will have that commitment
date, and so the risks there are getting through the technology
hurdles for the thermal control subsystem solar rays, which
are--in this case, they have to be liquid cooled. So those are
the things we are watching very closely.
In terms of the effect of the CR, right now we are
operating under the 2012 funding levels. Fortunately for
heliophysics, that is annualized. When you annualize that, that
is really close to the fiscal year 2013 President's budget. So
we don't anticipate any problems, at least for the next six
months in the heliophysics organization, maintaining its
mission on track.
Chairman Palazzo. Well, thank you, Mr. Gay.
Ms. Furgione, the ACE satellite was launched in 1997 and is
currently operating well beyond its planned two-year lifetime
while DSCOVR is scheduled to launch in 2014 and is designed for
only two years mission life. How does NOAA plan to sustain
critical space weather measurements after 2016?
Ms. Furgione. Thank you for that question, Mr. Chairman. We
already have begun the evaluation of best value operations for
continuing NOAA requirements for solar winds and even the
initiation of operational CME imagery for the post-DSCOVR era.
This will include the role of government agencies as well as
the commercial sector and what they could contribute to that
post-DSCOVR era.
Chairman Palazzo. My next question is for all the
witnesses. What recommendations do you have to ensure that the
Nation maintains continuous space weather measurements and how
do we ensure that these measurements do not end up as the next
Landsat such that everyone wants the data but no one could
afford to pay for the next satellite? Who would like to take
that one first? You can rock, paper, scissors for it.
Ms. Furgione. I can at least start with your question, Mr.
Chairman. One critical component is for the entire space
weather enterprise to work together on this and make sure that
the government agencies, the commercial sector and also our
international partners are a part of this continuous of our
space weather--continuous space weather measurements. So that
is critical to make sure that we continue communicating across
the agencies and with our partners, and the international
community has really stepped up so we have some good
partnerships there as well.
Mr. Gay. I would add a couple things. One, I think the
value that NASA brings is to better understand the fundamental
physical processes involved in the way the Sun behaves and the
interaction of the Sun with our environment, and the better we
understand that phenomenon, the better poised we are to
understand space weather, understand--and better able to model
and predict. Along the lines of maintaining measurements,
heliophysics has a large portfolio of operating missions, 18
currently, and we look at those missions not just as individual
phenomena, but look at those missions as they contribute to the
broader understanding of the environment, of the space
environment, and we have recognized the value in that, and for
that reason, we are--as long as these missions are producing
valuable scientific information, we want to keep them operating
and we have budgeted accordingly. We go through a comprehensive
senior review process every two years to look at the operating
missions and assess how they are performing, their state of
operation, if there is any degradation, are they still
contributing to the greater good, and as long as that is true,
we are going to keep those spacecraft flying.
Dr. Baker. And thank you very much for your question. It
indicates a sensitivity that I think is very important, and the
steering committee for the NRC study was very concerned about
your very question, and I think it is crucial that the next
steps that we recommended there be taken to look at the posture
of the Nation with respect to key observations, modeling tools
and so forth that are necessary for an effective 24/7 space
weather program into the future. I think it is going to require
coordination between the many agencies that are interested in
this theme and it is going to take a much more focused effort
at high policy levels to assure that we don't have gaps, that
we don't have failures to observe the Sun and its effects on
the Earth. So this is one of the key things that needs to
follow on the decadal survey, in my opinion.
Chairman Palazzo. Thank you all.
I now recognize Ms. Edwards.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to our
witnesses.
Mr. Gay, given the uncertainties and the stresses of the
current budgetary environment, how is NASA planning to leverage
the recommendations in the current survey, and in particular, I
was looking at the recommendation around an expanded role for
NASA in the post-DSCOVR environment. So if you could respond to
that, I would appreciate it.
Mr. Gay. Yes. In terms of the budget stress, fortunately,
the decadal committee recognized the environment that we are
operating in and the possibility or likelihood of budget
stress, and because of that, they did give us some, I think,
very good guidance in terms of decision rules of what to do if
we are faced with the problems as we work towards implementing
the recommendations of the decadal survey, and we do appreciate
that very much. They also recognized when they recommended
augmentations for Explorer and also for the DRIVE initiative,
they recognized that the heliophysics program has a lot in the
pipeline right now and those changes, or those enhancements or
augmentations would not be realized until sometime downstream
when we can rebalance the portfolio gradually.
In terms of the expanded role for space weather, as the
survey committee pointed out, the recommendations for an
augmented space weather capability were beyond our current
scope and funding and also were considered a lower priority
than the science program recommendations that they made.
Ms. Edwards. Just out of curiosity, though, is the next
budget submission intended to incorporate the decadal survey
recommendations, even if that is over some period of time?
Mr. Gay. Yes, I believe, beginning in the 2015 budget
request, we would begin to see some maybe slight rebalancing
but, I mean, our goal would be to achieve that over the next
five to ten years.
Ms. Edwards. Dr. Baker?
Dr. Baker. Yeah, I would just like to point out that one of
the things we did in the decadal survey was to recommend the
IMAP mission. This is the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration
Probe, and this has dual use. It is both a wonderful basic
science mission to observe the outer part of the heliosphere
but it also would make key solar wind measurements, solar wind
measurements that would be a space weather monitoring kind of a
tool, so I think there is a great deal we can do to have both
basic science and operational capability, and this is just one
example of the dual use kind of capabilities we talked about.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you.
Ms. Furgione, I am sorry. I mispronounced your name. Ms.
Furgione, I wonder if you could tell me about the accuracy of
predicting space weather events, because it does seem to me
that those are increasingly important in terms of our operation
of our critical infrastructure, and in fact every day because
we have more infrastructure that is impacted potentially by
space weather, and so how good are the--is the current
prediction capability and what kinds of improvements can we
expect to gain with the implementation of the research
recommended in the survey?
Ms. Furgione. Thank you, Ms. Edwards. That is one of the
components of our operational forecasting scheme is to always
validate and verify our forecasts. So we have made significant
advancements in the era of when the actual event impacts the
Earth. Where we were at 13 hours, our era could be anywhere
within a 13-hour window. Now we have reduced that down to a 6-
hour window on when we know that the coronal mass ejection will
impact the Earth. So that is great strides in improving our
forecasts, and also the model that I talked about, the first
model that we have been able to operationalize from NSF and
NASA, definitely played a critical role in that. So continuing
to transition those research into operations is important to
advance the forecast accuracy.
Ms. Edwards. But it is still not terribly accurate. So, for
example, even with a 6-hour window, it is--I mean, it would be
really difficult to implement any activity on the ground or
protecting the infrastructure in that kind of time frame.
Ms. Furgione. So that is a 6-hour window on when it would
impact the Earth but the actual alert or warning goes out 1 to
3 days in advance. So you actually do have time in advance to
take those precautionary measures on the power grid, on your
GPS and on the satellite instruments to put them into safe
mode.
Ms. Edwards. Thanks.
And then I have 13 seconds. Let me take advantage of that.
In your opinion, and this is to any of our panelists, how well
do you think the public really understands the linkage between
the research and the applications and their everyday
experiences of just being able to power on a cell phone?
Dr. Baker. I would say that there has been tremendous
improvement in public awareness of the effects of space weather
in, let us say, the last 5 to ten years but we still have a
long way to go. We still have a lot of work to do to make
people understand what is the variability of the Sun, how does
it affect the Earth environment and how does it bore down to
their daily lives as your question indicates. I think we have
an opportunity with the approaching solar maximum to really see
more frequent kind of disturbances, to put those in proper
context and to really help the public understand what to be
worried about and what not to be worried about. I think it is
key that all the agencies play that role.
Ms. Furgione. One thing also, as we were looking at the
solar maximum and using that as a potential to increase the
education and outreach, one of the emphasis is that the solar
maximum is an increase in the number of events but not
necessarily an increase in the significance of the events. So
an event can happen at any time, and we want folks to make sure
that they weren't just focusing on the solar maximum and that
they were safe before or after the solar maximum because an
event can happen at any time.
Chairman Palazzo. I now recognize Mr. Brooks from Alabama.
Mr. Brooks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Given the deficits and debt that America has accumulated
and the exploding costs of entitlement programs, the two of
those putting more and more constraints on the productive side
of the federal expenditures, productive being things like NASA
and scientific advancement, to what extent should NASA and NOAA
consider alternative means for gathering important data via
commercial data buys, posted payloads, use of research on the
International Space Station, increased use of CubeSats or other
means, and that is for any of the witnesses.
Dr. Baker. I could first remark that thank you for the
question, and this was a very important component of our
decadal survey was to try to look broadly at all of those
alternative means, and I think we came out very strongly
foursquare in support of a much greater diversification of
access to space, tools in space, rides of opportunity, the data
buy service level agreements, all the things you talked about,
and I think I can speak with great confidence for the entire
steering committee that this was warmly received, these ideas
were warmly received within the decadal survey context as
excellent ways to make most efficient and effective use of what
are known to be limited resources.
Mr. Brooks. Mr. Gay?
Mr. Gay. Yes, sir. We are looking increasingly at
alternative means for access to space, and in fact, most
recently have selected a hosted payload in the Earth Sciences
Venture Class program. The Tempo mission will be hosted on a
commercial geosync spacecraft. Also looking at increased usage
of the ISS as a platform for science will be flying the SAGE 3
instrument on the space station, the OKO-3 instrument and also
there is some astrophysics missions as well that will be using
the space station as a platform. Also, looking at the
capabilities for smaller spacecraft to provide real scientific
or high scientific results. We are flying CubeSats but more for
educational purposes but we are looking at the smaller end. We
have a mission that was recently selected called Cygnus, which
is multiple small spacecraft that will look at achieving some
real groundbreaking science with very small platforms.
Mr. Brooks. Thank you, Mr. Gay.
Ms. Furgione?
Ms. Furgione. Thank you, Mr. Brooks. As I mentioned before,
in the post-DSCOVR era, we will definitely have to seek
alternative means and look at all the options, particularly in
these budget-constrained times.
Mr. Brooks. Well, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of
you all doing whatever you can to become more efficient in the
context again of the exploding costs associated with the wealth
transfers and the entitlement programs. As you see from the
public debate, the issues that we face in Congress are very
substantial in that regard, so I appreciate your attentiveness
to that issue.
Now, a question for Mr. Baker. What led the survey
committee to conclude that the Solar-Terrestrial Probes program
would be better suited as competed principal investigator cost-
capped missions rather than as a traditional NASA center-led
mission?
Dr. Baker. Yes. We were extremely concerned as a committee
and as a community about how to contain the spiraling upward
costs in mission development. We worked closely with the
aerospace corporation to examine the history of mission
performance, and we looked at the question with the aerospace
history database, what was the evidence of which missions
performed best at a given complexity level, and there was a
very clear record in that that showed that PI-led cost-capped
missions performed much better at a given complexity level were
considerably lower in cost and so it was our considered opinion
that making that the hallmark of the Solar-Terrestrial Probes,
making them cost capped, making them led by principal
investigators, making sure that the full lifecycle costs were
going to be contained within that envelope was the single-best
way we had of managing them more effectively and in a more
cost-contained fashion.
Mr. Brooks. Thank you, Dr. Baker.
And Mr. Gay, can you please share with us NASA's view on
the survey committee's recommendation?
Mr. Gay. Yes, sir. We are certainly going to look at this.
I mean, it is an acquisition strategy or acquisition approach,
and we have processes at NASA to make these kinds of decisions.
We do have to include factors such as workforce. But typically
the strategic missions implemented by the NASA centers are
traditionally the larger, more complex missions, and it is
typically easier to do smaller missions on cost.
That said, however, I believe NASA has been making great
strides in our ability to improve our ability to estimate what
a mission is going to cost through various analytic tools as
well as our ability to manage them with value management and
detailed assessments of how things are going, so we have been
making improvements, I think really across the board, both on
the PI led as well as the in-house missions. I think the idea
of looking at the Solar-Terrestrial approach line as a cost-
capped mission line is worth considering. In fact, we are going
to consider it very closely, and look at models for managing
those types of missions so that we can ensure that they are
done on cost and on schedule.
Mr. Brooks. Thank you, and thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Palazzo. Thank you, and if there is no objections
from the Members, we will enter a second round of questions.
Okay, and I will lead off.
Ms. Furgione, does NOAA have any plans to revamp funding
for applied space weather research, given its importance as
cited in the decadal survey report?
Ms. Furgione. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We were quite
excited to see that the report was recognizing that additional
resources needed to be dedicated to advancing the development
and transition into operations. So as we look at our research
activities on applied research, we are definitely hoping to see
more connection and more collaboration with NASA and NSF on
this research to operations.
Chairman Palazzo. What are the benefits for rechartering
the National Space Weather program as the survey committee
recommends versus leaving the program as is, and what are the
drawbacks? And this is pretty much for all the witnesses, and
we will start off with Dr. Baker.
Dr. Baker. Yeah, we looked at that. Thank you for the
opportunity to talk more about this. It has become clear to us
as the steering committee that over the last few years, the
National Space Weather program, all its elements have increased
in prominence, significance, importance to society, and it was
the strong feeling as we discussed these topics that having
attention at the highest levels of the executive office of the
President would be very valuable, very important and really
help to coordinate across the agencies. And so the considered
opinion as expressed in the survey was that at least looking
seriously at rechartering at a higher level, a higher level
within the executive office, making sure that attention was
being paid to all the multi-agency issues was probably one of
the best ways to increase attention, assure that all the topics
and themes were getting their due, and that ultimately we could
have a more effective national program.
Mr. Gay. Thank you. I would first say, I would like to have
further discussions with Dr. Baker and with NOAA and our other
partners in the National Space Weather program council about
the pros and cons. I don't feel like I am at a point where I
know, you know, or comfortable either way in making a
recommendation. But I do know even today under the Office of
the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, we are embarking on
development of a strategic plan for that organization, and the
principal focus for that is to address the recommendations of
the decadal survey. Whether it stays where it is or is
rechartered elsewhere, I don't have an opinion on that today,
sir.
Chairman Palazzo. That is fair enough, so you two get
together and work it out.
And Ms. Furgione?
Ms. Furgione. Thank you, and I have similar comments to
that, to my colleagues. It would definitely raise the
visibility if that is the primary goal, but we do have quite a
few activities that are already underway in our current
structure through the National Space Weather Program including,
as Mr. Gay talked about, the strategic research plan that is
already being developed.
Dr. Baker. I would just like to say, I would like to
compliment the agencies on what they have done with the present
advisory and organizational structure. It has been amazing
progress in these last years. I would just say that I think it
is very worthwhile to talk with the Office of Science and
Technology Policy, with the Office of Management and Budget,
all the players on the executive side and with strong
involvement of the advisory committees and the oversight
committees here in Congress to talk about what is the best way
to have the most effective national space weather program.
Chairman Palazzo. All right. Thank you.
Dr. Baker, can you summarize the survey's recommendations
related to the new space weather and climatology program with
NASA's lead, and what led the committee to make such a
recommendation?
Dr. Baker. Well, first of all, let me say that this was not
strictly a recommendation, it was what we call the vision. We--
as all good survey committees--overstepped our bounds. We went
beyond what we were asked to do or instructed to do, and
decided to give advice of a sort where we weren't asked for it.
But our vision was to think about what do we need to have an
effective national operational space weather program. We have
to have complete observations of the Sun, the interplanetary
medium, the effects of Earth. We have to have the models, the
tools that are really necessary to tie all this together. This
really requires an investment of more resources than are
presently available in the budgets of any of the agencies, and
so the vision we laid out was one that would require another
$100 million to $200 per year over this next decade without
doing damage to the basic science or the ongoing activities of
NOAA or NSF or the other agencies, and so the vision we talked
about was if possible, we would love to have the present roles
and responsibilities reinforced with more resources, but if
that is not possible, then one possible way would be for NASA
to take on greater basic observational monitoring of the
system, have that put more into its charter and mandate. And so
the fundamental recommendation we made was to have a follow-on
study that looked closely at these issues and made firm
recommendations. We felt the steering committee was neither
chartered, as I said, nor did it have the time to do the kind
of detailed development of a plan that is really necessary. And
so I hope that the real outgrowth of this will not be that we
take the vision alone but that we really have a much more
detailed examination of all the aspects of this.
Chairman Palazzo. I now recognize Ms. Edwards.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I just want to follow along because I had asked earlier,
Mr. Gay, your opinion about expanding NASA's role, but I didn't
have a chance to hear from Ms. Furgione about how that expanded
role for NASA would relate to NOAA's activities, and so if you
could just give me a minute.
Ms. Furgione. Thank you, Ms. Edwards, for that question.
One of the things with our operational mission is that we are
able to rely upon our successes in our hurricane forecasting,
and our tornado forecasting, as I mentioned, those particular
areas that we have proven success in the past, and that
includes with the hurricane model in particular the interagency
modeling and the transition to research that we have been able
to put in place and improve our hurricane track and intensity
forecast. So a proven success, as you saw, with Hurricane
Sandy, and so those roles and responsibilities we believe
should stay--the operational responsibilities should stay with
NOAA in regards to producing those operational forecasts and
warnings.
Ms. Edwards. So given that, what would you see? As to the
extent that NASA were taking on additional areas of
responsibility, how would you see that fit in?
Ms. Furgione. Well, additional responsibilities, they are
already doing the basic and applied research, so if they can
continue to work with us on the transition of that applied
research through our community modeling, that would be the
ideal situation.
Ms. Edwards. And so can you just explain to me, and Mr.
Gay, perhaps you could chime in here, what are some of the key
challenges for transitioning the basic solar and space physics
research into tools that can be accessed by users and applied
in the operations that Ms. Furgione spoke about?
Mr. Gay. I think some of the key challenges are validation
of the models and user acceptance of those models. They do have
to go through an extensive validation period, and that is
typically a very hard point and takes a lot of time and effort,
and I defer to my colleague from NOAA to talk about what is
like on the receiving end of those but I am sure it is very
difficult for them to, they build confidence in the models that
they are operating, using at this time, and there is a high
bar, a very high bar for them to accept a new model in that
place.
Ms. Edwards. Ms. Furgione?
Mr. Furgione. Yeah, a point I will make is in regards to
our requirements process, so as we look at our customers'
requirements and their changing needs and increasing demands
for this type of information, that is where we can then hone in
on what particular model would ideally help improve our
forecasts to meet those customer needs, so it is really about
the requirements and also the validation as Mr. Gay talked
about.
Ms. Edwards. And Dr. Baker, as you respond, I wonder if you
could also tell me the degree to which you think that the
current federal agency activities that can be coordinated or
better coordinated including funding and plans for space
weather and how effective the current coordination is.
Dr. Baker. Let me respond to, or address a point that was
just made here. I would say that the difference between
terrestrial weather and space weather is the degree of
understanding we have of the basic processes. I would say that
we are far behind where terrestrial weather is as far as our
understanding of the fundamental basic processes. We are being
surprised all the time by what the Sun does and how the Earth
and the Earth's environment respond. So I think there is a much
closer coupling in many respects between NASA basic research
and the needs thereof and what can be transitioned into an
operational state.
I would say that therefore, to go to the second part of
your question, it is probably more crucial to have close
cooperation between agencies in this developing field than it
is where the physics are sort of cut and dried and so again, I
am encouraged by the fact that space weather, the necessity to
understand this complex system, is making the agencies work
more closely and cooperatively. I just think that there is more
that can be done and I think that--my hope is that the decadal
survey will be a catalyst to make this work even better and
that there will be more coordination of, let us say, the basic
research, the aspirations of that research, the funding that is
necessary to transition, but I think it is really going to
require that all players work in an orchestrated way to try to
make this the most efficient, effective, especially when we
look at how limited the resources are going to be over the next
years. This has to be done very efficiently and effectively.
Ms. Edwards. Thank you. You know, Mr. Chairman, one thing
that we didn't have a chance to get actually on the record was
not just the impacts to us as civilians in this environment but
what the impacts are on our critical national infrastructure
that is related to national security and the importance of
strengthening what we are doing right now so that we don't have
any gaps in understanding space weather and its impact and so
that over the long term that we are considering all of our
infrastructure in this environment. Thank you.
Chairman Palazzo. Thank you, Ms. Edwards.
I thank the witnesses for their valuable testimony and the
Members for their questions. The Members of the Subcommittee
may have additional questions for the witnesses, and we will
ask you to respond to those in writing. The record will remain
open for two weeks for additional comments and statements from
Members.
On a related note, Ms. Furgione, this Committee has several
outstanding letters and requests sent to NOAA regarding the
National Weather Service over the last few weeks. These include
the mismanagement of NWS budget and funding and questions about
a review of your agency's handling of Superstorm Sandy. I would
ask for your commitment that these requests for information are
fully responded to by the end of the calendar year. Can we
receive your assurance that that will be done?
Ms. Furgione. Yes, sir.
Chairman Palazzo. Well, thank you very much.
The witnesses are excused and this hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:04 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
Appendix I
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Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Responses by Dr. Daniel Baker
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Responses by Mr. Charles J. Gay
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Responses by Ms. Laura Furgione