    [Senate Hearing 112-638]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

                                                            S. Hrg. 112-638

      WEATHERING CHANGE: NEED FOR CONTINUED INNOVATION IN FORECASTING AND
                                   PREDICTION

    =======================================================================

                                    HEARING

                                   before the

         SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD

                                     of the

                             COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE,
                          SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION
                              UNITED STATES SENATE

                          ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                                   __________

                               NOVEMBER 16, 2011

                                   __________

        Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
                                 Transportation

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           SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION

                          ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

                                 FIRST SESSION

                JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman
    DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii             KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas,
    JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts             Ranking
    BARBARA BOXER, California            OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine
    BILL NELSON, Florida                 JIM DeMINT, South Carolina
    MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           JOHN THUNE, South Dakota
    FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey      ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
    MARK PRYOR, Arkansas                 JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
    CLAIRE McCASKILL, Missouri           ROY BLUNT, Missouri
    AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
    TOM UDALL, New Mexico                PATRICK J. TOOMEY, Pennsylvania
    MARK WARNER, Virginia                MARCO RUBIO, Florida
    MARK BEGICH, Alaska                  KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
                                         DEAN HELLER, Nevada
                        Ellen L. Doneski, Chief of Staff
                       James Reid, Deputy Chief of Staff
                    Todd Bertoson, Republican Staff Director
               Jarrod Thompson, Republican Deputy Staff Director
       Rebecca Seidel, Republican General Counsel and Chief Investigator
                                     ------

         SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANS, ATMOSPHERE, FISHERIES, AND COAST GUARD

                         MARK BEGICH, Alaska, Chairman
    DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii             OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine, Ranking
    JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts         ROGER F. WICKER, Mississippi
    BILL NELSON, Florida                 JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia
    MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas
    FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey      MARCO RUBIO, Florida
    AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota             KELLY AYOTTE, New Hampshire
    MARK WARNER, Virginia                DEAN HELLER, Nevada

                                C O N T E N T S

                                  ----------
                                                                       Page
    Hearing held on November 16, 2011................................     1
    Statement of Senator Begich......................................     1
    Statement of Senator Snowe.......................................     3
    Statement of Senator Boozman.....................................    31

                                   Witnesses

    Hon. Mary M. Glackin, Deputy Under Secretary for Operations,
      National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.
      Department of Commerce.........................................     5
        Prepared statement...........................................     7
    Hon. Todd J. Zinser, Inspector General, U.S. Department of
      Commerce.......................................................    14
        Prepared statement...........................................    15
    David C. Trimble, Director, Natural Resources and Environment,
      U.S. Government Accountability Office..........................    19
        Prepared statement...........................................    20
    Rear Admiral Cari B. Thomas, Director of Response Policy, United
      States Coast Guard.............................................    25
    Tom Iseman, Program Director, Water and Climate Adaptation,
      Western Governors' Association.................................    37
        Prepared statement...........................................    39
    Dr. Peter P. Neilley, Vice President, Global Forecasting
      Services, The Weather Channel Companies........................    44
        Prepared statement...........................................    46
    Robert S. Marshall, Founder and CEO, Earth Networks, Inc.........    49
        Prepared statement...........................................    50

                                    Appendix

    John D. Rockefeller IV, U.S. Senator, West Virginia, prepared
      statement......................................................    63
    Daniel A. Sobien, President, National Weather Service Employees
      Organization, prepared statement...............................    63
    Response to written questions submitted to Hon. Mary M. Glackin
      by:
        Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV..................................    66
        Hon. Maria Cantwell..........................................    71
        Hon. Amy Klobuchar...........................................    75
        Hon. Olympia J. Snowe........................................    77
        Hon. Roger F. Wicker.........................................    78
    Response to written questions submitted by Hon. John D.
      Rockefeller IV to Hon. Todd J. Zinser..........................    80
    Response to written questions submitted to David C. Trimble by:
        Hon. Amy Klobuchar...........................................    81
        Hon. Olympia J. Snowe........................................    82
    Response to written question submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to
      Rear Admiral Cari B. Thomas....................................    82
    Response to written questions submitted by Hon. John D.
      Rockefeller IV to Tom Iseman...................................    83
    Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker
      to:
        Dr. Peter P. Neilley.........................................    84
        Robert S. Marshall...........................................    85

                               WEATHERING CHANGE:
                         NEED FOR CONTINUED INNOVATION
                         IN FORECASTING AND PREDICTION

                                  ----------

                          WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2011

                                   U.S. Senate,
    Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and
                                           Coast Guard,
            Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation,
                                                        Washington, DC.
        The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:33 a.m. in
    room SR-253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Mark Begich,
    Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding.

                OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK BEGICH,
                        U.S. SENATOR FROM ALASKA

        Senator Begich. It's like the beginning of church. Everyone
    is very quiet. I'm not sure if we're starting or not, but we
    are. So thank you all very much for being here.
        I will call this meeting to order of the Oceans
    Subcommittee. Thank you again for the panelists to be here this
    morning. We anticipate one or two additional senators to be
    here, but I wanted to go ahead and start the meeting. And
    again, good morning to all of you.
        We're here to talk about the weather and the climate, which
    really is just the same as weather, on a longer time scale.
    Today's hearing is meant to provide oversight of these two
    important functions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration, otherwise known as NOAA.
        NOAA's weather programs touch the lives of every American
    every day. Forecasts help people make informed decisions,
    whether a family planning their annual trip from their village
    to Anchorage, or a fisherman trying to stay safe in the Gulf of
    Maine.
        And while the phrase ``climate change'' is always
    controversial, we in Alaska are already living the effects.
    Having solid information about climate trends is critical for
    good governance and business planning. I'm proud to serve on
    the Commerce Committee where, for decades, both Republicans and
    Democratic chairmen have promoted the highest standards of
    scientific integrity.
        I'm a big supporter of efficient and effective government,
    too. So as I look forward to hearing more today about efforts
    to better support state and local governments and business
    decisionmakers through the creation of the Climate Service
    within NOAA, you don't have to be a climate scientist to wonder
    what's going on this year.
        2011 has shattered weather and climate records across the
    country, from record heat and cold, to snow and rain, drought
    and flooding. Even in Alaska, where we are used to braving many
    extremes, last week's massive storm was a sobering reminder of
    the importance of knowing what's coming and being as prepared
    as possible.
        Last week, Alaska was hit by a massive winter storm. Had it
    hit the lower 48, it would have stretched from Mexico to
    Canada. With hurricane-force winds and 10-foot tidal surges, it
    was truly an epic event. Fortunately, NOAA was able to give
    clear warnings of what was coming. Alaskans are resilient. They
    hunkered down, and communities implemented their emergency
    plans. While assessments are still under way, the damage could
    have been far worse if we did not have the benefit of those
    warnings from NOAA a few days in advance of the storm.
        NOAA weather satellites are key to providing these advanced
    warnings. I joined several members of this committee this year
    to fight for funding of the Joint Polar Satellite System. Polar
    satellites provide critical data for forecasters of severe
    weather nationwide, and to Alaska in particular, since NOAA's
    other satellites don't adequately cover our northern state.
        I'm pleased to report that the House and Senate conference
    report on NOAA appropriations supported funding for that
    expensive yet critical program.
        I hope today's hearing will help NOAA and the Committee
    find ways to continue to promote the highest level of
    innovation, even as we recognize the tough budget climate we
    face for the coming years. Our nation cannot afford to overlook
    the importance of reliable weather information.
        Today's hearing is meant to push deeper and promote cost-
    effective and earlier decisions regarding program management in
    the deployment of weather and climate services. The last
    administration ran up a multi-billion price tag due to program
    delays in the management of the weather satellites, and I want
    to make sure this administration is a better steward of the
    taxpayer funding.
        For these reasons I am pleased to welcome our witnesses
    here today, and I want to extend a very special thank you to
    Deputy Under Secretary Mary Glackin.
        Ms. Glackin, I understand you are to retire from what has
    been an exceptional career in public service. You have worked
    at NOAA for more than three decades, earning seemingly every
    professional award possible, including twice the Presidential
    Rank Award.
        I am grateful you are here today, particularly given your
    own expertise and your leadership in improving weather
    operations by capitalizing on new technology and science. Your
    retirement is a real loss to NOAA and to the Federal
    Government, but I wish you every success and fulfillment in
    your future endeavors, and thank you again for being here.
        I'm also pleased to welcome the Honorable Todd Zinser,
    Department of Commerce Inspector General. Mr. Zinser will
    testify about the challenges NOAA faces in its efforts to
    develop and launch the Joint Polar Satellite System, while
    minimizing the loss of critical weather and climate
    information.
        David Trimble, Director of the Natural Resources and
    Environment branch of the Government Accountability Office,
    will assist the Committee in providing recommendations to help
    advance Federal climate change strategic planning efforts.
        And I'm honored to welcome Rear Admiral Cari B. Thomas,
    Director of Response Policy in the United States Coast Guard.
    With this year's extreme weather events around the country,
    including last week's massive Alaskan storm, I welcome your
    timely perspective regarding the importance of NOAA weather and
    climate information to the success of the Coast Guard's search
    and rescue mission.
        Panel 2 will include Dr. Peter Neilley, Vice President of
    Global Forecasting Services for the Weather Channel Companies,
    which I was happy to participate in recently about the Alaska
    storm. Doctor, it's amazing they let a senator on the Weather
    Channel, but we thank you for that.
        Dr. Neilley will speak to the relationship between the
    private sector and NOAA in the development of weather and
    climate information and outline the priorities for NOAA's
    services. And I know you're a big fan of the new Coast Guard
    reality show also, Dr. Neilley.
        Tom Iseman of the Western Governors' Association will offer
    perspective on the significant impacts that severe weather
    events and long-term climate trends can have on life in the
    West. He will also speak to the partnership that I believe
    shows significant promise, the Governors' close coordination
    with NOAA on the delivery and sharing of objective, credible
    weather and climate information and services.
        Thank you all for willing to be witnesses. I will ask
    Senator Snowe to say a couple of words but give her a second
    here.
        I will also say, with the Coast Guard's new reality show, I
    will say that Alaska now has the most reality shows of any
    state----
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Begich.--anywhere, and we love it because it shows
    more about Alaska. But it also shows, if you notice, almost
    every one of those shows has a significant weather component. I
    don't care if you're flying or out there catching crab or in
    the Coast Guard, whatever it might be. It is weather that
    dictates a lot of our activity in Alaska, and literally our
    weather systems are vast and wide when you think about where we
    are and how large we are.
        So again, thanks to this panel and the panel that will be
    coming up next.
        Let me ask my Ranking Member, Senator Snowe, to say a few
    words, and then we'll start the discussion.
        Senator Snowe?

                  STATEMENT OF HON. OLYMPIA J. SNOWE,
                        U.S. SENATOR FROM MAINE

        Senator Snowe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this
    hearing on the state of our nation's environmental and weather
    observation infrastructure and satellite systems. As you know,
    I've been a long supporter of the Integrated Ocean Observing
    System, introducing authorizing legislation in each of the last
    four Congresses.
        The IOOS system, which was first piloted in the Gulf of
    Maine in 1999 and has been collecting data since 2001, has
    proven to be a highly successful nationwide network of regional
    coastal and ocean observing systems. It served as a model in
    the development of innovative applications that makes data
    readily available to decisionmakers in real time for critical
    uses ranging from oil spill response in Portland Harbor to a
    lobsterman checking wave heights offshore.
        Certainly, we have witnessed the benefits of this network
    approach in Maine. Indeed, scientists at the Woods Hole
    Oceanographic Institute have determined that the Gulf of Maine
    Observing System has returned six dollars to our region's
    economy for every one dollar invested in the system.
        Now, as we look forward, this hearing is especially timely.
    We are at the intersection of the previous satellite program,
    the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite
    System, or NPOESS, which operated from 1994 to 2010, when it
    was dismantled by the White House Office of Science and
    Technology; and the Joint Polar Satellite Program, or the JPSS,
    currently under development by NOAA and NASA.
        On October 28, the only Earth-observing satellite completed
    under the NPOESS program, the NPOESS Preparatory Project, or
    NPP--a lot of acronyms--was successfully launched as a bridge
    to the next generation of the Joint Polar Satellite System. And
    frankly, there should be no question it is now crucial in order
    to preserve the continuity of vital data for our long-range
    weather forecasting climate record that we ensure the $920
    million appropriated for the Joint Polar Satellite Program,
    which represents over one-third of NOAA's Fiscal Year 2012
    appropriation, is implemented efficiently and in a timely
    manner.
        The fact of the matter is, according to the Government
    Accountability Office and the Inspector General, whom we'll
    hear from today, we could expect to see a gap in the data
    provided by our polar satellites several years from now due
    either to the failure of the NPP satellite or delayed launch of
    its replacement, the JPSS-1. Yet underlying acquisition and
    management issues that led to the dissolution of the NPOESS in
    the first place remain unresolved.
        Indeed, the GAO has reported that the NPOESS was plagued by
    cost overruns and delays since 2005. The program's original
    cost estimate was $6.5 billion, yet by 2010 that estimate had
    more than doubled to $15 billion. Moreover, the program
    suffered setbacks to the development of vital new sensors,
    which delayed the launch of the final NPOESS satellite for 5
    years. And now, the most recent reports on the development of
    the Joint Polar Satellite System Program from the Inspector
    General, as well as the GAO, regrettably show that cost
    estimates have not improved, and that sensor and ground system
    development may delay the launch of the JPSS-1.
        Well, we simply cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the
    NPOESS program in implementing the Joint Polar Satellite
    System, nor can we countenance new problems that the GAO is
    concerned with in terms of a lack of interagency strategy for
    environmental observations among NOAA, NASA, and the Department
    of Defense, which could result in loss of economic benefit from
    a coordinated approach and limit our ability to understand
    long-term climate change. The stakes are simply far too high
    for failure.
        According to the National Climatic Data Center, the
    economic costs of severe weather events have exceeded $50
    billion this year alone. Our ability to effectively predict and
    mitigate extensive damage from severe weather events, such as
    the massive coastal storm that just struck Alaska, relies
    heavily on the continual data coverage provided by NOAA's
    geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites. The two- to three-
    day forecasting capability provided by this data can mean the
    difference between safe evacuation or lost lives in the case of
    a hurricane, or provide enough time to take shelter before a
    tornado strikes.
        Given the devastation we have witnessed in the Midwest and
    the Southeast in April and May, clearly these extra minutes and
    days matter greatly in the context of saving human lives from
    the strength of the storm. Indisputably, the long-term
    investment in the infrastructure that provides this critical
    information must be a national priority.
        In the short term, we must also explore a range of options
    to ensure data continuity via alternative sources. The private
    sector is thinking creatively about how to obtain the same
    forecasting capacity with fewer resources by creating new
    platforms capable of supporting a range of sensors or using
    existing ones such as commercial aircraft in different ways.
        So I look forward to hearing from each of our panelists
    today on the innovations and technologies they believe can
    provide the most accurate, cost-effective information that we
    rely on in so many aspects of our daily life and commercial
    activities. So with that, I welcome the panelists, and I thank
    you, Mr. Chairman, again for convening this hearing.
        Senator Begich. Thank you very much, Senator Snowe.
        Let's first start with the Deputy Under Secretary of
    Operations, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
    Mary Glackin. And again, I can't stress enough your 30 years of
    service to this country. I know when people retire it really
    means they're going to be doing more work in some field that
    they've been wanting to do for a long time, so I wish you the
    best there. But, please.

            STATEMENT OF HON. MARY M. GLACKIN, DEPUTY UNDER
            SECRETARY FOR OPERATIONS, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND
        ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

        Ms. Glackin. Thank you, Chairman Begich, and thank you for
    your kind words about not only myself but NOAA services. And,
    Ranking Member Snowe, we appreciate all of the support from
    this committee, and also the opportunity to testify in front of
    you today about the need for, and NOAA's role in, supporting
    innovations to improve weather and climate services.
        NOAA has a leading role in understanding changes in weather
    and climate extremes, including trends in severe local storms
    and extremes in precipitation, whether it's too little or too
    much, too often or too infrequent. This year we have seen an
    unprecedented number of natural disasters, from the heart-
    wrenching tornado outbreaks in Alabama and neighboring states
    in April, and in Joplin, Missouri in May, to the record
    flooding in the upper Plains and the Northeast, to the extreme
    drought that is continuing across the Southwest.
        We have seen at least 10 disasters, each costing $1 billion
    or more this year. In the face of these challenges, NOAA has
    been able to provide accurate forecasts because of its
    continued investments in mission-focused research and
    development that drive innovation. There is much more to be
    done if we are to achieve new, life-saving advancements for the
    future, and NOAA is committed to working with its partners in
    the climate and weather enterprise to continue to spur
    innovation and build upon this record of success.
        Our scientists have been at the forefront of weather and
    climate science, forecasting and public preparedness for
    decades. Our science helps save lives and livelihoods. I want
    to briefly discuss two timely examples, weather radar and
    environmental satellites.
        In recent years, NOAA has developed a new weather radar
    upgrade called Dual Polarization Radar Technology. This
    capability is being installed this Fiscal Year and will assist
    forecasters in the warning and forecast process, leading to,
    among other things, better estimates of precipitation for water
    management, more accurate flood warnings, better identification
    of rain to snow transitions, and more precise severe
    thunderstorm warnings.
        Now, to turn to polar satellites, which have been
    highlighted here today, they have supported weather forecast
    models for over 30 years. NOAA is working toward the launch of
    the next polar satellites, the Joint Polar Satellite System,
    JPSS. We thank the Committee and the Senate as a whole for
    their recognition of this national priority, and their support
    in the Senate's Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations bill for NOAA.
        Nonetheless, NOAA is expecting a data gap beginning as
    early as late 2016, when the current satellites reach the end
    of their life expectancies. Within available resources, NOAA is
    preparing to mitigate this gap to the greatest extent possible.
        NOAA is continuing working to improve the science and
    practice of forecasting and prediction. It's not enough,
    however, to provide longer lead times for droughts, seasonal
    flooding, heavy rainfall events, and heat waves. We must also
    ensure that people hear these warnings and take informed and
    appropriate action to protect their own safety.
        The mixture of technology and social science advancements
    is a new approach to building a weather-ready nation, one that
    we expect to provide huge returns measured in avoided economic
    losses and lives saved. In all its efforts to support
    innovation, NOAA works in close partnership with the broader
    weather and climate enterprise that includes other Federal
    agencies, the private sector weather and climate industry,
    academic institutions and consortia, state and local
    governments, and other non-government organizations. My written
    testimony provides several examples of these ongoing
    partnerships, and I'm pleased that you'll hear testimony from
    several key partners at this hearing today.
        So in conclusion, the investments made by Congress and the
    administration in NOAA's weather prediction and warning
    capabilities directly saves lives in the United States during
    these disasters. NOAA is continuing to innovate to improve
    preparedness, detection, modeling, and forecasting efforts
    necessary for improved decisionmaking and to save lives and
    property. Although nothing can eliminate the physical threat
    that severe weather and natural hazards pose, NOAA has
    demonstrated success in better predicting them, reducing their
    impact, and helping vulnerable communities become more
    resilient to their devastating effects, and will work to
    continuously improve its products and services to the Nation.
        I'll be happy to take any questions from the Committee.
        [The prepared statement of Ms. Glackin follows:]

    Prepared Statement of Hon. Mary M. Glackin, Deputy Under Secretary for
       Operations, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S.
                             Department of Commerce

        Good morning Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Snowe, and Members of
    the Subcommittee. My name is Mary Glackin and I am the Deputy Under
    Secretary for Operations at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration (NOAA). Thank you for the opportunity to testify today
    about the need for, and NOAA's role in, supporting innovation to
    improve weather and climate services.
        NOAA, since its beginnings, has relied on mission-focused research
    and innovation as a means of improving services to the Nation. NOAA has
    the sole responsibility of issuing severe weather warnings to
    communities across the country. NOAA-led weather innovations such as
    the national Doppler RADAR network and weather modeling improvements
    continue to provide our Nation with increases in advanced warnings that
    protect lives and property from tornadoes and other severe weather
    events. This year we have seen an unprecedented number of natural
    disasters, from the heart wrenching tornado outbreaks in Alabama and
    neighboring states in April, Joplin, Missouri in May, to record
    flooding in the upper Plains and the Northeast. In the face of these
    challenges, NOAA has been able to provide advanced and accurate
    forecasts because of its continued investment in the long-term research
    and development that drive innovation. There is much more to be done if
    we are to achieve new life saving advancements in the future, and NOAA
    is committed to working with its academic, private sector, and other
    partners in the broader climate and weather enterprise to continue this
    record of success.
        NOAA scientists have been at the forefront of weather and climate
    science, forecasting and public preparedness for decades--our science
    helps save lives and livelihoods. NOAA has a leading role in
    understanding changes in weather and climate extremes, such as trends
    in severe local storms and extremes in precipitation--too little or too
    much, too often or too infrequent. Extreme weather and associated
    societal impacts have increased in recent years, and with our changing
    climate, the Nation can expect more frequent extreme weather events in
    the future. To combat this increased vulnerability, communities across
    the country must become more resilient to extreme events, with smarter
    land use planning, more widespread use of emergency action plans, and
    numerous other actions.
        Our nation's environmental predictive capabilities are supported by
    four foundational pillars: observations, computer modeling (including
    High Performance Computing), scientific research, and our people, who
    provide forecasts, warnings, and decision support services to key
    decisionmakers. By strengthening the pillars--through improved
    satellite and in-situ observations, computational capacity, and coupled
    atmosphere, ocean, land models, and necessary research--we can
    revolutionize the forecast process across the entire spectrum, from
    relatively small-scale, short range applications to long range weather
    and climate predictions.
        Yet, the success of NOAA's mission should not only be measured by
    the accuracy of its information, but by the effectiveness of its
    application. As such, NOAA is pursuing a number of innovative
    approaches to not only to provide significantly more lead time for
    forecasts, but to also ensure that people hear these warnings and take
    informed and appropriate actions to protect their own safety. This
    mixture of technological and social science advancements is a new
    approach to building a ``Weather-Ready Nation'' and one that we expect
    to provide huge returns--measured in avoided economic losses and lives
    saved.

    A Historic Year in the Making
        Despite NOAA's quality forecasts and outlooks, severe weather
    events in 2011 have demonstrated the need for continued investment in
    scientific innovation to improve environmental intelligence. 2011 has
    already established itself in the record books as a historic year for
    weather-related disasters, and it is not over. We have already seen ten
    $1-billion-plus disasters. Total damages from weather- and water-
    related events since January for the United States are well over $45
    billion and climbing. 2011 is now the fourth deadliest tornado year for
    the United States since 1875, and the deadliest since 1936, with 548
    people killed as of November 6. April 2011 ranks as the most active
    tornado month on record with 875 tornadoes, breaking the previous
    record of 542 set in 2003. More tornadoes occurred on April 27 of this
    year than any other day in the past 61 years. On May 22, a large
    portion of Joplin, Missouri was devastated by an EF-5 (winds greater
    than 200 mph) tornado, resulting in over 150 fatalities and over 1,000
    persons injured. The Joplin tornado was the deadliest this year and is
    ranked 7th among the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history.
        Fueled by record-setting precipitation totals, historic flooding
    has hit the Midwest and Ohio Valley, from the smallest streams to the
    largest rivers. The Ohio Valley region had its wettest April on record,
    and the record goes back to 1895 for some states. Record breaking heavy
    rains across Montana and the Dakotas, combined with runoff from record
    winter snowpack, caused tremendous flooding across those states, with
    Minot, North Dakota, being among the hardest hit.
        This year the United States has also experienced severe impacts due
    to decadal-scale changes in our climate. Across the U.S. Southwest
    extreme drought continues--stretching from New Mexico through Texas and
    Oklahoma across the Gulf States and Florida. According to the State of
    Texas, the past twelve months--from October 2010 through September
    2011--have been the driest in state history since 1895. Nearly two-
    thirds of Texas is currently experiencing drought categorized as
    ``exceptional''--the most severe type. Texas has responded to more than
    24,000 fires in approximately the same period, which have burned more
    than 3.8 million acres and destroyed over 7,000 businesses and homes.
    The Texas Agrilife Extension Service has calculated that Texas'
    agriculture sector alone experienced losses of roughly $5.2 billion
    through August.
        Prime wildfire conditions continue across large portions of the
    Southern Plains and Southwestern States. More than 8.2 million acres
    have burned nationwide--nearly 120 percent of the 10-year average by
    this time of year.

    What it Means
        Nearly 90 percent of all Presidentially declared disasters are
    weather- and water-related, and our vulnerability to the impacts is
    increasing as our population grows. As shown in the chart below, the
    number of natural catastrophes resulting in property damage and/or
    bodily injury in the United States is trending upward, with 2011's
    numbers on track to surpass last year's record as of July.

        Source: Munich Re NatCatSERVICE (statistics and chart).

        Over the past thirty-plus years, the United States has seen a total
    of 107 weather- and climate-related disasters each totaling over $1
    billion dollars in damage. Total standardized losses since 1980 exceed
    $750 billion (inflation-adjusted to 2011 dollars using the Consumer
    Price Index).
        Demographic trends and population growth and an increased reliance
    on technology have made our society more vulnerable to high impact
    events at a time when we are seeing an increasing trend in extreme
    weather events. As a result, many agricultural, business, and urban
    planners are looking for ways to increase community resilience now. For
    example, the City of Chicago is taking steps to prepare for the
    likelihood of intense storms striking more often, of rainfall events
    causing more flooding, and of warmer temperatures. Local climate
    studies, along with recent trends such as an increase in the frequency
    of heavy rainfall events, have led them to conclude that proactive
    steps are needed to mitigate the cost and impact of these events. New
    York City is also engaged in adaptation planning, with particular focus
    on the risk of flooding from rising sea level. The Navy's Task Force on
    Climate Change has advised that the Navy should prepare to police the
    equivalent of an extra sea as the Arctic ice melts. These cities and
    organizations, among many others, recognize the need to understand
    changes and trends in weather patterns, and to apply this to planning
    that may reduce vulnerability to high-impact weather and water events.
    Their recognition of the need to reduce their vulnerability to weather
    and water extremes is an important first step. However, there is much
    more that needs to be done in other sectors of our economy and with the
    general public to increase our resiliency to the impacts of these
    events.

    NOAA Science Spurs Innovation to Better Meet Societal Needs
        NOAA's science spurs innovation within the agency. NOAA science
    includes discoveries and ever new understanding of the oceans and
    atmosphere, and the application of this understanding to such issues as
    the causes and consequences of climate change, the physical dynamics of
    high-impact weather events, the dynamics of complex ecosystems and
    biodiversity, and the ability to model and predict the future states of
    these systems. NOAA is supported in these efforts by key pieces of
    legislation, such as the Global Change Research Act and America
    COMPETES Act, the latter of which this Committee reauthorized in 2010.
        NOAA conducts and supports innovative research in order to provide
    the public with information, products, and services that enable
    stakeholders to make the best decisions possible to advance economic
    growth while promoting a healthy environment. NOAA is not alone in
    these endeavors and works in close partnership with the broader weather
    and climate enterprise that includes other Federal agencies, the
    private sector weather and climate industry, academic institutions and
    consortia, state and local governments, and other organizations. NOAA
    supports research at partner institutions such as Cooperative
    Institutes, its Sea Grant college network, Regional Integrated Science
    and Assessments program, and other mechanisms.
        Often, NOAA-supported advances are conducted in partnership with
    the private sector, such as through the NOAA Small Business Innovation
    Research program, and foster additional opportunities for economic
    growth in the private sector. Many innovative weather and climate
    technology advances spurred by NOAA investments in its own and partner
    institutions have been commercialized by the private sector and are now
    sold by the private sector around the world as the gold standard, such
    as NOAA's Argo floats, which are state-of-the-art profiling floats that
    are providing realtime pressure, and ocean temperature and salinity for
    climate, weather, and other service applications and research efforts.

    Research, Observations and Prediction
        Longer lead-time forecasts for droughts, seasonal flooding, heavy
    rainfall events, heat waves and cold spells provide tremendous economic
    value for the Nation through overall reductions in loss of life and in
    physical and economic damage. NOAA provides a spectrum of critical
    information across a range of time and space scales, which is used by
    government, business, emergency managers, planners, and the public. The
    value of that information increases when businesses, farmers, energy
    producers and utilities, as well as the general public, are prepared
    and have effective plans of action to mitigate impacts.
        Returning to NOAA's four pillars, future investments in innovation
    will be focused on: observations, computer modeling (including High
    Performance Computing), foundational scientific research, and our
    people, who will be better positioned to advise key decisionmakers
    during extreme events. For example, on the larger scale, coupled
    environmental models provide improved simulations of the interaction
    between the ocean and atmosphere, resulting in more accurate
    predictions of tropical cyclone behavior. On smaller scales, higher
    resolution observations and models can provide the type of short-term
    severe weather predictions that will 1 day allow us to know up to 60
    minutes ahead of time where a tornado will touch down, and to provide
    warning to the public based on these forecasts.
        An example of scientific innovation in observations is NOAA's
    deployment of Dual Polarization radar technology. Developed in NOAA,
    ``Dual Pol'' is the latest weather radar upgrade, providing both
    horizontal and now vertical components to what NEXRAD Doppler radar is
    seeing. It will add fourteen new products to the suite of data already
    available to NOAA weather forecasters and our partners who receive
    radar data. These new tools will assist forecasters in the warning and
    forecast process. With Dual-Pol radar, forecasters can better glean
    information such as the size, shape, and type of precipitation
    particles. This information will lead to better estimation of total
    precipitation for water management and flood forecasting; accurate
    identification of the snow levels in higher terrain; improved ability
    to identify areas of heavy rainfall, including flash flooding
    potential; identification of rain-to-snow transitions, to alert
    travelers and road crews; and more precise severe thunderstorm
    warnings, especially for those containing hail. The full benefit of
    Dual-Pol radar, however, will not be fully realized until weather
    forecasters and research meteorologists develop new ways to utilize the
    data specific to their geographic areas and gain experience.
        One of NOAA's very promising technologies toward improving higher
    resolution observation that supports weather predictive capabilities is
    called Multi-Function Phased Array Radar (MPAR)--the potential future
    generation replacement of weather radars. These new prototype radars
    build off existing military technology with a unique antenna that
    collects the same weather information as existing weather radar, but in
    about one-sixth the time. MPAR could not only expand the current
    weather surveillance network, but also has the potential to meet air
    traffic surveillance, homeland security and defense requirements for
    identifying and tracking non-cooperative aircraft over the United
    States. The decision to determine the feasibility of MPAR deployment is
    still several years out and will require significant research and
    collaboration with academic and industry partners. Steps for
    finalization include research, prototype development, testing and
    evaluation, and, if the technology proves feasible, eventual deployment
    of new systems.
        We anticipate numerous enhanced weather and climate service
    benefits from MPAR. MPAR's adaptive sensing capability has the
    potential to support continued improvements to the severe weather
    warning system for tracking tornadoes, strong wind gusts, hail and
    locally heavy rains responsible for flash floods and mudslides. In
    addition, MPAR will provide observations that allow for more precise
    information about hazardous weather that affect flight safety and
    airspace capacity, in turn providing economic efficiency to domestic
    aviation and surface transportation systems. Finally, more detailed
    atmospheric observations, such as would flow from MPAR, are anticipated
    to improve air quality real-time advisories and forecasts, climate
    variability monitoring and forecasting, and wildfire monitoring and
    prediction.
        We know that shifts in weather patterns are often regional in
    nature, and have variable time spans. For example, El Nino and La Nina,
    which have become household words, are generally predictable over
    fairly definable areas and time spans. During the 1997-1998 El Nino and
    1998-1999 La Nina, the U.S. agricultural sector experienced damages of
    $2.4-2.8 billion and $3.6-10.7 billion (in 2010 dollars), respectively.
    We are coming to understand many of these larger scale phenomena, such
    as the North Atlantic Oscillation, which is a change in the water
    temperature in the North Atlantic that is strongly correlated with
    heavy snowfall events in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states. These
    patterns, observed in-situ by NOAA's Tropical Atmosphere-Ocean (TAO)
    buoy array in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, strongly influence and can
    help inform NOAA's seasonal forecasts, including the recently published
    2011-2012 Winter Outlook. NOAA has successfully transitioned numerous
    research innovations such as the TAO array into operations, turning
    wise investments into critical operational tools for accurate
    environmental prediction.
        Our tornado warnings have improved significantly over the past two
    decades primarily because of past research efforts. More research would
    help us better understand the rapid evolution of severe thunderstorms
    and why some produce tornadoes and others do not. We face a similar
    challenge with our understanding of hurricanes. While our track
    forecasts have improved greatly--our forecast location for 5 days out
    is now as accurate as the forecast location for 3 days out was 15 years
    ago--we still do not understand what causes some tropical systems to
    jump two intensity categories in less than 24 hours, while others do
    not. NOAA's goal--through an innovative research-to-operations test-bed
    called the Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project (or HFIP)--is to
    demonstrate a 20 percent reduction to the average errors of hurricane
    track and intensity forecasts by the end of Fiscal Year and
    operationalize that improvement over the next few years. This will
    improve the accuracy and reliability of hurricane forecasts; extend
    lead time for hurricane forecasts with increased certainty; and
    increase confidence in hurricane forecasts. The desired outcome is to
    ultimately reduce the Nation's risk to hurricane impacts by delivering
    improved forecasts and tools for community planners and other
    decisionmakers. The anticipated societal benefits will reduce deaths,
    injuries and property damage, and reduce the other costs associated
    with hurricanes by enabling decisionmakers to better identify at-risk
    populations and property, and by raising the confidence levels to
    initiate mitigation measures further in advance of approaching
    hurricanes.
        NOAA is making investments in key research and development areas
    that address a key information gap today between instruments on Earth's
    surface and on satellites. One area of NOAA investment that could help
    bridge that gap is in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). Operated by remote
    pilots and ranging in wingspan from less than six feet to more than 115
    feet, UAS collect data from dangerous or remote areas. UAS have the
    potential to improve NOAA's ability to monitor and understand the
    global environment by collecting data from areas that are currently
    inaccessible. In partnership with NASA NOAA spent 6 weeks in the fall
    of 2010 studying hurricane formation and development in the Gulf of
    Mexico and the western Atlantic Ocean. Researchers sent the Global
    Hawk, equipped with a suite of instruments, over hurricanes Earl, Karl,
    and other storms in the region. The UAS flew multiple times over
    hurricane eyes, soared above one storm (a record for a unmanned
    aircraft system), and collected high-resolution data on the storms'
    wind and cloud structures, particles in the air, lightning strikes and
    other meteorological variables. NOAA is partnering with other Federal
    agencies, academia, and private companies to test a variety of UAS. UAS
    may also have significant benefits beyond hurricanes, including new
    observational support for improving: the accuracy of other storm,
    flood, and drought forecasts, benefiting emergency managers and diverse
    private industries; our understanding of climate change; assessments of
    changes in Arctic sea ice and effects on ecosystems and coasts; and
    fire weather forecasts to increase safety and success in fighting
    wildfires that threaten people and property.
        NOAA also fosters innovation through partnerships. Water management
    decisionmakers require a new generation of water information,
    forecasts, and decision support. NOAA is working with its Federal
    partners USGS, USACE and others to implement Integrated Water Resources
    Science and Services, creating an integrated, high-resolution common
    operating picture for water information, supporting timely and critical
    water management decision in full coordination and collaboration with
    forecasting and decision support services.
        And finally, advances in data assimilation, computer modeling, and
    atmospheric observations through high-tech polar orbiting satellites
    and geostationary satellites have led to substantial improvements in
    NOAA's model forecasts. For example, leading up to the ``Snowmageddon''
    event of February 2010, NOAA was able to detect the storm threat seven-
    plus days in advance and begin alerting the East Coast up to 5 days in
    advance of the storm. This allowed states to implement contingency and
    continuity of operations plans, airlines to rearrange flights, and the
    retail industry to pre-stock their shelves. As a result, there was
    minimal impact to national and local airline and highway
    transportation. This long lead time was made possible in large part by
    observations obtained by NOAA's polar-orbiting satellite and numerical
    weather prediction models.
        Polar-orbiting satellites are the backbone of all model forecasts
    for 3 days and beyond; however, future innovation in our observations
    and improvements in our forecasting are at risk. The launch of the next
    generation of NOAA's polar-orbiting satellites, the Joint Polar
    Satellite System (JPSS), has been further delayed by funding shortfalls
    in Fiscal Year 2011. As a result, NOAA is faced with a nearly 100
    percent chance of a data gap in the U.S. civilian polar orbit, on which
    both civilian and military users rely, by late 2016 to early 2017 when
    the current polar satellites reach the end of their life expectancy.
    JPSS is a critical part of NOAA's future infrastructure needed to
    continue our path of forecast improvement--and to maintain what we have
    built over the last 30 years. NOAA thanks the Committee, and the Senate
    as a whole, for their recognition of this crucial need and their
    support in the Senate's Fiscal Year appropriations bill for NOAA.
        Uninterrupted flow of data from NOAA satellites is required to
    support two Department of Commerce Primary Mission Essential Functions
    (PMEF),\1\ which have been approved by the National Continuity
    Coordinator, thus making NOAA satellites not just NOAA priorities but
    also national priorities. NOAA is investing now to ensure that the
    Nation can continue to rely on these critical observations in the
    future. These observations and the derived products and services allow
    the Nation to prepare effectively for and deal with severe weather and
    other environmental phenomena.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ PMEF DOC-2: Collect and provide the Nation with critical
    intelligence data, imagery, and other essential information for
    predictive environmental and atmospheric modeling systems and space-
    based distress alert systems by operating NOAA-controlled satellites,
    communications equipment, and associated systems.
        PMEF DOC-3: Provide the Nation with environmental forecasts,
    warnings, data, and expertise critical to public safety, disaster
    preparedness, all-hazards response and recovery, the national
    transportation system, safe navigation, and the protection of the
    Nation's critical infrastructure and natural resources.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Getting the Word Out
        As the Federal Government's sole official voice for issuing
    warnings during life-threatening weather events, and as an established,
    reliable, and trusted source, NOAA provides the Nation's first line of
    defense against severe weather. NOAA operates the Nation's
    geostationary and polar orbiting satellites, a nationwide network of
    Doppler weather radars and surface observing stations. Scientists
    develop computational models that combine these observations with
    equations describing the physics of our atmosphere and ocean, and our
    forecasters interpret and deliver critical information. Alerts and
    warnings for severe weather and other near term hazards (tornadoes,
    hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, winter storms, most floods, chemical
    spills, volcanic ash, tsunami, space weather, etc.,) are delivered
    through multiple redundant mechanisms, including: NOAA Weather Radio,
    which triggers the Emergency Alert System; NWSChat, which focuses on
    real-time coordination with local core customers in the broadcast media
    and emergency management; the Internet; and, through our private sector
    partners, commercial television and radio, which communicate critical
    information to much larger audiences and effectively inform those in
    harm's way to take appropriate action.

    Preparedness
        Our prospects for achieving our vision of resilient communities lie
    in our unique enterprise capabilities. The goal of disaster resilience
    is to enhance the capacity of a community exposed to hazards to adapt,
    by resisting or changing, in order to reach and maintain an acceptable
    level of functioning and structure. The preparedness challenge remains
    essentially the same across both short-term and long-term weather and
    water events: public awareness, education, and plans of action to
    mitigate impacts on the personal, community, and regional scales
    provide the best protection against potential disasters. NOAA has long-
    held and strongly established ties to the emergency management
    community, through state, local, and tribal officials, which help
    ensure appropriate action is taken to prepare communities for weather
    and water events. NOAA and its partners, such as the National Sea Grant
    network, use integrated research, training, and technical assistance to
    enhance the ability of communities to prepare for, respond to, and
    rebuild after disasters strike. For example, we are developing a
    Coastal Resilience Index that provides a tangible way for communities
    to identify gaps and examine how prepared they are for storms and storm
    recovery, and provide guidance on how to increase resilience through
    measures including strengthening infrastructure or adopting stricter
    building codes.
        The historic floods, which spanned from Montana across the Dakotas,
    into northern and central plains and southern Mississippi Valley
    earlier this year, are an excellent example of why we need to prepare
    for catastrophic events. The NOAA spring flood outlook highlighted
    those particular areas as having the likelihood of major flooding. Our
    River Forecast Centers and local Weather Forecast Offices worked with
    Federal, state and local emergency managers and planners to help
    prepare for and plan to mitigate the impact of the flooding. Based on
    our forecasts, communities took extensive actions to limit the impact
    of the flooding, including massive levee reinforcements and eventual
    evacuations to prevent loss of life. FEMA prepositioned relief assets,
    and the USGS ensured their river gauges were operational--all of the
    agencies worked together to help mitigate the potential impact.
        Unfortunately, in spite of our best efforts, severe weather events
    still cause loss of life and significant damage. More of this could be
    mitigated with more timely, accurate and focused warnings. The impacts
    and lives lost from the disasters mentioned above would have been far
    worse without critical data input of observations from satellites and
    in-situ observations, and the extensive work of NOAA and our Federal,
    non-Federal, state, and local partners to improve the Nation's
    preparedness for these events through education and outreach. However,
    as evidenced by the tragic loss of life in a number of these events,
    there is a long way to go to truly achieve a Weather-Ready Nation.

    Achieving a Weather- and Water-Ready Nation
        With the high death toll and impacts we've seen this year, we take
    little solace in knowing that outcomes could have been worse without
    the extensive work of NOAA and our Federal, non-Federal, state, and
    local partners. There is much more that needs to be done to improve the
    Nation's resilience for these events. Research, education, and outreach
    are the essential ingredients to improving preparedness and via
    improved forecast and warning accuracy and lead times. Realizing a
    Weather-Ready Nation, where society is prepared for and responds to
    weather dependent events, is vital.
        NOAA has started a national dialog with the Nation's top experts in
    broadcast meteorology, emergency management, and the weather industry
    to examine what is happening with severe weather and what can be done
    in the short-and long-term to improve the Nation's severe weather
    forecasts and warnings, and community preparedness. Included in this
    effort are social sciences, innovative technologies, and social media
    to improve our effectiveness in reaching those in harm's way and
    provoking appropriate response, whether to the urgency of a tornado or
    tsunami warning, or to the longer-term likelihoods of flooding or
    drought. For example, most NWS offices have established Facebook pages,
    providing an additional medium for conducting outreach and education,
    as well as highlighting information about ongoing or upcoming weather
    events. Additionally, NOAA uses NWSChat to give private sector partners
    an invaluable opportunity to interact with NWS experts and to refine
    and enrich their communications to the public. Moreover, more private
    companies are carrying weather warnings on wireless networks, providing
    real-time alerts to your cell phone or e-mail.
        Sustaining our commitment to existing services, while continuing to
    innovate to improve our capacity to meet the Nation's weather and water
    needs, requires targeted investments to shore up aging infrastructure,
    improve scientific understanding, and implement enhanced services to
    reduce risk to the Nation caused by weather and water. NOAA must
    increase our capacity to collect and assimilate increasing amounts of
    data to improve model performance, which is achieved through scientific
    innovation and technological advancements. Future technology
    improvements include more advanced polar and geostationary satellites,
    more sophisticated radar coverage, observing systems, and improved
    computing capabilities. These technology assets are crucial pieces of
    our national infrastructure.
        Additional, innovative projects, such as the Weather and Emergency
    Manager Decision Support (WxEM) and the HFIP's Socio-Economic Research
    Recommendations Projects are also integrating social science into NOAA
    products and information to encourage more resilient behavior that
    reduces loss of life and property.
        Through the Weather and Emergency Manager Decision Support, NOAA is
    exploring ways to make its information easier to find, easier to
    understand, and easier to apply in operations by the Emergency
    Management community. This will result in improved decisionmaking for
    risk management of life and property. Further, the HFIP Socio-Economic
    Research project is using social science to help improve tropical
    cyclone risk communication, including the development of new or
    reconfigured existing graphics (e.g., the hurricane forecast cone of
    uncertainty) and visualization techniques, to better communicate
    tropical cyclone and storm surge risk and promote appropriate public
    response.
        We know that NOAA forecasts, warnings, and community-based
    preparedness programs are vital in enhancing the economy and saving
    lives. It all starts with a commitment on improved forecasting and ends
    with a Weather-Ready Nation in which businesses, governments, and
    people are prepared to use those forecasts to mitigate impacts.

    Summary
        To achieve an increase in community resilience and reduce the
    Nation's vulnerability to weather and water related extreme events, we
    must continue to improve predictions. Again, our Nation's environmental
    predictive capabilities are supported by four foundational pillars:
    observations, computer models, research, and our people. By
    strengthening the pillars--through continued innovation in improved
    satellite and in-situ observations, computing capacity, coupled
    atmosphere, ocean, land models, and necessary research and science
    improvement--we can revolutionize the forecast process across the
    entire spectrum from relatively small-scale, short range applications
    to long range weather and climate predictions.
        The dual goals of preparing for and mitigating natural hazards
    require the continuous commitment and partnership of many individuals
    and sectors--from Federal, state, tribal, and local to public, private,
    and academic. The investments made by Congress and the Administration
    in NOAA's weather prediction and warning capabilities directly save
    lives in the United States during these weather disasters. NOAA remains
    committed to leading U.S. efforts to save lives and property through
    preparedness, detection, modeling, and forecasting efforts necessary
    for improved decisionmaking. Although nothing can eliminate the
    physical threat that severe weather and natural hazards pose, NOAA has
    demonstrated success in better predicting them, reducing their impact,
    and helping vulnerable communities become more resilient to their
    devastating effects--and will work to continuously improve its natural
    hazards products and services to the Nation.

        Senator Begich. Thank you very much for your comments.
        Next we'd like to have Todd Zinser, Inspector General, U.S.
    Department of Commerce.

       STATEMENT OF HON. TODD J. ZINSER, INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S.
                         DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

        Mr. Zinser. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Snowe.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify today, and thank you
    for your recognition of Mary's service. It's been a privilege
    of mine to serve with her these past 4 years as Inspector
    General.
        My office has oversight responsibility for NOAA, including
    NOAA's weather satellite programs. We recently issued an audit
    report this past September on the Joint Polar Satellite System,
    known as JPSS. My written testimony summarizes our findings and
    recommendations, and this morning I would just offer three
    observations based on our continuing oversight.
        First, JPSS is a critically important program for the
    Nation and its ability to observe weather and provide data for
    forecast watches and warnings, but it is a program that must
    overcome years of setbacks experienced by its predecessor
    program called the National Polar-orbiting Operational
    Environmental Satellite System, or NPOESS. NPOESS was an early
    effort dating back to the mid-1990s to reduce duplication and
    overlap in the polar environmental satellite programs of the
    Department of Defense, NASA and NOAA. The effort did not
    succeed, and, in February 2010, after many years of delays and
    cost overruns, in February 2010 the administration restructured
    the program. This involved decoupling Defense on the one hand
    and NOAA and NASA on the other.
        NOAA and NASA are now partners on JPSS and my sense is
    that, despite a difficult transition over the past 21 months,
    the program officials are continuing to work diligently and are
    optimistic about continued progress of the program.
        My second observation is that there are many challenges
    ahead for JPSS, and those challenges must now be met against a
    backdrop of seriously constrained budgets for perhaps the next
    decade. We have placed these challenges into two groups. Number
    one, the JPSS program must take steps to prevent a potential
    near-term coverage gap from the current polar satellite called
    NOAA-19, and a stop-gap satellite called NPOESS Preparatory
    Project, or NPP that was successfully launched late last month
    as part of a contingency plan. NPP was originally intended as a
    test satellite but has been launched with the intent to use the
    data it collects to provide continuity of weather observations.
        While NPP was successfully launched by NASA and the
    checkout period for the instruments is progressing well, it is
    expected to take 18 months or longer before the NPP satellite
    data is fully operational. That 18-month time-frame coincides
    with the end of NOAA-19's design life in March 2013, leaving
    very little room for contingencies and creating the potential
    for a near-term coverage gap. The plan to use NPP as a
    contingency created other challenges identified in our
    September report.
        The second major challenge for the JPSS program is to
    mitigate a longer-term coverage gap that is expected to occur
    between the end of design life for the NPP satellite and the
    operational date for JPSS-1. NPP's projected end of design life
    is November of 2016. The program plans to launch JPSS-1 in the
    first quarter of Fiscal Year 2017. That date depends on full
    funding for JPSS for Fiscal Year 2012 and beyond. There will
    also be a checkout period for JPSS-1 instruments which could
    extend from 6 to 18 months after launch. If an extended
    checkout period is necessary for JPSS-1, the coverage gap for
    polar satellite data could be as long as 21 months.
        My third observation, then, Mr. Chairman, is that the
    senior management at NOAA and the JPSS program must take steps
    (a) to ensure that there is no additional slippage in the
    schedule through close management of the program and (b)
    minimize the potential impact of any coverage gap. Our recent
    report makes two recommendations in that regard.
        First, NOAA needs to finalize a program baseline which
    includes costs, and scheduling requirements, and keep the
    Department and Congress informed of the program's performance
    against that baseline. In doing so, the JPSS program should
    prioritize all requirements and contingencies in order to
    maintain the current planned launch date.
        Second, NOAA should coordinate across the agency to develop
    contingencies for a coverage gap. NOAA needs to ensure, for
    example, that the scientists who work for the National Weather
    Service are working together with the scientists from the
    satellite service to develop options for using data from all of
    its sources to compensate for some of the possible loss of
    polar satellite data. Our concern is that, at this point, there
    is no coordinated approach to the problem across NOAA's lines
    of businesses--and that there should be.
        Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I'd be happy to
    respond to any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Zinser follows:]

         Prepared Statement of Hon. Todd J. Zinser, Inspector General,
                          U.S. Department of Commerce

        Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Snowe, and Members of the
    Subcommittee:

        I appreciate the opportunity to testify today about the challenges
    NOAA faces in its efforts to develop and launch its new environmental
    satellites while minimizing expected data gaps.
        For the past 50 years, NOAA, in partnership with the National
    Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has been responsible for
    developing and operating polar and geostationary environmental
    satellite systems. NOAA's environmental satellite operations and
    weather forecasting are designated primary mission-essential functions
    of the Department of Commerce because they directly support government
    functions the President has deemed necessary to lead and sustain the
    Nation during a catastrophe. But NOAA's current constellation of polar
    and geostationary operational environmental satellites is aging, and
    its capabilities will degrade over time. As a result, the risk
    increases for gaps in critical satellite data.
        Between 1995 and early 2010, NOAA partnered with the Department of
    Defense (DOD) and NASA in the development of the National Polar-
    orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), which was
    at that time the planned replacement system for NOAA's Polar
    Operational Environmental Satellite System and DOD's Defense
    Meteorological Satellite Program. The original NPOESS program was to
    develop six satellites, with first launch planned for 2009 and an
    estimated life-cycle cost of $6.5 billion through 2018. By late 2009,
    however, the program had reduced its scope to four satellites; the
    first launch was delayed until 2014, while its life-cycle cost estimate
    had escalated to $14 billion through 2026.
        In February 2010, the White House's Office of Science and
    Technology Policy announced its decision to have NOAA, in partnership
    with NASA, establish the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program as
    part of a NPOESS restructuring due to its long history of cost overruns
    and schedule delays. At that time, the JPSS program planned to launch
    two satellites--at an estimated cost of $11.9 billion--to collect data
    for short-and long-term weather and climate forecasting through 2026.
    In order to be included in the Fiscal Year President's budget request,
    NOAA had to develop the JPSS budget estimate so quickly that--while
    NOAA had existing NPOESS requirements in place--it did not have time to
    formally approve high-level requirements for JPSS. In September 2011,
    NOAA notified Congress that it had recently completed its high-level
    JPSS requirements, was refining its cost estimate, and planned to
    incorporate updated baselines (cost, schedule, and performance) in the
    upcoming Fiscal Year budget submission.
        The Senate Committee on Appropriations has proposed funding JPSS
    with $921 million in Fiscal Year while the House of Representatives
    appropriations bill recommends $901 million. Both bills fall short of
    the President's $1.07 billion budget request for JPSS, which the
    program maintains is necessary to ensure the first JPSS satellite's
    (JPSS-1's) launch date in the first quarter of 2017.
        Given its history, this critical program requires strong program
    management and close oversight to minimize further delays and prevent
    interruptions in satellite coverage. Our work has identified these
    near-term priorities for NOAA as it manages JPSS:

       complete the data checkout for the NPOESS Preparatory
            Project (NPP) and

       strengthen program management and systems engineering to
            mitigate JPSS coverage gaps.

    Preventing Near-Term Coverage Gaps: from NOAA-19 to NPP
        JPSS-1 will be preceded in orbit by the NPP satellite, originally a
    NASA-led risk reduction effort to test NPOESS' new instruments in
    flight. NOAA will now use NPP to maintain continuity of climate and
    weather forecast data between NOAA's current polar-orbiting operational
    environmental satellite (NOAA-19) and JPSS-1. Despite recent efforts by
    NASA's NPP team (including contractors) to meet the satellite's
    scheduled launch date, late development of the ground system has
    compressed the mission schedule--and delayed the schedule for data
    product availability.
        Since we issued our September 30, 2011, report on JPSS, NASA
    successfully launched NPP on October 28 and reports that satellite
    checkout activities, such as instrument activation, are proceeding
    according to schedule. Once checkout completes, NASA will turn the
    satellite over to the JPSS program to calibrate the instruments and
    validate the scientific quality of data products; ultimately, the JPSS
    program will hand over satellite operations to NOAA.
        After the launch, NOAA originally planned to make NPP operationally
    ready in 18 months, which coincides with the end of the design life of
    NOAA-19 (approximately March 2013). This plan left little room for
    contingencies. Both NOAA and our office have identified a number of
    risks that, if not properly mitigated, could cause further delays in
    NPP operational readiness and degradation of NOAA's weather and climate
    forecasting capability:

       Potential coverage gap. According to the ground system's
            contractor, Raytheon, the ground system will not be able to
            support the validation of a significant number of data records
            until after a system upgrade, planned for March 2012. In
            addition, NOAA has not finalized coordination between the NPP/
            JPSS program and NOAA's Center for Satellite Applications and
            Research (STAR), which is critical to transferring satellite
            observation into operations. Consequently, NOAA has extended
            its projection for readiness from 18 to 24 months after launch,
            which could lead to a gap in operational data between NOAA19
            and NPP if NOAA-19 stops functioning properly at the end of its
            design life.

       Insufficient number of ground station locations. Unlike
            NOAA's existing operational satellite systems, NPP has only a
            single mission management center for controlling the satellite,
            and NPP's ground station has the system's only science data
            downlink (the means to transmit a signal from the satellite to
            the ground station). NOAA and JPSS program officials have
            commissioned studies to develop an alternate mission management
            center and hope to have one ready well in advance of the JPSS-1
            launch. Program officials indicated that the ground station has
            redundancy in terms of antennas and equipment. However, while
            there is redundancy, the use of a single ground station in a
            single geographic location is not consistent with NOAA's
            existing polar and geostationary operational environmental
            satellite systems, which use more than one location.

       Postlaunch ground system development challenges. NASA
            conducted two major ground system/NPP satellite compatibility
            tests in 2011; the first test had been delayed when ground
            system software builds took longer than expected to produce.
            Both tests experienced further delays and compressed the
            remaining work schedule for the NPP launch. NASA has also
            postponed analysis of some test results and requirements
            verification. Further, in response to an independent review
            team's recommendations, the project completed a stress test in
            late September and early October to evaluate NPP's operational
            readiness--any system fixes required to mitigate identified
            concerns would add to the postlaunch data production workload.

        In order to reduce the risk of a data gap between NOAA-19 and NPP,
    NOAA management needs to provide sufficient oversight to enable
    communication and coordination between the JPSS program and STAR.
    Further, it must balance instrument calibration and data validation
    activities (needed to produce operational data) with other ground
    system development tasks. NOAA should also determine the feasibility of
    establishing an alternate mission management center and an additional
    science data downlink for NPP as soon as possible.

    Mitigating Longer-Term Coverage Gaps: from NPP to JPSS-1
        NOAA expects a gap in weather and climate observations between
    NPP's end of design life and the operational date of JPSS-l. NPP's
    projected end of design life is November 2016, NOAA plans to launch
    JPSS-1 in the first quarter of 2017,\1\ and there is a minimum 6-month
    checkout period before key data products from JPSS-1 will become
    operational. We project that, due to continued budget uncertainty and
    probable Fiscal Year funding somewhat below the President's budget
    request, the JPSS-1 launch date will be no earlier than February 2017.
    Based on a February 2017 launch, the gap would last at least 9 months
    (3 months from November to February, plus the additional 6 months for
    checkout). Should checkout take 18 months (as NOAA predicts NPP's
    will), the gap would extend a total of 21 months (see figure 1). NOAA's
    studies have found that its weather forecasting at 5, 4, and 3 days
    before an event could be significantly degraded during the coverage gap
    period.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ NOAA projected a JPSS-1 launch in the first quarter of Fiscal
    Year 2017, pending (1) the program receiving the full President's
    budget request for Fiscal Year 2012 ($1.07 billion) and beyond and (2)
    no Fiscal Year 2012 continuing resolution beyond the first quarter of
    Fiscal Year 2012.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        JPSS-1 will require a checkout period longer than 6 months to
    achieve full operational capability (versus an interim capability to
    produce key data products). Full checkout could be prolonged because
    JPSS-1 instruments will have manufacturing changes from the models
    flown on NPP--and, in all probability, NPP will no longer be
    operational when JPSS-1 is on-orbit, thus leaving the JPSS-1 mission
    without a direct, and more efficient, means for comparison.

        Source: OIG analysis of NOAA data, as of August 22, 2011.

        We have identified the following areas that require senior
    management attention to help ensure JPSS-1 operational readiness and
    minimize the potential impact of the coverage gap:

       Prioritize all JPSS requirements,\2\ develop reliable cost
            estimates to support future funding requests, and
            systematically communicate planned actions and progress with
            decisionmakers. NOAA is currently developing a revised life-
            cycle cost estimate. Additionally, NOAA tasked NASA with
            developing contingencies that prioritize some of the most
            important requirements and maintain a launch readiness date no
            later than February 2017. We believe the JPSS program should
            formally prioritize all of its requirements, not just the
            subset in this contingency exercise, so that it can efficiently
            adjust the program's performance capabilities or launch dates,
            if needed, in response to year-to-year funding variances.
            Further, the program should develop a plan to accommodate
            requirements that may have to be removed or relaxed when annual
            funding falls short of the program's budget but could be
            recouped in future appropriations. Finally, due to the
            importance and complexity of the JPSS program, NOAA must
            establish a program baseline (cost, schedule, and requirements)
            as soon as possible--and keep the Department and Congress
            informed of its planned actions and progress against this
            baseline to facilitate decisionmaking.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \2\ High-level requirements include the number of spacecraft, the
    instruments needed, the observational data to be provided, the
    timeliness of data delivery, and data distribution methods, among
    others.

       Coordinate NOAA response, in case NPP does not live through
            its 5-year design life. The NPP spacecraft was designed to last
            5 years and carries enough fuel to last 7 years. However, most
            of its instruments were managed and developed under the NPOESS
            contract, which received limited government oversight and had a
            history of technical issues. Additionally, under the NPOESS
            contract, NASA lacked technical oversight during the instrument
            development, manufacturing, and testing phases, creating
            uncertainty about the instruments' ability to operate for the
            length of the spacecraft's design life. For these reasons,
            NASA's revised criteria for NPP mission success called for only
            3 years of operability. Although NOAA's current analysis
            assumes that NPP will have a 5-year operational life, NOAA
            understands that a residual risk of a shorter life expectancy
            remains due to the lack of oversight during the development of
            most of NPP's instruments. In order to sufficiently prepare for
            an expected gap in polar satellite data from the afternoon
            orbit, NOAA should coordinate efforts from across its line
            offices to minimize the degradation of weather and climate
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
            forecasting during gaps in coverage.

        In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, we have provided (and will continue to
    provide) our independent assessment of the JPSS program. We look
    forward to NOAA's action plan to address recommendations in our
    September 30 audit report. The hope is that, when closing the looming
    satellite coverage gaps, NOAA finds innovative solutions--and can
    convey them, in a timely fashion, to Congress and other stakeholders.
    This concludes my prepared statement, and I will be pleased to respond
    to any questions you or other Subcommittee members may have.

        Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
        Next we have David Trimble, Director, Natural Resources and
    Environment, Government Accountability Office.

                STATEMENT OF DAVID C. TRIMBLE, DIRECTOR,

                   NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT,

                 U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE

        Mr. Trimble. Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Snowe, I'm
    pleased to be here today to discuss Federal efforts to provide
    climate data and services to decisionmakers. Recent assessments
    of the potential impacts of climate change in the United States
    have found, among other things, that climate-related changes
    such as rising temperature and sea level will combine with
    pollution, population growth, urbanization, and other social,
    economic and environmental stresses to create larger impacts
    than from any one of these factors alone.
        Policymakers are increasingly viewing adaptation, defined
    as adjustments to natural human systems in response to actual
    or expected climate change, as a risk management strategy to
    protect vulnerable sectors and communities that might be
    affected by changes in the climate. It may be costly to raise
    river or coastal dikes to protect communities and resources
    from sea level rise, build higher bridges or improve storm
    water systems, but there is a growing recognition that the cost
    of inaction could be greater.
        Over the years, GAO has reported on many climate change
    issues, including recent reports on adaptation and Federal
    funding for climate change programs and activities. Let me
    highlight four points from these reports.
        First, climate change adaptation has begun to receive more
    attention and resources because the greenhouse gases already in
    the atmosphere are expected to continue altering the climate
    system into the future regardless of efforts to control
    emissions. Further, there is a growing recognition that past
    practices for making decisions may no longer be reliable.
    According to the National Research Council, many decision rules
    for such things as building bridges or establishing zoning
    rules assume a continuation of past climate conditions with
    similar patterns or variation and the same probability of
    extreme events. According to the NRC, that assumption,
    fundamental to the way people and organizations make their
    choices, is no longer valid.
        Second, Federal, state and local authorities on the front
    line of early adaptation efforts face challenges obtaining
    local or site-specific climate data such as projected
    temperature and precipitation changes, and translating that
    data into information they need to make decisions. The lack of
    such data makes it hard for these officials to understand or
    quantify the potential impacts of climate change, and difficult
    to justify the cost of adaptation efforts since projections of
    future benefits are less certain than current costs.
        Third, according to the experts we have surveyed, Federal
    actions to provide and interpret site-specific information
    could help address some of these challenges. Our 2009 report on
    climate change adaptation discusses several potential actions
    that Federal, state and local officials identified as useful to
    inform adaptation decisionmaking. These included state and
    local climate change impact and vulnerability assessments, and
    the development of processes and tools to access, interpret,
    and apply climate information.
        In that report, we also obtained information regarding the
    creation of a climate service, a Federal service to consolidate
    and deliver climate information to decisionmakers to inform
    their adaptation efforts. While we have not made a
    recommendation regarding the creation of a climate service
    within NOAA or any other agency or interagency body, our 2009
    report discussed a range of potential strengths and limitations
    of such a service.
        Fourth, adaptation will require making policy and
    management decisions that cut across traditional sectors,
    issues and jurisdictional boundaries. Many Federal entities,
    executive offices and organizations manage programs and
    activities related to climate change. However, getting these
    entities to work toward a common goal is complicated. In 2009,
    we recommended the development of a strategic plan to guide the
    nation's efforts to adapt to a changing climate, including the
    identification of mechanisms to increase the capacity of
    Federal, state and local agencies to incorporate information
    about current and potential climate change impacts into
    government decisionmaking.
        The recent Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force
    is a positive step, but coordination on climate change issues
    across the government is still a challenge. Our May 2011 report
    on climate change funding found that Federal officials do not
    have a shared understanding of strategic government-wide
    priorities, including the roles and responsibilities of the key
    Federal entities. In a period of declining budgets, effective
    collaboration across all Federal agencies is critical, now more
    than ever.
        That concludes my statement. I will, of course, be happy to
    answer any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Trimble follows:]

    Prepared Statement of David C. Trimble, Director, Natural Resources and
               Environment, U.S. Government Accountability Office

        Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Snowe, and Members of the
    Subcommittee:

        I am pleased to be here today to discuss Federal efforts to provide
    climate data and services to decision makers. Climate change is a
    complex, crosscutting issue that poses risks to many existing
    environmental and economic systems, including agriculture,
    infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health. A 2009 assessment by the
    United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) found that
    climate-related changes--such as rising temperature and sea level--will
    combine with pollution; population growth; urbanization; and other
    social, economic, and environmental stresses to create larger impacts
    than from any of these factors alone.\1\ According to the National
    Academies, USGCRP, and others, greenhouse gases already in the
    atmosphere will continue altering the climate system into the future,
    regardless of emissions control efforts. Therefore, adaptation--defined
    as adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or
    expected climate change--is an important part of the response to
    climate change.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ USGCRP coordinates and integrates Federal research on changes
    in the global environment--including climate change--and their
    implications for society.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Many Federal entities manage climate change programs and
    activities. According to the Office of Management and Budget's June
    2010 Federal Climate Change Expenditures Report to Congress, 9 of the
    15 cabinet-level departments, along with 7 other Federal agencies,
    received funding for climate change activities in Fiscal Year 2010.\2\
    In addition, entities within the Executive Office of the President,
    such as the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Federal
    interagency coordinating bodies, like USGCRP, work together to ensure
    Federal climate change activities are guided by the latest climate
    science. A September 2010 report by the National Academy of Public
    Administration, which was prepared for the National Oceanic and
    Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Congress, referred to this set of
    Federal activities as the Federal ``climate change enterprise.'' \3\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \2\ Office of Management and Budget, Federal Climate Change
    Expenditures Report to Congress (June 2010). See  http://
    www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/assets/legislative_reports/
    FY2011_Climate_Change.pdf.
        \3\ Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration,
    Building Strong for Tomorrow: NOAA Climate Service, a report prepared
    for Congress, the Department of Commerce, and NOAA (Sept. 13, 2010).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Federal climate programs are shifting their focus to adaptation and
    climate services. Our October 2009 report on climate change adaptation
    found no coordinated national approach to adaptation, but our May 2011
    report on climate change funding cited indications that Federal
    agencies were beginning to respond to climate change more
    systematically.\4\ About the same time as the issuance of our October
    2009 report, Executive Order 13514 on Federal Leadership in
    Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance called for Federal
    agencies to participate actively in the Interagency Climate Change
    Adaptation Task Force.\5\ The task force, which began meeting in Spring
    2009, is co-chaired by the President's Council on Environmental
    Quality, NOAA, and the Office of Science and Technology Policy and
    includes representatives from more than 20 Federal agencies and
    Executive Branch offices. The task force was formed to develop Federal
    recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts both
    domestically and internationally and to recommend key components to
    include in a national strategy. In addition, USGCRP recently launched a
    national climate assessment designed to engage stakeholders in a
    process that builds on science, data, and information to help decision
    making. Individual agencies are also beginning to consider adaptation
    actions. For example, in May 2009, the Chief of Naval Operations
    created Task Force Climate Change to address the naval implications of
    a changing Arctic and global environment.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \4\ GAO. Climate Change Adaptation: Strategic Federal Planning
    Could Help Government Officials Make More Informed Decisions, GAO-10-
    113, (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 7, 2009), and Climate Change: Improvements
    Needed to Clarify National Priorities and Better Align Them with
    Federal Funding Decisions, GAO-11-317, (Washington, D.C.: May 20,
    2011).
        \5\ For more information about the Interagency Climate Change
    Adaptation Task Force, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/
    eop/ceq/initiatives/adaptation.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        My testimony today addresses: (1) the data challenges that federal,
    state, and local officials face in their efforts to adapt to a changing
    climate, (2) the actions Federal agencies could take to help address
    these challenges, and (3) Federal climate change strategic planning
    efforts. The information in this testimony is based on prior work,
    largely on our recent reports on climate change adaptation and Federal
    climate change funding.\6\ Our work was based on, among other things,
    analysis of studies; site visits to areas pursuing adaptation efforts;
    responses to a web-based questionnaire sent to federal, state, and
    local officials knowledgeable about adaptation; and interviews with
    such officials. A detailed description of our scope and methodology is
    available in each issued product. All of the work on which this
    statement is based was performed in accordance with generally accepted
    government auditing standards.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \6\ GAO-10-113 and GAO-11-317.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    A Lack of Site-Specific Data, Such as Local Projections of Expected
            Changes, Can Challenge the Ability of Officials to Manage the
            Effects of Climate Change
        As we reported in October 2009, insufficient site-specific data,
    such as local projections of expected changes, make it hard for
    federal, state, and local officials to predict the impacts of climate
    change, and thus hard for these officials to justify the current costs
    of adaptation efforts for potentially less certain future benefits.\7\
    Based on the responses by a diverse array of federal, state, and local
    officials knowledgeable about adaptation to a web-based questionnaire
    designed for that report, related challenges generally fit into two
    main categories: (1) translating climate data--such as projected
    temperature and precipitation changes--into information that officials
    need to make decisions and (2) difficulty in justifying the current
    costs of adaptation with limited information about future benefits.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \7\ GAO-10-113.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        The process of providing useful information to officials making
    decisions about adaptation can be summarized by the following:

       First, data from global-scale models must be ``downscaled''
            to provide climate information at a geographic scale relevant
            to decision makers. About 74 percent (133 of 179) of the
            officials who responded to our questionnaire rated
            ``availability of climate information at relevant scale (i.e.,
            downscaled regional and local information)'' as very or
            extremely challenging.

       Second, the downscaled climate information must be
            translated into impacts at the local level, such as increased
            stream flow. Some respondents and officials interviewed for our
            October 2009 report said that it is challenging to link
            predicted temperature and precipitation changes to specific
            impacts. For example, one Federal official said that ``we often
            lack fundamental information on how ecological systems/species
            respond to non-climate change related anthropogenic stresses,
            let alone how they will respond to climate change.''

       Third, local impacts must be translated into costs and
            benefits, since this information is required for many decision
            making processes. Almost 70 percent (126 of 180) of the
            respondents to our questionnaire rated ``understanding the
            costs and benefits of adaptation efforts'' as very or extremely
            challenging.\8\ As noted by one local government respondent, it
            is important to understand the costs and benefits of adaptation
            efforts so they can be evaluated relative to other priorities.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \8\ The number of respondents varies because some officials did not
    respond to certain questions.

       Fourth, decision makers need baseline monitoring data to
            evaluate adaptation actions over time. Nearly 62 percent (113
            of 181) of the respondents to our questionnaire rated the
            ``lack of baseline monitoring data to enable evaluation of
            adaptation actions (i.e., inability to detect change)'' as very
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
            or extremely challenging.

        These challenges make it difficult for officials to justify the
    current costs of adaptation efforts for potentially less certain future
    benefits. A 2009 report by the National Research Council (NRC)
    discusses how officials are struggling to make decisions based on
    future climate scenarios instead of past climate conditions.\9\
    According to the report, requested by the Environmental Protection
    Agency and NOAA, usual practices and decision rules (e.g., for building
    bridges, implementing zoning rules, using private motor vehicles)
    assume a stationary climate--a continuation of past climate conditions,
    including similar patterns of variation and the same probabilities of
    extreme events. According to the NRC report, that assumption, which is
    fundamental to the ways people and organizations make their choices, is
    no longer valid.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \9\ National Research Council of the National Academies, Panel on
    Strategies and Methods for Climate-Related Decision Support, Committee
    on the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Informing Decisions in a
    Changing Climate (Washington, D.C., 2009).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Federal Actions to Provide and Interpret Site-Specific Information
            Would Help Officials Understand the Impacts of Climate Change
            and Available Adaptation Strategies
        Federal actions to provide and interpret site-specific information
    would help address challenges associated with adaptation efforts, based
    on our analysis of responses to the web-based questionnaire and other
    materials analyzed for our October 2009 report.\10\ The report
    discussed several potential Federal actions that federal, state, and
    local officials identified as useful to inform adaptation decision
    making. These included state and local climate change impact and
    vulnerability assessments and the development of processes and tools to
    access, interpret, and apply climate information. In that report, we
    also obtained information regarding the creation of a climate service--
    a Federal service to consolidate and deliver climate information to
    decision makers to inform adaptation efforts.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \10\ GAO-10-113.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        About 61 percent (107 of 176) of the federal, state, and local
    officials who responded to the web-based questionnaire developed for
    our October 2009 adaptation report rated the ``creation of a Federal
    service to consolidate and deliver climate information to decision
    makers to inform adaptation efforts'' as very or extremely useful.\11\
    Respondents offered a range of potential strengths and weaknesses for
    such a service. Several said that a climate service would help
    consolidate information and provide a single-information resource for
    local officials, and others said that it would be an improvement over
    the current ad hoc system. A climate service would avoid duplication
    and establish an agreed set of climate information with uniform
    methodologies, benchmarks, and metrics for decision making, according
    to some officials. According to one Federal official, consolidating
    scientific, modeling, and analytical expertise and capacity could
    increase efficiency. Similarly, some officials noted that with such
    consolidation of information, individual agencies, states, and local
    governments would not have to spend money obtaining climate data for
    their adaptation efforts. Others said that it would be advantageous to
    work from one source of information instead of different sources of
    varying quality. Some officials said that a climate service would
    demonstrate a Federal commitment to adaptation and provide a credible
    voice and guidance to decision makers. In an announcement on February
    8, 2010, the Department of Commerce proposed establishing a NOAA
    climate service. Though not yet established, information is available
    on the NOAA climate service website, including draft vision and
    strategic framework documents.\12\ According to NOAA documents, such a
    climate service would provide a single, reliable, and authoritative
    source for climate data, information, and decision support services to
    help individuals, businesses, communities, and governments make smart
    choices in anticipation of a climate changed future.\13\ A September
    2010 report by the National Academy of Public Administration discusses
    the factors needed for a NOAA climate service to succeed--such as the
    designation of a lead Federal agency to be the day-to-day integrator of
    the overall Federal effort regarding climate science and services--and
    makes recommendations on how to achieve those factors.\14\
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \11\ GAO-10-113.
        \12\ For more information about the NOAA Climate Service, see
    http://www.noaa.gov/climate.html. A range of climate information is
    presented at www.climate.gov, NOAA's Climate Services Portal.
        \13\ The Department of Defense and Full Year Continuing
    Appropriations Act, 2011 prohibited any funds appropriated in the act
    to be used to implement, establish, or create a NOAA Climate Service as
    NOAA had previously described it during Fiscal Year 2011.
        \14\ Panel of the National Academy of Public Administration,
    Building Strong for Tomorrow: NOAA Climate Service, a report prepared
    for Congress, the Department of Commerce, and NOAA (Sept. 13, 2010).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Other respondents to our questionnaire, however, were less
    enthusiastic about the creation of a climate service. Some voiced
    skepticism about whether it was feasible to consolidate climate
    information, and others said that such a system would be too rigid and
    may get bogged down in lengthy review processes. Furthermore, certain
    officials stated that building such capacity may not be the most
    effective place to focus Federal efforts because the information needs
    of decision makers vary so much by jurisdiction. Several officials
    noted that climate change is an issue that requires a multidisciplinary
    response, and a single Federal service may not be able to supply all of
    the necessary expertise. For example, one Federal official stated that
    the information needs of Bureau of Reclamation water managers are quite
    different from the needs of Bureau of Land Management rangeland
    managers, which are different from the needs of all other resource
    management agencies and programs. The official stated that it seems
    highly unlikely that a single Federal service could effectively
    identify and address the diverse needs of multiple agencies. Several
    respondents also said that having one preeminent source for climate
    change information and modeling could stifle contrary ideas and
    alternative viewpoints. Moreover, several officials who responded to
    our questionnaire were concerned that a climate service could divert
    attention and resources from current adaptation efforts by reinventing
    duplicative processes without making use of existing structures. The
    2009 NRC report on informing decisions in a changing climate recommends
    that the Federal government's adaptation efforts should be undertaken
    through a new integrated interagency initiative with both service and
    research elements but that such an initiative should not be centralized
    in a single agency.\15\ Doing so, according to this report, would
    disrupt existing relationships between agencies and their
    constituencies and formalize a separation between the emerging science
    of climate response and fundamental research on climate and the
    associated biological, social, and economic phenomena. Furthermore, the
    report states that a climate service located in a single agency and
    modeled on the weather service would by itself be less than fully
    effective for meeting the national needs for climate-related decision
    support. The NRC report also notes that such a climate service would
    not be user-driven and so would likely fall short in providing needed
    information, identifying and meeting critical decision support research
    needs, and adapting adequately to changing information needs.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \15\ USGCRP's September 30, 2011 Draft Strategic Plan reflects
    elements of these NRC recommendations.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        We have not made recommendations regarding the creation of a
    climate service within NOAA or any other agency or interagency body,
    although the provision of climate data and services will be an
    important consideration in future governmentwide strategic planning
    efforts, particularly in an era of declining budgets.
    Federal Climate Change Strategic Planning Efforts Could Be Improved
        Federal strategic planning efforts could be improved for many
    aspects of the climate change enterprise. Our October 2009 report on
    climate change adaptation concluded that, to be effective, related
    Federal efforts must be coordinated and directed toward a common
    goal.\16\ This report recommended the development of a strategic plan
    to guide the Nation's efforts to adapt to a changing climate, including
    the identification of mechanisms to increase the capacity of federal,
    state, and local agencies to incorporate information about current and
    potential climate change impacts into government decision making. Some
    actions have subsequently been taken to improve Federal adaptation
    efforts, but our May 2011 report on climate change funding found that
    Federal officials do not have a shared understanding of strategic
    governmentwide priorities.\17\ This report recommended, among other
    things, the clear establishment of Federal strategic climate change
    priorities, including the roles and responsibilities of the key Federal
    entities, taking into consideration the full range of activities within
    the Federal climate change enterprise. In other reports, we also noted
    the need for improved coordination of climate-related activities. For
    example, our April 2010 report on environmental satellites concluded
    that gaps in satellite coverage, which could occur as soon as 2015, are
    expected to affect the continuity of important climate and space
    weather measurements.\18\ In that report, we stated that, despite
    repeated calls for interagency strategies for the long-term provision
    of environmental data from satellites (both for climate and space
    weather purposes), our Nation still lacks such plans.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \16\ GAO-10-113.
        \17\ GAO-11-317.
        \18\ GAO. Environmental Satellites: Strategy Needed to Sustain
    Critical Climate and Space Weather Measurements, GAO-10-456,
    (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 27, 2010). For another example of the need for
    improved strategic planning, see Climate Change: A Coordinated Strategy
    Could Focus Federal Geoengineering Research and Inform Governance
    Efforts, GAO-10-903, (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 23, 2010).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Of particular importance in adaptation are planning decisions
    involving physical infrastructure projects, which require large capital
    investments and which, by virtue of their anticipated lifespan, will
    have to be resilient to changes in climate for many decades. The long
    lead time and long life of large infrastructure investments require
    such decisions to be made well before climate change effects are
    discernible. Our ongoing work for the Senate Committee on Environment
    and Public Works Subcommittee on Oversight and Subcommittee on
    Transportation and Infrastructure will explore this issue by reviewing
    the extent to which federal, state, and local authorities consider the
    potential effects of climate change when making infrastructure
    investment decisions.
        Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Snowe, and Members of the
    Subcommittee, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to
    respond to any questions that you or other Members of the Subcommittee
    may have.

    Why GAO Did This Study
        Climate change is a complex, crosscutting issue that poses risks to
    many existing environmental and economic systems, including
    agriculture, infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health. A 2009
    assessment by the United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
    found that climate-related changes---such as rising temperature and sea
    level---will combine with pollution, population growth, urbanization,
    and other social, economic, and environmental stresses to create larger
    impacts than from any of these factors alone.
        According to the National Academies, USGCRP, and others, greenhouse
    gases already in the atmosphere will continue altering the climate
    system into the future, regardless of emissions control efforts.
    Therefore, adaptation---defined as adjustments to natural or human
    systems in response to actual or expected climate change---is an
    important part of the response to climate change.
        This testimony addresses (1) the data challenges that Federal,
    state, and local officials face in their efforts to adapt to a changing
    climate, (2) the actions Federal agencies could take to help address
    these challenges, and (3) Federal climate change strategic planning
    efforts. The information in this testimony is based on prior work,
    largely on GAO's recent reports on climate change adaptation (GAO-10-
    113) and Federal climate change funding (GAO-11-317). These reports are
    based on, among other things, analysis of studies, site visits to areas
    pursuing adaptation efforts, and responses to a web-based questionnaire
    sent to Federal, state, and local officials.

    What GAO Found
        As GAO reported in October 2009, challenges from insufficient site-
    specific data--such as local projections--make it hard for Federal,
    state, and local officials to predict the impacts of climate change,
    and thus hard to justify the current costs of adaptation efforts for
    potentially less certain future benefits. Based on responses from a
    diverse array of Federal, state, and local officials knowledgeable
    about adaptation, related challenges generally fit into two main
    categories: (1) translating climate data--such as projected temperature
    and precipitation changes--into information that officials need to make
    decisions and (2) the difficulty in justifying the current costs of
    adaptation with limited information about future benefits.
        Federal actions to provide and interpret site-specific information
    would help address data challenges associated with adaptation efforts,
    based on responses to GAO's web-based questionnaire sent to Federal,
    state, and local officials and other materials analyzed for its October
    2009 report. In addition to several potential Federal actions
    identified as useful by respondents to GAO's questionnaire, including
    the development of state and local climate change vulnerability
    assessments, GAO's 2009 report also contained information about the
    creation of a Federal climate service. Specifically, about 61 percent
    (107 of 176) of respondents rated the ``creation of a Federal service
    to consolidate and deliver climate information to decisionmakers to
    inform adaptation efforts'' as very or extremely useful. Respondents
    offered a range of potential strengths and weaknesses for such a
    service. For example, several respondents stated that a climate service
    would help consolidate information and provide a single information
    resource for local officials. However, some respondents to GAO's
    questionnaire voiced skepticism about whether it was feasible to
    consolidate climate information, and others stated that such a service
    would be too rigid and may get bogged down in lengthy review processes.
    GAO has not made recommendations regarding the creation of a climate
    service within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or
    any other agency or interagency body.
        Federal strategic planning efforts could be improved for many
    aspects of the climate change enterprise. For example, GAO's October
    2009 report on climate change adaptation concluded that, to be
    effective, related Federal efforts must be coordinated and directed
    toward a common goal. This report recommended the development of a
    strategic plan to guide the Nation's efforts to adapt to a changing
    climate, including the identification of mechanisms to increase the
    capacity of Federal, state, and local agencies to incorporate
    information about current and potential climate change impacts into
    government decisionmaking. Some actions have subsequently been taken to
    improve Federal adaptation efforts, but GAO's May 2011 report on
    climate change funding found that Federal officials do not have a
    shared understanding of strategic governmentwide priorities.
        [For an online version of this testimony, go to  http://
    www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-238T].

        Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
        The next person is Admiral Thomas, Director of Response
    Policy, United States Coast Guard.

    STATEMENT OF REAR ADMIRAL CARI B. THOMAS, DIRECTOR OF RESPONSE
                   POLICY, UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

        Admiral Thomas. Good morning, Chairman Begich, Ranking
    Member Snowe, members of the Committee. I'm pleased to appear
    before you today to discuss the United States Coast Guard's use
    of environmental products, satellite distress information
    provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
    in support of Coast Guard operations.
        The Coast Guard has enjoyed a partnership with NOAA for
    more than 100 years. This partnership includes providing
    situational awareness to both professional mariners and
    recreational boaters on impending weather and dangerous
    conditions, as well as NOAA's active participation on the
    National Search and Rescue Committee, of which I had the honor
    to chair.
        In more than 27 years of conducting Coast Guard operations,
    I have used any number of NOAA products to help make critical
    operational decisions. Water temperature, wind and current
    data, and distress alerting information all assist both the art
    and the science of saving lives at sea.
        Specifically, I'd like to share with you today two
    situations that demonstrate the critical role that NOAA plays
    in supporting Coast Guard daily operations.
        In the Gulf of Alaska, five people were forced to abandon
    their fishing vessel into 38-degree water. Tied together and
    adrift in some of the most dangerous waters in the world, it
    was only the SARSAT distress beacon, activated by the crew and
    received by NOAA's weather satellite, that alerted the Coast
    Guard that they were in distress. That distress notification
    was transmitted via the NOAA Mission Control Center in
    Suitland, Maryland, directly to the Coast Guard Rescue
    Coordination Center in Juneau, Alaska.
        In addition, the NOAA weather satellite provided on-scene
    weather information that crews from three helicopters and one
    C130 rescue aircraft used to prepare for the rescue mission. At
    the Juneau Rescue Coordination Center, search and rescue
    specialists helped develop the comprehensive search plans to
    locate the source of the distress alert. Our search planning
    tool uses critical weather, tide, and ocean current information
    provided by NOAA.
        In seconds, this program analyzed the weather and
    environmental data, along with other critical information, to
    develop the most effective search plan, allowing for the
    quickest rescue possible and ultimately minimized risk to our
    search crews and the mariners in distress. Though only three of
    the five crew members were saved that day, the three survivors
    owe their lives in part to NOAA's operation and management of
    the U.S. SARSAT program and environmental information that
    weather and climate services provide to the Coast Guard and
    other partners.
        As dramatic as it sounds, it is this type of case that the
    men and women of the Coast Guard face daily. Last August, and
    right here along the East Coast, NOAA's environmental data was
    used in our own mission planning, port readiness, citizen
    preparedness and infrastructure protection in response to
    Hurricane Irene. NOAA's forecasting assisted the Coast Guard's
    advance planning and enabled commercial and recreational
    vessels alike to seek safety, whether by making preparations to
    prepare ships in port or get their ships under way to evade the
    storm at sea.
        Coast Guard captains in the port were able to make sound
    decisions to limit the amount of time that ports were closed
    during and after the storm. Minimizing the time a U.S. port is
    closed is critical, especially when taking into account the
    economic and security impacts of port closures. These critical
    decisions on port closures during Hurricane Irene by the Coast
    Guard were based in part on the information received by NOAA's
    environmental data.
        Our own rescue assets, Coast Guard cutters, small boats,
    aircraft, and most importantly our members and families, all
    use NOAA's environmental information to determine the safest
    locations to avoid the storm, and also minimize the time for
    Coast Guard units to respond to any distress caused by the
    storm. The fact that so little damage was sustained in these
    port areas is a reflection on the amount of preparation
    performed by the Coast Guard, FEMA, and our other port
    partners, all leveraging NOAA's environmental data.
        These are but two examples of the many situations in which
    NOAA's environmental data provides invaluable support to the
    Coast Guard. The Coast Guard capital fleet uses these products
    to make decisions at sea, but our ships are old and we
    appreciate Congress' support for its recapitalization. NOAA
    relies heavily on the weather observations of our ships at sea.
    It only makes sense that the technology that supports weather
    prediction and distress beacon transmissions also require
    updates, and we thank Congress for their support for the JPSS
    for NOAA.
        As I mentioned before, every day the Coast Guard relies on
    NOAA's environmental products and distress alerting information
    to ensure the safety of our people, the security of our nation,
    and the protection of our environment. Thank you, and I look
    forward to answering any questions you may have.
        Senator Begich. Thank you again. Thanks to all of you for
    your testimony. I will start with 5 minutes with some questions
    here to Secretary Glackin.
        Let me ask you, in your testimony you talked about, and
    you've already heard from the others, too, that the potential
    gap, especially in 2016-2017, the 100 percent likelihood that
    there will be some gap of some sort at some level. You've also
    talked about how NOAA has significant innovation and ideas
    around advancing technology to improve weather forecasting and
    predictions.
        What are we doing to prepare for the potential gap that we
    have when we know it's coming? What is NOAA doing to prepare
    for that, and what innovative steps are you taking to kind of
    be ready for this potential?
        Ms. Glackin. Thank you, Senator. As Senator Snowe
    highlighted in her introductory remark, the projected gap that
    we're talking about is billed around how long we expect the NPP
    spacecraft, which we just launched, to be able to last, and
    when we're able to launch the JPSS-1 spacecraft and have that
    checked out so it's providing useful data, which is obviously
    not the day it's launched but some number of months after that.
        In regard to addressing what steps to take during that
    period of expected gap, there are two primary approaches that
    we've been taking. One is strengthening and trying to look at
    expanded international partnerships. So, for example, we rely
    today on the Europeans for a mid-morning orbit, and we need to
    ensure that that partnership stays strong in this period of
    time so that we'll have that data available to us so we won't
    be without any data. And for the Committee's background, that
    spacecraft does fly instruments that are used currently today
    in our models and are also what I would say are modern
    instruments, not ones that were developed 25 years ago.
        Senator Begich. Could I pause you there for 1 second? The
    economic troubles that Europe is going through, is there
    indication of problems with their funding of their continued
    programs that may affect us that you're partnering with?
        Ms. Glackin. Well, we can't say that it won't ultimately,
    but their next spacecraft that's due to be launched is fully
    funded and ready to go, and they have commitments, or
    subscriptions they call them, for follow-on efforts in that
    regard.
        Senator Begich. OK.
        Ms. Glackin. So they're well--I think they're well poised,
    and that's been an excellent partnership for us.
        Beyond that partnership, other countries that we look at
    when we look at who is flying instruments that would be
    comparable to this, unfortunately there's not a lot there, and
    one of the prime ones is China in that regard. So we do have a
    dialogue with China, but we have no plans in place in that
    regard. We do use some of their data today, is used in
    opportunistic ways. So that's one----
        Senator Begich. Do they use--if I can interrupt again. I
    apologize. Do they use any of our data going the other way?
        Ms. Glackin. Yes, yes.
        Senator Begich. OK.
        Ms. Glackin. Our data is freely available.
        Senator Begich. OK. So there is--I mean, for our satellite
    system to continue to operate efficiently and effectively, they
    have an interest in making sure that occurs, because their
    system is robust but not like ours.
        Ms. Glackin. That's right.
        Senator Begich. Is that fair to say?
        Ms. Glackin. It's fair to say, and it's also--I could
    further say that our instruments are of superior quality. They
    are, of course, putting a lot of money into their program in
    this regard, and they have a big pipeline coming. So I think
    that they will get better in capability.
        Senator Begich. Right. OK.
        Ms. Glackin. So that's what we're doing on the
    international front, which is probably the most ready thing to
    do.
        The other is to make sure that we're using all of the
    available data that we currently have, and this is in-situ
    data, observations that come from on-ground, as well as other
    satellite systems that are in this regard. We've really been in
    the position of doing this because we do this anyway. So there
    has not been a lot there that we can do in this regard, but we
    have been looking at that.
        And I want to stress to the Committee that using,
    assimilating satellite data into numerical weather prediction
    models is a non-trivial process. It takes months and years to
    get this done, and if you don't do it well, you can actually
    degrade the model forecast. So that's not a trivial process.
        But the staff is looking at that and trying to see, but
    there's really no substitute for a satellite system, obviously,
    because it's the way to get the ocean data over the ocean and
    things like that. So they're the two primary things we've been
    doing.
        Senator Begich. Very good. I'm going to ask one quick
    question to Mr. Zinser here, and then we'll continue to go with
    5 minutes for each remaining senator. Then we may do a second
    quick round depending on how people go and keep to the 5
    minutes.
        But, Mr. Zinser, let me ask you, do you think NOAA--I mean,
    I've read your recommendations, and do you think NOAA is
    prepared, if funding is flat or lack of funding occurs from
    Congress, to fill that gap?
        Mr. Zinser. Thank you, Senator. I think any kind of flat-
    lining of resources or a reduction of resources is going to
    make it more difficult, and what we're recommending is that the
    satellite data be made part of a larger formula. NOAA plugs the
    satellite data into a larger model to come up with their
    observations and predictions, and it needs to make sure that
    all parts of the agency are contributing to fixing the data
    gap.
        Senator Begich. Do you think they are doing that now?
        Mr. Zinser. NOAA is not doing everything that we're
    recommending. We think NOAA should have a coordinated effort
    across the lines of business with the studies necessary to
    determine how the lack of satellite data will degrade the
    forecast.
        Senator Begich. Very good. I'll follow up on this on my
    next round.
        Senator Snowe?
        Senator Snowe. Thank you. Just to clarify the issue of the
    short-term and the long-term data gap, does it depend, Mr.
    Zinser, on the question of funding only? I understand that's
    obviously one of the major issues, but is it the only issue
    with respect to the possibility of having this coverage gap?
        Mr. Zinser. For the potential near-term gap between NOAA-19
    and NPP, it's not so much a funding issue as an issue of
    calibration and validation work that needs to be done with
    respect to NPP data collecting. Funding is more of an issue for
    JPSS-1, and if there is a reduction in any kind of funding,
    that will result in some extension of the gap.
        Senator Snowe. How long would that short-term gap be?
        Mr. Zinser. Potentially it may not exist at all. The issue
    is how well NOAA can get the ground system and the science
    behind the data validated and calibrated in order to produce
    the necessary weather forecast data.
        Senator Snowe. Ms. Glackin, you mentioned the fact, when
    you were referring to NOAA's response to the report that was
    issued by the Inspector General, that the Inspector General's
    report should clarify the budgetary assumptions, and that
    specifically they should say what request is going to be
    essential to avoiding or averting this coverage gap. Is that
    correct?
        Ms. Glackin. Senator, I believe that you're referring to a
    comment that we had on the draft report, was the Inspector
    General was projecting a particular gap.
        Senator Snowe. Right.
        Ms. Glackin. And we've been trying to be careful in this
    long period of time, which is going about 18 months now, where
    we've had various numbers on the table at various times to be
    consistent about what assumptions go into a gap. So that was
    the only point that we were making in the Inspector General's
    report, is that it would be helpful to have the underlying
    assumptions documented.
        Senator Snowe. What should be the underlying assumption for
    the budget, then? I guess I'm trying to understand that,
    because the conference report has it 13 percent less than the
    administration's request.
        Ms. Glackin. So let me talk to that directly. First of all,
    thank you again. It's been fabulous support from this committee
    for JPSS, and we are extremely pleased at the conference report
    that came out and look forward to that being signed into law.
        Based on that, my expectation is that when the President
    delivers, my expectation is when the 2013 budget comes out,
    we'll reflect into that the JPSS program, including the
    projected launch dates that will also take into account the
    best we're able to deliver in the time-frame. We have to
    respond to the Senate language about out-year costs, which was
    also, at least in part, picked up in the conference report.
        So I think that given what looks like some certainty in the
    funding for 2012 at a level that's not perfect but certainly
    very good for this program, we'll be in a much better position
    to inform the Committee about what we expect that to be.
        Senator Snowe. Mr. Zinser, what would be your response? Do
    you think the administration's request is the minimum that is
    required in order to keep it on track?
        Mr. Zinser. Thank you, Senator. One issue that NOAA needs
    to finalize right away is its requirements document. This lays
    out cost, schedule, and other requirements; it also provides a
    baseline. They need a baseline. And the current timeline for
    the launch that NOAA has provided for November 2016 is, as far
    as I know, based on the President's Fiscal Year 2012 request.
        Our assumptions going in were that funding was going to be
    somewhat lower than the President's request; and, in fact, it
    will be. As a result, we've added some time in the timeline and
    are projecting a launch more in the first quarter of the
    calendar year (as opposed to the Fiscal Year) in 2017.
        Senator Snowe. I think you make an excellent suggestion
    about a baseline, for NOAA to draft a baseline with all the
    specific requirements. I think that's very essential for costs
    and other requirements to stay on track.
        Ms. Glackin. If I could just add, that's what I was
    referring to that would be part of the 2013 budget.
        What we're saying is consistent.
        Senator Snowe. That's great.
        At a recent hearing, Ms. Glackin, before the House
    Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, Kathryn Sullivan
    of NOAA, testified that NOAA in collaboration with NASA has
    fully staffed the JPSS program, that the office was staffed by
    NOAA and NASA and the Air Force and contract officers. And I
    gather that is at a staffing level of 819, although that's far
    short of what NOAA had projected or estimated originally, that
    it would require 1,600 contract employees.
        So what accounts for the discrepancy, and how is that going
    to affect the program?
        Ms. Glackin. OK. With the reduced funding that we've had in
    2011, we had to limit our priorities and work to getting NPP
    launched and fully operational, getting an operational data
    stream, and then maintaining work on some critical satellite
    instruments that would fly on JPSS-1. We have staff to be able
    to support those activities.
        However, there is more that we need to do and would be,
    again, why we're so excited about the conference report. We'll
    now begin to add staff to bring it up to levels that we had
    projected because we're going to be able to expand efforts into
    areas that we need to work on; for example, the spacecraft bus
    for JPSS-1.
        Senator Snowe. So will you be going up to the 1,600?
        Ms. Glackin. I can't give you an exact number today, but
    I'd be happy to take that for the record.
        Senator Snowe. I appreciate that. Thank you.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
        Senator Boozman?

                    STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BOOZMAN,
                       U.S. SENATOR FROM ARKANSAS

        Senator Boozman. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Secretary Glackin, in your testimony you talked about the
    importance of high-performance computing, and you also
    mentioned earlier that you are working with the Europeans in
    this area. Are we working with the other departmental agencies
    to see if they can be of value in utilizing their computing
    resources? And along these lines, can you comment on the
    technical developments that they've developed with our other
    agencies?
        Ms. Glackin. So the short answer is yes, that we are doing
    that. We work across the Federal agencies, and in particular
    with the Department of Defense, the Navy, and the Air Force
    there, NOAA, and we also work with NASA and DOE on climate
    issues and things like that. So we work in terms of the
    numerical weather prediction models that we use. Currently,
    NOAA is using all of its own high-performance resources to do
    this. We have back-up, fail-back capabilities there, but we
    don't actually use them operationally.
        Senator Boozman. Mr. Zinser, in your written testimony,
    could you please clear up something for me? I'm a bit confused.
    You talk about the NPP satellite and that it's good for 5
    years, but the instruments are only good for 3 years in some
    specific or certain cases. Could you please elaborate on that
    and tell me a little bit about the problem?
        Mr. Zinser. Yes. The issue is that the instruments being
    used on NPP have been transferred from the NPOESS program, but
    because the NPP was originally designed as a test satellite,
    these instruments were not constructed according to NASA
    standards. They were constructed according to standards set by
    the contractor, and there is some concern that since they
    didn't get much government oversight while they were being
    developed, they may not last as long as they should. Therefore
    our conservative estimate is 3 years for the instruments. The 5
    years is for the end-of-life design of the satellite itself,
    but there's enough fuel on the satellite to go for 7 years.
        Senator Boozman. And how confident are you with regards to
    the 3 year versus the 5 year time frame guarantee?
        Mr. Zinser. It's very hard to say based on the limitations
    that we've identified, but I think 3 years is a conservative
    estimate.
        Senator Boozman. Very good. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Begich. Thank you very much. We'll do one quick,
    final round here before we dismiss the panel. We thank you very
    much.
        I just want to follow up if I can on the question I had
    earlier, Mr. Zinser, in regards to the recommendations and is
    NOAA prepared, are they doing it, are they coordinating.
        Are there things that indicate to you that they are ready
    and willing to do that, or is it just a process that they're
    just not geared up yet to have that cross-coordination of all
    the different agencies to prepare a--I call it kind of a Plan
    B, but also the baseline. Can you respond to that?
        Mr. Zinser. Yes. I think that NOAA and NASA are working
    diligently, as I mentioned. They have to overcome many years of
    setbacks under the NPOESS program. NPP itself is a contingency
    operation, and they have had to make decisions in that program
    that haven't eliminated all the risks. For example, we
    incidated in our report, certain aspects of the ground system
    had to be deferred until after launch, because their efforts
    were focused on getting the NPP satellite launched. A lot of
    the prelaunch work that may have gone on under a normal program
    ahead of the launch with respect to the ground system has been
    deferred until now, after the satellite has been launched.
        Thus they have had competing demands on their resources and
    time, but I think that they are looking at different ways to
    mitigate the gap, and we're going to continue our oversight
    there.
        Senator Begich. And from your end of it on the oversight,
    can I assume that is also probably a role and responsibility we
    should have to make sure that we're checking in with you on a
    regular basis to make sure it is happening?
        Mr. Zinser. Yes, sir. We'd be happy to keep your staff
    informed, and we have a number of audits that we've planned to
    carry out this year on both the JPSS, and GOES program.
        Senator Begich. Excellent. And then I thought I heard you
    say that your analysis of the gap was based on funding but at a
    little lower amount than what was proposed by the President's
    budget. Did I hear that right?
        Mr. Zinser. Yes, sir.
        Senator Begich. OK. And a likelihood I think in your
    report--and if I'm wrong on this percentage, correct me--was
    upwards of 80 percent likelihood there will be a gap, even with
    that funding with a reduced amount, which probably reflects
    what the conference committee report is now about to produce.
        Mr. Zinser. Yes, sir. One of the difficulties in estimating
    the JPSS-1 gap is the period of time needed to check out the
    instruments. Right now, for example, the checkout could be as
    long as 18 months. As a result, when NOAA comes up with its
    baseline, the estimate for JPSS-1 instrument checkout will be
    critical. It could be 6 months, it could be 18 months.
        Senator Begich. Eighteen months. Got you. Thank you very
    much.
        Let me ask two quick questions to the other two that are
    here that probably thought you were going to be off the hook
    with no questions. I know what the feeling is sitting there.
    You're going, ``Please, no questions. I've done my testimony.
    Let me go sit back in the chair.'' Not possible here.
        [Laughter.]
        Senator Begich. Let me, Mr. Trimble, let me ask you, and I
    know GAO did a web-based kind of questionnaire in asking
    agencies and others should there be a Federal service to
    consolidate and deliver climate information to decisionmakers,
    and I think it was 60 percent or somewhere in that area if I
    remember right, a pretty high percentage said yes.
        Can you just elaborate a little more on that, and do you
    think having a centralized system like that, or a central place
    for information, will create some restrictive ability for it to
    be flexible and nimble in this ever-changing information that's
    flowing? Does that question make sense to you?
        Mr. Trimble. Absolutely.
        Senator Begich. OK.
        Mr. Trimble. In our 2009 report, we surveyed knowledgeable
    climate information users in various branches of government,
    and you're right, about 61 percent thought that having a single
    source for climate data would be useful.
        There are advantages to that approach, Information users
    would have a single source, a common methodology, and there is
    potential to save money. A small minority, it was about 6
    percent, didn't think it would be useful. So it's pretty----
        Senator Begich. Pretty overwhelming.
        Mr. Trimble. Pretty overwhelming. The downsides, as you
    point out, come from comments in an NRC paper from 2009. The
    National Research Council raised those concerns about being
    detached from the users who need the information. So I think
    there's always tension about how much centralization. If you
    get too centralized, you get away from the people who need the
    data. So I think what they were pointing out was concerns that
    if you get too centralized, you are getting away from the
    people who need climate information it is difficult to be
    responsive.
        In this area in particular, the users of climate-related
    data are not necessarily traditional NOAA customers, so you
    don't necessarily have the same longstanding relationship. So I
    think that was the gist of it.
        Senator Begich. Is that something that could be mitigated
    you feel?
        Mr. Trimble. You know, we've not done work on that
    question. I expect it could be. We've not reviewed the details
    of any plan for this, but I assume that could be tackled.
        Senator Begich. Very good. Thank you very much.
        Admiral Thomas, let me ask you just a quick question. First
    off, thank you for those couple of examples of how weather
    information is vital.
        In your work that's occurring and continuing to increase
    really as you look at the Arctic and Alaska and the issues of
    oil and gas and transportation, all the things that are
    happening now in the Arctic, when I look at the dates of 2016,
    2017, through 2017, beginning of 2018, there's going to be a
    lot of activity up there, with or without us promoting it, I
    mean the U.S. I mean, there's shipping already going, there are
    visitors, what's going on in Russia, all kinds of activity.
        Give me your thoughts or maybe just quickly. Do you think
    that the Coast Guard is fully engaged enough to make sure that
    NOAA has the necessary information? Because without that
    weather information, you're going to be at a disadvantage. Is
    that a fair statement?
        Admiral Thomas. Thank you, Senator. What I'd like to do is
    just describe a little bit about how we prosecute search and
    rescue, and how we then apply weather data in order to help
    provide the very best operational decisions to be able to
    minimize risk and increase response time.
        So search and rescue is a system. And so for us, it
    requires us to use airplanes, to use ships, to use boats, to
    use commercial mariners, to use other commercial salvage people
    in order to prosecute a search and rescue case. Well, it's the
    same thing as a consumer of weather. So we use NOAA data, we
    use DOD data, we use NGA data, we use international partner
    data, observers in airplanes, observers on the sea, NASA,
    international partners. All help provide data that goes into
    our search and rescue system.
        So then we'll get data on-scene, and then we send out the
    right asset. We make search planning decisions based on all
    that information.
        Two roles that I play. I sit on FEMA's Emergency Support
    Functions Leadership Group, and in that capacity is we're
    preparing for all disasters. We're responding to them. Weather
    is a critical part of that. Secondarily, I am also the chair of
    the National Search and Rescue Committee, and NOAA is an
    important player on that as well, both from the weather
    perspective as well as the distress beacon perspective.
        So minimizing the gap in-between the NPP and the JPSS
    system will allow us to improve response time, will allow us to
    minimize the risk to our crews, will allow us to increase our
    effectiveness on-scene.
        Senator Begich. Very good. Thank you very much, Admiral.
        Senator Snowe?
        Senator Snowe. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
        Admiral Thomas, one of the key components of the JPSS is
    the Search and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking sensor, SARSAT.
    During his testimony before the Subcommittee on Investigations
    and Oversight and Environment in the House of Representatives
    back in September, David Powner of the GAO testified that NOAA
    had not yet determined how it would accommodate the sensor on
    the JPSS-1 satellite.
        Given the importance of this sensor for search and rescue
    missions, can you tell the Committee exactly what action the
    Coast Guard is taking to coordinate with NOAA on this sensor?
        Admiral Thomas. Thank you, Senator. As I understand, the
    first launch of the first JPSS will not hold a SARSAT system on
    it, but that said, there are other satellite providers that
    will allow us to get rescue data, beacon data. One is a
    geostationary satellite that will continue to be flying.
    Second, the Coast Guard is partnering with the Air Force to
    provide a medium Earth orbit satellite that will allow us to
    get additional information as well.
        And so weather prediction and distress beacon is sort of
    like intelligence, and you wish it to be perfect; it's never
    perfect. So through a combination of those technologies, I
    believe that the Coast Guard will have sufficient capabilities,
    but minimizing the gap will be important for us.
        Senator Snowe. So, it is yet to be established; is that
    correct?
        Admiral Thomas. That's correct. I understand the second,
    the next version of JPSS will then go into SARSAT after that.
    Yes, ma'am.
        Senator Snowe. Ms. Glackin, do you have any comments on
    that?
        Ms. Glackin. Yes, I would like to comment on that. The
    Admiral is quite correct that it's not going to be on the JPSS-
    1 satellite. However, it still is included in that timeframe,
    and NOAA is currently assessing opportunities to launch this,
    whether it would be in a free-fly or another mission of
    opportunity. So that's something that we're working through in
    the coming months.
        Senator Snowe. Admiral Thomas, I noted that there was a
    strong partnership between NOAA and the Coast Guard during the
    Deep Water Horizon oil spill, and there was very close
    cooperation and coordination. Can you tell the Subcommittee how
    well that worked in terms of determining the currents, the
    tides, and winds with regard to the movement of the oil?
        Admiral Thomas. Yes, Senator. Thank you. One of the
    important partnerships that NOAA brought to the table is this
    program called the Scientific Support Coordinator. So NOAA is a
    partner of a national response team, of which the Coast Guard
    and EPA are the co-chairs of that team. And then at the
    regional level there are regional response teams that also help
    provide technical information and strategic priorities for
    regional responses.
        So then when it gets down to the local level, the Federal
    on-scene coordinator needs a suite of folks to help them make
    the very best operational decisions that they can make, and
    NOAA's Scientific Support Coordinator, very important partner
    in that effort, provides principal science advice to the
    Federal on-scene coordinator, provides trajectory forecasts,
    provides GIS information, information management. They brought
    a system called ERMA, which was really crucial to us in making
    good decisions.
        Shoreline clean-up assessments, all part of the Scientific
    Coordinator's support and really an important part of our
    response efforts in Deep Water Horizon.
        Senator Snowe. I appreciate that.
        Mr. Trimble, you mentioned in a report that was published
    in May that there needs to be greater coordination between
    appropriations and our priorities with respect to climate
    research. Given there hasn't been a clear interagency strategy
    and coordination when it comes to Earth Observation issues if a
    climate service was created, how would that help or how would
    that hurt? Are there risks or benefits involved?
        Mr. Trimble. From our most recent report there's a broader
    need across the Federal Government on the issue of climate
    change for a more coherent, articulated national strategy.
    Right now, from our survey of users, there's a different sense
    of what the priorities are. There's no clear articulation of
    that. I think a climate service could help focus some of these
    issues.
        But as I alluded to earlier, there are pros and cons when
    you centralize. You risk over-centralizing. We've not taken a
    position on the creation of a climate service. Our reports have
    really just talked about the pros and cons at this point.
        Senator Snowe. Thank you. Can I just make one point? Mr.
    Zinser, I think you've made an excellent recommendation in your
    report, suggesting that NOAA should develop a plan or strategy
    to report to Congress with understandable data, the impact of
    losing the satellite capacity and what the satellite capacity
    means for the future, with respect to identifying and
    anticipating events much sooner. As we know, the JPSS program,
    is expected to reduce the cone of uncertainty for the landfall
    of the eye of the storm by estimated 875 miles which is a big
    difference in allowing communities to be able to evacuate
    sooner and so on. So it saves lives, and it saves money.
        I think that that would be a very useful report for
    Congress to understand the connection between all of this and
    the material effect, both in terms of life and property and
    what it means to this country. That would be very helpful.
        I gather, Ms. Glackin, that NOAA is in the process of doing
    that?
        Ms. Glackin. Yes. We accepted the Inspector General's
    recommendations and we'll be moving forward on them.
        Senator Snowe. Thank you. Ms. Glackin, I wish you well. On
    your three decades of service to this country, thank you.
        Senator Begich. Can I ask you a quick one on that? When do
    you think you'll have a report that will be ready to present?
    If you can't answer that right now, can you get that for the
    record?
        Ms. Glackin. Yes, let me come back, because I guess what
    I'm thinking about is that we need to work through, given the
    resources we have now, what's the timeframe. I think you would
    like not only all of the impacts but you'd like to know what's
    that expected gap and when are we expected to see it.
        Senator Begich. Yes.
        Ms. Glackin. So I think we're going to be, again, pretty
    much consistent with the President's budget coming out, that
    information.
        Senator Begich. OK. Well, we look forward to that, if you
    can get that data, so we can do some additional follow-through
    on this part of the Committee.
        Senator Boozman, do you have some additional?
        Senator Boozman. Just a quick question, Mr. Chairman.
        Admiral Thomas, you mentioned a number of different tools
    that you use in weather predicting and forecasting. I guess the
    only thing I would ask of you, while we've got you here, is how
    can we make things easier? Are there some specific technical
    things that you lack that might be helpful, some gaps that you
    have that you'd like to see done to make your life a little bit
    easier in being able to carry out your mission?
        Admiral Thomas. Thank you, Senator. As a consumer of
    weather, we are always looking with our various partners to
    help improve the quality of the data. Having done many, many
    assignments around the Coast Guard and watching the weather and
    making decisions about are we going to go to sea or are we
    going to have to close a port, all very difficult challenges
    for us. And as I mentioned, we use all of our different
    partners because truly making these kinds of decisions is an
    art, and there's nothing perfect about it.
        And so you take the very, very best information that you
    have when you're trying to sort out where you're going to
    search for someone who is lost, how long you're going to search
    for them, and between things like in the Gulf of Maine has an
    oceanographic observatory system that provides information to
    our computer systems. We take information from DOD. We take
    information from NOAA. We take information--our weather guys
    are looking at commercial providers as well to be able to
    provide the best things that we can. So we're consumers.
        Senator Boozman. Is there some information out there
    somewhere that you'd like to collect that's not there but
    nevertheless would be helpful in your job?
        Admiral Thomas. Right now we've got everything that we
    need. But, of course, I'd probably defer to NOAA to continue to
    support continued improvements in that.
        Senator Boozman. OK. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
        Senator Begich. Thank you very much, and I want to thank
    this panel. I appreciate your time here, again being patient
    while we asked our second round of questions. Thank you.
        We'll now have the next panel come up. And as they get
    situated, we have three individuals that will present on the
    next panel. Again, we want to thank everyone for taking the
    time out of their busy schedules to attend and help give us
    information to do a better job in forecasting and predicting
    weather and what we need to do to continue to be innovative in
    this arena.
        The next panel, feel free to go ahead and grab your seats.
    Thank you again very much for being here, and we'll go from my
    left to right in the sense of presentation. So again, we thank
    you.
        The first person we have is Mr. Tom Iseman, Program
    Director, Water Policy and Implementation, Climate Adaptation,
    Western Governors' Association.
        Again, we thank you, and we thank you for kind of the
    unique partnership that's being developed. So, please.

      STATEMENT OF TOM ISEMAN, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, WATER POLICY AND
        IMPLEMENTATION, CLIMATE ADAPTATION, WESTERN GOVERNORS'
                              ASSOCIATION

        Mr. Iseman. Thank you, Chairman Begich, Ranking Member
    Snowe, and members of the Committee. Good morning. I'm Tom
    Iseman. I'm the Program Director for Water and Climate
    Adaptation at the Western Governors' Association. WGA is a
    bipartisan, consensus-based organization that represents the
    Governors of 19 Western states and three U.S. Flag Pacific
    Islands.
        Western Governors have long recognized the significant
    impacts that severe weather events, climate extremes, and long-
    term climate trends can have on life in the West. Whether it is
    drought, heat waves, severe storms, too little snowpack, or too
    much river runoff, they affect natural resources,
    infrastructure, economies, and communities throughout the
    Western states. That is why WGA has such a strong interest in
    the weather and climate data and forecasting services of the
    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and why we
    appreciate the opportunity to testify here today.
        Drought in particular has been a high priority for the
    Western Governors, and it has been a catalyst for WGA's work
    with NOAA. We have worked on drought issues for several
    decades, with many administrations and across party lines.
        The National Integrated Drought Information System, or
    NIDIS, is one of the success stories of our work on drought.
    The NIDIS Act was passed by Congress in 2006. NIDIS is building
    an emerging network of regional drought early warning systems.
    It established a drought portal where information is integrated
    across agencies, and it's available at one place online, at
    drought.gov.
        And most importantly, WGA and the Western states have
    worked directly with NOAA and the Federal agencies to co-
    develop this system, making NIDIS a model for the development
    and delivery of integrated drought and climate information.
        While drought can be a widespread and severe phenomenon,
    the Governors recognize that a variety of climate and weather
    events affect the West. Building on our work on drought, the
    Governors adopted a policy resolution in 2009 addressing
    climate adaptation science in the West. The policy calls for
    improved predictive capabilities at a regional scale; increased
    coordination among Federal agencies and with state agencies;
    and the establishment of a National Climate Service to
    undertake and communicate research and modeling of climate and
    its impacts.
        Recent events in the West have only underscored the need
    for enhanced coordination, improved data networks, and advanced
    predictive models on climate and weather events. For example,
    the states of the Upper Missouri River Basin have just endured
    prolonged and widespread flooding, affecting hundreds of homes
    and communities throughout the basin. Governors from the Upper
    Missouri states agree on the need for improved forecasting to
    reduce flood risk.
        In recent testimony on the Missouri River Annual Operating
    Plan, Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota called for
    significant improvements in predicting snowpack accumulation
    and annual runoff, and he urged consideration of NOAA's
    forecast for a recurrence of the La Nina climate pattern in
    planning reservoir management for 2012.
        The same is true of other recent or current events. The
    American Southwest is in the midst of severe drought. Guam and
    other islands in the West Pacific are located in Typhoon Alley
    and experience an array of extreme weather events, or Alaska,
    which just last week saw its coast buffeted by a severe storm
    that Chairman Begich described.
        These and other weather and climate events are confronting
    states and local communities every day, and NOAA provides
    essential information for states to prepare and respond. This
    is why the Governors and NOAA entered into a Memorandum of
    Understanding this summer at the Annual Meeting of WGA. The MOU
    focuses on sharing weather and climate information, with a
    particular emphasis on disaster risk reduction.
        Under the MOU, WGA and NOAA intend to target the most
    pressing weather and climate issues in specific sub-regions of
    the Western states; for example, water resources in the Pacific
    Northwest, snowpack and river runoff in the Upper Missouri,
    drought in the Southwest, and coastal management on the West
    Coast and Pacific Islands.
        Over the course of our work with NOAA, several key and
    consistent themes have emerged. These are not technological
    innovations but rather innovation in how we develop and apply
    forecasts to reduce the impact of weather and climate events.
        We encourage building state partnerships or partnerships
    directly between NOAA and the states. We recognize the
    importance of engaging the private sector in this effort. We
    urge the design of regionally focused programs. National
    information is useful, but we really need to get down to the
    local level to understand impacts and take action. We recognize
    the need for improving predictive capabilities and models, and
    also recognizing the uncertainty associated with forecasts. And
    we want to emphasize the importance of providing basic data,
    like temperature, precipitation, snowpack, and stream gauging.
        And finally, we do agree with the points about the need to
    coordinate the Federal climate enterprise.
        In conclusion, Western Governors are taking a pragmatic
    approach to weather and climate issues. They recognize the
    impacts of weather and climate trends, climate extremes and
    long-term trends, and they seek information to make sound
    management decisions. NOAA plays an essential role in this
    effort, and we are pleased to work to strengthen the
    development and delivery of this critical information.
        Thank you.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Iseman follows:]

     Prepared Statement of Tom Iseman, Program Director, Water and Climate
                   Adaptation, Western Governors' Association
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senators, Ladies and Gentlemen.

        Good Morning. I am Tom Iseman, Program Director for Water and
    Climate Adaptation issues at the Western Governors' Association. I am
    pleased to participate this morning on behalf of the Western Governors'
    Association. WGA is a bipartisan, consensus-based organization that
    represents the Governors of 19 Western states and 3 U.S. Flag Pacific
    Islands. The Governors work through the WGA to identify and address key
    policy and governance issues, which include natural resources, the
    environment, human services, and economic development.
        Western Governors have long recognized the significant impacts that
    severe weather events and long-term climate trends can have on life in
    the West. Whether it is drought, heat waves, severe storms, too little
    snowpack or too much river runoff--they all affect the environment,
    infrastructure, economies and communities throughout the Western
    states. That is why WGA has such a strong interest in the weather and
    climate forecasting services of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration, and we appreciate the opportunity to testify here
    today.
        Drought, in particular, has been a high priority for the Western
    Governors, and it has been a catalyst for WGA's working relationship
    with NOAA. We have worked on drought issues for several decades, with
    many administrations and across party lines. You can find many of WGA's
    reports and resolutions on this topic on our website, and we have
    provided a brief bibliography in our formal submission.
        When the National Drought Policy Commission was convened in 1998,
    no sitting Western Governors were included. Gov. Brian Schweitzer,
    prior to being elected Governor of Montana, was one of 15 members of
    the commission, listed simply as ``Montana farmer, rancher and soil
    scientist.'' Of course, he later became the Governor of Montana and
    Chair of the WGA, during which he carried with him a strong commitment
    to address drought issues.
        The National Integrated Drought Information System, or NIDIS, is
    one of the success stories of our work on drought. The NIDIS Act was
    passed by Congress in 2006. It established a `drought portal' where
    information is integrated across agencies, providing a single entry
    point for users of drought information online at www.drought.gov. NIDIS
    is also building an emerging network of drought early warning systems,
    working with local managers to address key regional drought planning
    needs. Importantly, NIDIS demonstrates a partnership among the Federal
    agencies and between the Federal agencies and states and other
    stakeholders. WGA has worked directly with NOAA and the Federal
    agencies to `co-develop' this system, making NIDIS a model for the
    delivery of integrated drought and climate information in partnership
    between Federal agencies and states.
        While drought has been a focal interest, the Governors recognize
    that a variety of climate and weather events affect the Western
    economy, public health, and the environment. Building on our work on
    drought, the Governors adopted a policy resolution (09-2) in 2009
    addressing climate adaptation science in the West. This policy calls
    for improved predictive capabilities at a regional scale; increased
    coordination among Federal agencies and with state agencies; and the
    establishment of a ``National Climate Service'' to undertake and
    communicate research and modeling of climate and its impacts.
        The resolution also established a Climate Adaptation Work Group
    comprising Western state resource managers across a range of sectors
    that includes water, wildlife, air quality, and forests. The Work Group
    partnered with a number of entities, including NOAA and other Federal
    agencies, to prepare a Scoping Report on climate adaptation priorities
    for the Western States. This report elaborates on the Western States'
    priorities for climate science, including both observational data and
    predictive models, as well as enhanced communication between scientists
    and decisionmakers.
        Recent events in the West have only underscored the importance of
    coordination, data, and predictive models on climate and weather
    events. For example, the states of the Upper Missouri River Basin have
    just endured prolonged and widespread flooding, affecting hundreds of
    homes and communities throughout the basin. A group of Governors from
    Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana has called for
    improved forecasting of snowpack and runoff in order to reduce flood
    risk. In recent testimony on the Missouri River Annual Operating Plan,
    Governor Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota called for ``significant
    improvements in predicting snowpack accumulation and annual runoff,''
    \1\ and he urged consideration of NOAA's forecast for another La Nina
    climate pattern in planning reservoir management for 2012. As North
    Dakota's State Water Engineer put it: ``this (2011) was an
    unprecedented year; we need to know if we're likely to see these kinds
    of events again--and potentially more often--in the future.''
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Governor Jack Dalrymple, North Dakota, Testimony for the U.S.
    Army Corps of Engineers Public Scoping Meeting on the Missourit River
    Annual Operating Plan, Bismark, ND, November 1, 2011.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Similarly, the American Southwest is in the midst of a severe
    drought; agricultural losses alone in Texas have been estimated to
    exceed $5 billion.\2\ Information on current and projected conditions,
    as is being provided by NIDIS, is essential to states and local
    communities that are affected by drought events. The same is true of
    fire management and response, species conservation, coastal protection,
    infrastructure investment, and a variety of other decisions that states
    and local communities are making every day: they are affected by short-
    term weather events and long-term climate trends, and NOAA provides
    essential information for states to prepare and respond.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \2\ Travis Miller, et al, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service,
    August 2011.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        This is why the Governors and NOAA entered into a Memorandum of
    Understanding this summer at the Annual Meeting of WGA. The MOU focuses
    on sharing weather and climate information,\3\ with a particular focus
    on disaster risk reduction in the Western states. As Governor Gregoire,
    WGA's Chair, said on signing the agreement, ``a good working
    relationship with NOAA in providing science and information services
    states need will help us all build healthy and resilient communities
    and economies.'' Under the MOU, WGA and NOAA intend to target the most
    pressing weather and climate issues in specific sub-regions of the
    Western states, for example water management in the Pacific Northwest,
    snowpack and river runoff in the Upper Missouri, coastal erosion on the
    West Coast and Pacific Islands and drought in the Southwest.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \3\ See WGA Inventory of Existing NOAA Climate Services and how
    they are Currently Used, prepared by WGA for Governor Otter, March
    2011.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Over the course of our work with NOAA, several key and consistent
    themes have emerged:

       State Partnerships: NOAA must work directly with states. It
            is not enough to post forecasts. By working directly with
            states (and other partners), NOAA can ensure that its climate
            and weather services are available to decisionmakers and
            resource managers, and they can tailor future products to
            respond to user needs

       Private Sector Engagement: Governors recognize the important
            role of the private sector, both as providers and users of
            climate information. When the MOU was signed, Governor Gregoire
            and Administrator Lubchenco co-hosted a `business roundtable'
            with select industries with a clear nexus to climate and
            weather. We are pleased to see a private sector panelist today
            and look forward to continued work with the private sector in
            this effort.

       Regional Programs: Weather and climate events, and our
            vulnerabilities to them, vary by region. NOAA must respond to
            regional variability and priorities by tailoring information
            services to the appropriate climatic and management scale. In
            NIDIS, we have called these `Regional Early Warning Systems.' A
            national map may tell a good story, but users need more
            tailored information in order to make investment and management
            decisions.

       Predictive Capability: WGA (and an array of other resource
            managers) consistently call for better forecasts, from seasonal
            to multi-decadal time scales. That said, we recognize the
            challenges and inherent uncertainties regarding projections of
            future climate. Resource managers can make decisions under
            climate uncertainty, and have done so for decades in the
            American West; but they need clear acknowledgment and
            quantification of uncertainty associated with weather and
            climate forecasts.

       Basic Data: Western States continually emphasize the
            importance of basic data to sound resource management. In
            addition to temperature and precipitation and other data
            provided by NOAA, this includes USGS streamgaging and NRCS
            snowpack monitoring. These basic data may be overlooked in the
            discussion of global climate models and orbiting satellites,
            but they are a fundamental tool of day-to-day resource
            management in the West.

       Coordination of Federal Agencies: While NOAA is the
            undisputed expert in atmospheric sciences, many Federal
            agencies contribute weather and climate information or, like
            the states, have management responsibilities that are affected
            by weather and climate. We urge greater coordination across the
            Federal enterprise and clearer points of contact for the
            states, which are often confused and overburdened by the array
            of Federal initiatives around climate.

        In conclusion, Western Governors are taking a pragmatic approach to
    weather and climate. They recognize the impacts of weather events and
    climate trends, and they seek information to make sound management
    decisions. NOAA plays an essential role in this effort, and the
    Governors are pleased to work to strengthen delivery of this critical
    information and make it more responsive to state needs. We thank you
    for the opportunity to be here today.
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Senators, Ladies and Gentlemen.
                                     ______

                        Western Governors' Association
                             Policy Resolution 09-2
    Supporting the Integration of Climate Change Adaptation Science in the
            West
    A. Background
      1.  Global warming poses a serious threat to the Western economy,
                public health and environment. The impacts of climate
                change are being observed in Western states and are
                predicted to worsen in the future. The potential adverse
                consequences include variability of precipitation leading
                to serious water supply problems, the degradation of air
                quality, damage to infrastructure, and the loss of plant
                and animal species. Global warming will directly affect
                Western industries including tourism, skiing, fishing,
                agriculture and forestry and will disproportionally affect
                communities with limited resources to adapt and cope.

      2.  Western Governors recognize that while action to reduce
                greenhouse gas emissions are occurring at the local, state,
                regional and Federal levels of government, simultaneous
                efforts should be taken to mitigate current and potential
                future impacts from climate change.

      3.  Appropriate actions to decrease greenhouse gas emissions must be
                taken to avoid, reduce and delay the adverse impacts of
                global warming to Western states. In addition, adaption is
                necessary to address impacts to Western states from warming
                which is unavoidable due to past and current emissions.

      4.  Predictive modeling is being used by decisionmakers to mitigate
                potential economic, social and environmental impacts of
                climate change and this type of planning data should be
                encouraged. However, these models are still being developed
                and their effectiveness for application to natural resource
                planning should be assessed and implemented appropriately.

      5.  The Western States Water Council (WSWC) and the Western
                Governors' Wildlife Council (WGWC) are actively pursuing
                strategies to identify and adapt to impacts from climate
                variability on water and wildlife resources, as identified
                in WGA reports.
    B. Governors' Policy Statement
      1.  Western Governors believe that planning for climate change
                adaptation should be undertaken in a coordinated fashion at
                all levels of government with state expertise being fully
                utilized. Such planning must be in cooperation and
                consultation with the private sector and non-governmental
                organizations.

      2.  Western Governors urge Congress and the Administration to fund
                research to improve predictive capabilities for climate
                change and related impacts at regional and global levels.

      3.  Western Governors encourage Congress and the Administration to
                prioritize investment in Federal programs that study
                climate adaptation, addressing scientific questions,
                natural resource management, and protection of
                infrastructure at the regional, state and local levels.

      4.  Western Governors support the establishment of new revenue
                streams to support climate adaptation in relevant climate
                change legislation.

      5.  Western Governors support streamlined coordination of Federal
                agencies that respond to climate adaptation and greater
                cooperation with state agencies.

      6.  Western Governors encourage Congress and the Administration to
                support the development of a National Climate Service to
                undertake, coordinate and communicate necessary research
                and modeling with respect to climate change and adaptation.
                A National Climate Service should provide relevant decision
                tools for local and state governments in addressing climate
                change and adaptation issues, should connect social, health
                and economic trends to climate change (and vice versa), and
                should include in its mission public education and
                outreach.

      7.  Western Governors agree that results from ongoing scientific
                research should be assessed and incorporated into policies
                related to climate change adaptation and greenhouse gas
                emission reduction strategies. (E.g. as predicted impacts
                worsen; mitigation efforts should be stepped up).
    C. Governors' Management Directive
      1.  The Western Governors direct WGA staff to establish a Climate
                Adaptation Work Group (CAWG) for the purpose of determining
                appropriate uses of climate adaptation modeling in
                informing natural resource and economic infrastructure
                planning and policies, and for identifying and filling
                existing gaps in climate adaptation efforts within WGA.
                This work group could also review current and future
                climate legislation to assess the impact to states and
                their efforts to adapt to a changing climate and report
                their findings to the WGA Staff Council.

      2.  Chairs or their designees from existing WGA initiatives will
                comprise the initial membership of the CAWG. These existing
                groups include WGA's working groups on water, forest
                health, wildlife habitat, wildlife corridors and air
                quality. This initial membership of CAWG will compare
                efforts, share information and identify gaps in their work
                as it relates to the broad issues of climate change
                adaptation at the state and regional levels. The CAWG will
                report these findings to the WGA Staff Council along with
                recommendations for the need for, mission and composition
                of an expanded CAWG.

      3.  The Western Governors direct WGA staff to conduct a workshop to
                study current climate change modeling and the application
                of different models to policy decisionmaking, using the
                North American Regional Climate Change Assessment program
                as the starting point for consideration.

      4.  The Western Governors direct WGA staff to work with the CAWG to
                prepare a report outlining how to more effectively use
                climate change modeling in policy decisionmaking.

      5.  WGA shall post this resolution to its website to be referred to
                and transmitted as necessary.
                                     ______

    Prepared by the Western Governors' Association, March 2011

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Inventory of Existing NOAA Climate Services and how they are Currently
     Used: This table identifies existing NOAA climate services \1\ and who
     uses them to make decisions. The table focuses on state applications of
     climate services and provides several specific examples as
     illustrations. Many of the services span categories and are used in
     multiple sectors. They also span climate timescales from extreme events
     like floods and hurricanes, to seasonal events such as droughts, and
     decadal-centennial changes like increases in aridity.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Climate Products and     Key Users                Examples
     Providers
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Services to Support the Agriculture and Water Resource Management
     Sectors
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Temperature Forecasts     Farmers         NOAA provides seasonal
    (National Weather         Municipal        surface water runoff
     Service--NWS)            Water Managers           projections to
    Precipitation Forecasts   Energy           resource managers in
     (NWS)                    Companies                Idaho. This
    River Flow Forecasts      Levee/Flood      information has been
    (NWS-River Forecast       Control Management       used for maximizing
     Centers i)               State            hydro-power output,
    Drought Monitoring and    Departments of           irrigation supplies,
     Forecasts                Agriculture              and conservation
    (National Integrated      State Water      flows for endangered
     Drought                  Resource Boards          fish populations. It
    Information System-       USDA/NRCS        has also been used to
     NIDIS ii)                Bureau of        explore sites in the
    Climate Normals           Reclamation              state of Idaho for
    (National Climatic Data                            potential new
     Center--NCDC iii)                                 hydropower generating
    U.S. Drought Monitor                               stations.
    (NOAA--USDA--National
     Drought
    Mitigation Center
     Partnership)
    Crop yield risks (RISAs
     iv)
    Estimate crop water
     usage
    (Regional Climate
     Centers v)
    Regional Drought
     Outlooks (NIDIS)
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Services to Support the Energy Sector
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Climatology on wind and   Energy          Energy producers use
     energy                   Companies                NOAA projections of
    (NCDC)                    State Public     precipitation, wind,
    Greenhouse Gas            Utility Commissions      and weather to plan
     Monitoring               DOE, NASA, EPA   and manage solar,
    (NOAA Global Monitoring                            wind-power, and
     Division)                                         hydropower
                                                       facilities.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Services to Support the Transportation Sector
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Navigation charts         Airline         Engineers are tasked
    (NCDC Buoy Data)          Industry                 with provid-ing safe
    Real-time Tides and       Shipping         roadways under
     Currents                 Industry                 virtually all weather
    (NOAA Tides and           Port Managers    conditions. Caltrans
     Currents)                State DOTs       is working with NOAA
    Surface Airport           DOT, FAA         and other
     Climatology                                       climatologists and
    (NWS)                                              hydrologists to
    Extreme Weather                                    develop new methods
     Forecasts                                         for estimating peak
    (NWS-Storm Predication                             precipitation and
     Center vi)                                        runoff events for the
                                                       purpose of road
                                                       design and safety.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Services to Support the Public Health and Safety Sectors
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Hurricane Forecasting     State and       The Oregon state
    (NOAA Nat'l Hurricane     Local Emergency          epidemiologist is a
     Center vii)              Managers                 member of Oregon's
    Tornado Forecasting       Public Health    Climate Change
    (NOAA Storm Prediction    Agencies                 Integration Group.
     Center)                  Hospitals        One of the 10 key
    Temperature Extremes      FEMA             recommendations of
    (NCDC)                                             the group is to
                                                       incorporate the
                                                       implications of
                                                       climate change on
                                                       public health into
                                                       the policy, planning
                                                       and preparation for
                                                       climate change.
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Services to Support the Oceans and Coastal Management Sectors
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sea-level Data            Ocean-front     The state of Alaska is
    (NOAA Nat'l Ocean         Communities              responding to thawing
     Service viii)            State Coastal    sea ice and increased
    Tides and Currents        Commissions              coastal erosion that
    (NOAA Tides and           State            threaten communities.
     Currents)                Emergency Managers       As Governor Parnell
                              FEMA             stated in testimony
                                                       to Congress, ``. . .
                                                       the state of Alaska
                                                       strongly supports
                                                       NOAA and its
                                                       initiatives to
                                                       improve its
                                                       observations and
                                                       research across the
                                                       Arctic and to develop
                                                       innovative
                                                       forecasting models
                                                       for next week's
                                                       weather and the next
                                                       century's climate.''
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ This table focuses on NOAA climate services. Other agencies also
      provide climate-related information, including the USGS streamgaging
      network and the NRCS snowpack network. Coordinating with these other
      agencies would be part of the mission of the proposed NOAA Climate
      Service.
    i National Weather Service River Forecast Centers (NWS-RFCs) performs
      continuous river basin modeling and provides hydrologic forecast and
      guidance products for hundreds of locations along rivers and streams
      across the U.S.
    ii National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) is an
      interagency and interstate effort to establish a drought early warning
      network for the U.S. NIDIS provides a better understanding of how and
      why droughts affect society, the economy, and the environment, and is
      improving accessibility, dissemination, and use of early warning
      information for drought risk management.
    iii National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) provides access and stewardship
      to the Nation's resource of global climate and weather related data
      and information, and assess and monitor climate variation and change.
    iv Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISAs) focus on sector
      specific users and the environment in which they make decisions and
      where climate data could be used to improve the quality of those
      decisions.
    v Regional Climate Centers (RCCs) provide and develop sector-specific
      climate data products and services and provide integration of climate
      data from multiple sources.
    vi NWS-Storm Prediction Center issues timely watch and forecast products
      dealing with tornadoes, wildfires and other hazardous weather
      phenomena.
    vii NWS-National Hurricane Center issues watches, warnings, forecasts
      and analyses of hazardous tropical weather.
    viii National Ocean Service translates science, tools, and services into
      action, to address threats to coastal areas such as climate change,
      population growth, port congestion, and contaminants in the
      environment, all working toward healthy coasts and healthy economies.

                             WGA-WSWC Bibliography
        The Western Governors' Association and Western States Water Council
    have written a series of reports on water, drought and climate
    adaptation. The reports are available at our website: www.westgov.org
    under the `Reports' tab. These reports include:

            Drought Response Action Plan, Western Governors' Association,
            November 1996.

            Creating a Drought Early Warning System for the 21st Century:
            The National Integrated Drought Information System, Western
            Governors' Association, June 2004.

            Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future, Western
            Governors' Association and Western States Water Council, June
            2006.

            Water Needs and Strategies for a Sustainable Future: Next
            Steps, Western Governors' Association and Western States Water
            Council, June 2008.

            Climate Adaptation Priorities for the Western States: Scoping
            Report, Western Governors' Association, June 2010.

            Improving Drought Preparedness in the West: Findings and
            Recommendations from the Western Governors' Association and
            Western States Water Council Workshops, January 2011.

        In addition, the National Drought Policy Commission authored a
    report on drought policy:

            Report of the National Drought Policy Commission: Preparing for
            Drought in the 21st Century, National Drought Policy
            Commission, May 2000. http://www
            .drought.unl.edu/pubs/pfd21main.html

        Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
        Next we have Dr. Peter Neilley, Vice President, Global
    Forecasting Services, the Weather Channel Companies.
        I hope when I appeared on Weather Channel, we did not ruin
    your ratings.
        [Laughter.]
        Dr. Neilley. I think you helped very much.
        Senator Begich. I know you have good morning ratings. Put
    us on there, things will go the other way. So thank you very
    much for being here.

       STATEMENT OF DR. PETER P. NEILLEY, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL
          FORECASTING SERVICES, THE WEATHER CHANNEL COMPANIES

        Dr. Neilley. Thank you, Chairman Begich and Ranking Member
    Snowe, and members of the Committee. Good morning, and thank
    you for the opportunity for us to address you today.
        Again, my name is Dr. Peter Neilley, and I am the Vice
    President for Global Forecasting Services for the Weather
    Channel Companies. I am also the Chair of the American
    Meteorological Society's Committee on Weather and Forecasting,
    and a member of NOAA's Environmental Information Services
    Working Group.
        The Weather Channel Companies are a major developer and
    provider of weather services for consumers and businesses
    across our Nation. Our television, Web and mobile products
    reach nearly 100 million users each month. We also serve nearly
    half of the television stations across the U.S., dozens of
    global airlines, and numerous traditional and renewable energy
    companies worldwide. We have been serving the Nation's weather
    interests for 30 years, and we're proud and respectful of the
    trust the Nation has instilled in us to inform and protect it
    from the weather.
        We are one of many private weather companies that provide
    weather and forecasting services to serve our Nation.
        Weather is woven into the fabric of our society. A recent
    estimate suggested that nearly 40 percent of our economy is
    sensitive to the weather. So far this year we have seen 14 $1
    billion weather disasters, more than any year on record, and
    that does not include the accounting of last week's storm in
    Alaska.
        Despite these losses, our Nation enjoys substantial
    protection from the weather. One recent study estimated that
    the roughly $5 billion we spend annually producing weather
    information directly avoids over $30 billion in annual weather-
    related losses. Hence, our investments in a weather-ready
    nation are paying substantial dividends to the economy, and
    continuing such investments will return far more value to our
    society than their cost.
        Our nation is the global leader in the creation of state-
    of-the-science weather information to serve our society. This
    is the result of the Weather Enterprise, an effective three-way
    partnership between NOAA and other weather-related government
    agencies, private weather services, and academic and research
    institutions. The effectiveness of the Weather Enterprise to
    serve society is derived from the cutting-edge science and
    technology developed by the research community, NOAA's
    implementation of these technologies to create foundational
    datasets, weather and climate datasets, and the private sector
    building upon these foundational datasets to create forecasts
    and other value-added products.
        The private sector is where much of the weather-related job
    creation has occurred recently, such as the weather-services
    sector enjoys one of the lowest unemployment rates in the
    Nation, as recently reported by the Wall Street Journal.
        It is critical that our Nation designs and funds next-
    generation weather and climate services with an Enterprise-
    optimized perspective is used so that we continue to derive
    optimal value from these investments.
        The foundational weather datasets from NOAA are essential
    to the private sector's ability to create and deliver weather
    information for the Nation. From our perspective, continued
    provision and evolution of these data is the single most
    important function of NOAA. Doing so will enable the broader
    Weather Enterprise to create new weather services to meet the
    evolving needs of the Nation and grow our economy.
        History has shown that the private sector is the most
    responsive and effective at developing new applications of
    NOAA's foundational weather information. Therefore, the private
    sector should strategically be relied upon to deliver next-
    generation weather services that leverage evolving foundational
    datasets from NOAA.
        The specific needs of the Weather Channel Companies for
    information services from NOAA are, in priority order: one, the
    sustainment and evolution of all existing weather-observing
    platforms; two, improved numerical weather prediction
    capabilities; three, access to all known weather data,
    including those currently not readily available; four, improved
    detection of hazardous weather phenomena, particularly those
    that are not well-observed by the existing weather radars;
    five, liaison with NOAA's international counterparts to seek
    open access to all international weather information that
    enables fair competition in a global economy; six, support of
    scientific research that improves forecasts of impactful
    weather by the Enterprise; and finally, seven, climate
    information and forecasts to inform our Nation about the
    impacts of a potentially changing climate.
        The Weather Channel Companies plays an important role in
    serving the weather needs of the Nation. We perform this
    function only through a collaborative partnership with the
    Weather Enterprise. NOAA's crucial role in the Weather
    Enterprise is the creation of the foundational datasets and
    sustaining and involving those datasets as critical to the
    Weather Channel Companies' ability to help make our Nation
    weather ready.
        Thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee, and
    I'll look forward to your questions.
        [The prepared statement of Dr. Neilley follows:]

      Prepared Statement of Dr. Peter P. Neilley, Vice President, Global
              Forecasting Services, The Weather Channel Companies

    Introduction
        Chairman Begich, Ranking Member Snowe, and Members of the
    Subcommittee--Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to address
    you today. My name is Dr. Peter P. Neilley and I am the Vice President
    of Global Forecasting Services for The Weather Channel Companies. I am
    also the Chair of the American Meteorological Society's Committee on
    Weather and Forecasting, as well as a member of the Environmental
    Information Services Working Group of NOAA's Science Advisory Board. In
    my remarks today, I am speaking as a representative of The Weather
    Channel Companies.
        The Weather Channel Companies, which includes The Weather Channel
    and WSI Corporation, is a major developer and provider of weather
    services for both consumers and businesses across our Nation and around
    the world. The Weather Channel Companies' content is ubiquitous on
    nearly all forms of popular communication--The Weather Channel's
    television network is available in more than 100 million households,
    and our online and mobile products reach nearly 100 million users each
    month. In addition to our branded television, radio, print, web and
    mobile products for consumers, our content also serves the needs of
    businesses around the world with weather solutions for the media,
    aviation and energy industries. Through our business-solutions
    corporation WSI, our weather content is used by nearly half of the
    local television stations across the country, dozens of airlines around
    the world and numerous traditional and renewable energy companies
    worldwide. We are just one of many private companies that provide a
    wide range of valuable weather and forecasting services to meet the
    diverse weather needs of our Nation.
        We have been serving the weather interests of the Nation for thirty
    years and are proud and respectful of the trust the Nation has
    instilled in us to inform, advise and protect it from the weather.

    Weather Has a Substantial Impact on Our Nation
        Weather plays a role in the daily lives of nearly every American
    and its impacts are woven into the fabric of our economy. One 2002
    published estimate suggested that nearly 40 percent of our economy or
    nearly $4 trillion annually is sensitive to the weather. In 2011, so
    far we have seen fourteen $1 billion weather disasters occur or over 50
    percent more than any other year on record. This includes the numerous
    tornado outbreaks that ravished the Southeast this spring, Hurricane
    Irene that swept the U.S. eastern seaboard in August, the ongoing
    devastating Southern Plains drought, and the recent early season
    snowstorm that hit New England. Despite these losses, our Nation enjoys
    substantial protection from the weather. One 2009 study estimated that
    we avoid over $30 billion in losses annually as a direct result of the
    roughly $5 billion annual investment our Nation makes in producing
    risk-avoiding weather information. This and other similar studies
    clearly show that although our Nation has significant weather risk, our
    investments in becoming a weather-ready nation are paying substantial
    net dividends to the economy and our society in general. It is
    imperative that we continue these investments in order to sustain and
    improve our resilience to the weather. Without such investments we
    potentially will lose far more value to our society than the cost of
    these investments.

    The Weather Enterprise is Critical in Meeting the Needs of a Weather-
            Ready Nation
        The United States enjoys the broadest and most effective
    meteorological services in the world. Our nation is the global leader
    in the creation of state-of-the-science weather information and the
    provisioning of that information to serve both public and private
    interests in safety and economic prosperity. This leadership is the
    result of a strong and vibrant three-way partnership between (a) NOAA
    and other weather-related government agencies, (b) private weather
    services such as The Weather Channel network, and (c) academic and
    research institutions. Collectively, the players in this partnership
    are generally referred to as the Weather Enterprise. Each sector of the
    Enterprise has a unique but critical role to play in serving the
    Nation. In general terms, research by the academic community leads to
    cutting-edge science and technology that drives the evolution of the
    field, NOAA implements and operates these technologies to create
    foundational weather and climate datasets, and the private sector
    builds upon these datasets to create forecasts and other products that
    inform the public and provide value-added services to industry. The
    private-sector is also where much of the meteorologically related job
    creation has occurred over the past decade and is a principal reason
    why the weather-services sector of our economy enjoys one of the lowest
    unemployment rates in the Nation.
        The stated mission of NOAA's National Weather Service is to protect
    life and property and to enhance the national economy. It has been able
    to meet this mission only through the mutual collaboration of all
    members of the Weather Enterprise. The Weather Channel Companies and
    the other private sector weather services play a crucial role in
    communicating timely weather information to the Nation. We are
    dependent on NOAA, and in particular its National Weather Service for
    creating and serving some basic components of our overall service. The
    Weather Channel Companies' ability to continue to inform and serve the
    Nation effectively is strongly dependent on continued reliable and
    accurate foundational information services from NOAA. Further, it is
    critical that as our Nation designs and funds next-generation weather
    and climate services, that it considers a holistic, Enterprise-
    optimized perspective to these services, rather than focusing solely on
    optimizing or broadening the roles of the Enterprise's individual
    components.

    NOAA's Focus on Creating and Serving State-of-the Science Foundational
            Weather Datasets
        Key to the ability of The Weather Channel Companies to deliver
    critical and actionable weather information to serve the Nation are the
    foundational datasets from NOAA that provide relevant observations of
    the state of the atmosphere, timely watches, warnings and advisories of
    threatening weather, and numerical weather prediction datasets that are
    reliable and accurate. The creation of these data is a function that
    only the government-sector of the Weather Enterprise can adequately
    perform. From our perspective, this is the single most important
    function of NOAA and it must remain the central focus of the Agency
    moving forward. We believe that NOAA's priorities should be the
    maintenance and modernization of its weather observing platforms,
    sustaining and evolving its world-class numerical weather and climate
    prediction capabilities, and ensuring robust and effective
    accessibility to its complete set of weather information by the Weather
    Enterprise outside of NOAA. Maintaining this as NOAA's core competency
    will then enable the broader Weather Enterprise to create new, value-
    added weather services to meet the future needs of the Nation. History
    has shown that the private-sector is much better equipped, more
    responsive and more effective at providing new types of applications of
    NOAA's foundational weather information. Therefore, the private-sector
    should strategically be relied upon to develop and deliver next-
    generation weather services such as forecasts of weather's impacts, and
    new communication services for a rapidly evolving digital society that
    leverage next-generation foundational datasets from NOAA.
    Critical Information Needs of The Weather Channel Companies
        In order to continue to meet the needs of a weather-ready nation,
    The Weather Channel Companies will require new and evolved information
    services, many of which we believe are best met by capabilities
    developed and provided by NOAA. In priority order, our overall needs
    for services from NOAA are:

      1.  Sustaining state-of-the-science weather observation platforms and
            capabilities including weather radars, satellite observing
            systems and traditional weather observing systems.

      2.  Improved numerical weather prediction capabilities that employ
            state-of-the-science initialization techniques and other
            improvements that optimize the accuracy and usable duration of
            their output.

      3.  Implementing new approaches that enable timely access and use of
            the complete set of weather and forecast data that NOAA
            currently creates but for which practical considerations limit
            the ability to share outside of NOAA. This includes full-
            resolution, ensemble numerical weather prediction datasets that
            are generally too large to practically and timely communicate,
            and therefore are not fully leveraged to serve society today.

      4.  The deployment of new sensors and technologies to better detect
            hazardous weather near the surface of the earth such as
            tornadoes and other forms of severe weather. This includes a
            denser weather radar network that can detect the many low-level
            tornadoes that are not well observed by the existing NOAA
            radars.

      5.  Aggressive liaison with its international counterparts to provide
            open and fair access to international weather and forecast
            information so that we may effectively and fairly compete on
            the world marketplace in the provisioning of weather
            information for a global economy.

      6.  Continued funding and other support of scientific research that
            will improve the Enterprise's ability to detect threatening
            weather, forecast its occurrence, and inform society of its
            impacts in effective ways.

    Climate Services needs for The Weather Channel Companies
        Our Nation faces uncertain but potentially substantial impacts from
    a changing climate. In order for our Nation to make informed and
    effective choices on responses and adaptation, it is important that our
    society be informed with factual, accurate and relevant climate
    information. Although The Weather Channel Companies' traditional focus
    has been in the provision of real-time and short-term weather
    information, we recognize and accept a responsibility to help inform
    the Nation regarding climate changes and its potential impacts. We
    believe that The Weather Channel Companies should play a leading role
    in educating our Nation about climate matters in a balanced and
    scientifically sound manner. In order to serve that role, The Weather
    Channel Companies will rely on NOAA to develop rich climate data
    services, including but not limited to accurate long-term weather
    archives, analyses of these data to elicit regional climate variations
    and trends, as well as state-of-the-science climate forecasts. We
    believe these are critical needs of the Nation and are services best
    provided by NOAA as part of its weather and climate foundational
    datasets mission.

    Summary
        The Weather Channel Companies, as a major member of the broader
    Weather Enterprise, plays an important role in serving the weather
    needs of our Nation. We have been able to perform this function only
    through a collaborative partnership with NOAA and its various weather-
    related divisions. NOAA's crucial role in the Weather Enterprise is the
    creation and provisioning of foundational datasets and we believe this
    must remain the core focus of the Agency. Continued modernization and
    evolution of these datasets is critical to The Weather Channel
    Companies success in its role in making our Nation weather ready.
        Thank you for the opportunity to address the Committee. I look
    forward to any questions you may have.

        Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
        Our next panelist is Robert Marshall, President and CEO of
    Earth Networks.

        STATEMENT OF ROBERT S. MARSHALL, FOUNDER AND CEO, EARTH
                             NETWORKS, INC.

        Mr. Marshall. Thank you, Chairman Begich, Ranking Member
    Snowe, and members of the Committee, for your continued
    interest in innovation in weather forecasting and prediction,
    and allowing me to testify.
        My name is Bob Marshall, and I am the Founder and CEO of
    Earth Networks. I don't need to spend any time talking about
    the great impact that severe weather is having on our society.
    We all know it, and we see it every day.
        I will focus my remarks on the innovations that can help
    cost-effectively improve the accuracy and timeliness of our
    forecasts and warnings and to help save more lives.
        There is one thing that all scientists and meteorologists
    can agree to, and that is that high-quality observations of the
    atmosphere are required to produce accurate forecasts and
    warnings. You simply must measure what is happening to predict
    what will happen in the future.
        Of course, NOAA has developed a strong backbone
    infrastructure of observations over the past couple of decades,
    ranging from surface-based, in-situ and remote sensing
    platforms to satellite observing platforms. However, in 2008,
    the National Academy of Science report entitled ``From the
    Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks'' documented
    critical gaps in NOAA's observing infrastructure.
        Among other recommendations, this report called for NOAA to
    first take advantage of all existing surface-based weather
    station networks, otherwise known as mesonets. If properly
    integrated, these observational data will clearly improve both
    forecasts and warnings. For example, had the National Mesonet
    been fully integrated into NWS operations, it is quite possible
    that better warnings could have prevented six deaths in the
    Indianapolis State Fair tragedy.
        It is important to note that these existing networks were
    not federally funded but are owned and operated by private
    sector companies, states and universities. NOAA must simply
    acquire the data and operationalize it, which makes this very
    cost effective relative to deployment of new observation
    networks.
        I am pleased to report that the National Mesonet program
    has received some limited funding for pilot programs to date,
    but it is not yet in the NOAA base budget, nor has it been
    fully funded or operationalized. The National Mesonets should
    be fully funded and completed.
        Now I want to talk about some exciting advances and
    innovations in Mesonet technology. Earth Networks is
    spearheading one very exciting innovation to provide improved
    severe weather warnings, and that is the integration of total
    lightning sensors into our National Mesonet. Researchers have
    long known that severe storms have very high total lightning
    rates. Simply said, if you can measure total lightning, it is a
    precursor to severe weather, and lead times for severe weather
    warnings can be improved.
        We have deployed these sensors at no up-front cost to the
    taxpayer, and our dangerous thunderstorm alerts are now fully
    operational in the Continental U.S. Let me briefly mention two
    examples. In the terrible super-tornado outbreak across the
    South this past spring, where hundreds of our citizens
    perished, we evaluated seven of the most devastating of those
    tornados. In those events, total lightning-based alerts
    provided an extra 13 minutes of warning, on average, over and
    above the National Weather Service severe thunderstorm and
    tornado warnings. The deadly Springfield, Massachusetts tornado
    of June 1 of this year is highlighted on the easel to my left.
    Total lightning alerts provided an additional 38 minutes of
    increased warning in that situation.
        Now let me say that NOAA and the National Weather Service
    generally do a fantastic job of warning our citizens to severe
    weather dangers, and that is especially true in the super-
    tornado outbreak from this spring. But minutes do matter when
    it comes to severe weather and saving lives. With improved lead
    times, more people will find shelter and more lives will be
    saved. I'm pleased to say that total lightning is currently
    being trialed in National Weather Service field offices, but
    this must be quickly funded and moved to operations.
        Again, to provide perspective, NOAA and the National
    Weather Service have spent about $4.5 billion over the past
    couple of decades, and this investment has yielded an
    impressive improvement in lead time, from 4 to 14 minutes.
    However, this new and innovative ground-based sensor technology
    on the National Mesonet can provide a step-function increase in
    warning time for a tiny fraction of the previous investment.
    Let me repeat, this technology is here and ready today, and
    more lives can be saved.
        Lastly, I want to touch on NOAA's overall observational
    model. Given the current fiscal and budget reality, it is not
    an understatement to say that NOAA's traditional model, to
    purchase and own all of the observations it needs, is severely
    challenged, if not outright broken. NOAA must embrace public-
    private partnership models whereby the cost of the networks are
    shared by many users, such as energy and transportation
    companies. In our case, NOAA pays a small percentage of what it
    would have cost them to deploy a comparable network.
        To summarize, even with the budget challenges that NOAA
    faces ahead, there are public-private partnerships and
    innovative new technologies that will enable us to collectively
    and cost-effectively create a weather-ready nation and to
    better protect the lives and property of our citizens. Earth
    Networks stands ready to do our part.
        I thank you for the opportunity to testify, and I'm happy
    to take any questions.
        [The prepared statement of Mr. Marshall follows:]

          Prepared Statement of Robert S. Marshall, Founder and CEO,
                              Earth Networks, Inc.

    Introduction
        Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee for this
    opportunity to testify on the importance of continuing innovation to
    improve weather forecasting and warnings. My name is Bob Marshall,
    founder and CEO of Earth Networks and I am very appreciative of this
    opportunity to discuss topics relating to the weather observing and
    forecasting programs of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration. We thank the Committee for its continuing interest in
    addressing the complex requirements of observation, prediction,
    planning and response, and the critical role these efforts play in
    protecting lives and property.
        Earth Networks' particular expertise is in owning and operating
    large, dense environmental and atmospheric sensor networks. We utilize
    the data from these observational networks to deliver daily
    environmental information and alerting to millions of consumers;
    Federal, state and local governments; and the myriad of industries
    impacted by weather. While we certainly rely on many NOAA services, and
    incorporate NOAA data and forecasts into our products and services, we
    have found that the needs of the marketplace (and of government) often
    require higher resolution solutions and data sets that are more locally
    targeted and in much greater frequency than NOAA is currently able to
    provide through its own observing networks. In this manner, existing
    local networks of this type are able to supplement NOAA's in a unique
    and powerful public/private partnership.
        Weather is having a greater impact on our society than ever before.
    This includes impacts to the lives and property of our citizens and to
    our economy. To provide the most accurate forecasts and warnings for
    weather, dense high quality observations are required, so I will focus
    my comments on that component of the overall system. Without
    observations of the atmosphere, quality forecasts and warnings are not
    possible. And meteorological observations on the mesoscale (i.e.,
    local/county scale) are of the greatest importance as evidenced by the
    fact that the vast majority of severe weather life and property losses
    are associated with mesoscale events such as tornados, thunderstorms,
    fronts, squall lines, etc.
        The need for improvements in observations of this kind are well
    documented and compelling as recently indicated within the National
    Research Council report From the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of
    Networks. Among other recommendations, the Council advocated that a
    first priority be the development of a surface based National Mesonet,
    with comprehensive data collection, quality control and dissemination
    capabilities, which will provide the critical information needed to
    improve short and medium term weather forecasting (down to local
    scales), plume dispersion modeling, and air quality analyses. In this
    manner, not only will the overall capabilities of the atmospheric
    community be substantially improved, but decisionmaking will be
    significantly enhanced across a broad spectrum of market sectors and
    end user constituencies including energy, agriculture, homeland
    security, disaster management and emergency response, insurance and
    economic forecasting, transportation, education, recreation and
    scientific research.
        From an observing perspective, there are a number of specific areas
    that NOAA weather and climate programs should focus on in order to
    establish a truly Weather Ready Nation. Three key areas are: (1) a
    comprehensive and robust observing system; (2) early warning
    capabilities that leverage key mesoscale observing systems; and (3)
    strong public-private partnerships. While each of these components
    could be examined more closely to identify key requirements, assess the
    current condition of readiness and prescribe appropriate efforts and
    investments necessary for a more capable domestic program, my testimony
    today will only touch upon these aspects at a high level. Please note
    that my recommendations here today are rooted in recent reports from
    the National Academy of Sciences, national efforts by leading industry
    associations regarding weather and climate services, as well as my own
    experiences in leading an organization that interacts with all aspects
    of the American Weather Enterprise, i.e., public, private and academic
    interests involved in sourcing and distributing weather information.
    Finally, I'll also touch briefly upon climate considerations in this
    regard.

    (1) Comprehensive and Robust Observing Systems
        The objective of weather and climate observing systems is to
    provide critical information on the current state of the atmosphere and
    terrestrial biosphere in a timely manner such that informed decisions
    can be made at varying time scales. In this context, decisions on the
    long term may involve potential global temperature changes and sea
    level rise that require development of climate mitigation and
    adaptation strategies. Intermediate term decisions may include flood,
    drought and winter weather or tropical storms expected to affect large
    areas and many sectors of the economy over prolonged periods of time.
    Alternatively, short fuse decisions more often entail those relating to
    convective (i.e., thunderstorm) weather events that while often
    widespread, occur quickly and dramatically impact people, property and
    critical assets.
        Supporting these varying decisions and timescales requires various
    types of observation platforms, including surface based in-situ and
    remote sensing monitoring networks as well as space based satellite
    systems. When seamlessly integrated, these complementary resources
    provide the raw data foundation upon which an entire nationwide
    decision support system is built. These data are critical inputs to and
    required for the establishment of situational awareness, the generation
    of forecasts, as well as the subsequent dissemination of warnings and
    alerts for the protection of life, infrastructure and optimization of
    weather sensitive market sectors. With regard to the latter, it should
    be noted that the impact of weather on our Nation's economy was
    recently estimated to be as much as $485 billion or 3.4 percent of the
    2008 U.S. gross domestic product. (Lazo, Lawson, Larsen and Waldman,
    Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, June 2011, (http://
    www.sip.ucar.edu/publications/PDF/Lazo_sensitivity_June_2011.pdf).
        Recent advances in electronics technology have enabled surface
    based sensors to become smaller, faster, more accurate, more reliable
    and less expensive. Networking of the sensors via the Internet and
    wireless networks has enabled dense surface based observation networks
    to proliferate rapidly. Environmental parameters that were once not
    practical to observe at the surface are now proven and operational. In
    some cases, these breakthroughs in surface based network technology
    potentially obviate the need to observe these parameters from space,
    where the costs and risks to do so are far higher. Generally, anything
    that can be observed from the surface should be observed at the surface
    due to the extremely high costs and risk factors inherent in any
    satellite launch. Satellites should only be considered where ground
    based sensors are inadequate.
        These advances are similar to the advances seen in astronomy. Ten
    or twenty years ago, the technology available from ground-based
    telescopes was not adequate to capture data at sufficient resolution
    for all research purposes; space based telescopes like Hubble were
    necessary. Now, technological advances have significantly improved the
    capability of ground-based observations. As a result, we collect from
    space only that data which we cannot collect from the ground--the two
    domains complement each other. Like in astronomy, improvements in the
    technology of ground-based in situ sensors, communications, power
    management, data handling and storage have all enabled the deployment
    of cost-efficient sensor networks with a density sufficient to allow
    applications thought impossible just a few short years ago.
        But sometimes a satellite is the appropriate answer. For example,
    the JPSS satellite is critical to NOAA's ability to forecast weather
    accurately, especially in the 3-5 day period and longer. This was never
    more apparent than the terrible southern tornado outbreak from this
    spring. The NWS was able to predict a very high potential for severe
    weather in the region many days in advance which helped communities to
    prepare. Studies have shown that the polar orbiting satellite data was
    critical to this success. Winter storms forecasts and warnings are also
    another area where the polar orbiting satellites are critical. In last
    year's ``snow-mageddon'', NWS forecasts allowed for up to a week's
    advanced warning of this storm, which again allowed time for
    communities to prepare in advance of the severe weather. There is no
    surface based technology that can provide an alternative for the
    observations that will be delivered by JPSS. It is critical for JPSS to
    be funded to prevent a significant decline in forecast and warning
    accuracy for these type events.

    (2) Early Warning Capabilities
        As mentioned previously, most severe weather occurs at the
    mesoscale, i.e., local and regional scale and NOAA/NWS generally does a
    very good job of generated severe weather warnings to cover this
    domain. However, while warning lead times correspondingly improved
    during the NWS modernization that began in the 1980s, during recent
    years the warning lead times have not improved appreciably. This is a
    direct reflection of operational observing systems also not
    significantly improving. With the frequency and severity of weather
    events increasing and our population growing, further improvements in
    warning lead times are necessary to better protect life and property.
    High resolution mesoscale observations enable more accurate and timely
    forecasts and warnings in the 0-6 hour's timeframe. Fortunately, this
    committee and the National Weather Service have taken steps toward
    making this capability operational by appropriating monies for and
    implementing demonstration programs and pilot projects. For example,
    the National Mesonet Program championed by Senator Barbara Mikulski
    after the 2004 Baltimore Water Taxi Incident, involves a broad cross
    section of weather and climate network operators throughout the country
    who are supplying comprehensive surface observations and associated
    metadata from stationary and mobile platforms. But more should be done;
    we need to move beyond pilot projects to operational implementation.
        To this end, I maintain that following the recommendations of the
    2008 NRC report From the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks,
    and leveraging to the maximum extent existing and proliferating surface
    observations, be fully implemented as soon as possible. Doing so will
    significantly enhance NOAA's ability to forecast near-term severe
    weather and do so in a highly cost-effective manner. This is
    particularly germane in a year where the Nation experienced an historic
    number of severe weather outbreaks, including destructive Tornado
    outbreaks in Tuscaloosa, AL and Joplin, MO as well as severe droughts,
    crippling snow storms and devastating hurricanes in other parts of the
    country. And the situation is only being exacerbated as our population
    grows and migrates toward urban and coastal areas. In fact, the
    previous annual record of 9 individual $1 billion weather-related
    catastrophes has been surpassed already in 2011 with a record setting
    14 as of today.
        Beginning in the 1980s, NOAA invested heavily in infrastructure for
    observing, analysis, visualization and dissemination capabilities which
    resulted in significant tornado warning lead time improvements from 4-
    14 minutes. This important and necessary advancement was the outcome of
    an approximately $4.5 billion investment. Since then, however, there
    have only been marginal improvements. What I want to stress is that new
    and innovative technologies can immediately deliver step-function
    improvements in early warning times at a fraction of the previous cost.
    These advancements in sensor technologies are the result of motivated
    and fully engaged private, academic and state government organizations
    that have enabled the deployment of dense, surface based observation
    networks throughout the country.
        A specific recent innovation in mesonet technology is the
    integration of total lightning sensors. For many years, researchers
    have demonstrated that monitoring cloud flash lightning data at high
    detection efficiencies would provide insight into early stage
    convective development and that such total lightning observations could
    potentially provide significant improvements in storm warnings. But the
    technology was never available to cover large, continental areas at a
    reasonable cost. Using innovative new technology, Earth Networks has
    rapidly and efficiently deployed a continental scale total lightning
    network on its nationwide mesonet. This network is operational today
    and is automatically producing severe storm alerts with lead times as
    much as 30 minutes in advance of NWS Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado
    Warnings. During the April 25 to 28, 2011 Super Outbreak that killed
    more than 346 people and included the tornado that tore through
    Tuscaloosa, AL, Earth Networks total lightning system achieved an
    average lead time increase of 13 minutes for a broad subset of these
    events. Similar lead time performance achievements have been repeatedly
    observed for many other events throughout the country over the past
    several years and as such, the NWS is currently piloting the technology
    in 27 field and regional forecast offices.
        As mentioned, this type of technology has only been made available
    on a broad scale and for such purposes during the past couple of years.
    It should also be emphasized that its cost is only a small fraction of
    that required to achieve the same from space and was accomplished
    without consuming a single dollar of taxpayer money. With the Earth
    Networks total lightning network being fully operational, the need to
    observe lightning in the future from satellites should be evaluated.
    The forthcoming GOES-R satellite includes a lightning sensor at a cost
    of more than $100M. The Earth Networks ground based total lightning
    network already delivers many of the benefits of the GOES-R satellite
    lightning sensor including higher resolution and accuracy. This is the
    kind of issue that should be looked at carefully, so that the
    government can be assured that a proper cost-benefit analysis has been
    completed. Even if the GOES-R lightning sensor initiative, scheduled
    for operations in 2017, is too far along to be shelved the Earth
    Networks total lightning capability should leveraged immediately to
    improve severe weather forecasting and alerting as well as to provide
    ground truth for satellite calibration, forecast validation and after
    action reports.
        I have attached a Power Point presentation to this statement that
    demonstrates the power and effectiveness of this currently available
    and cost effective technology.

    (3) Public Private Partnerships
        Achieving a condition where the Nation is adequately equipped to
    foresee weather related threats and alert the community with sufficient
    warning lead-times requires vision, coordination and continued
    investment. It is particularly clear, however, that the Federal
    Government cannot achieve this goal alone, particularly in the face of
    an increasingly difficult budget environment. Therefore, it is
    imperative that vigorous public-private partnerships be nourished to
    drive innovation and allow for the appropriate mixture of baseline
    government provided services and market based offerings. By utilizing
    the capabilities of private networks, NOAA can acquire the data and
    services it needs at a fraction of the cost of owning the network
    assets. The return required for the network deployment costs are
    amortized over a variety of market segments; the costs and risks are
    shared. Only this type of partnership will ensure that available
    government funding is being deployed most effectively and efficiently.
        Consistent with the 2003 NRC report entitled Fair Weather:
    Effective Partnerships in Weather and Climate Services, the NWS has
    initiated and expanded upon a dialogue with the private sector. These
    conversations have improved coordination among the sectors by providing
    greater insight into each other's respective needs, plans and
    capabilities. These efforts should be continued and identified
    synergies should be acted upon with greater urgency in order to rapidly
    fill the gaps in capabilities and services.
        While the Federal Government is well suited to act globally and
    nationally, it is limited in its capacity to act locally beyond the
    provision of oversight and funding support. As such, it is envisioned
    that a public/private partnership structure, with guidance from the
    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, facilitate and
    integrate these disparate networks and delivery of customized services.
    An organizational model of this type is particularly applicable given
    that many networks have been deployed by local organizations with local
    considerations in mind. These stakeholders can react quickly and
    efficiently, and are uniquely positioned to recommend future network
    evolution within their domains. These networks are in-place and
    available today. As such they offer the ability to deliver immediate
    returns.

    (4) Climate Considerations
        Before turning to my conclusions, let me comment briefly on another
    related monitoring initiative that Earth Networks is pursuing.
        NOAA is charged with conducting research on the complex carbon
    cycle and its impact on climate variability. Currently, there are very
    limited carbon observations available to scientists for this research.
    NOAA operates about 10 such surfaced based carbon observationsites and
    there are a few dozen operated by others around the world. The current
    carbon observation network is limited to global and continental scale
    measurements and analysis. Many more observations are required to
    develop a better understanding of the carbon cycle at local and
    regional scales and to provide measurement, reporting and verification
    to support international treaties, as well as any regulatory or market-
    based reductions schema.
        Similar to the advances described above, advances in electronics
    technology have also significantly improved the ability to accurately
    and reliably measure carbon from the surface. Earth Networks is
    deploying the largest surface-based greenhouse gas observing network in
    the world, with 50 sensors planned for the continental United States,
    25 in Europe, and 25 distributed around the rest of the globe. Again,
    with this innovative new technology there is the potential for
    significant cost savings by increasing investments in ground based
    carbon measurements relative to satellite-based measurements.
    Unfortunately, the original Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) satellite
    launch failed on launch. The cost of that mission was approximately
    $280 million. A second carbon satellite, OCO2, is being
    developed at a cost of another $200 million. While all scientists,
    including those at Earth Networks desire data from both surface and
    space based platforms, the question is whether this is practical given
    the current budget constraints. Before funds are fully committed to a
    new or replacement satellite program, an exhaustive analysis should be
    accomplished to determine the tradeoffs associated with these funding
    decisions. As the previously referenced National Academies report title
    intimated, we should always start ``from the ground up.''

    Conclusion
        While NOAA has built up significant observational assets and
    capabilities over many decades, there remain significant gaps that
    limit our ability to further improve forecasts and warnings. Further,
    with budget challenges that will no doubt confront us for the
    foreseeable future, NOAA's model for acquiring and maintaining critical
    observations is infeasible. Overall budgets will likely be flat or
    lower. Satellite program costs are consuming an ever larger proportion
    of the NOAA budget and the current trajectory is simply not
    sustainable.
        Immediate improvements, however, in forecasting and prediction can
    be realized by utilizing Public-Private partnerships to enhance
    existing space and ground based observing platforms. Therefore,
    specific strategies adopted in this regard should:

       Guarantee annual funding of the National Mesonet in NOAA's
            budget to fully integrate locally collected mesoscale surface
            weather data into the forecasting and warning functions at
            every National Weather Service field office;

       Guarantee that NOAA incorporate continental scale total
            lightning data into the National Mesonet and into its storm
            warning capability to achieve a step-function improvement in
            warning times;

       Fund cost efficient surface based carbon networks to improve
            local and regional scale climate science;

       Establish a standing NOAA advisory panel whose sole mission
            is to look at the balance of NOAA's forecasting needs for both
            weather and climate, and then recommends in a public way how
            those requirements should be met between the three
            observational domains of surface, airborne and space based
            measurements;

       Hold annual Congressional hearings on the state of
            innovation in forecasting and warning to measure the progress
            on the important objectives that the public demands and which
            must be done in a fiscally prudent manner given the challenging
            economic times.

        Through the types of strategies and initiatives that I have
    highlighted today, the broader weather and climate industry will be
    able to expedite and support NOAA in establishing a truly Weather Ready
    Nation.
        Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I would be happy to
    answer any questions you may have.

        Senator Begich. Thank you very much.
        Let me first start, if I can. Again, this will be a 5-
    minute round.
        Mr. Iseman, let me again thank the WGA for their
    partnership with NOAA, and I guess the first question I have
    is, from your perspective, what, if any, hurdles are there in
    the development or the expansion of the partnership that you
    see that maybe are being caused by our end of the equation?
        Mr. Iseman. I think the big challenge for us right now in
    moving forward with this Memorandum of Understanding is taking
    it from the conceptual phase of a memorandum and into
    implementation, and we're working through that right now. We've
    had great support from NOAA in taking these steps. I think the
    real test of this partnership will come when we move to apply
    the memorandum in specific places and to work on the ground to
    develop the improvements that we've envisioned. So we're
    hopeful and optimistic for now.
        Senator Begich. Do you think they have--and this is not a
    criticism of NOAA. It's just kind of my view of the Federal
    Government in general as a former mayor. Do you think they have
    the capacity to be regional as you had described? You know, the
    Federal Government has a bad habit of let's make everything
    national and all will work out for the best, and usually it
    doesn't because they don't recognize the regional differences
    and the uniqueness of certain areas. I mean, our state has
    multiple weather systems, compared to just one state that might
    have one weather system.
        So can you--tell me your kind of confidence level. I know
    you have a good partnership with them, but this is, I think
    your comment was--I noted that your concern is can you bring it
    down to the regional level.
        Mr. Iseman. Right.
        Senator Begich. What's your confidence level in that
    capacity?
        Mr. Iseman. I think there are some positive signs. One is
    the MOU itself. Two, I've seen some of the ways that they have
    organized and are delivering services at a regional scale, and
    one of those is through the NIDIS program, where they're
    working on regional early warning systems for drought and
    actually working with the people in the local community to
    develop those systems and deliver the services. And another is
    the Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments where they are
    marshalling capacities at the universities to help states and
    local communities address on-the-ground problems.
        So I think there are positive signs, and we'll be happy to
    report back on our progress under the MOU.
        Senator Begich. I think that would be great, because I
    think the more NOAA partners, and that's kind of what this
    panel is really about, is how do you partner with other
    organizations and groups and private sector to expand the
    capacity of NOAA to provide the necessary information for
    forecasting and prediction that benefits everybody. So I'd be
    very interested in knowing how you progress on that and what
    are those challenges that might start to appear in the
    implementation of it, because that's always the--it's great and
    easy to do an MOU. I used to do those a lot when I was mayor.
    But then as mayor, you had to implement them, and so you had to
    make sure they were real. And so I would look forward to that
    commentary as you move forward.
        Mr. Iseman. Thank you, Senator.
        Senator Begich. Mr. Marshall, I appreciated your
    presentation. Your comment, which again caught me, and I want
    to follow up on it, do you think there is enough or are there
    areas that NOAA could really expand in maximizing the private
    sector capacity of what's now developed? I mean, if this was 20
    years ago, it's a whole different ballgame with weather
    services in the private sector, but it's a different business
    now, proven by the Weather Channel and many of the industries
    that are related now to it.
        Can you tell me, do you think there is more opportunity
    that's not being taken advantage of? And I'll pause for a
    second by saying this is a challenge we have also at the Coast
    Guard, and that is they want to own everything, and to partner
    means less authority or less jurisdiction, and I think there's
    a way probably to meld the two. But in NOAA, is that something
    that you would hope they would start looking at because of
    financial conditions, but also because of technology
    development?
        Mr. Marshall. Yes. Thank you, Senator. I think there are
    really two sides to the public-private partnership from my
    perspective. I mean, on one side you have companies like the
    Weather Channel, myself, and many others that take the very
    important information from NOAA, develop value-added products,
    and help distribute that information to businesses and
    consumers.
        I think one of the new areas that has evolved over the last
    decade or so, for sure, is that with advances in technology and
    with the ubiquitous nature of the Internet as a communications
    platform, virtually every sensor in the world is being
    connected to the Internet, and the data is flowing in real time
    every second. You know, the sensors are smaller, faster, more
    accurate, more reliable, and less expensive. So you have
    companies like ourselves that are deploying sensor networks all
    over the place, and this is a new area where the private sector
    can form a public-private partnership in NOAA to provide that
    data to NOAA to integrate into their operations, and it can be
    done very quickly and very cost-effectively.
        So NOAA does not have to necessarily invest in all of the
    observational technology. It can just acquire the data. And I
    think that's a relatively new circumstance, and NOAA is
    embracing that model to some degree. But technology is evolving
    so rapidly that it can certainly be adopted faster, and this
    information can be put into the hands of the forecasters to
    make sure that warnings and forecasts get better immediately.
        Senator Begich. Very good. I'll probably follow up again in
    just a minute on that.
        Mr. Neilley, let me ask you again. Thank you for your
    efforts here. You had seven points, I think, and one of them
    that stood out I think was access to weather data not available
    now. Can you elaborate on that?
        Dr. Neilley. Thank you, Senator. NOAA creates a tremendous
    amount of weather information routinely throughout the day. The
    volume of it is so vast that it is impractical to communicate a
    lot of that information outside of NOAA, and decisions must be
    made about how to filter that data to provide general services
    to partners of NOAA.
        However, the data that is unfiltered still has a tremendous
    amount of value to providing forecasting information, and we
    need to seek ways in which we can have access and use that
    information to create more value from that information.
        As I mentioned earlier, I sit on the Environmental
    Information Services Working Group of NOAA, and we're exploring
    that question and expect to have recommendations to the NOAA
    Science Advisory Panel perhaps later this month.
        Senator Begich. And do you think NOAA is responsive to this
    idea of sharing some of the--it's basically the raw data?
        Dr. Neilley. I think--I believe they are. In preliminary
    discussions with NOAA, they certainly embrace this. Dr. Jack
    Hayes made a public endorsement of some of the concepts that
    were put forth and how we might be sharing some more of these
    data, and recent discussions with Kathy Sullivan have indicated
    strong endorsement of trying to figure out ways in which
    overall the society can benefit from all the data that NOAA
    has, yes.
        Senator Begich. Very good.
        Senator Snowe?
        Senator Snowe. Thank you. Just a follow-up on that
    question. Has there been information that you haven't received
    in the accumulation of that data, that raw data, that could
    have had an effect on the public, do you think?
        Dr. Neilley. Oh, absolutely. We wouldn't be seeking this
    information if we didn't think it had a great deal of value to
    the public. It probably would be difficult to cite a specific
    example offhand, but there are--it would probably be conveyed
    in everyday weather, the frequency with which we update the
    information, the precision of which we can provide the
    information to the public so they can make daily decisions in
    going about their lives and businesses.
        Senator Snowe. So do they filter the data that gets to you,
    or what is the answer? Are they just accumulating it so fast
    that they can't transmit that data?
        Dr. Neilley. It's both of those. The data gets accumulated
    so fast. Super-computers run and create the information at a
    great deal of precision and resolution, and fundamentally we
    don't have communication systems to make it practicable to send
    that data outside of those super-computing facilities.
        Senator Snowe. You mentioned in your testimony that the
    private sector should be strategically relied upon to deliver
    next-generation weather services, and I know that you, and Mr.
    Marshall as well, probably use a lot of mobile phone
    technology, desktop applications and so forth. Would that
    suggest reaching a broader audience through those mechanisms
    and through the advanced technologies that people use every
    day?
        Dr. Neilley. Absolutely. History has shown that the private
    sector has been much more adaptable and responsive and faster
    in developing services that the public uses and can consume in
    their everyday lives, and I believe it's one of those--relying
    on the private sector to be the voice of the weather to the
    Nation is one of those ways that the private sector can most
    effectively do and should be the strength of what we should
    rely on from the strengths of the private sector.
        Senator Snowe. Thank you, Dr. Neilley.
        Mr. Marshall, you were mentioning this national Mesonet
    program. How has NOAA reacted to that?
        Mr. Marshall. Well, I think they've embraced the National
    Academy's report that came out in 2008. I think there has been
    some activity and there has been some limited funding put in
    place. I mean, we are somewhat disappointed that the Mesonet
    activities have not made it into the President's budget yet,
    despite the fact that the national Mesonet is briefed routinely
    by Dr. Hayes and his team as something that's very important
    for the National Weather Service strategically. So we certainly
    would like to see that become a reality, because this is very
    cost effective. It's leveraging existing sensor networks that
    are out there, that all you have to do is integrate them into
    the operations of the forecast offices and immediate
    improvements can happen for forecasts and earlier warnings.
        So relative to the cost of deploying a new satellite, which
    is measured in the billions of dollars, this is very, very
    inexpensive and something that can happen very, very quickly.
        Senator Snowe. So are you suggesting there could be more
    sensors in different locations?
        Mr. Marshall. Well, I mean, there are tens of thousands of
    sensors out there today that are in different networks. We have
    our own, universities, other companies, and that data just
    needs to be integrated into one database and leveraged by the
    National Weather Service. Again, there has been some work done,
    but I think it's really a clear opportunity to make substantial
    progress in the short run, particularly when you have a
    difficult budget environment where you can't fund everything
    that you want to do. This is low-hanging fruit.
        Senator Snowe. Right. So you're suggesting instead of
    having to deal with major satellites, that you could do some
    limited investments to gather all the information that's out
    there that's being accumulated on a daily basis.
        Mr. Marshall. Yes, and I want to make sure I'm clear. I
    mean, in certain situations, yes. You can take advantage of
    existing networks, and they can fulfill the needs of many
    things, even stuff that satellites can do; not for all things,
    though.
        Senator Snowe. Right.
        Mr. Marshall. So when you come to, like, the JPSS
    satellite, there is no surface-based alternative sensors out
    there today that would fit the need for that. So that's an
    important and critical initiative for NOAA that needs to move
    forward, or else there will be a big gap in their ability to
    forecast weather, particularly in the 3 to 5 day time-frame for
    winter storms and tropicals. So there isn't surface-based
    alternatives for that, but there are for other things that can
    really make a material improvement for forecasts and warnings.
        Senator Snowe. Does NOAA integrate all your data?
        Mr. Marshall. Not all of it. I mean, no. I mean, it's
    partial. At the end of the day, we've done some limited pilot
    projects, but clearly it would not take a significant amount of
    money to make sure that the data from our network, from other
    company private-sector networks, from academic networks gets
    integrated, assimilated, and used operationally within the
    forecast offices and in the numerical forecast models, and
    that's really what we would like to see happen.
        Senator Snowe. I see.
        Mr. Iseman, you were discussing the importance of tailoring
    information to the appropriate scale for regions and resource
    managers. Could NOAA make better use of their weather service
    stations, for example, as a way of doing that?
        Mr. Iseman. I'm not prepared to comment on that question
    right now. I'd like to get back to you.
        Senator Snowe. Are there ways in which NOAA could better
    engage local communities right now?
        Mr. Iseman. Well, absolutely, and I'm sorry, I'm not
    familiar with all of the efforts that NOAA has under way to
    work directly with local communities, but we see a lot of ways
    that they could engage with the states, ways that we're trying
    to implement through this Memorandum of Understanding that we
    think can improve this relationship.
        Senator Snowe. Yes, I am aware of the MOU that was just
    reached, and that certainly would be an important step forward
    to have that common understanding and that partnership. But the
    outreach by NOAA to states and local communities could be
    extremely important in all of this, as well.
        Mr. Iseman. Agreed. Thank you, Senator. And one of the
    things that NOAA has been doing is more Webinars and updates on
    a regular basis with the communities that are affected by these
    events, and I know right now they've got a series going on in
    the Southwest for drought, and they're going to be starting one
    in the Upper Missouri to look at the forecasts for snowpack and
    river runoff, and I think they're getting ahead of the game in
    trying to do a better job of communicating that.
        Senator Snowe. I appreciate that. Thank you.
        Mr. Iseman. Thank you.
        Senator Snowe. Thank you all.
        Senator Begich. Thank you all very much. I just have two
    quick questions, and one, just to make sure, Mr. Marshall, only
    because, being parochial here for a moment, Mesonet, is it
    connected to Alaska or not? Is it continental? Did I hear
    continental; right?
        Mr. Marshall. Yes. They are absolutely. Thank you, Senator.
    No. The Mesonet is really, they're a global Mesonet. So we have
    sensors in Alaska. There are others that have sensors in
    Alaska. And all of that information should absolutely be
    integrated into one national Mesonet to make sure that the
    Weather Service takes advantage of that existing data in your
    state, in all the other states.
        Senator Begich. Very good. Thank you.
        Mr. Iseman, let me end my--I just have one final question,
    and that is you heard the last panel that was here. I talked
    about the Centralized Climate Service Program and that there
    was a group, a small percentage, a very small percentage, that
    are concerned that when you centralize it, you may not create
    enough information flowing out. I'm assuming the same comment
    you had earlier on my other question about making sure it's
    regional, local, the work that NOAA does and the MOU you have,
    same situation probably here, that you want to make sure if
    they centralize, that there's still a local understanding of
    what's going on. Is that a fair statement?
        Mr. Iseman. Yes, it is, Senator. And----
        Senator Begich. I just didn't want to assume that based on
    your earlier statement.
        Mr. Iseman. We have supported a national climate service.
    We think there's value in coordinating and centralizing this
    information and disseminating it. But one of our important
    comments on that topic has been that it be regionalized.
        Senator Begich. OK. Very good.
        Senator Snowe. May I ask a question?
        Senator Begich. Yes, Senator Snowe.
        Senator Snowe. I wanted to ask you, Dr. Neilley, so it's
    not our imagination that we're experiencing extreme weather
    events? Is it unprecedented in this last year?
        Dr. Neilley. Certainly from an economic----
        Senator Begich. Microphone? There we go.
        Dr. Neilley. Thank you, Senator. Certainly from an economic
    perspective, so far and with still sort of 2 months of
    accounting to go, we've seen 14 $1 billion weather disasters
    this year. I believe the previous highest number was 9. So
    we're almost 50 percent higher this year than we've seen in any
    year.
        Senator Begich. I know just from Alaska's perspective that
    the storm we just had--I mean, it was a big storm, earlier than
    usual in the sense of the magnitude it had, and more damaging
    because you have no ice buildup. You have no capacity to
    protect against erosion. And that's still being analyzed in
    Alaska. When we have erosion, it's not a few feet of ground
    that disappears. It could be upwards of 50 to 70 feet inward,
    inland that disappears, gone.
        So it's an interesting pattern of weather we have now. As I
    tried to explain to my son yesterday when our neighbor was
    watering her plants, her flowers outside, as we turned on the
    TV or Internet to check in with my wife where it just snowed
    lots of inches of snow in Anchorage, and then Juneau just had a
    record snowfall at this time of year, which doesn't make sense
    for Juneau. They're trying to figure that one out. But it's
    very different than it was in the past, that's for sure.
        Thank you all very much. And again, this gave us a lot of
    good information, a lot of opportunity to look at ideas, and
    this last panel I really appreciate some of the innovation that
    you all are doing in the private sector in organizations,
    because that, I think, as we deal with the budget issues, we're
    trying to find innovative ways to continue to make sure we have
    robust weather prediction, and I think you all have offered
    some good suggestions and some ideas and food for thought here.
    So I think on behalf of both of us, we thank you very much.
        The record will be open for 14 days for any additional
    questions we may have that we might submit to you. But again,
    thank you all very much, and at this time the meeting is
    adjourned. Thank you very much.
        [Whereupon, at 12:13 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

                                A P P E N D I X

                 Prepared Statement of John D. Rockefeller IV,
                          U.S. Senator, West Virginia

        Today we will be examining the many important weather programs of
    the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). From the
    streams of data provided by environmental satellites, to the severe
    weather alerts of the National Weather Service, the products, services,
    and warnings that NOAA provides benefit all Americans. Every day,
    decisions are made based on NOAA weather information, whether it helps
    one decide to carry an umbrella, or to seek life-saving shelter during
    a storm.
        This year has unfortunately shattered almost every weather record
    imaginable in the United States. Record-breaking snowfall, cold
    temperatures, extended drought, high heat, severe flooding, violent
    tornadoes, massive hurricanes--all of these events have amounted to the
    greatest number of multi-billion dollar weather disasters in our
    nation's history. For each of these record-setting events, human lives
    were lost, and entire communities and livelihoods were torn asunder.
    Thinking of the many Americans harmed, I believe the public's need for
    timely and accurate weather forecasts and emergency warnings could not
    be more critical.
        Though the hardships of many are devastating, the death and
    destruction could have been far worse had it not been for the guidance
    and expertise of NOAA scientists, meteorologists, and climatologists.
    NOAA forecasts and warnings provided crucial lead times that protected
    property and saved lives. In my own state of West Virginia, innovations
    in forecasting have provided greater notice of flash flood events,
    allowing people to better protect their property and evacuate safely
    when needed. In times of emergency, minutes can save lives.
        It's clear that NOAA atmospheric services are invaluable to all
    Americans, yet this year in a terrible demonstration of irony the
    agency's important functions have again been taken for granted. House
    Republicans have repeatedly sought to slash NOAA's budget and prohibit
    the agency from conducting basic research and weather observational
    science. As a result of continued underfunding and programmatic delay
    in NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System, or JPSS, the nation faces the
    likely loss of essential weather forecasting capability in the coming
    years, because our current weather satellite capabilities will degrade
    before JPSS is launched and becomes operational. Such a gap would take
    our forecasting capabilities back decades, detrimentally hindering the
    ability to warn the public about severe weather events. This penny
    wise, pound foolish approach threatens to leave millions of Americans,
    communities, and first responders without the life-saving forecasting
    information we all expect and depend on to make timely decisions that
    ultimately save lives. This is a risk we cannot afford. I believe we
    must work now to mitigate the impacts of such a later gap in the most
    responsible and cost-effective way possible.
        I have also supported NOAA's good governance proposal to better
    align the agency's atmospheric science and services. This would
    continue NOAA's mission of providing reliable and accurate scientific
    information and support services to a public looking for answers. This
    is why we're here today. We must assess if current NOAA weather
    services are meeting our growing needs. Where they are not, we need to
    find ways to fill those gaps and push for innovation. And we need to
    have a better grasp of the necessities of the future. This is not an
    easy task, but I'm confident that our two panels of witnesses can help
    us make a big step forward. I'm grateful to each witness for sharing
    your testimony and expertise with the Committee.
                                     ______

              Prepared Statement of Daniel A. Sobien, President,
                National Weather Service Employees Organization

        Thank you, Chairman Begich and Ranking Member Snowe, for inviting
    the National Weather Service Employees Organization to submit written
    testimony for the Subcommittee's hearing on the need for continued
    innovation in weather forecasting and prediction. I am the Lead
    Emergency Response Meteorologist at the Tampa Bay Area Forecast Office
    and National President of NWSEO.
        The 3,800 employees of the National Weather Service represented by
    our union are pleased that the Subcommittee considers this issue one
    worthy of attention. Our organization and its members have been
    encouraging the National Weather Service to develop innovative
    forecasting techniques, products and services for several years. I am
    pleased to report that through collaborative labor-management efforts,
    NWS and NWSEO have identified and are now in the early stages of
    implementing nine pilot projects to deliver innovative weather services
    to the Nation. We are also in the early stages of designing an
    additional seven pilot projects to implement in 2012. In order to pay
    for these projects and the additional forecasters that will be assigned
    to them, the union and the NWS's Chief Financial Officer jointly
    identified and agreed to efficiencies in current NWS operations and
    expenses, that will free up $50 million over 5 years. These cooperative
    efforts constitute a milestone in Federal sector labor-management
    relations, and demonstrate how public employee unions can be part of
    the solution to providing better services to the taxpayer despite tight
    fiscal constraints.
        Nearly two decades ago, the National Weather Service underwent a $5
    billion modernization and restructuring. By all accounts this
    modernization was a huge success; a recent National Academy of Sciences
    report found the NWS modernization; ``allowed more uniform radar
    coverage and surface observations across the United States.
    Improvements were particularly evident in the forecasting and detection
    of severe weather such as tornadoes and flash floods. The probability
    of detecting these events improved over the course of, and after, the
    MAR, and the lead times of the warnings increased.'' But since that
    time, the agency has made only modest and incremental changes and
    improvements in service delivery. Last year, however, the NWS tested a
    pilot project to improve aviation forecasting services which it
    referred to as the ``Golden Triangle.'' The NWS assigned three
    additional forecasters--one per shift--at the New York, Chicago and
    Atlanta Forecast Offices. These nine additional forecasters were
    charged with providing air traffic controllers with real-time site
    specific aviation forecasts. Within 3 months, the assignment of these
    additional forecasters dedicated to aviation needs was responsible for
    reducing weather related air traffic delays by 50 percent when compared
    to periods of comparable weather in prior years. (See chart attached
    hereto).
        NWSEO and NWS used the success of this initial pilot as a basis for
    developing other test beds as part of the NWS's ``Weather Ready
    Nation'' initiative. Management and the union jointly solicited
    suggestions and proposals for local offices across the nation; local
    management and labor teams drafting proposals that were sent to the
    national level where they were reviewed and refined by senior
    management and union officials. The parties then agreed to move forward
    with the following pilot projects, which will involve approximately 27
    new positions at the nine offices involved:

       A National Operations Center at NWS headquarters in Silver
            Spring that will serve as a national incident command center
            for multi-region or national large scale weather events;
            respond to sudden and unexpected demands for services that
            exceed NWS's local or regional resources; and liaise with other
            Federal agency command centers and assist with public
            information during large scale events.

       A Regional Operations Command Center at the NWS Southern
            Region headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas that will serve as an
            incident command center for regional large scale weather events
            and, among other products, prepare a twice daily Threat
            Briefing Package.

       An ``Impact-Based Decision Support Services'' program at the
            Sterling, Virginia (Washington, DC) Forecast Office staffed by
            three ``Emergency Response Meteorologists'' who will assist
            local and state emergency management agencies to with response
            to natural and man-made emergencies that have a weather related
            component (i.e, terrorism, toxic chemical discharge, or severe
            weather). One of these ``ER Mets'' will be embedded with the
            Maryland Emergency Management Agency, one at the FEMA National
            Capitol Regional Coordination office and the third will staff a
            Decision Support Desk at the Sterling Forecast Office and will
            support the needs of the Virginia Department of Emergency
            Management. They will be dispatched to field locations during
            emergencies to assist local authorities in decisionmaking in
            which weather plays a factor.

       A similar pilot program will be established at the New
            Orleans Forecast Office consisting of three Emergency Response
            Meteorologists who will test the provision of decision support
            services to local and state authorities for events impacting
            the coastal environment. This pilot will build on the
            experience which the NWS gained in assisting Federal, state and
            local authorities during the Deepwater Horizon spill. These ER
            Mets will be prepared for dispatch to the site of disasters or
            to local emergency management operation centers.

       An ``Ecosystem Forecasting'' pilot at the Tampa Bay Forecast
            Office will provide enhanced coastal forecasts for maritime
            interests (i.e., oil platforms) and new ecosystem forecasts for
            water temperature, salinity, currents and red tide.
            Hydrological runoff forecasts will be issued to mitigate the
            development and transport of harmful algal blooms. The
            forecasters will also serve as emergency response
            meteorologists for the Tampa area, which regularly hosts
            national security events such as the Super Bowl, the World
            Series and the 2012 Republican National Convention.

       A ``Mesocale Science to Operations'' pilot will be
            established at the Charleston, West Virginia Forecast Office
            that will attempt to improve localized short-fused warning
            lead-times of convective weather and flash flooding by applying
            new research on mesoscale (intermediate scale weather)
            forecasting techniques and models in an operational
            environment. The goal will be to provide more specificity in
            time and space in the forecasting of warning-level weather
            events.

       A pilot at the Boulder, Colorado Forecast Office will test
            the integration of the work of the NWS's Space Weather
            Prediction Center in Boulder to daily aviation forecasting.

       The MidAtlantic River Forecast Center in State College,
            Pennsylvania will test production of high resolution QPF
            (Quantity of Precipitation Forecasts) in a digital format for
            any point along rivers.

       The ``Golden Triangle'' pilot project will be expanded into
            San Francisco (Monterrey) Forecast Office in an effort to
            reduce weather-related air traffic delays in the San Francisco
            area.

        Six of these pilot projects are in the early stages of staffing.
    Staffing for the Boulder, State College and Monterrey projects may be
    delayed until next year.
        The NWS and NWSEO are in preliminary discussions about seven
    additional pilot projects for 2012. Five of these pilots will be
    located in ``tornado alley''--Kentucky, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma and
    possibly North Carolina. The NWSEO and NWS jointly recognize that while
    much progress has been made over the past few decades in warning the
    public of tornado dangers, the capability of forecasters to give
    adequate lead time, accuracy and intensity forecasts of the strongest
    tornados is not adequate to allow the public to reach safety in many
    circumstances. In addition urbanization of areas prone to these extreme
    tornados has led to catastrophic situations such as the 2011 tornado
    season with over 500 fatalities reported. These pilots will incorporate
    the latest neighborhood scale modeling techniques in an attempt to
    improve lead times and accuracies to a point where residents can be
    evacuated from areas under a threat of extreme tornados. They will also
    test the concept of Emergency Response Meteorologists utilizing the
    latest communication technology to maximize warning effectiveness. Two
    other pilots under discussion will involve tsunami mitigation outreach
    efforts in Puerto Rico and the Pacific Northwest.
        In addition to these national-level initiatives, regional NWS and
    NWSEO officials have agreed to a number of new initiatives to improve
    weather services in Alaska:

       The Alaska Aviation Weather Unit has implemented a new
            product called the Hazardous Weather Graphic that gives users
            information not covered in regular aviation forecasts such as
            solar activity that would cause jamming of communications;
            debris expected from wind or fires in long term situations;
            strong surface winds 3 days in advance and significant
            turbulence or low level winds shear expected in heavily
            trafficked areas. The AAWU will also be developing gridded
            forecasts of wind shear, turbulence and icing and other
            meteorological parameters up to 60,000 feet creating a ``3-D''
            forecast.
       The Alaska Region has added a Decision Support Meteorologist
            in the Regional Office who has developed a social networking
            site on Facebook to assist the public in getting weather
            information during storms. The three forecast offices in Alaska
            contribute to this site as well. The Decision Support
            Meteorologist has enhanced communication between the NWS and
            the Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency
            Management. An example is a daily conference call which he
            organized between the forecast offices, the state emergency
            management agency and the villages affected by the early
            November storm.
       A new forecast desk (and four additional forecasters to
            staff it around the clock on a rotational basis) at the
            Anchorage Forecast Office that will improve decision support
            services as well as watches/warnings and aviation forecasts for
            the forecast office's service area.
       Marine satellite phones are being deployed at several
            Weather Service Offices that allow the staff to receive calls
            from ships in remote Alaskan waters. The staff will receive
            marine observations from previously data-sparse waters in the
            Gulf of Alaska, Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea, which will improved
            forecast accuracy for those areas.
       The operations of the Sea Ice forecasting desk at Anchorage
            will be expanded to 7 days a week.
       The creation of a experimental Arctic Ocean Offshore
            Forecast from 60 to 200 nautical miles of the Arctic Coast of
            Alaska. Until 5 years ago, this area was iced over nearly year
            round. However, due to climate change, the Arctic Ice Pack has
            melted and there is now much open water in this area during the
            summer. This forecast in being developed in anticipation of
            further melting which will result in the movement of commercial
            ventures (oil exploration, shipping) into the area.

        Our members appreciate the support of the National Weather Service
    that Congress has shown by full funding of the agency for Fiscal Year
    2012. We hope we can count on your support for our efforts at
    innovation.

                                     ______

     Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV
                            to Hon. Mary M. Glackin

    Projected Gap in Polar-orbiting Satellite Data
        Question 1. In November, my staff met with Mary Kicza, Assistant
    Administrator for NOAA satellites. She was unable to indicate concrete
    steps that NOAA was taking to deal with the likely gap in satellite
    data, beyond the drafting of a Request for Proposal (RFP), to be issued
    by NOAA only after the loss of satellite capacity occurs. NOAA has
    repeatedly stated that full funding is necessary to minimize any gap,
    but recent reports even if the program received full funding going
    forward, a gap is still likely to occur. Shouldn't NOAA be pursuing a
    dual track of securing funding for JPSS while simultaneously
    proactively exploring opportunities to mitigate the forecasted loss of
    data?
        Answer. There are no viable operational alternatives in the event
    that Suomi NPP (S-NPP) fails before JPSS-1 becomes operational. Neither
    the Department of Defense nor the Europeans, our well-established
    operational partners, fly weather satellites in the afternoon orbit.
    However, NOAA is taking several steps to plan for gap mitigation.
    First, the Assistant Administrator of NESDIS has tasked her team to
    look at ways of maximizing the life of S-NPP starting now. This
    includes conditioning the batteries, minimizing heat stress, minimizing
    fuel use, etc. The Suomi NPP satellite is flying the same instruments
    that will fly on JPSS-1. Second, NOAA will take a second look to
    determine if there is any way to move up the launch date of JPSS-1. At
    this point, moving up the launch date of JPSS-1 may not be possible
    simply due to the fact that it takes a certain amount of time to
    actually build the satellite and put it through the various testing
    required before launch.
        Third, NOAA is also assessing other international missions, such as
    the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) Feng Yun 3B (FY-3B)
    satellite that is currently flying in the afternoon orbit with
    instruments similar to NASA EOS legacy satellites, however, the data
    will need to be analyzed to ensure it is of a quality comparable with
    current data streams. Currently, there are no other countries that are
    flying microwave sounders in the afternoon polar-orbit. NOAA will
    continue to assess whether other U.S. and international government or
    private sector satellites are launched that could provide the type of
    data that are needed for NOAA's numerical weather prediction models.
        Fourth, NOAA will take a look at whether there are different, non-
    traditional ways of using data that we have not done before. To that
    end, the NOAA Administrator has directed NOAA's Assistant Secretary for
    Environmental Observations and Prediction to develop a written,
    descriptive, integrated, end-to-end plan that considers the entire flow
    from candidate alternative sensors through data assimilation and on to
    forecast model performance. She is assembling a team that includes
    independent technical consultants to make an enterprise-wide
    examination of contingency options that could be exercised in the event
    of a gap in polar satellite observations. This will include the use of
    alternative observations (from, e.g., other satellites or in situ
    instrumentation), changes in data assimilation and/or modeling methods
    and so forth. The work being initiated by the NESDIS Assistant
    Administrator, mentioned above, will be included in this larger
    enterprise-wide assessment.
        In addition, NOAA's National Weather Service is looking into ways
    to mitigate the impact to weather forecasts should a gap in polar
    afternoon orbital coverage occur. Unfortunately, many of those
    forecasts use Numerical Prediction Models as a primary input, these
    models rely heavily on polar data and there is no getting around the
    fact that any gap in polar coverage would impact the accuracy of model
    outputs.

        Question 2. Given that a significant gap in satellite coverage in
    2016 and 2017 is almost a certainty, what other types of data and
    infrastructure can NOAA utilize to ensure continuity in weather and
    climate forecasting capabilities?
        Answer. NOAA assimilates many types of observational data (e.g.,
    satellite-derived observations, radar, aircraft observations, weather
    balloon profiles of the atmosphere, surface observations across the
    country, marine observations from buoys, ships, etc.) into numerical
    weather prediction (NWP) models. These models generate weather
    guidance, or weather forecast simulations via operational
    supercomputers, which are used by forecasters to provide accurate and
    reliable forecasts from hours to several days in advance. Despite
    NOAA's numerous sources of observational data, data from polar-orbiting
    satellites are unique because they provide global coverage that cannot
    be replaced by in situ data. Loss of polar-orbiting satellite data
    would result in degradation in forecast skill beyond day one for
    regional prediction and day three and beyond for global prediction.
        NWS has assessed the impact to operations and all possible
    mitigations for the expected gap between Suomi NPP and JPSS. While we
    will continue to leverage our current data streams, there are no viable
    operational alternatives that will cover the projected data gap in the
    afternoon orbit that will occur due to the delayed launch of the first
    JPSS-1 satellite in the afternoon orbit. Neither Department of Defense
    nor the Europeans, our well established international partners, fly
    weather satellites that would provide global data in the afternoon.

        Question 3. While recognizing the budget-constrained environment,
    what steps is NOAA taking to identify and secure alternate types of
    technology and infrastructure that aren't satellite-based?
        Answer. Weather and climate forecasts and warnings use integrated
    observations from different systems such as satellites, radars, weather
    balloons, automated surface observing systems, and coastal weather
    buoys. NOAA operates a suite of computer weather models from global
    models to regional scale models to high resolution local scale models.
    For regional prediction and forecasting, loss of satellite data can be
    partially mitigated through surface-based remote sensing, aircraft, and
    in-situ data.
        Satellite data cannot, however, be replicated through ground
    observations. Any loss in satellite observations will decrease NOAA's
    ability to protect lives and livelihoods from extreme weather events.
    Polar-orbiting environmental satellites provide global coverage and
    other systems provide local in situ observations. Ninety four percent
    of data assimilated into numerical weather prediction (NWP) models is
    from satellites and 84 percent is from polar-orbiting satellites.
    Polar-orbiting satellites provide data required for Global NWP models
    needed for weather forecasting
        Through the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), NOAA will
    continue to utilize access to worldwide data from the WMO's 189 member
    states and territories including ground stations and radiosondes. WMO
    facilitates the exchange, processing and standardization of
    observational data between its members. NOAA will continue to leverage
    this resource.
    Prioritization of NOAA's Climate and Weather Data Collection Activities
        Question 4. How does NOAA incorporate the needs of natural resource
    managers, policymakers, and the private sector when determining what
    types of weather and climate data it will collect?
        Answer. NOAA's observation requirements are derived from the data
    needs of NOAA's operational and research programs which support
    Nation's operational need for weather forecasting and environmental
    monitoring. NOAA actively works with external partners such as the
    Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Interior, Department
    of Transportation to ensure that their mission needs are reflected in
    NOAA's mission requirements. NOAA's data policy of full, free, and open
    exchange of data facilitate the wide use of NOAA data by domestic and
    international users. NOAA continues to encourage the use of these data
    by these users. The NWS' mission is to provide weather, water, and
    climate data, forecasts and warnings for the United States, its
    territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas for the protection of
    life and property and enhancement of the national economy. NWS
    regularly collaborates with users of these end products. To the extent
    possible, NWS incorporates other user needs as data are collected and
    processed; NWS makes the data available for open and unrestricted use,
    unless specific non-disclosure agreements are in place when private
    data sources are used.
        An example of NOAA's incorporation of external partner needs is the
    Weather-Ready Nation initiative--a collaboration of government
    agencies, researchers, and the private sector to:

       Improve precision of weather and water forecasts and
            effective communication of risk to local authorities;

       Improve weather decision support services with new
            initiatives such as the development of mobile-ready emergency
            response specialist teams;

       Provide innovative science and technological solutions such
            as the nationwide implementation of Dual Pol radar technology,
            Integrated Water Resources Science and Services, and the Joint
            Polar Satellite System;

       Strengthen joint partnerships to enhance community
            preparedness;

       Work with weather enterprise partners and the emergency
            management community to enhance safety and economic output and
            effectively manage environmental resources.

        Question 5. What types of weather and climate data are given
    highest priority, and why?
        Answer. No one type of weather or climate data is given highest
    priority. Weather and climate forecasts and warnings use integrated
    observations from different systems as varied as satellites, radars,
    weather balloons, automated surface observing systems, and coastal
    weather buoys. The mix of observations also depends on the weather
    event being monitored. For example, the instruments used to monitor a
    hurricane versus a tornado are quite different. Also, different
    observations are required depending on how far out the forecast is in
    time. Short term weather forecasts would be more likely to utilize a
    combination of radar data, geostationary satellite data, and other
    surface observing data whereas weather forecasts further than three
    days out would rely more heavily on polar satellite data, and climate
    forecasts depend on observations from the Tropical Ocean Array data
    buoys as well as a suite of other technologies. While 94 percent of
    data assimilated into numerical weather prediction models are from
    satellites and 84 percent is from polar-orbiting satellites, the
    quantity of observations does not necessarily reflect a priority of
    importance.

        Question 6. Are there any types of data that public or private
    sectors routinely request from NOAA that are currently not being
    collected by the agency?
        Answer. In general, no. However, while NOAA can supply
    meteorological data for a given weather station on a given date or over
    time, that data may not be representative of a nearby location of
    interest to a third party. It is common knowledge that weather can be
    quite variable over short distances, and additional information and
    analysis may be needed to adequately describe the weather at the
    secondary location. NOAA views this as a private sector role. (see more
    at http://www.nws.noaa.gov/im/ and http://www.noaa.gov/
    partnershippolicy/)
        NWS primary responsibility is to collect and process data needed to
    meet NWS mission requirements. The NWS' mission is to provide weather,
    water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings for the United States,
    its territories, adjacent waters, and ocean areas for the protection of
    life and property and enhancement of the national economy. To the
    extent possible, NOAA works to accommodate the needs of our other
    external partners, but our primary responsibility remains to provide
    forecasts to the American public to protect lives and property. NWS
    makes the data available for open and unrestricted use, unless specific
    non-disclosure agreements are in place when private data sources are
    used.
        NOAA continues to explore opportunities to partner with private and
    public and international environmental observational networks.
    Proposed Climate Service
        Question 7. In the FY 2012 President's budget request for NOAA, the
    agency proposed a reorganization of its existing climate related
    programs, which are currently housed in multiple NOAA line offices,
    into a single line office. NOAA says that this will result in a line
    office dedicated to climate research in the same way that the Weather
    Service line office is dedicated to weather research. Since the Climate
    Service is purported to be ``budget neutral'' and will not add any new
    programs, in what ways would reorganization improve NOAA's climate
    science services?
        Answer. Building on efforts initiated in the previous
    Administration, NOAA proposed reorganizing climate resources into a new
    line office, the NOAA Climate Service Line Office, in the President's
    Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 budget. This proposal was not included in the
    final FY 2012 Appropriations Act that President Obama signed in
    November 2012.

        Question 8. Would new activities be undertaken within this proposed
    Climate Service in the future? If so, what types of activities would be
    anticipated?
        Answer. The proposal to reorganize NOAA's climate resources into a
    new line office was included in the President's FY 2012 budget request;
    however, it was not included in the FY 2012 Appropriations Act that
    President Obama signed in November 2012.

        Question 9. Some have raised concerns that a NOAA climate service
    would be rigid, jurisdictionally narrow, and inherently non-
    collaborative, given it being housed in one agency. How is NOAA
    addressing these concerns to ensure its proposed climate service could
    effectively address the diverse needs of multiple agencies,
    jurisdictions, and stakeholders?
        Answer. The proposal to reorganize NOAA's climate resources into a
    new line office was included in the President's FY 2012 budget request;
    however, it was not included in the FY 2012 Appropriations Act that
    President Obama signed in November 2012. As a sound steward of American
    taxpayer dollars, NOAA will continue to work as efficiently and
    effectively as possible under our current organizational structure and
    within the resources we are provided to meet the growing public demand
    for information--including access to NOAA's information assets, and
    enabling improved information sharing and more productive partnerships
    with a broader enterprise that includes: Federal agencies, local
    governments, private industry, other users, and stakeholders.
    Leveraging Private Sector Capabilities
        Question 10. Several witnesses today spoke about the benefits that
    NOAA and the private sector share when leveraging each other's weather
    data. For example, Bob Marshall highlighted the value of a national
    comprehensive weather observing system--an integrated network or
    meteorological sensors that complements and enhances NOAA's own array
    of sensors--so as to provide more accurate and faster warning
    capabilities throughout the country. Similarly, the National Research
    Council professed the same benefits of a National Mesonet in their
    report ``From the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks.''
        However, NOAA has never requested funding for a National Mesonet.
    For the past few years, the Senate has understood the potential of such
    a partnership by including funding the National Mesonet in NOAA's
    annual appropriation bills. Out of a roughly $1 billion budget for the
    National Weather Service, the National Mesonet has only accounted for
    $8 million to $19 million. It appears that at the most, that's 2
    percent of NOAA's budget for what has amounted to a relatively
    significant increase in weather data capacity for NOAA. Why has NOAA
    not requested funding for the National Mesonet?
        Answer. The President's Budget reflects the Administration's
    highest priorities for maintaining NOAA's weather observing systems and
    assets. NOAA recognizes the value of leveraging data from local
    observing networks or ``mesonets'' which provide denser, local scale
    detail of the weather and environment. This information can be
    effectively used to improve short and local forecasts in areas with
    this local data. NWS will use FY 2012 funding to convene a peer-
    reviewed study to develop a plan for NOAA's role in a National Mesonet,
    with recommendations for implementation as appropriate.

        Question 11. Please explain whether NOAA has--or has not--achieved
    value in this public private partnership.
        Answer. NOAA recognizes the value of leveraging data from local
    observing networks or ``mesonets'' which provide denser, local scale
    detail of the weather and environment. This information can be
    effectively used to improve short and local forecasts in areas with
    this local data. Mesonet system data are used in NWS operations as
    supplemental data sources. Mesonets are broadly consistent with the
    spirit and recommendations of From the Ground Up, in that they provide
    the types of observations that augment NWS's ability to detect,
    forecast, and warn for localized, high-impact weather events. NOAA will
    continue its current approach to developing a National Mesonet by
    leveraging existing networks (operated by state and local governments,
    the private sector, and other Federal agencies), when and where
    available.
        A key to successfully leveraging existing data is to gather and
    provide detailed and enhanced metadata (``data about the data'').
        Question 12. The Commerce Committee remains strongly committed to
    the success and swiftest possible implementation of the Joint Polar
    Satellite System. However, it is clear to me that we must
    simultaneously continue to invest in additional, cost-effective
    innovations to ensure a weather-ready nation. As we face the gap in
    polar-orbiting weather satellite coverage, how will NOAA better
    integrate data and information from public private weather
    partnerships, such as the National Mesonet, to augment--or even
    improve--forecasts and warnings? Specifically, will NOAA incorporate
    data from the lightening mapper that Mr. Marshall spoke about in his
    testimony into NOAA's models? If not, why not?
        Answer. NOAA applauds the Committee's recognition of the importance
    of investing in cost-effective innovations to ensure a Weather-Ready-
    Nation. While there are no viable operational alternatives that will
    cover the projected data gap that will occur due to the delayed launch
    of the first JPSS-1 satellite in the afternoon orbit, NOAA will
    continue to work with the private sector to obtain mesoscale
    observations whenever possible and cost-effective. For example, NOAA is
    working with the renewable energy sector to investigate the use of
    local scale data in NWS numerical weather prediction models to provide
    more accurate and timely weather forecasts that can be used by both NWS
    forecasters and private sector forecasters.
        Mr. Marshall references the GOES-R Lightning Mapper (GLM), which
    will provide total lightning data (cloud-to-ground and in-cloud
    flashes) for the entire Western Hemisphere, complementing and expanding
    beyond existing ground-based systems. NWS currently obtains mainly
    cloud-to-ground lightning data from terrestrial networks. NOAA is
    assessing other research-based terrestrial systems which provide total
    lightning data. Total lightning data offers more information about
    storm severity and structure than cloud to ground lightning data and
    continuous monitoring of total lightning flash rate from the GLM is
    expected to improve tornado and severe storm warning lead time and
    improve hurricane track and intensity forecasts. Total lightning data
    from this research is used to simulate the data that will come from the
    GLM. Researchers are in turn using this simulated data in different
    local scale numerical weather prediction models to assess potential
    forecast improvement particularly in data-sparse regions where radar
    and other observations are not available.
        In order to continue to improve weather forecast skill, NOAA is and
    will continue to invest in the science of better understanding
    environmental processes, improved modeling and data assimilation, and
    the supporting computing infrastructure.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Maria Cantwell to
                              Hon. Mary M. Glackin

    Spectrum
        Question 1. The National Telecommunications and Information
    Administration (NTIA) evaluated four spectral bands currently in
    government use for possible `Fast Track' reallocation for wireless
    broadband service within the next five years. One spectral band they
    considered was the 1675-1710 MHz band used for downlinks from
    geostationary and polar-orbiting weather satellites that are
    administered by NOAA. This weather data is directly accessed by any
    number of Federal, state, and tribal government first-responder
    agencies in support of their missions. Additionally, foreign polar
    satellites also transmit signals to the United States in this band
    under international agreements.
        NTIA recommends that ``15 megahertz (MHz) of the 1675-1710 MHz
    (specifically 1695-1710 MHz) spectrum could be made available for
    wireless broadband use within five years, contingent upon timely
    allocation of funds to redesign the Geostationary Operational
    Environmental Satellite-R satellite and other costs the National
    Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other Federal
    agencies will incur in connection with sharing this spectrum.''
        Please provide the list of actions NOAA needs to take over the next
    five years in order for the agency to share the 1695-1710 MHz band with
    the wireless broadband service? How much will these actions cost? How
    will they be paid for? How far along is NOAA in its planning
    activities? In particular, what is the potential impact on design,
    development, and deployment of JPSS?
        Answer. NOAA currently operates a number of polar-orbiting and
    geostationary operational environmental satellites in the 1675-1710 MHz
    range. NOAA and its European mission partner, the European Organization
    for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), operate
    polar satellites using identical direct broadcast imagery systems in
    the 1695-1710 MHz band. Assets that are currently in orbit cannot be
    retrofitted to change the transmission frequency. NOAA expects
    replacement satellites to be launched by 2017 for the Joint Polar
    satellite System and 2015 for the Geostationary Operational
    Environmental Satellite-R Series.
        In November 2010, the Department of Commerce, through its National
    Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and working
    with other impacted Federal agencies, including NOAA, concluded a
    months-long analysis in response to the President's June 2010 Broadband
    Initiative. In the report, Assessment of the Near-Term Viability of
    Accommodating Wireless Broadband Systems in the 1675-1710 MHz, 1755-
    1780 MHz, 3500-3650 MHz, and 4200-4220 MHz, 4380-4400 MHz Bands (Fast-
    Track Report), the Department recommended--and has formally proposed to
    the Federal Communications Commission--that a 15-megahertz portion of
    the band, 1695-1710 MHz, be made available for commercial use within
    five years, in a manner that protects critical government sites via
    exclusion zones. The exclusion zones would protect key earth station
    sites, including NOAA's operational facilities, to minimize the
    likelihood of interference. Devices or reception sites that operate
    outside of these exclusions could face interference.
        NOAA is also participating in an NTIA-led engagement process with
    industry to develop options for repurposing this spectrum that
    maximizes its commercial use, while protecting essential NOAA
    capabilities. This may include more detailed interference modeling,
    which could allow for smaller exclusion zones, moving downlinks to less
    populated areas or other options.
        NOAA expects additional costs from redesigning observational
    systems and technical studies related to potential interference issues.
    NOAA is still evaluating the potential cost impacts and costs would be
    incorporated into its transition plan as required by the Middle Class
    Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012. Examples of modifications that
    would entail additional costs include:

            GOES-R: NOAA's next generation geostationary satellite program
            (GOES-R), which is currently under development for launch mid-
            decade, redesigned its direct broadcast communications
            subsystem to move below 1695 MHz to comply with the spectrum
            sharing regime identified in the Fast-Track Report. Changes to
            current contracts were executed and costs paid using GOES-R
            Program contingency funds.

            Radiosondes: As a result of the GOES-R redesign, NOAA's
            radiosondes (balloon-borne instruments for atmospheric
            measurements) require redesign to reduce spectrum usage in time
            to support the GOES-R redesign. Redesign of NOAA systems
            attributable to making the frequency available for auction is
            expected to be paid for by auction proceeds.

        Additionally, NOAA is eligible for funding for certain pre-auction
    planning costs, consistent with the terms articulated in the Middle
    Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act. Funding from the Spectrum
    Relocation Fund, where proceeds from auctions of spectrum previously
    used by Federal agencies is held, is contingent upon approval by a
    technical panel, comprised of representatives of NTIA, OMB and the
    Federal Communications Commission, of a NOAA transition plan. NTIA is
    creating the procedures for the panel now and NOAA is working with NTIA
    to develop its transition plan.

        Question 2. My understanding is that NOAA intends to establish
    wireless radio `exclusion zones' surrounding satellite downlink sites
    to help minimize the impact to meteorological services from harmful
    interference. How many exclusion zones are being proposed? What are the
    sizes of the exclusion zones? How practical is this approach? Do you
    believe use of exclusion zones will diminish the relative value of the
    spectrum?
        Answer. In the report, Assessment of the Near-Term Viability of
    Accommodating Wireless Broadband Systems in the 1675-1710 MHz, 1755-
    1780 MHz, 3500-3650 MHz, and 4200-4220 MHz, 4380-4400 MHz Bands (Fast-
    Track Report), the Department recommended--and has formally proposed to
    the Federal Communications Commission--that a 15-megahertz portion of
    the band, 1695-1710 MHz, be made available for commercial use within
    five years, in a manner that protects critical government sites via
    exclusion zones. The exclusion zones would protect key earth station
    sites, including NOAA's operational facilities, to minimize the
    likelihood of interference.
        The report proposed exclusion zones around 18 Federal ground
    stations, of which five are critical to NOAA meteorological satellite
    operations. The other 13 sites are non-NOAA U.S. Government user
    locations. The exclusion zones proposed for protection of these five
    ground stations range in size from 90 km to 121 km. Proposed zone size
    varies from site to site due to differences in receiver
    characteristics, topography and other factors.
        NOAA is not well-positioned to assess the relative value of the
    spectrum. However, NOAA is participating in an NTIA-led engagement
    process where Federal agencies and industry are working together to
    develop options for repurposing this spectrum that maximizes its
    commercial use, while protecting essential NOAA capabilities. This may
    include more detailed interference modeling, which could allow for
    smaller exclusion zones, moving downlinks to less populated areas or
    other options. Also, the model used to determine the exclusion zone
    sizes proposed in the Commerce report did not fully consider anomalous
    propagation because it was not clear whether this effect is applicable
    when considering the aggregate interference from a deployment of
    geographically dispersed commercial handset as analyzed in the Fast
    Track Report. Through the NTIA process, NOAA will have a better
    understanding of the technical and deployment parameters of the
    commercial systems and the potential risks to in-band and adjacent band
    earth station receivers. Based on the additional information for the
    commercial systems further modeling may be necessary before an auction
    or license conditions to clarify NOAA's protections.

        Question 3. Are you concerned that there may be out of band
    emissions from wireless devices operating in the 1695-1710 MHz band
    that may impact the operations of radiosondes (weather balloons) and
    sensors (many of which are unlicensed) in the 1675-1695 MHz band? If
    so, what steps can NOAA take to help minimize the impact of harmful
    interference?
        Answer. Yes, out-of-band emissions are always a concern for
    operational impacts. NOAA radiosondes operate on National
    Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) authorized
    (licensed) frequencies. Out-of-band interference analyses will be
    performed as part of the radiosonde system redesign process. Any out-
    of-band interference concerns will be brought to the attention of the
    NTIA Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) so that the
    concerns can be addressed during the NTIA/FCC process for reallocation
    of the 1695 to 1710 MHz band. NOAA will also improve the receiver out-
    of-band rejection performance as part of the radiosonde system redesign
    effort, when funding for repurposing the existing Federal allocation
    becomes available.
    JPSS
        Question 4. How long can NOAA wait to launch JPSS-1 before our
    weather modeling systems begin to suffer?
        Answer. NOAA currently estimates that JPSS-1 will launch no later
    than the second quarter of FY 2017. As such, NOAA cannot afford to have
    any further slips to the JPSS-1 launch date without further increasing
    the already high risk of a loss of data for numerical weather
    prediction (NWP) models and impact to the accuracy of National Weather
    Service forecasts and warnings.
        The Suomi NPP satellite is currently expected to provide suitable
    data for weather forecasting through mid-2016. Assuming Suomi NPP
    provides data as planned, there is a high probability of a gap in data
    from the afternoon orbit from the end of the Suomi NPP mission until
    JPSS-1 has completed its in-orbit calibration and validation phase.
    NOAA is utilizing its resources to ensure that the launch date for
    JPSS-1 does not slip any further. In the absence of data from the
    afternoon orbit from an operational polar-orbiting satellite such as
    either NOAA's POES or Suomi NPP satellites, there will be an immediate
    degradation to the National Weather Service's numerical weather
    prediction (NWP) models.

        Question 5. Will the geostationary satellite system (GOES-R)
    maintain weather prediction at or near current levels during the gap in
    JPSS coverage? If not, how will coverage now be different during the
    gap including GOES-R in your analysis?
        Answer. The instruments on the current Geostationary Operational
    Environmental Satellite (GOES) cannot be used as a substitute for
    future Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) mission data needs and
    requirements. NOAA GOES and Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
    Satellite (POES)--JPSS is a POES satellite--constellations were
    developed to provide complementary space-based data to meet NOAA's
    weather, ocean, space weather and climate mission.
        GOES does not provide the global coverage that POES provides. GOES
    satellites cover the Western Hemisphere that includes eastern Pacific
    to the western Atlantic and from southern Alaska to South America. The
    imagers and sounders on GOES satellites are optimized to provide the
    coverage that is required for a geosynchronous orbit (i.e., providing
    environmental data over fixed geographic regions). Data from GOES
    satellites, in conjunction with Doppler radar, are used for
    ``nowcasting'' severe weather events as they unfold; POES data cannot
    provide the same constant observations that GOES provides.
        Polar-orbiting satellites (current POES and the future JPSS) circle
    the Earth longitudinally from the North Pole to the South Pole and
    provide environmental data at periodic intervals over the entire globe.
    These global measurements are vital for the accuracy and reliability of
    the National Weather Service's computer weather models that forecast
    the weather at 3 days and beyond. Additionally, polar-orbiting
    satellites provide satellite imagery over data -sparse areas like parts
    of Alaska above 60 degrees latitude. Access to these data has proven
    critical to protecting the people of Alaska and the U.S. Pacific
    Insular Areas because GOES satellites are unable to image accurately in
    those areas.
        In conclusion, NOAA's polar orbiting and geostationary satellite
    systems provide mission critical, complementary data that is minimally
    redundant. NWS needs both the global coverage and higher resolution of
    polar orbiting satellites, and the ``constant look'' of the
    geostationary satellites to provide the full spectrum of short-term
    weather warnings to long-term forecasts.

        Question 6. In preparation for the gap in weather satellite
    coverage, is NOAA working with military, other governments and/or
    corporations, which have weather satellite capability to meet the
    United States weather prediction needs?
        Answer. There are no viable operational alternatives which will
    cover the projected data gap in the afternoon orbit that will occur due
    to the delayed launch of the first JPSS-1 satellite and the end of life
    of Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) in the
    afternoon orbit. Neither Department of Defense nor the Europeans, our
    well-established operational partners, fly weather satellites in the
    afternoon orbit.
        NOAA is also assessing other international missions, such as the
    China Meteorological Administration (CMA) Feng Yun 3B (FY-3B) satellite
    that is currently flying in the afternoon orbit with instruments
    similar to NASA EOS satellites.
        NOAA will continue to assess whether other U.S. and international
    government or private sector satellites are launched that could provide
    the type of data that are needed for NOAA's numerical weather
    prediction models.
        In addition, NOAA's National Weather Service is looking into ways
    to mitigate the impact to weather forecasts should a gap in polar
    afternoon orbital coverage occur. Unfortunately, many of those
    forecasts use Numerical Prediction Models as a primary input, these
    models rely heavily on polar data and there is no getting around the
    fact that any gap in polar coverage would impact the accuracy of model
    outputs.

        Question 7. We learned from NOAA that there has been internal
    reallocation of funding to meet the immediate funding needs of the JPSS
    program. How much funding was reallocated to JPSS?
        Answer. The FY 2011 Consolidated Appropriation bill amount
    continued the FY 2010 funding level of $382.2 million for the JPSS
    Program. The Administration determined, and the Congress approved, an
    additional $89.7 million for the JPSS Program in the FY 2011 Spend Plan
    for a total of $471.9 million. The total of $471.9 million represents
    the amount NOAA established for the program in FY 2011.
        In FY 2012, the Congress appropriated $924 million of the
    President's Budget Request of $1.070 billion for the JPSS Program. In
    FY 2013, NOAA requests $916.4 million for the JPSS Program.

        Question 8. Which program or line offices had funding redirected to
    meet the needs of the satellite program? How much funding did each of
    these program or line offices loose?
        Answer. The Administration's FY 2011 spend plan for JPSS is $471.9
    million from funds appropriated to the Department of Commerce by PL
    112-10. Given the importance of JPSS in maintaining the Nation's
    weather prediction capabilities, NOAA received Congressional approval
    to allocate that amount to JPSS for FY 2011 to support critical work on
    the spacecraft, instruments, and mission operations and sustainment
    activities. A portion, $39.8 million, of the $89.7 million increase in
    FY 2011 for the JPSS program was provided though a transfer from other
    bureaus within the Department of Commerce.

        Question 9. Did any of these programs impact critical data required
    for fisheries management: observer coverage, stock assessment data, or
    ship time?
        Answer. The FY 2011 Spend Plan represents a comprehensive strategy
    that aims to address multiple and interrelated missions of the agency.
    We believe that all of these missions have considerable value to the
    Nation. Given the importance of JPSS in maintaining the Nation's
    weather prediction capabilities and with Congressional approval, NOAA
    chose to allocate $471.9 million to the JPSS program for FY 2011 to
    support critical work on the spacecraft, instruments, and mission
    operations and sustainment activities.
        Core fisheries research and management activities funded by NMFS
    are supported by the Fisheries Research and Management sub-activity.
    Between FY 2010 and FY 2011 funding for this sub-activity increased by
    $5.6M ($432.9M and $438.5M respectively). This funding supports NMFS
    Regional Science Centers which provide the scientific knowledge base
    for the management and rulemaking process supported by NMFS Regional
    Offices and Regional Fishery Management Council and Interstate Marine
    Fisheries Commissions, which are also supported with this funding.
    Funding is also included specifically for stock assessments and survey
    and monitoring projects which provide data on abundance, distribution,
    and biological characteristics of fish stocks, the scientific basis for
    setting annual catch limits and other fishery management measures.
        The NOAA fleet provides the base data collection platforms to
    support fisheries research and management. The FY 2011 spend plan
    funded the NOAA fleet to allow for maximum utilization in FY 2011
    without the need for Program Funded Days at Sea. FY 2011 actual base
    funded Days at Sea were 2,609. This is an increase from FY 2010 base
    funded Days at Sea of 2,395.
    Dual Polarization Doppler Radar Installation and Early Lessons
        Question 10. Over the last two years, NOAA was appropriated $9
    million to acquire and install a coastal Doppler radar in Washington
    state.
        Please quantitatively describe how the new dual polarization
    Doppler radar has improved weather prediction and forecasting in
    Washington state.
        Answer. The NEXRAD program is a tri-agency effort between NOAA/
    Department of Commerce (DOC), The Department of Defence (DOD), and the
    Federal Aviation Administration in the Department of Transportation.
    The new Dopplar radar installed in Western Washington State is an
    example of excellent synergy between NOAA and DOD. Key NEXRAD assets
    for this project were transferred to NOAA/NWS from the DOD Keesler, MS,
    Air Force Base maintenance and training facility, which no longer had
    the requirement for the equipment.
        This is the first winter in which dual-polarization radar (dual-
    pol) data are available. NWS will continue to analyze the data and
    quantify the radar's contribution to improved weather prediction.
    However, qualitative benefits are already known. For example, the
    coastal radar has been used to issue and refine high wind warnings
    along the coastal zone. In one case, the radar indicated stronger winds
    than expected from the forecast models and provided the knowledge
    necessary for the forecaster to put up the warning before the winds
    hit. The dual-pol capability has allowed the NWS to detect the
    transition from rain to snow near the surface and accurately detect the
    elevated warm layer needed to form freezing rain or sleet. During the
    19 January ice storm, NWS forecasters were able to better detect the
    developing event (leading to Emergency Alert System activation) and
    were able to monitor the freezing rain intensity and location with
    frequent updates to the emergency management community.
        The coastal radar has improved our forecast and warning capability
    for areas that previously did not have radar coverage. The new radar
    also provides NWS forecasters with estimated location/intensity/amounts
    of precipitation in areas of Southwest and Coastal Washington that
    previously were terrain blocked to other radars. We believe the
    improved understanding of rainfall amounts and snow level has already
    provided information for more accurate flood forecasting than would
    have been provided if the new radar was not in place.

        Question 11. Some local weather programs, such as Seattle's Storm
    Watch, are not yet incorporating the new dual polarization Doppler
    radar data. Is NOAA working with small local weather forecasters to
    ensure effective and timely use of dual polarization data?
        Answer. NOAA provides the operational dual-pol and legacy radar
    data in real-time through multiple data access points and providers.
    Our partners are encouraged to use these data in application
    development and in providing commercial services. Specifically
    regarding the new radar data in Washington State, the data are going
    directly to the University of Washington and they are processing and
    posting them to a live web page for others to use. They are also
    currently assessing the value of adding these new data to their Rain
    and Snow Watch programs. NOAA stands ready to assist them in this
    process. To help private sector/media meteorologists and non-
    meteorologists understand how to use dual-pol, NOAA developed an on-
    line dual-pol training module series. The local WFO is also working
    with local media to provide ``lessons-learned'' training following this
    first winter season.

        Question 12. How is the new Doppler radar funding pushing national
    weather prediction and modeling forward? In other words, how are
    algorithms developed for the Washington state dual-pol Doppler radar
    being utilized nationally?
        Answer. Precipitation algorithms developed for the Washington dual-
    pol radars will be employed by all the radars in the west and
    mountainous region. The precipitation algorithms are specific to
    western radars and mountainous terrain, and useful for orographic
    (mountain) precipitation situations. Algorithms for rain/snow
    delineations are useful nationwide. Other algorithms are more useful in
    the plains states and used for tornado detection.

        Question 13. In addition to acquiring the new Doppler, Washington
    state is now the first state to have complete dual polarization Doppler
    radar coverage. How is NOAA handling this new influx of data? Has NOAA
    acquired the super computers required to adequately employ this new,
    high quality data into weather prediction models?
        Answer. The additional data from the dual polarization capability
    is incorporated into the national radar network and used by local NWS
    forecast offices and NWS National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
    The existing NWS Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS)
    has the capacity to handle this additional data, and the data is used
    by the forecasters and incorporated into their forecasts and warnings.
    No additional supercomputing resources are necessary for this data.
    Since radar commissioning, NOAA has been collecting, distributing, and
    archiving data from the new Washington radar similar to other network
    radars and making the data available to the public and all users. NOAA
    continues to develop the capability and capacity to include data from
    the Doppler radar network into its computer models. The data are most
    useful in NOAA's short-range models and are being incorporated at this
    time.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
                              Hon. Mary M. Glackin

    Improvements to Timely and Relevant Forecasting and Prediction
        Question 1. One of the biggest impacts NOAA has on my state is
    making sure that communities have up to the date and accurate weather
    information. Floods are an annual issue for communities across
    Minnesota, and last year we led the Nation with 145 confirmed
    tornadoes. That's more than Kansas and Nebraska combined. We are not
    supposed to be number one in this category. Will the work that NOAA is
    doing help us to not only better predict and prepare for severe
    weather, but also help understand and develop new weather trends that
    may be developing?
        Answer. Yes. NOAA invests in the prediction and understanding of
    the environment. NOAA's National Weather Service strives to
    continuously improve operational weather, water and seasonal climate
    watches, warnings and forecasts by investing in advanced technologies
    including models, supercomputers, observations and leveraging other
    NOAA investments and partner's investments. NOAA's Office of Oceanic
    and Atmospheric Research invests in research and development of the
    next generation science and technology for weather and climate
    prediction including understanding new developing weather trends. NOAA
    also leverages and relies on a national and international investment in
    weather and climate science including academia, government agencies,
    and non-governmental organizations. These investments enable the Nation
    to better prepare for and respond to severe environmental events.

        Question 2. Is the science for flood forecasting continuing to
    improve, or have we reached a plateau for the accuracy of our flood
    forecasts?
        Answer. Advancements in hydrological science and service delivery
    enable continuing improvement in flood forecasting lead times and
    accuracy. NOAA's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) provides
    the Nation with improved forecast and decision support tools including
    scenario based uncertainty information at more than 3000 specific
    locations along the Nation's rivers and water ways. NOAA's Community
    Hydrologic Prediction System (CHPS), a new and advanced open software
    architecture hydrological modeling system will become operational in FY
    2012. These technologies are among the suite of tools that will enable
    NOAA to continue to improve flood and flash flood forecast skill. In
    addition, ongoing nationwide deployment of dual polarization of the
    NEXRAD (Next-Generation Radar) network in FY 2012 and 2013 will enable
    improved estimates of precipitation type and amount, leading to better
    flash-flood forecasts and warnings.
        In order to explore further opportunities for improving water and
    flood forecasting, NOAA is working to leverage interagency investments.
    In 2009, NOAA, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Army
    Corps of Engineers (USACE) launched a new partnership called the
    Integrated Water Resources Science and Services (IWRSS). In May 2011,
    this partnership was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding
    signed by the three agencies. Specifically, NOAA seeks to accelerate
    flood forecasting skill and create flood maps over a larger geographic
    region by leveraging USACE's Core Water Information Management System
    (CWMS) flooding and inundation modeling capability and USGS' WaterSMART
    National Water Information System.
        On September 22, 2011, NOAA announced the award of a contract to
    build a new National Water Center (NWC) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which
    will be ready for initial occupancy in mid-2013. The NWC will create a
    first-of-its-kind national center for water forecast operations,
    research and interagency coordination. The NWC will be staffed by
    multiple Federal partner water agencies to ensure strong coordination
    and collaboration. The NWC will be the nerve center for coordinated
    water resources forecasts and decision support from floods to droughts
    and minutes to years.
    Interagency Coordination
        Question 3. In Minnesota, whether it's flooding or tornadoes, we
    also work closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
    How does NOAA affect disaster response efforts by Federal agencies such
    as FEMA?
        Answer. NOAA/NWS works with the Department of Homeland Security
    (DHS), including FEMA, to prepare for, and respond to disasters. NWS
    provides weather information to emergency response decision makers at
    multiple organizational levels as critical decisions are made in
    anticipation of and in response to weather or water events. NWS has a
    liaison position embedded at FEMA Headquarters as well as at the DHS
    National Operations Center to coordinate weather from a national
    perspective and provide decision support services. NWS also provides
    on-site support to FEMA Regional Headquarters Offices when damaging
    weather is expected. NWS provides specific webinars to impacted state
    and local emergency management offices, if resources cannot be provided
    for on-site support in the field. NWS support for FEMA and state and
    local emergency management continues after the event to ensure response
    efforts have the weather information available when they make their
    decisions.

        Question 4. Are there ways we can improve coordination, so that we
    can identify possible extreme weather events quicker, and respond to
    them in a timelier manner?
        Answer. NWS will continue to improve its forecast and warnings,
    including possible extreme events. For FY 2012, NWS is beginning six
    pilot projects as part of NOAA's Weather-Ready Nation Initiative
    designed to improve coordination for the emergency management community
    and to improve effective response by the public and business community
    as necessary. These pilot projects will help set the direction for NWS
    services of the future to better meet its protect life and property
    mission.
                                     ______

      Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Olympia J. Snowe to
                              Hon. Mary M. Glackin

        Question 1. In a particularly troubling section of the Inspector
    General's report, the report describes the efforts of both the National
    Weather Service's National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)
    as well as the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information
    Service (NESDIS) (pronounced NEZ-diss) to seek solutions to the
    anticipated data gap in the afternoon polar satellite orbit.
        While it is positive that efforts are being made to mitigate the
    risk of a data gap, the report also noted that there was ``little
    evidence that these efforts are being tracked or coordinated across
    NOAA's line offices.'' NOAA has agreed with the recommendation to
    increase coordination across line offices and take a ``NOAA-wide''
    view. To what do you attribute this communication breakdown between
    line offices? What specific steps are being taken to remedy it?
        Answer. We do not believe there has been a ``communication
    breakdown between line offices,'' nor did the report state that there
    was a breakdown. Instead, NCEP, NWS, and NESDIS had been focusing on
    their own priorities, reflecting the high visibility of internal
    efforts to clarify and quantify the impact of the potential data gap
    within each NOAA Line Office. The Office of NOAA's Deputy Under
    Secretary for Operations continually works across NOAA Line Offices to
    discuss and establish plans to address possible gaps in polar coverage
    to minimize the degradation of weather and climate forecasting.
        The decision to end the NPOESS Program in 2010 and initiate the
    JPSS Program has resulted in the need to modify the means by which
    coordination occurred.
        With the JPSS Program NOAA is engaging in a wide-ranging dialogue
    about the importance of data from NOAA's satellites to meet NOAA's
    missions and goals. This dialogue has received high visibility since
    many of the measurements are used by NOAA programs in conjunction with
    external partners. There has been, and continues to be, constant
    programmatic and scientific coordination among the NOAA Line and
    Program Offices. Examples of these coordination activities include:

       NOAA Program Management Council (PMC): The PMC provides the
            forum for regular review and assessment of selected NOAA
            programs and projects. All NOAA Line-Offices are represented.

       Environmental Satellite Users Group (ESUG): The ESUG is a
            recently reorganized user collaborative forum comprised of
            operational and research users of environmental satellite data.
            Participants are from the NOAA Line and Program Offices, the
            National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S.
            Air Force, the U.S. Navy, and the European Organisation for the
            Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

       NOAA Observing System Council (NOSC)/Low earth-Orbiting
            Requirements Working Group (LORWG): The NOSC is a forum for
            coordinating earth observing and environmental data management
            activities across NOAA. The LORWG manages the key requirements
            documents for the NOSC, which includes the JPSS Program's Level
            1 Requirements Document.

       Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA): JCSDA
            is a forum dedicated to developing and improving the ability to
            exploit satellite data more effectively in the United States.
            Representatives include senior leaders from NOAA, NASA, the
            U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Navy.

       NOAA/NESDIS Satellite Products and Services Review Board
            (SPSRB): SPSRB is responsible for the oversight and guidance
            necessary to effectively manage the satellite product life
            cycle process. This process ensures satellite products are
            provided to all NOAA Line Offices, a wide range of Federal
            government agencies, international users, state and local
            governments, and the general public.

        To ensure Line Office coordination continues to provide a NOAA-
    wide/enterprise mitigation effort on the potential data gap, NOAA
    Administrator Jane Lubchenco, NOAA's Deputy Administrator Kathryn
    Sullivan, and myself as the Deputy Under Secretary for Operations, have
    initiated dialogue between NOAA Line and Program Offices through
    multiple meetings including the PMC, the NOSC, and one-on-one meetings
    with senior managers.
        Recently, the Assistant Administrator for Satellites and
    Information Services initiated directed requests for input from fellow
    Assistant Administrators and Program Office Directors seeking input on
    their space-based data requirements from all the systems in NOAA's
    satellite portfolio.

        Question 2. One of the potential risks that could cause a gap in
    polar satellite data continuity would come from the NPOESS (EN-pose)
    Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite, which was just launched on October
    28, or its sensors, failed prior to the launch of the JPSS-1 satellite,
    now estimated to occur five years from now in early 2017. A June report
    by the NASA Inspector General reported that the NPP sensors may only
    last three years because of problems in the development and testing of
    these sensors that compromised their integrity. These sensors were
    supposed to last seven years because the satellite was expected to
    operate for five years. Does NOAA agree with the Inspector General's
    assessment that there were workmanship issues with the NPP satellite's
    sensors?
        Answer. NPP was initially designed as a research and risk reduction
    spacecraft and was tested to NASA standards consistent with a five year
    mission life. NPP was pressed into operational service due to slips to
    the NPOESS program.
        The three year life expectancy identified in the NASA Inspector
    General report is consistent with the full mission success criteria in
    the NPP Level-1 Requirements. NASA chose three years as the NPP mission
    success criteria for NPP due to concerns about residual risk remaining
    in the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Cross-track
    Infrared Sounder (CrIS), and Ozone Mapper Profiler Suite (OMPS)
    instruments and that the development and testing of the NPOESS
    Integrated Program Office (IPO)-developed NPP sensors were not
    subjected to NASA's standards or oversight. The evaluation for mission
    success also includes engineering judgment based on factors such as
    first-of-its-kind sensors and first space use of 1394 communications
    bus, which added to NASA's concerns about the life expectancy of those
    sensors.. Recall that these sensors (VIIRS, CrIS, and OMPS) were
    developed under the oversight and management of the now-closed NPOESS
    IPO using Department of Defense acquisition methodologies and delivered
    to NASA's spacecraft contract for integration onto the NPP satellite.
        While there were well documented development, testing and
    workmanship issues with some of the sensors, each issue was eventually
    addressed either through design changes, or rework and testing methods
    that were agreed to by the contractors and the government, and were
    based on proven practices and processes.
        NOAA plans to use the NPP satellite operationally and requires the
    satellite to provide usable data for at least five years. Currently
    these sensors are being calibrated and initial data sets are being
    validated.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to
                              Hon. Mary M. Glackin

        Question 1. The Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), and the
    predecessor the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental
    Satellite System (NPOESS), has faced concerns regarding cost overruns
    and timeline slippage. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has
    reported that NOAA has not finalized their plans or fully implemented
    the recommendations from previous GAO reports. What is NOAA currently
    doing to reduce costs for the JPSS project to meet the $9.4 billion
    budget established by Congress?
        Answer. The appropriations bill adopts by reference all House and
    Senate report language regarding JPSS with the exception of the Senate
    report language regarding the lifecycle cost cap of $9.4 billion.
    Instead, the conferees direct NOAA to provide outyear funding estimates
    for this program prior to the submission of the Fiscal Year 2013 budget
    request. We have made great strides within the limits of the budget
    shortfalls to successfully launch NPP, to have its ground system become
    operational, and to continue to move forward on the development of the
    instruments and bus for JPSS-1. Moving forward, we recognize the
    importance of efficiently allocating scarce resources and are working
    with NASA to determine the best available options for maintaining a
    Life-Cycle Cost through FY 2028 of $12.9 billion or less for the JPSS
    program.
        NOAA has recently submitted a response to GAO recommending closure
    of its previous recommendations regarding the transition of the NPOESS
    program.

        Question 2. How will the potential gap in weather data from
    satellites impact the ability of NOAA to provide accurate hurricane
    warnings which coastal communities rely on to keep their residents
    safe?
        Answer. Hurricane warnings are typically issued when a storm is
    forecast to make landfall within 36 hours. By this time, operational
    forecasters rely on model forecasts that incorporate data from
    hurricane reconnaissance aircraft, both the Air Force Reserve
    ``hurricane hunters'' and the NOAA P3 fleet and Gulf Stream IV
    aircraft. These data are critical to NOAA's immediate hurricane warning
    mission. The polar orbiting satellites provide data most essential to
    longer range forecasts of the hurricane track and intensity,
    particularly when storms are over the central or eastern Atlantic
    Ocean. Loss or degradation of these satellite observations will make
    NOAA forecasts less certain at the 3-5 day and beyond range, and hamper
    evacuation planning efforts that require significant lead time on the
    order of days, such as is needed for Key West, Florida, or the U.S.
    Navy facility in Norfolk, VA.

        Question 3. Are NOAA weather data used to study storms
    retroactively (storms in the past)?
        Answer. Yes. NOAA scientists conduct post analysis on storms to
    understand how the atmosphere and waterways responded to the storms and
    incorporate these lessons learned into operations to provide improved
    forecasts and warnings of future events. Universities and the private
    weather enterprise also use NOAA data to conduct their own research
    into storms.

        Question 3a. What can NOAA gain from looking at storms in hind-
    cast?
        Answer. NOAA scientists learn how the atmosphere and oceans behaved
    under those particular circumstances and incorporate these lessons
    learned into operations to improve forecasts and warnings via model
    improvements. Should such atmospheric conditions arise in the future,
    operational forecasters can use their knowledge of what happened during
    these past storms and incorporate their newly found knowledge into
    forecast models that aid them in issuing more reliable warnings. Much
    of the historical improvement in storm track, storm intensity, and lead
    time, including hurricane forecasts, has come from careful analysis of
    historical storms, including efforts to improve models by forecasting
    previous storms better.

        Question 4. Can you summarize our Nation's current public and
    private efforts in place today to collect and study weather related
    data?
        Answer. The Nation's efforts to collect and study weather data take
    many forms. NOAA is the source of foundational data for a diverse set
    of services provided by the media and by others in America's weather
    industry. These services contribute to public safety and to economic
    efficiency. NOAA also receives a wide variety of data from others,
    e.g., satellite data from EUMETSAT and weather model data from other
    modeling centers including the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European
    Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
        NOAA and Federal efforts focus mainly on larger scales, while state
    and local governments, universities, and the private sector have built
    infrastructure to monitor smaller scales. NOAA has access to much of
    the data from these non-federal sources, and is working on data rights
    issues with the private sector to ensure market viability for these
    companies is not compromised by NOAA's use of their data. Some
    companies charge NOAA for the data, others provide it for free, with
    limited redistribution rights. NOAA also works with the aviation
    community to obtain weather data from aircraft, which is used by NOAA
    computer weather models to analyze and predict the weather.

        Question 5. How does NOAA leverage private investments in weather
    observations and forecasting to ensure that Federal dollars are being
    optimally utilized?
        Answer. Observations are critical to NOAA's mission. NOAA makes use
    of all available data, either international, federal, state, local
    government funded, university funded, or private sector data, whenever
    data rights issues can be addressed. NOAA is not duplicating others'
    efforts for observing systems, but is accessing and using these data.
    For example, NOAA works with the aviation community to incorporate
    weather data from aircraft into NOAA analysis and forecast models. Non-
    federal data are quality controlled by NOAA to ensure data quality and
    integrity (e.g., mesonet data ingested through NOAA's Meteorological
    Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS)).

        Question 6. Going forward, what priority does NOAA and the National
    Weather Service place on facilitating continued open access to
    taxpayer-funded weather data and research?
        Answer. NOAA has always maintained open access to its data for the
    public. NOAA provides these data and associated products without
    seeking reimbursement because these products are considered a public
    resource and part of NOAA's core mission. The NOAA Partnership for the
    Provision of Environmental Information [http://www.noaa.gov/
    partnershippolicy/] has at its core existing Federal policies for
    providing taxpayer-funded data and information. NOAA data and
    information are essential for the protection of life and property and
    enhancement of the national economy. NOAA will always place a very high
    priority on providing open access to this taxpayer-funded information.

        Question 7. How do you see the National Weather Service's role
    evolving over time with respect to the incorporation of the private
    sector?
        Answer. The National Research Council of the National Academies of
    Science published a report in 2003 entitled ``Fair Weather: Effective
    Partnerships in Weather and Climate Services.'' This report laid the
    foundation for improved partnerships between the private, public and
    academic sectors, broadly describing the roles of each sector,
    recognizing that collaboration and discussion best facilitates future
    services and changing boundaries. Open discussion of NOAA plans for
    future services allow the academic community to focus research and
    training efforts while the private sector can build its business model
    knowing the direction NOAA is headed. NOAA's mission relates to
    protection of life and property and providing NOAA observations and
    forecasts, which have broad general value for many users. Many users of
    weather information require specific, tailored information which NOAA
    does not have the resources to provide, nor should it. For example
    shipping companies require detailed forecasts, and the private weather
    support companies use NOAA information to determine where ships need to
    be re-routed. Construction companies may require detailed continuous
    forecasts for their work and large retailers may use tailored forecasts
    for shipping certain products for sale in stores, (e.g., generators in
    the path of ice storms or hurricanes). Providing these tailored
    forecasts for specific user needs to obtain a market advantage is the
    role for the private sector. NOAA cannot provide all weather products
    and services to all those who need specific services, and NOAA relies
    on the private sector to communicate lifesaving information to the
    public. NOAA is working with the private sector to provide the
    information in industry standard formats to make it easy for the
    private sector to use. There is a symbiotic relationship between the
    sectors, and the current climate of open discussion seems to be working
    well.

        Question 8. How could the further expansion of public-private
    partnerships to collect weather related data ease the burden on the NWS
    and allow it to focus on the continued collection of core weather data
    necessary for public safety?
        Answer. NOAA will continue to use all available data to ensure the
    best possible forecasts and warnings for the protection of the public.
    NOAA will expand the public-private partnerships whenever possible,
    however recognizing that the private sector is a business, and its
    primary goal is to turn a profit. The Federal government has the core
    mission to protect its citizens and ensure public safety. NOAA will
    explore and leverage all opportunities, including those with the
    private sector that improve the economy and efficiency of the
    organization and provision of weather services.
                                     ______

    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV
                             to Hon. Todd J. Zinser

    Solutions to Projected Gap in Polar-orbiting Satellites
        Question 1. Just a few months ago, the OIG released a report after
    a comprehensive audit to assess the adequacy of the JPSS program. Among
    the key findings, the report confirmed that a coverage gap will occur
    and weather forecasts will be degraded with a disruption in climate
    data. Given that a gap in polar-orbiting satellite coverage is now
    inevitable, what do you think are NOAA's best options for keeping up
    its weather and data capabilities during this time?
        Answer. As noted in our audit report, we recommended that NOAA
    should coordinate efforts across its line offices to minimize the
    degradation of weather and climate forecasting during coverage gaps. A
    NOAA-wide view will help senior management ensure the adequacy of
    efforts and facilitate improvements.
        In response to our report's recommendation, NOAA stated it is
    developing an integrated strategy to obtain and sustain foreign partner
    opportunities. It is also establishing a commercial assessments
    initiative to determine what polar data it can acquire commercially.
    Key considerations NOAA requires the commercial sector to demonstrate
    include:

         an ability to provide sustained and uninterrupted
                observations, based on operational requirements;

         compliance with NOAA's data policy for full and open
                exchange of data;

         technical feasibility to acquire and deliver the
                observations in a reliable and timely manner; and

         affordability of operations and cost-effectiveness to
                the government.

        Question 2. Based on your findings, do you think NOAA is doing
    everything it can to minimize gaps in important climate and weather
    data?
        Answer. No, as noted in our report, NOAA is not doing everything it
    can to minimize gaps in important climate and weather data. In response
    to our report, NOAA stated it is developing an integrated strategy to
    minimize gaps in climate and weather data from the afternoon polar
    orbit. However, NOAA's strategy must ensure that senior management at
    NOAA and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) program, through close
    management of the program, take steps to prevent additional slippage in
    the schedule. We believe NOAA needs to focus their planning in the
    following areas:

         Finalizing a program baseline that includes costs,
                schedule, and requirements--and keeping the Department and
                Congress informed of the program's performance against that
                baseline. In doing so, the JPSS program should prioritize
                all requirements and contingencies in order to maintain the
                current planned launch date.

         Coordinating across the agency to develop
                contingencies for a coverage gap. For example, scientists
                who work for the National Weather Service (NWS) need to
                work with the scientists from the National Environmental
                Satellite, Data, and Information Service to develop options
                for using data from all available sources to compensate for
                the loss of afternoon polar satellite data. We are
                concerned that there has not been a coordinated approach to
                the problem across NOAA's lines of businesses--and that
                there should be.

        Question 3. Additionally, Committee staff recently received a
    briefing from NOAA's Assistant Administrator for Satellite and
    Information Services, Mary Kicza, about options to fill the coverage
    gap. She mentioned that the JPSS program is the only way the Nation can
    maintain weather data continuity and any investment in alternative
    solutions would be taking critical funds away from JPSS. Have you
    spoken with NOAA officials about non-satellite options? What was their
    response?
        Answer. Yes, we spoke with NOAA officials about non-satellite
    options. During our recent audit fieldwork, NOAA did not identify any
    non-satellite options to fill the coverage gap.
        However, NOAA told us that it has agreements (in place or being
    considered) with other agencies and foreign partners to obtain
    satellite data. In addition, we interviewed NOAA's National Centers for
    Environmental Prediction (NCEP) leadership. Anticipating a gap in data
    from the afternoon orbit, NCEP told us they have been working with the
    Department of Defense to improve the data from satellites in the early-
    morning orbit. Additionally, NCEP is working to use data from NOAA's
    next-generation geostationary satellite, which is currently scheduled
    to launch in October 2015. According to NOAA, however, NWS does not
    believe this data would mitigate the loss of polar satellite data from
    the afternoon orbit.

        Question 4. Are you aware of any non-satellite options for
    minimizing the continuity gap?
        Answer. At this point in time, we are not aware of any non-
    satellite options for minimizing the data continuity gap in the
    afternoon polar orbit.
                                     ______

        Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Amy Klobuchar to
                                David C. Trimble

        Question. Agriculture is a major driver of Minnesota's economy,
    producing $18 billion dollars worth of products. Farmers make planting
    and harvest decisions based on weather forecasts. How can improved
    weather forecasting provide better tools for farmers and ranchers, and
    help fuel this important sector of our economy?
        Answer. As we reported in October 2009 (GAO-10-113), climate change
    is a complex, crosscutting issue that poses risks to many existing
    environmental and economic systems, including agriculture,
    infrastructure, ecosystems, and human health.\1\ According to the
    National Academies and others, greenhouse gases already in the
    atmosphere will continue altering the climate system into the future,
    regardless of emissions control efforts. Therefore, adaptation--defined
    as adjustments to natural or human systems in response to actual or
    expected climate change--is an important part of the response to
    climate change. We reported that insufficient site-specific data, such
    as local projections of expected changes, makes it hard to predict the
    impacts of climate change and thus hard to justify the current costs of
    adaptation efforts for potentially less certain future benefits.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        \1\ Climate Change Adaptation: Strategic Federal Planning Could
    Help Government Officials Make More Informed Decisions, GAO-10-113,
    (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 7, 2009).
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        Federal actions to provide and interpret site-specific information
    would help address this challenge. For example, based on the responses
    by a diverse array of Federal, state, and local officials knowledgeable
    about adaptation to a web-based questionnaire designed for our October
    2009 report, about 80 percent (148 of 185) of respondents rated the
    ``development of processes and tools to help access, interpret, and
    apply available climate information'' as very or extremely useful.
    Decision makers will need tools to interpret what regional and local
    climate data mean for activities like farming and ranching. In
    addition, about 61 percent (107 of 176) of respondents rated the
    ``creation of a Federal service to consolidate and deliver climate
    information to decisionmakers to inform adaptation efforts'' as very or
    extremely useful.
        In our October 2009 report, we recommended that the appropriate
    entities within the Executive Office of the President, such as the
    Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Science and
    Technology Policy, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies,
    state and local governments, and key congressional committees of
    jurisdiction, develop a national strategic plan that will guide the
    Nation's efforts to adapt to a changing climate. We are monitoring the
    government wide implementation of this recommendation by the
    Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force, co-chaired by the
    Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Science and
    Technology Policy (OSTP), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration (NOAA), and including representatives from more than 20
    Federal agencies.
                                     ______

      Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Olympia J. Snowe to
                               David. C. Trimble

        Question. While NPOESS was disbanded because the interagency
    management approach among Department of Defense, NOAA and NASA made it
    difficult to prioritize the requirements of three agencies, recent
    testimony by the GAO before two House Subcommittees raises concerns
    that the lack of interagency strategy for environmental observations
    may actually result in an inefficient approach that does not address
    the priorities of additional Federal research priorities, and could
    ultimately limit our ability to understand long-term climate change.
    Given the budget uncertainties that we face, if interagency
    applications are now being limited, do you believe the division of
    NPOESS into two separate programs is still the best approach to meet
    both civilian and military data requirements as cost-effectively as
    possible?
        Answer. At the time of the White House's decision to disband the
    National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System
    (NPOESS) program, the program was at risk of not meeting the near-term
    satellite data needs for military or civilian users. The program's
    expected cost had more than doubled and there was a clear expectation
    that costs would continue to grow. Further, an independent review team
    reported that there was a very small probability of success if the
    management of the program were to continue as it was. Now, almost 2
    years after the decision to disband NPOESS, a gap-filling environmental
    satellite is in orbit and is expected to provide satellite data needs
    through 2016. However, it is not yet clear what will be delivered, by
    when, and at what cost on either of the NOAA or DOD follow-on programs.
    NOAA expects to establish cost and schedule baselines on its Joint
    Polar Satellite System (JPSS) by July 2012, and it is not clear how DOD
    will proceed with its Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS). Given
    our current budget uncertainties, it is not clear that the current
    approach will meet requirements cost effectively. We have ongoing work
    assessing these programs.
                                     ______

       Response to Written Question Submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to
                          Rear Admiral Cari B. Thomas

        Question. How will U.S. Coast Guard rescue and response efforts be
    impacted if NOAA experiences a decrease in satellite function?
        Answer. The loss of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
    Administration's (NOAA's) geostationary or polar-orbiting satellite
    data would have a cascade effect throughout the oceanographic and
    meteorological modeling community and their ability to provide high-
    resolution, accurate models of present and future on scene conditions
    required by the Coast Guard for Search and Rescue (SAR) response and
    Marine Environmental Response. The Coast Guard SAR response relies upon
    accurate and timely forecasts of the oceanographic and meteorological
    conditions.
        By tapping into the Environmental Data Servers through its SAR
    Optimal Planning Scenario, Coast Guard SAR planners are able to access
    the meteorological numerical models for:

            (a) Sea Surface Currents,

            (b) Sea Surface Winds,

            (c) Waves (height, direction and period),

            (d) Visibility,

            (e) Sea Surface Temperature,

            (f) Sea Surface Air Temperature,

            (g) Sea Surface Air Pressure, and

            (h) Ice Coverage.

        NOAA's geostationary and polar-orbiting satellite constellations
    provide oceanographic and meteorological models that the Coast Guard
    uses for forecasting on-scene conditions necessary to plan searches.
    These models provide SAR planners with meteorological and ocean
    conditions, surface currents and wind data to accurately estimate the
    drift of survivors and survivor craft. Additionally, timely accurate
    weather forecasts are critical to identifying potential risks during
    operational planning to ensure the safety of the Coast Guard personnel
    that are responsible for conducting our missions.
        In its role as the Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC), the Coast
    Guard is responsible for ensuring the cleanup of spills of oil and
    hazardous substances in the coastal zone. The FOSC depends heavily on
    NOAA and its cadre of Scientific Support Coordinators (SSC) for
    providing timely and accurate information related to the trajectory and
    environmental fate of a spill. The SSCs typically obtain and process
    this critical information from the wealth of data provided by NOAA's
    satellite constellation. The resulting forecast models or real-time
    pictures are critical for decisionmaking by the FOSC and Unified
    Command during a spill.
        Lastly, if a decrease in satellite function impacts NOAA satellites
    carrying SAR repeaters (which receive and retransmit the 406 MHz
    distress signal) or SAR Processors (which transmits 406 MHz distress
    signal real-time), this will most likely result in a coverage gap and
    SAR planners may see a substantial increase in the length of time it
    takes to receive distress alert(s). These coverage gaps/delays will
    ultimately delay SAR response efforts and will continue to exist until
    the new SAR/Global Positioning System becomes fully operational
    (expected sometime between Fiscal Years 2018-2020).
                                     ______

    Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. John D. Rockefeller IV
                                 to Tom Iseman

    Access to Climate and Weather Data
        Question 1. How does NOAA disseminate their climate and weather
    data to state and local entities such as the WGA? Please provide
    examples.
        Answer. NOAA employs a range of tools and partnerships to
    disseminate weather and climate information, ranging from weather
    forecasts and websites to on-the-ground engagement with states, private
    sector and local communities.
        The most visible form of outreach is television and radio, and
    specifically the local weather forecast, where NOAA's National Weather
    Service field offices provide information on day to day conditions.
    Citizens tune into their forecast every day to decide whether to bring
    an umbrella or how long their morning commute might be.
        Another tool is websites, like weather.gov, climate.gov, or
    drought.gov (which was a direct outgrowth of our partnership on the
    National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS)). These websites
    are designed to collect and aggregate relevant information and to make
    it available as a `one-stop shop' for states and users. They allow
    interested viewers to find a range of information and to focus on
    geographic or topical issues of interest. However, these are passive
    services that require some user initiative and knowledge to exploit.
        NOAA also provides periodic Climate Outlook Forums. In these
    forums, NOAA experts provide the latest climate forecasts to interested
    users, and they are available for dialogue and Q&A with the audience.
    These vary in geographic and temporal scale, from an annual climate
    outlook for the Nation to a seasonal climate outlook for a particular
    region of interest, for example, drought in the Southwest or flooding
    in the Upper Missouri.
        Finally, NOAA works directly with states and local users to engage
    in the development of information services, for example in the case of
    ``Early Warning Systems'' being developed by NIDIS. In these cases,
    NOAA works with stakeholders to understand the key weather and climate
    variables of interest for a relevant geography, and they ``co-develop''
    a system to monitor and report on those variables over time. NOAA's
    Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISAs) conduct
    stakeholder-driven research needed to inform these systems at the scale
    of watersheds, cities, and local communities where managers make
    decisions. Early Warning Systems are being developed for the Upper
    Colorado River, the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint Basin in the
    Southeast, and the ongoing drought in the Southern U.S.
        These are the services that WGA is trying to promote through its
    MOU with NOAA: regional services that more actively engage states and
    other on-the-ground stakeholders in the identification and development
    of new tools to track and respond to key weather and climate events. By
    engaging states and other stakeholders, tools will address the key
    issues of interest--like how drought may affect a municipal water
    supply, or when flooding may delay the shipping of goods by rail, or
    whether infrastructure design criteria are sufficient to address severe
    storm events--and will be more widely adopted and employed than
    national websites. We recognize that regional, stakeholder-designed
    services may require additional resources and time; however, they are
    the best way to address the regional variability inherent in climate
    and its impacts to on-the-ground decisionmaking.

        Question 2. What concrete improvements can be made to increase
    access to this information?
        Answer. While portals like drought.gov have broad utility and
    should be continued, we support efforts to promote more active,
    stakeholder-initiated services that address key regional priorities.
    Regional systems provide a targeted assessment of key indicators, along
    with the expertise and resources to interpret and apply them to on-the-
    ground decisionmaking. Regional systems can stimulate efforts to plan
    and prepare for climate and weather events, rather than simply
    responding after the fact. We want to get to the point where a farmer
    uses the seasonal outlook to decide whether to plant certain crops, or
    a water utility uses long-range snowpack projections to design new
    infrastructure--just like you or I listen to the weather forecast to
    decide whether to carry an umbrella.
        We recommend a rigorous assessment of existing regional early
    warning systems, including those developed under NIDIS, to inform the
    design and implementation of future efforts.
                                     ______

      Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to
                              Dr. Peter P. Neilley

        Question 1. Public-private partnerships to improve weather data
    collection not only ease the burden on Federal agencies, but also
    create jobs and bolster the economy. How does The Weather Channel
    Companies build upon baseline NOAA weather data to provide higher
    resolution forecasts for specific geographic regions?
        Answer. The Weather Channel Companies builds upon baseline NOAA
    weather data to provide value-added services to consumers and
    businesses in many ways that serve the weather needs of the Nation.
    Increased resolution is just one significant enhancement. However,
    there are many other dimensions of value-adding that we perform. These
    include providing forecasts in formats that consumers can easily
    acquire and utilize; operating a 7x24 cable television network;
    building consumer-friendly weather applications for the Internet and
    mobile devices; providing forecasts for specific business needs and
    personal interests; creating more accurate and timely forecasts; and
    providing an overall satisfying engagement experience for our consumers
    and clients.
        We are able to achieve this with a laser focus on the needs and
    interests of our viewers and clients that results in provisioning the
    weather content that they need and can act on. We accomplish this by
    making specific investments in people, jobs, technology and products
    that use foundational weather datasets from NOAA and others and then
    improve upon those data using proprietary scientific methods. For
    example, one forecasting method that we have developed and deployed
    starts by ingesting all of the computer-based (numerical weather
    prediction) forecasts created by NOAA, and augments these with similar
    forecasts purchased from other countries and our own computer-generated
    forecasts. We then use a complex artificial intelligence based
    statistical engine to distill all of these different computer forecast
    ``opinions'' into a final forecast optimized for accuracy and relevance
    to the particular application.
        Our ability to create such value-added products and services is
    critically dependent on the foundational data from NOAA. It would not
    be possible for The Weather Channel Companies or any other private
    entity to build and operate networks of weather radars across the
    country, fund and operate fleets of weather satellites, or capitalize
    the vast supercomputing facilities used by NOAA. It is critical that as
    nation we continue to appreciate and invest in these foundational
    weather services from NOAA so that companies such as The Weather
    Channel can continue to provide the best possible weather services for
    our Nation.

        Question 2. How can the public-private partnership process be
    improved to promote effective collaborations?
        Answer. First, it is important to recognize that there have been
    tremendous gains in the degree of cooperation and collaboration between
    NOAA and the weather and climate industry in the past decade or so.
    Guided heavily by the groundbreaking 2003 report by the National
    Research Council ``Fair Weather: Effective Partnerships in Weather and
    Climate Services'', there have been numerous formal institutions
    created (e.g., The NOAA Science Advisory Board's Environmental
    Information Services Working Group) that promote and sustain effective
    partnerships across our Nation's weather and climate ``Enterprise''.
    Critically important in these advancements has been the deep
    recognition within NOAA of the essential need for strong partners in
    order to serve the Nation and meet the mission of NOAA's National
    Weather Service (NWS). For example, the NWS could not fulfill its
    mission of protecting life and property without an effective
    cooperation with private-industry in order to publish time-critical
    warnings of impending severe weather.
        In order to promote effective public-private partnerships in the
    Nation's weather enterprise, it is important that the participants in
    the enterprise continue to recognize the particular strengths and
    assets that each constituent of the enterprise has and that those
    strengths and assets be leveraged and fostered so that our Nation
    receives maximum benefit and value and all players in the partnership
    remain strong. In particular, NOAA should continue to consider where
    the private sector may be better able to serve the weather needs of the
    Nation and leverage those strengths in order to serve the Nation most
    effectively and efficiently. For example, the private sector has proven
    very agile in the development of a rich set of weather information
    applications for digital and mobile devices and hence the need for NOAA
    to consider creating similar functionality may not only be unnecessary
    but likely decrease the value the enterprise provides to the Nation
    possibly disrupt the established partnership balance.
        A specific area where NOAA could help strengthen the partnership is
    to work with the private sector and others outside of NOAA to find ways
    to gain access to the vast sets of NOAA weather data that are currently
    created but for which practical considerations make them inaccessible
    outside (and often times even inside) of NOAA. For example, the
    National Centers for Environmental Prediction division of the NWS
    produces high-resolution and high-frequency forecast data that must be
    filtered significantly before publication via the Internet outside of
    NOAA. If it were possible for the private sector to place value-adding
    computer servers inside of NOAA to process the high-resolution data,
    valuable and skillful forecast content could be derived from those data
    to help serve the Nation's needs better. This is an example of the Open
    Weather and Climate Services paradigm that was recently endorsed by the
    NOAA Science Advisory Board and passed onto NOAA for consideration.
    Embracing the adoption of the Open Weather and Climate Services
    paradigm by NOAA will significantly advance the partnerships and the
    products and services provided.

        Question 3. Does The Weather Channel Companies currently have
    operations in the Northern Gulf of Mexico to improve hurricane
    forecasts and better determine impacts on coastal communities?
        Answer. The Weather Channel provides weather services for the
    entire nation. We are continuingly investing in operations and
    technologies that provide improved services for all of our consumers
    and clients. For the most part, our approach is to improve all
    forecasts and services that cover a range of weather types and
    locations. However, we recognize the significant impact that hurricanes
    can have along our Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastal communities and
    accordingly invest materially in being sure that state-of-the-science
    forecasts and communication services are available to those that might
    be threatened by tropical cyclones. In general when such storms
    threaten a specific community or region we shift our resources to
    ensure that the best, most-timely and most accurate weather information
    is conveyed to those in the storm's path.
                                     ______

      Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Roger F. Wicker to
                               Robert S. Marshall

        Question 1. Public-private partnerships to improve weather data
    collection not only ease the burden on Federal agencies, but also
    create jobs and bolster the economy. How does Earth Networks build upon
    baseline NOAA weather data to provide higher resolution forecasts for
    specific geographic regions?
        Answer. Earth Networks ingests all NOAA weather data and
    incorporates it into Earth Networks products and services. In addition
    to NOAA weather data, Earth Networks also operates its own observation
    networks (surface weather stations, lightning sensors and a weather
    camera network). By integrating both NOAA data and proprietary Earth
    Networks data into our products and services we are able to provide
    high resolution and very local forecasts and warnings for our
    customers.

        Question 2. How can the public-private partnership process be
    improved to promote effective collaborations?
        Answer. There are two sides to the public/private partnership that
    exists between NOAA and private sector weather companies. The side
    where private sector companies ingest NOAA data and distribute it with
    value added products to specific users is working relatively well.
        The second side of the partnership where NOAA ingests and uses data
    from private sector observation networks is not working as well. For
    reasons that are not completely apparent, NOAA has not fully embraced
    this model despite solid recommendations to do so by the NRC in its
    2008 report, ``From the Ground Up: A Nationwide Network of Networks''.
    In the challenging budget times that exist today and will continue for
    the foreseeable future, it is more critical than ever that NOAA embrace
    this form of the public/private partnership to cost effectively obtain
    observations that it needs to fulfill its mission of protecting life
    and property. NOAA should develop a peer reviewed plan and budget to
    achieve a National Mesonet. The plan should be developed in conjunction
    with and embrace private sector and academic institutions that operate
    observing assets that can support NOAA's mission.

        Question 3. Does Earth Networks currently have operations in the
    Northern Gulf of Mexico to improve hurricane forecasts and better
    determine impacts on coastal communities?
        Answer. Yes, Earth Networks operates a number of weather
    observation stations along the northern gulf coast and on oil platforms
    in the gulf. Further, the Earth Networks Total Lightning Networks
    covers a significant portion of the entire Gulf of Mexico. These
    observation assets as well as those of other private and academic
    network operators in the region have the potential to improve hurricane
    forecasts and will clearly improve the ability to determine impacts on
    coastal communities.