NASA and NOAA satellites continue to keep a close eye on the remnants of Tropical Storm Dorian as they make their way through the eastern Caribbean Sea. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
NASA keeping an eye on Dorian's remnants
Tag Archives: NOAA
CIA co-sponsoring geoengineering study to look at reversing global warming options
The CIA along with NASA and NOAA is reportedly funding a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) project whose goal is to study several geoengineering options aimed at reversing global warming. Dana Liebelson and Chris Mooney have written an article which has been printed in both Slate and MotherJones claiming that William Kearney, a spokesman for NAS told them that the CIA is the “US intelligence community” member identified on the NAS web site describing the project. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
ITT Exelis advanced weather imager technology to improve forecasting capabilities in South Korea
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
ITT Exelis advanced weather imager technology to improve forecasting capabilities in South Korea
Contract highlights company’s international and commercial interests
ROCHESTER, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– ITT Exelis (NYS: XLS) has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract to provide South Korea an advanced geostationary weather imager to support the country’s forecasting capabilities.
Under the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A program, Exelis will deliver an Advanced Meteorological Imager (AMI), which will be launched into geostationary orbit in 2017. The AMI is a Korean version of the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) Exelis is currently building for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA for the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series known as GOES-R.
“AMI will provide South Korea more data more regularly and at higher resolution resulting in better advanced warning, which is critical for saving lives and property,” said Rob Mitrevski, an Exelis Geospatial Systems vice president who leads environmental intelligence and integrated geospatial sensors and systems. “Recent hurricanes and major storms have shown the critical role played by geo-imagers here in the United States. South Korea similarly has challenges with typhoons and other severe weather and will benefit greatly from this new geostationary imager.”
Geostationary imagers fly 22,300 miles above Earth staring at specific regions, providing constant, near real-time data to weather forecasters. Known as sentinels in the sky, these satellite instruments are critical to short-term and immediate severe weather forecasting. Geo-imagers capture most of the images of hurricanes and storms taken from space, which are shown by meteorologists on television and in other media. The ABI class imager being used by South Korea provides five times the temporal resolution than current imagers, completing a scan of the full hemisphere in five minutes rather than the 30 minutes.
The AMI will also provide several spectral bands and two times the resolution capability of South Korea‘s existing satellites to about one-half mile. These increased capabilities and higher latency will provide new products and tools for weather forecasters to improve their forecasts.
With the addition of the GEO-KOMPSAT-2A program, Exelis is now building seven ABI class instruments: four for NOAA and NASA and two for Japan. Exelis has provided every geostationary imager and sounder to the U.S. government since 1994 and also built the current geo imagers flown by Japan and South Korea.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
A warming world will further intensify extreme precipitation events, study finds
(Phys.org) —According to a newly-published NOAA-led study in Geophysical Research Letters, as the globe warms from rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, more moisture in a warmer atmosphere will make the most extreme precipitation events more intense. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Tornado Predictions Drastically Improved Since 1974 Super Outbreak
By The Huffington Post News Editors
From AccuWeather’s Vickie Frantz:
The most violent tornado outbreak in U.S. history based on the number of EF-4 and EF-5 tornadoes occurred on April 3-4, 1974. There were 148 confirmed tornadoes during the outbreak. When it was over, 315 people were dead and 6,100 others were injured. Damages from the tornadoes were estimated to be a half billion dollars.
While forecasters knew severe weather was coming, the science of weather forecasting was not yet accurate enough to determine exactly where the storms would hit. The alerts put out by NOAA focused too far west, and the tornadoes wreaked havoc from the Deep South all the way to the Great Lakes.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post
1.6 Billion Bullets By The DHS Numbers
By Avg Joe
I keep waiting for someone who knows what they are doing to investigate, look at the numbers and do some simple math. Since no one has, here is what I have been able to come up with based on “what has been reported thus far”. Most government contracting includes statements like, up to, which means that they can request more of an item over the period of the contract, but not the full amount if they don’t need that many. Most of the purchases are for a five year period, which means that they are not getting it all right away.
Since 2004, the number of Federal Agents has increased by about 30-40% to somewhere around 120,000 agents employed under about 70 Federal Departments. It is estimated that about 90,000 of these are under DHS. These are Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) and include NOAA, SS, FWP, ICE, FPS, ATF, and just about all the alphabet soup entities of the federal government whose primary purpose is enforcement. It is a lot. However, 1.6 Billion rounds divided by 120,000 agents it is still 13,333 rounds per LEO.
Each LEO has to “qualify” at the range with any weapon that they carry on duty, twice a year. The standard qualification includes various shooting positions, magazine changes, and reloads, and hitting targets at various distances. Standard run of the mill street cops carry a side arm, rifle, and shotgun.
One of the departments that were folded into DHS is the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. It was originally under the Treasury Department. It operates four training centers in the United States and at least two outside. A statement by FLETC is that they use around 15 million rounds a year. This ammo is for all Federal Agents under DHS and the LEOs that work for say, the IRS or Social Security. FLETC also provides training for state and local LEOs that are outside of the aforementioned. It is unclear whether the 15 million rounds per year statement includes all of the training centers, or just the main one, in Georgia, a 1600 acre complex with multiple ranges and even a small town to simulate urban warfare, I mean urban LEO scenarios.
So if each of the FLETC locations uses 15 million rounds a year, which is a stretch, and there are at least six that we know of, a conservative estimate for all training using all three weapons, could be as high as 450 million rounds. That leaves approximately 1.2 billion rounds to be distributed to 120,000 LEOs in the field of operation. Or around 10,000 rounds per LEO.
So how much ammo is distributed to each LEO to carry in the field and how much is kept in reserve at each local office? Well we all know that every LEO in the field already has ammo, and each field office already has a stockpile, what are the additional 10,000 rounds per LEO for? That is an additional 2,000 rounds per year over the five year period.
It is still …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Western Journalism
Researchers issue forecast for 'moderate' New England red tide in 2013
New England is expected to experience a “moderate” red tide this spring and summer, report NOAA-funded scientists studying the toxic algae that cause blooms in the Gulf of Maine. The “red tide” is caused by an alga Alexandrium fundyense, which produces a toxin that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Red tide typically occurs annually along some portions of the Gulf of Maine coast. This year’s outlook is similar to the 2012 red tide which was also classified as “moderate.” …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Extreme Weather Photos Of The Week
By The Huffington Post News Editors
This week brought several big headlines in extreme weather news:
- NOAA‘s recent “Seasonal Outlook” report predicts a spring full of droughts and floods in the U.S., Climate Central reported.
- Punxsutawney Phil was “indicted” for giving a bad prediction about an early spring and sentenced to death (but not really).
Read More…
More on Extreme Weather
Harris Corporation and NOAA Launch New Reporting and Tracking Tool for Weather Satellite Operations
By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool
Filed under: Investing
Harris Corporation and NOAA Launch New Reporting and Tracking Tool for Weather Satellite Operations
Highlights:
- Tool improves anomaly reporting and tracking capabilities essential for weather satellite operations.
- Was developed collaboratively by Harris and NOAA as a risk reduction activity for the new GOES-R satellite system currently in development.
- Integrates database records to provide an enterprise-wide view of impacts related to reported anomalies.
MELBOURNE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Harris Corporation (NYS: HRS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have developed and successfully deployed a new tool that will help track and report anomalies in critical weather satellite information. Weather forecasters, emergency managers, scientists and other environmental data users throughout the western hemisphere rely on the accuracy and availability of this information to rapidly analyze and disseminate weather information to the public.
The Product Anomaly, Ticket, Relationship, Organization, and Notification (PATRON) tool was created for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite — R Series (GOES-R) Ground Segment but was immediately implemented to support other environmental satellites in operation today. PATRON is a trouble reporting and tracking system for satellite weather products created by the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service’s Office of Satellite Products and Operations (OSPO). Any abnormal occurrences in the process of receiving instrument data from the satellite, processing and formatting the data into usable weather products, and distributing the weather products to end users are considered anomalies.
As part of its trouble reporting capabilities, PATRON has a relational database that contains the definitions of all NOAA satellites, onboard instruments, ground system computers, products generated from the data of each instrument, and the subject matter experts related to each product. By integrating all of this data, PATRON enables users to analyze the impacts of product-related anomalies across the entire system.
PATRON was developed collaboratively by Harris, the GOES-R Ground Segment prime contractor; the GOES-R Ground Segment Project Data Operations Support Team; and the OSPO/Satellite Products and Services Division. A four-month, agile development approach was used, which included participation by operators who are using the tool.
“PATRON enhances the capabilities and reliability of the former system, enabling NOAA to significantly improve its anomaly reporting and tracking,” said Romy Olaisen, vice president, Environmental Systems Product Line, Harris Government Communications Systems. “The PATRON database now …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance
Solar storm near Earth caused by fast CME
On March 17, 2013, at 1:28 a.m. EDT, the coronal mass ejection (CME) from March 15 passed by NASA’s Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) as it approached Earth. Upon interacting with the giant magnetic bubble surrounding Earth, the magnetosphere, the CME caused a kind of solar storm known as a geomagnetic storm. The storm initially caused a mild storm rated on NOAA‘s geomagnetic storm scales as a G2 on a scale from G1 to G5, and subsequently subsided to a G1. In the past, storms of this strength have caused auroras near the poles but have not disrupted electrical systems on Earth or interfered with GPS or satellite-based communications systems. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Obama Poised To Carry Out Hostile Military Takeover Of US
I’ve been told by a number of people that it would be impossible for any person to stage a military or hostile takeover of the United States. Ten years ago, I would have agreed with them, but not now.
In the past year, President Obama has taken a number of actions that when added together clearly indicates his plans for a military or hostile takeover of the United States. And for the first time in my life, I not only believe it could happen, but I am firmly convinced it’s going to happen before the 2016.
To begin with, Obama has been tailoring the US military to his personal agenda. He is filling the ranks with gays and lesbians who will now follow him to any extreme because he is their champion. He has all but shackled chaplains from preaching Christianity to the troops, who by the way, aren’t even allowed to have Bibles in some areas in the Middle East or any other semblance of Christianity. For the military coup de gras, he has been tailoring his top military leaders by asking if they are willing to shoot Americans. Those that answer yes, are put in key positions while those that answer no are basically seeing the end of their military careers.
Next, the Department of Homeland Security has been stockpiling millions of weapons and billions of rounds ammunition. The federal government even has NOAA stockpiling weapons and ammunition and they aren’t going to be using it to predict the weather. This is unprecedented in American history and has no purpose or basis other than the use against the American people.
The massive push for gun control has only one purpose and that is to disarm the American people. There are more guns in private ownership than there are people in the US. That would make a hostile takeover more difficult, costly and time consuming. However, the stockpiles of weapons and ammunition are just for that purpose, because Obama knows that there are a lot of Americans who will not give up their guns so easily. Attorney General Eric Holder has already warned gun owners to cower like smokers.
Read more at Godfather Politics. By da Tagliare.
NOAA report finds commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated $199 billion in 2011
U.S. commercial and recreational saltwater fishing generated more than $199 billion in sales and supported 1.7 million jobs in the nation’s economy in 2011, according to a new economic report released by NOAA‘s Fisheries Service. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
NASA transfers operational control of environmental satellite
The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, a partnership between NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), was transitioned to NOAA operational organization control Feb. 22, 2013. The transition marks the next step of the mission that supports NASA‘s Earth science research and NOAA‘s weather forecasting missions. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
NOAA fisheries finds ESA listing of Alaska cold-water corals is not warranted
NOAA Fisheries has concluded that a petition to list 44 species of cold water corals off Alaska as threatened or endangered does not present substantial information that listing under the Endangered Species Act may be warranted. The agency will not conduct a formal status review of the species. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
New Sonar Map Shows Details Of USS Hatteras Wreck
By BronxKnight
A new 3D state-of-the-art sonar map released by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, ExploreOcean, Teledyne BlueView and Northwest Hydro shows never-before seen details of the USS Hatteras, the only Union warship sunk in combat in the Gulf of Mexico during the Civil War.
The map was released on the 150th anniversary of the ship sinking on Jan. 11, 1863, after fighting the raider CSS Alabama approximately 20 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas.
The Hatteras was a 210-foot-long iron-hulled steamship the U.S. Navy converted into a gunboat. Its wreck is largely intact 57 feet under water in sand and silt….
Source:
CWN
Source URL:
http://www.civilwarnews.com/archive/articles/2013/febmar/sonar-021307.htm
Date:
February/March 2013
…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at History News Network – George Mason University
NASA provides satellite views of nor'easter lifespan
NASA and NOAA satellites have provided animations and images of the coupling of two low pressure areas that created the now historic winter-time nor’easter that brought more than two feet of snow to portions of the New England states on Feb. 8 and 9, 2013. NASA released an animation of NOAA satellite imagery that shows the lifetime of the historic nor’easter. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Team finds new way to identify which El Nino events will have biggest impact on U.S. winter weather
(Phys.org)—Weather forecasters have long known that El Niño events can throw seasonal climate patterns off kilter, particularly during winter months. Now, new research from NOAA and the University of Washington suggests that a different way to detect El Niño could help forecasters predict the unusual weather it causes. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
New smart phone app lets public report rain, hail, sleet and snow to NOAA
It’s now easier than ever to be a part of NOAA‘s weather research. The NOAA National Severe Storms Laboratory, in partnership with the University of Oklahoma, has launched a free app for users to anonymously report precipitation from their Apple or Android mobile device. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Tortugas marine reserve yields more, larger fish
A new NOAA research report finds that both fish populations and commercial and recreational anglers have benefited from “no-take” protections in the Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
NOAA adds red tide alerts to Beach Hazards Statements
NOAA has added a new service to alert the public when red tides threaten human health at Tampa Bay area beaches. The new alert is timely since many of southwest Florida’s beaches are experiencing or are under threat of red tide.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org