GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR DAN TANGHERLINI'S REMARKS REGARDING NEW NOAA CENTER

FROM: U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
 
Tangherlini Says New NOAA Center Represents Government’s Commitment to Sustainable Practices
Remarks by
Dan Tangherlini
U.S. General Services Administration
Opening of the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction
University of Maryland, College Park
October 15, 2012

Ladies and Gentlemen, on behalf of everyone who has worked on this project at GSA, it is a pleasure to be here today. We all know how important it is to know the weather when you walk out the door in the morning, but I don’t think that I realized just how important it is to understand the effects of weather until I worked for the DC Department of Transportation.

In that kind of an environment, an accurate forecast is about more than whether or not you need an umbrella. It’s about deciding whether or not 40,000 children can get to school, some of whom rely on those schools not just for learning, but for food as well. It’s about understanding if it’s safe to send hundreds of thousands of commuters out on our roads and public transit systems.

No matter where you work, whether it is in government or in business, good data is the foundation of good decision making. And understanding the weather and the full range of its potential impact is essential information to individuals who manage some of our most important services.

This brand new, almost 270,000 square foot center will enable NOAA to provide exactly that kind of data. By consolidating 3 NOAA offices and bringing more than 800 meteorologists, scientists, data managers and other NOAA employees together in this state of the art facility, they will be able to provide the entire nation with short range and long range weather, climate, and hydrological forecasts.

At GSA, our mission is to provide federal agencies the support they need to fulfill their responsibilities to the American people at the maximum possible value. This facility gives NOAA the resources they need to do their jobs to the best of their ability. And with sustainable features such as "green roofs" bio-retention areas, recycled construction materials, highly energy efficient windows and motion based lighting systems, and a storm water cistern to collect water for irrigation, it provides value to both this agency and the taxpayers. We can all be proud of this "green crown jewel" of the M-Square Research and Technology Park. It represents this government’s commitment to sustainable practices by making the most efficient and effective use possible of natural as well as fiscal resources, which is why it is under consideration by the EPA as an "Energy Star" building.

This project would not have been possible without the dedicated work of some men and women here at GSA and I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to recognize their contributions. I want to thank Jim Dunn, the project manager; Calvin Myint, the Director of the Triangle Service Center; Martha Gates; the former Director of the Triangle Service Center, who is now retired, but handled a large amount of the work that went into this project; Mark Stadsklev; the project contracting officer; and everyone else from GSA who worked so hard to make this project a reality.

This is a great day for GSA, NOAA, and the University of Maryland. To Dr. Lubchenco and everyone at NOAA, and to Dr. Loh and everyone at the University of Maryland, congratulations on this new facility. I know you’ll put it to good use.

MILITARY CONTINUES TO PREPARE FOR ISAAC

 

Map Credit:  NOAA

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Military Units in Southeast Prepare for Isaac's Impact

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 26, 2012 - Military units in the southeastern United States are preparing for Tropical Storm Isaac, which is barreling past the Florida Keys and may grow to a hurricane by the time it makes landfall on the northern Gulf coast sometime Tuesday.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials say Isaac will probably strengthen to hurricane force once it gets over the Gulf of Mexico.

State and federal officials have notified military personnel in case they are needed to deal with the effects of the storm.

In Florida, Governor Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency and has activated 30 National Guard personnel. About 5,800 personnel are available in Florida if needed.

In Alabama, there are eight National Guard personnel activated with another 70 soldiers and airmen set for a state mission on Monday. There are 5,114 Guardsmen available if needed in the state.

In Mississippi, National Guard forces are on alert, but there have been no activations yet.

In Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee officials have identified National Guard units that may be needed. Those soldiers and airmen are on a heightened state of awareness.

"The National Guard Bureau's Crisis Management Element has been alerted to work 24/7 to assist affected states in positioning people and equipment to facilitate the most effective response to the storm," National Guard officials said.

The Air Force Reserve is moving aircraft out of the way of Isaac. Aircraft from the 919th Special Operations Wing have relocated from Duke Field, Fla., to Fort Campbell, Ky.

The 325th Fighter Wing is sending its F-22 fighters from Tyndall Air Force base, Fla., to Sheppard Air Force Base, Kansas to ride out Hurricane Isaac.

Planes of the 482nd Fighter Wing have relocated from Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla. to Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas.

Aircraft from 927th Air Refueling Wing have relocated from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., to Pease Air National Guard Base, N.H., and McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base, Tenn.

On the other side of Florida, aircraft of the 920th Rescue Wing will shelter in place at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. The 403rd Wing will fly its WC-130Js for weather reconnaissance from Ellington Field, Texas.

Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the largest military installation currently in the path of Isaac. Base officials have declared Hurricane Condition 3. Officials want base residents to monitor storm reports on local radio and television stations, and call for residents to secure lawn furniture, trash cans, potted plants and other loose objects. Those planning to evacuate should know the route they will take and consider leaving before an evacuation order is issued.

TROPICAL STORM ISAAC

NASA Sees Tropical Storm Isaac and Tropical Depression 10 Racing in Atlantic
FROM:  NASA

There are now two active tropical cyclones in the Atlantic and NASA is generating satellite imagery to monitor their march westward. Tropical Storm Isaac is already bringing rainfall to the Lesser Antilles today, Aug. 22, Tropical Depression 10 formed in the eastern Atlantic, and another low fizzled in the western Gulf of Mexico.


Tropical Storm Isaac formed late on Aug. 21 from Tropical Depression 9 and immediately caused warnings and watches. Tropical Depression 10 formed during the morning hours on Aug. 22 in the central Atlantic, east of Isaac and appears to be following the tropical storm on NOAA's GOES-13 satellite imagery. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of Tropical Storm Isaac over the Lesser Antilles, and newborn Tropical Depression 10 trailing behind on Aug. 22 at 1445 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT). The image was created by the NASA GOES Project at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Both storms are showing good circulation.

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured an infrared image of Tropical Storm Isaac on Aug. 22 at 2:05 a.m. EDT, as it was bringing heavy rainfall to the Lesser Antilles. Strong thunderstorms appeared in a band of thunderstorms in Isaac's western quadrant that had cloud top temperatures as cold as -63F (-52C).

Watches and Warnings in Effect

The National Hurricane Center has posted Warnings and Watches for Tropical Storm Issac. A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe and the surrounding islands, and St. Martin, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, Montserrat, and Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, and St. Maarten, British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

There are also hurricane and tropical storm watches in effect. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra, and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands; the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Isla Saona westward to the Haiti-Domenican Republic southern border. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for the north coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haiti-Dominican Republic northern border eastward to north of Isla Saona.


At 11 a.m. EDT (1500 UTC) on Aug. 22, Tropical Storm Isaac had maximum sustained winds near 45 mph (75 kmh), and the NHC said that strengthening is forecast. Isaac could become a hurricane by Thursday or Thursday night, Aug. 23. The center of Isaac was about 140 miles (230 km) east of Guadaloupe, near latitude 15.9 north and longitude 59.3 west. Isaac is moving westward near 21 mph (33 kmh) is expected to stay on this track over the next couple of days.

The NHC said, "On the forecast track the center of Isaac should move through the Leeward Islands this evening and pass near or south of the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Thursday (Aug. 23) and approach the Dominican Republic Thursday night and Friday (Aug. 24).

NAVY USING RESEARCH TO IMPROVE WEATHER PREDICTIONS

Photo Credit:  NASA.
FROM:  U.S. NAVY
Navy Researchers Seek To Improve Weather Prediction For Global Operations 
ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) -- With the Atlantic hurricane season officially beginning this month, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) is pursuing a number of projects to help Navy forecasters and meteorologists around the world predict storms better.

ONR's efforts in funding ocean research are yielding enhanced weather and ocean prediction models-highlighted in a new video-that help Navy leaders understand how to route ships around the globe to avoid storms, reduce fuel consumption, avoid Arctic ice flows and promote safety at sea.

"Weather is one of the most significant factors affecting naval operations at sea," said Chief of Naval Research Rear Adm. Matthew Klunder. "ONR-funded research in weather prediction is improving the Navy's forecasting capability and accuracy for any location around the world where our Sailors and Marines are conducting missions."

At the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Va., Navy meteorologists depend on ONR-developed weather models and tools to provide timely, comprehensive and tactically-relevant products and services to support fleet training and operations. "We use real-time sensing data, observations from ships and combine that with modeling outputs to try and get as far ahead of the bad weather as possible," said Cmdr. Adam Newton, operations officer. "This information improves safety at sea and can give the fleet a real warfighting advantage."

While the Navy forecasters focus on supporting Fleet operations around the world, ONR often partners with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) because the same data and weather models that Navy forecasters use also help NOAA to provide accurate weather prediction and storm warnings across the country.

"There is a concerted effort to link various atmospheric and oceanic models together to attain more accurate weather forecasts," said Dan Eleuterio, an ONR program officer. Eleuterio is working on a new computer model called the Tropical Cyclone Coupled Ocean/Atmospheric Mesoscale Prediction System, or TC-COAMPS, which allows scientists to forecast storms' track and strength in real time at high resolution. It was the first dynamic model to demonstrate better skill than statistical approaches at NOAA's National Hurricane Center, and is one of several Navy and NOAA models being evaluated by the National Weather Service's Hurricane Forecast Improvement Program.

"Up until now, predicting the intensity of storms was done with statistical-dynamical models," said Eleuterio. "What that means is that forecasters would look at several decades of observed data and they would simply say that if a storm is in this place this season, it is most likely going to get stronger or weaker or change. It wasn't an actual prediction, and TC-COAMPS will change that as a next-generation weather prediction model."

ONR researchers work with underwater autonomous vehicles, ocean gliders and other sensors to collect information about how much the ocean environment drives global weather patterns. That data helps scientists improve mathematical equations for computer models that predict weather, ocean, sea, and even Arctic ice conditions.

The Navy has a long history of conducting missions in the Arctic for research and military purposes, and in 2009 published the Navy Arctic Roadmap to help ensure naval readiness and capability and promote maritime security in the Arctic region. Developed by the Navy's Task Force Climate Change, the plan includes increasing operational experience, promoting cooperative partnerships and improving environmental understanding.

"The Arctic ice flows are retreating, and that has strategic implications for our country and naval operations in that region of the world as sea lanes open for shipping," said Rear Adm. David Titley, director of the Navy's Task Force Climate Change. "ONR research is helping us understand the Arctic environment, which helps us predict conditions and design future Navy ships better suited for that tough mission."

Tracking the sea ice cover is the responsibility of the National Ice Center (NIC), a multi-agency organization operated by the Navy, NOAA and the United States Coast Guard in Suitland, Md. "Weather modeling is really key to better understanding and forecasting of changing ice conditions in the Arctic," said Pablo Clemente-Col?n, NIC's chief scientist.

In the future, ONR researchers hope to combine multiple weather prediction models to create a comprehensive coupled global model that will greatly extend prediction capability, accuracy and our understanding of the world's environment.

The Department of the Navy's Office of Naval Research (ONR) provides the science and technology necessary to maintain the Navy and Marine Corps' technological advantage. Through its affiliates, ONR is a leader in science and technology with engagement in 50 states, 70 countries, 1,035 institutions of higher learning and 914 industry partners. ONR employs approximately 1,400 people, comprising uniformed, civilian and contract personnel, with additional employees at the Naval Research Lab in Washington, D.C.

EARTHQUAKE DETECTED, NO LARGE-SCALE TSUNAMI EXPECTED

FROM:  NOAA

TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT NUMBER   1
NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
523 PM HST SUN JUN 03 2012

TO - CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT - TSUNAMI INFORMATION STATEMENT

THIS STATEMENT IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. NO ACTION REQUIRED.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

   ORIGIN TIME - 0515 PM HST 03 JUN 2012
   COORDINATES -  5.4 NORTH   82.7 WEST
   LOCATION    - SOUTH OF PANAMA
   MAGNITUDE   - 6.6  MOMENT

EVALUATION

 BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA A DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS
 NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII. REPEAT. A
 DESTRUCTIVE PACIFIC-WIDE TSUNAMI IS NOT EXPECTED AND THERE IS NO
 TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII.

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY STATEMENT ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

NOAA PREDICTS HURRICANE SEASON TO BE ABOUT NORMAL FOR 2012

FROM:  NOAA
Photo:  Irene in 2011 was a reminder that tropical systems can affect the Northeast and of the threat of inland flooding.
NOAA predicts a near-normal 2012 Atlantic hurricane season.  Anniversary of Hurricane Andrew underscores necessity to prepare every year
May 24, 2012
Conditions in the atmosphere and the ocean favor a near-normal hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin this season, NOAA announced today from Miami at its Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory, and home to the Hurricane Research Division.

For the entire six-month season, which begins June 1, NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center says there’s a 70 percent chance of nine to 15 named storms (with top winds of 39 mph or higher), of which four to eight will strengthen to a hurricane (with top winds of 74 mph or higher) and of those one to three will become major hurricanes (with top winds of 111 mph or higher, ranking Category 3, 4 or 5). Based on the period 1981-2010, an average season produces 12 named storms with six hurricanes, including three major hurricanes.
“NOAA’s outlook predicts a less active season compared to recent years,” said NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. “But regardless of the outlook, it’s vital for anyone living or vacationing in hurricane-prone locations to be prepared. We have a stark reminder this year with the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Andrew.” Andrew, the Category 5 hurricane that devastated South Florida on August 24, 1992, was the first storm in a late-starting season that produced only six named storms.

Favoring storm development in 2012: the continuation of the overall conditions associated with the Atlantic high-activity era that began in 1995, in addition to near-average sea surface temperatures across much of the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, known as the Main Development Region. Two factors now in place that can limit storm development, if they persist, are: strong wind shear, which is hostile to hurricane formation in the Main Development Region, and cooler sea surface temperatures in the far eastern Atlantic.

“Another potentially competing climate factor would be El Niño if it develops by late summer to early fall. In that case, conditions could be less conducive for hurricane formation and intensification during the peak months (August-October) of the season, possibly shifting the activity toward the lower end of the predicted range,” said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.
"NOAA's improvement in monitoring and predicting hurricanes has been remarkable over the decades since Andrew, in large part because of our sustained commitment to research and better technology. But more work remains to unlock the secrets of hurricanes, especially in the area of rapid intensification and weakening of storms,” said Lubchenco. “We're stepping up to meet this challenge through our Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project, which has already demonstrated exciting early progress toward improving storm intensity forecasts."

Lubchenco added that more accurate forecasts about a storm's intensity at landfall and extending the forecast period beyond five days will help America become a more Weather-Ready Nation.

In a more immediate example of research supporting hurricane forecasting, NOAA this season is introducing enhancements to two of the computer models available to hurricane forecasters - the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) and the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) models. The HWRF model has been upgraded with a higher resolution and improved atmospheric physics. This latest version has demonstrated a 20 to 25 percent improvement in track forecasts and a 15 percent improvement in intensity forecasts relative to the previous version while also showing improvement in the representation of storm structure and size. Improvements to the GFDL model for 2012 include physics upgrades that are expected to reduce or eliminate a high bias in the model's intensity forecasts.

The seasonal outlook does not predict how many storms will hit land. Forecasts for individual storms and their impacts are provided by NOAA’s National Hurricane Center, which continuously monitors the tropics for storm development and tracking throughout the season using an array of tools including satellites, advance computer modeling, hurricane hunter aircraft, and land- and ocean-based observations sources such as radars and buoys.

Next week, May 27- June 2, is national Hurricane Preparedness Week. To help prepare residents of hurricane-prone areas, video and audio public service announcements featuring NOAA hurricane experts and the FEMA administrator are available in both English and Spanish.

“Every hurricane season we ask families, communities, and businesses to ensure they are prepared and visit www.ready.gov/hurricanes,” said Tim Manning, FEMA deputy administrator for protection and national preparedness. “Being prepared includes developing a family emergency plan, putting an emergency kit together or updating your existing kit, keeping important papers and valuables in a safe place, and getting involved to ensure your community is ready.”

NOAA’s outlook for the Eastern Pacific basin is for a near-normal hurricane season and the Central Pacific basin is expected to have a below-normal season. NOAA will issue an updated seasonal outlook for the Atlantic hurricane season in early August, just prior to the historical peak of the season.

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

DOES IT RAIN FISH AND FROGS? MAYBE

FROM:  U.S. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS                        PHOTO:   U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Can it rain frogs, fish, and other objects?
There have been reports of raining frogs and fish dating back to ancient civilization. Of course, it doesn’t “rain” frogs or fish in the sense that it rains water - no one has ever seen frogs or fish vaporize into the air before a rainfall. However, strong winds, such as those in a tornado or hurricane, are powerful enough to lift animals, people, trees, and houses.  It is possible that they could suck up a school of fish or frogs and “rain” them elsewhere.

Many scientists believe tornadic waterspouts may be responsible for frog and fish rainfalls.  According to Complete Weather Resource (1997), “a tornadic waterspout is merely a tornado that forms over land and travels over the water.”  An especially strong kind of waterspout, they are not as strong as land based tornadoes, which can reach up to 310 miles per hour.  But tornadic waterspouts can reach 100 miles per hour, which can still be quite destructive.

A popular misconception is that waterspouts “rise out of the sea.” In reality, they begin in the air and descend toward the water’s surface. The first visible sign of a tornadic waterspout is usually a dark spot on the water’s surface, which is caused by a spinning column of low-pressure air stirring up the water from overhead.  As the spinning column of air, or vortex, gains momentum, the surrounding water is pulled into a spiral pattern of light and dark bands. Eventually a ring of spraying water, called the cascade,forms around the base.  The characteristic funnel extending from the sky toward the water’s surface becomes visible in the fourth stage of the waterspout’s development. At this point, it is considered a mature storm.

Like a tornado, a mature waterspout consists of a low-pressure central vortex surrounded by a rotating funnel of updrafts.  The vortex at the center of these storms is strong enough to “suck up” surrounding air, water, and small objects like a vacuum. These accumulated objects are deposited back to earth as “rain” when the waterspout loses its energy.  Most of the water seen in the funnel of a waterspout is actually condensate —moisture in the air resulting from the condensation of water vapor.

Professor Ernest Agee from Purdue University says, “I’ve seen small ponds literally emptied of their water by a passing tornado. So, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for frogs (or other living things) to ‘rain’ from the skies” (Chandler, 2004).  Most scientists agree that salt, stones, fish, or frogs can be pulled into a waterspout’s swirling updrafts and deposited once the waterspout hits land and loses its energy.

Although waterspouts are the most commonly offered explanation for animal rainfalls, some scientists, such as Doc Horsley from Southern Illinois University, theorize that any unusually powerful updraft could lift small organisms or organic material into the sky during a storm (Chandler, 2004). An updraft is a wind current caused by warm air from high pressure areas near the earth rising into cooler, low-pressure areas in the atmosphere. Because the cooling causes water in the air to condense, updrafts play an important role in cloud formation and storm development.  During thunderstorms, updrafts can reach speeds of more than 60 miles per hour— comparable to the winds of moderate-intensity waterspouts.

When it rained frogs in Kansas City in 1873, Scientific Americaconcluded that it must have been caused by a tornado or other land-based storm, since there were no swamps or other bodies of water in the vicinity (Cerveny, 2006).  Similarly, when it hailed frogs in Dubuque, Iowa on June 16, 1882, scientists speculated that small frogs were picked up by a powerful updraft and frozen into hail in the cold air above earth’s surface. Although no one has actually witnessed an updraft lifting frogs off the ground, the theory is scientifically plausible since updrafts regularly pick up lightweight debris and carry it considerable distances.

What is unusual in reports of animal rainfalls is the uniformity of the deposition.   When it rains frogs or fishes, witnesses reportonly fish or only frogs falling. According to William Hayden Smith of Washington University, this makes sense since objects of similar size and weight would naturally be deposited together. As winds lose their energy, the heavier objects fall first and smaller objects drop later.

                                                                     PHOTO:  NOAA 

Despite the numerous reports of raining animals, scientists still approach the area with skepticism. Many historical reports are provided by second or third-hand accounts, making their reliability questionable. Also, because of the popularity and mystery surrounding stories about raining animals, some people falsely report an animal rainfall after seeing large numbers of worms, frogs, or birds on the ground after a storm. However, these animals did not fall from the sky. Instead, storms fill in worm burrows, knock birds from trees and roofs, wash fish onto the shores of rivers and ponds, and drive frogs and other small animals from their habitats. People who live in suburban or urban environments tend to underestimate the number of organisms living around their homes. Therefore, they may suspect that animals came from the sky rather than their natural habitat.

Despite the cautious skepticism of the scientific community, a number of eyewitness reports strongly suggest rainfalls of frogs, fish, and other materials on occasion. For instance:

On October 23, 1947, A.D. Bajkov, a biologist with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife, was eating breakfast at a restaurant in Marksville, Louisiana when the waitress told him and his wife that fish were falling from the sky. “There were spots on Main Street, in the vicinity of the bank (a half block from the restaurant) averaging one fish per square yard. Automobiles and trucks were running over them. Fish also fell on the roofs of houses…I personally collected from Main Street and several yards on Monroe Street, a large jar of perfect specimens and preserved them in Formalin, in order to distribute them among various museums.”

On June 7, 2005, thousands of frogs rained on Odzaci, a small town in northwestern Serbia. Climatologist Slavisa Ignjatovic described the phenomenon as “not very unusual” because the strong winds that accompanied the storm could have easily picked up the frogs.

At the end of February, 2010, residents of Lajamanu, a small Australian town, saw hundreds of spangled perch fall from the sky. Christine Balmer was walking home when the rain/fish started to fall. “These fish fell in their hundreds and hundreds all over the place. The locals were running around everywhere to pick them up,” she reported.

U.S. AND BRAZIL HAVE EXPANDED COLLABORATION ON OUTER SPACE

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
The United States and Brazil: Space Cooperation
Fact Sheet
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
April 9, 2012
Since Presidents Obama and Rousseff met in March 2010, the United States and Brazil have expanded our collaboration on outer space. Our two countries recognize that we stand to gain from cooperation given our extensive research and development (R&D) capacities, our long history of cooperation in civil remote sensing, space exploration, and other space activities, and the opportunity to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the space environment for future generations. By working bilaterally and multilaterally on using outer space for civilian purposes, mitigating space congestion, and increasing our knowledge base via research and development, the United States and Brazil will continue to enjoy a strong and collaborative partnership.

To highlight our progress in collaboration in outer space activities and to discuss additional opportunities for cooperation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Administrator Charles Bolden traveled to Brazil in October 2011. Capping the visit, Administrator Bolden spoke about the importance of science education with a live student audience and the simulcast participation of nearly 3,000 viewers around Brazil. In September 2011, the Brazilian government declared the Apollo 14 “moon tree” – which grew from one of a few seeds exposed to zero gravity during the 1971 Apollo 14 mission and was donated to Brazil by the United States in 1980 – a protected entity that may not be cut down. The tree is planted at the Institute for Environment and Natural Renewable Resources (IBAMA) headquarters.

The United States and Brazil cooperate on space activities through research and development agencies as well as their respective space agencies. On March 12-13, 2012, during the U.S.-Brazil Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology, the President’s Advisor for Science and Technology and senior officials from the U.S. Geological Survey oversaw a discussion on Earth Observation for Natural Hazard Prevention. Brazil plays a key role in disseminating National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) meteorological satellite data to users in South America, and is an active advocate with the United States in promoting data democracy, a global effort to make data available to all users in a standard, easy-to-implement format that does not presuppose prior experience or substantial resources.

Implementing Arrangement for Cooperation between NASA and the Agencia Espacial Brasileira (AEB) in the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission (GPM)
During the NASA Administrator’s visit to Brazil in October 2011, NASA and AEB signed an Implementing Arrangement that will allow for a scientific and engineering feasibility study for potential cooperation in GPM-related scientific research, ground validation of GPM satellite data, and other related activities. The GPM mission is a multi-satellite constellation project being jointly developed by NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The data acquired by the GPM mission will be beneficial for monitoring and predicting climatological and meteorological changes, and for improving the accuracy of weather and precipitation forecasts. The GPM mission will provide sufficient measurement sampling to acquire high-quality rainfall accumulation products needed by many disciplines, including hydrology, meteorology, oceanography and climate model validation.

Implementing Arrangement for Cooperation between NASA and AEB on Ozone Study Cooperation
During the Administrator’s visit to Brazil in October 2011, NASA and AEB signed an agreement to enable cooperation on an ozone study. The objective of the project is to study the concentrations of various atmospheric constituents in order to contribute to the understanding of the Earth’s ozone layer, its generation, and its depletion, and to help to calibrate and verify satellite remote sensors. The program would supplement measurements being made from Wallops Island, Virginia, and other sites, for coverage of high Earth latitudes.

Participation in Earth Observation Coordination and Bilateral Cooperation
The United States and Brazil participate jointly in several Earth-observation international coordination groups, such as the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS), and the International Charter, Space and Major Disasters. GEO is creating the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), which will link observing systems around the world. GeoNetCast Americas is the Western Hemisphere’s contribution to this global initiative. This system can help the international community protect itself against damages from natural and man-made disasters, respond to climate change, and improve weather forecasts. NOAA and Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE), who currently operates two GeoNetCast stations are working together to expand the program in the Western Hemisphere. NOAA, NASA, USGS, and other U.S. government agencies work closely with AEB and INPE on Earth observation and space research. These initiatives foster collaboration among space agencies to produce and share scientific data that are critical to climate change prediction, environmental monitoring, and management of crises arising from major natural or technological disasters.

U.S. – Brazil Space Security Dialogue
The United States and Brazil held their first bilateral Space Security Dialogue in Brasilia on April 5, 2012. This Dialogue affirms both nations’ commitment to collaboration in working toward a more long-term sustainable, stable, safe, and secure space environment. The Space Security Dialogue is an opportunity to build upon our successful civil space cooperation by discussing opportunities to collaborate on space security initiatives and capabilities.