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U.S. DEPARTMENTOF COMMERCE

National Oceanicand AtmosphericAdministration

EARTH SYSTEM MONITOR

A guide toNOAA's data and

informationservices

INSIDE

3News briefs

4NODC archives

shipboard ADCP data

9Long-term climatemonitoring of the

Global ClimateObserving System

(GCOS)

12A new home for

the National ClimaticData Center

15Data productsand services

16NODC Bulletin Board

Service

Vol. 5, No. 3 ● March 1995

NOAA‘s Coastal Change Analysis Program(C-CAP) monitors critical marine habitats

Wildlife Service’s National Wetlands Inventory,the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Biologi-cal Service, and other federal and state agencies,and universities. Currently, C-CAP is conductingthree activities:• protocol enhancement,• regional change analysis using remotelysensed data, and• establishment of a data management infra-structure.

C-CAP protocolA standard, national protocol for mapping

submersed rooted vegetation (SRV), emergentcoastal wetlands, and adjacent uplands has beenestablished by C-CAP. Development of the re-gional guidelines was based primarily on infor-mation generated by five regional workshops,topical meetings, and two prototype studies inthe Chesapeake Bay and coastal North Carolina.Researchers from universities, state and regionalorganizations, the Oak Ridge National Labora-tory (ORNL), and NOAA have participated in the

National Oceanographic Data CenterNOAA/NESDIS1825 Connecticut Ave., NWWashington, DC 20235E-mail: [email protected]

National Marine Fisheries ServiceBeaufort LaboratoryBeaufort, NCE-Mail: [email protected] – continued on page 2

▲ Figure 1. C-CAP land cover classification image for the St. Croix RiverEstuary (A) in the upper Gulf of Maine near Grand Manan Island (B). Land coverimages are employed to track habitat alterations resulting from developmentand forestry, which can affect the productivity of the bay.

A

Harry Iredale, IIINational OceanographicData CenterNOAA/NESDIS

Donald W. FieldBeaufort LaboratoryNOAA/NMFS

Coastal uplands,wetlands, and sub-mersed vegetation playvital roles in nutrientassimilation, geochemi-cal cycling, water stor-age, and sedimentstabilization, and theyalso support the major-ity of finfish and shell-fish resources in theUnited States. Humanpopulation growth andthe resultant develop-ment and use of rurallands, however, are plac-ing a severe burdenupon the United States’coastal regions. Adverseeffects of increasing development, freshwaterflow alteration, and forestry and agriculturalpractices include changes in water salinity, de-struction of habitat, increased sedimentation andturbidity, nonpoint source pollution, loss of fish-eries, and decreasing biodiversity.

The Coastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP), a component of NOAA’s Coastal OceanProgram, has begun coordinated studies to moni-tor the alterations of coastal areas of the UnitedStates (Figure 1). In this effort, C-CAP is workingcooperatively with EPA’s Environmental Moni-toring and Assessment Program, the Fish and

B

2 March 1995EARTH SYSTEM MONITOR

EARTH SYSTEM MONITOR

The Earth System Monitor (ISSN 1068-2678) is published quarterly by the NOAAEnvironmental Information Services office.Questions, comments, or suggestions forarticles should be directed to the Editor,Richard J. Abram. Requests for subscrip-tions and changes of address should bedirected to the Assistant Editor, NancyO’Donnell.

The mailing address for the EarthSystem Monitor is:

Environmental Information ServicesNOAA/NESDIS E/EIUniversal Building, Room 5061825 Connecticut Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20235

EDITORRichard J. Abram

Telephone: 202-606-4561Fax: 202-606-4586

E-mail: [email protected]

ASSOCIATE EDITORSheri Phillips

Telephone: 202-606-4539Fax: 202-606-4586


ASSISTANT EDITORNancy O’Donnell

Telephone: 202-606-4561Fax: 202-606-4586


DISCLAIMER

Mention in the Earth System Monitor ofcommercial companies or commercialproducts does not constitute an endorse-ment or recommendation by the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administrationor the U.S. Department of Commerce.Use for publicity or advertising purposes ofinformation published in the Earth SystemMonitor concerning proprietary productsor the tests of such products is notauthorized.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCERonald H. Brown, Secretary

National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration

D. James Baker,Under Secretary and Administrator

tography to cover large coastal areas ofinterest. When feasible, Landsat satelliteThematic Mapper sensor scenes for aregion, observed during clear atmo-spheric and dry ground conditions, arepurchased from the Earth ObservationSatellite Company (EOSAT) for approxi-mately the same time of year for twodifferent years. Sensor scenes are thenanalyzed to determine land cover andclassified according to the C-CAP proto-col. A third result of the analyses, landcover change, is the difference data setbetween the different years. Land coverdata sets derived from Thematic Mapperdata are binary raster. Each suite has aunique size because of the number ofLandsat scenes used, and because theamount of truncation done duringanalysis varies by region.

Vertical aerial color photographs ofmetric quality are taken during accept-able weather conditions from fixed wingaircraft to determine location and arealextent of submersed rooted vegetation(SRV). These are photointerpreted, clas-sified, and digitized into vector datasets. In many cases, the goal is a suite ofthree data sets, two time periods, and achange detection (Ferguson, et al., 1993).

Fourteen land cover analyses and/orhabitat monitoring projects (Figure 2),jointly sponsored by C-CAP and otherfederal, state, local, or academic institu-

C-CAP, from page 1

guidelines development.The C-CAP regional guidelines

document is being published as NOAATechnical Report NMFS 123 and containssources and procedures for data acquisi-tion, processing, and presentation. Theprotocol’s land cover classificationscheme is dynamic and will be im-proved upon in future editions as itbecomes refined through research andinput from regional projects. Nation-wide acceptance of the protocol willallow comparable analyses to be con-ducted and land cover products to begenerated, regardless of which organiza-tion funds or performs the study.

Regional AnalysisCoastal regions are identified as

candidates for periodic monitoringbased upon the frequency of environ-mental changes. An agreement is nor-mally made between C-CAP, localresearchers, and coastal managers, toperform the analyses in accordance withthe regional guidelines document, andto provide the results to C-CAP. In someinstances the analyses are performed byORNL with cooperation from local ex-perts for field verification.

To monitor functional status andchange in these critical habitats, C-CAPemploys satellite images and aerial pho-

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▲ Figure 2. Locations of current land cover analyses and habitat monitoring projects,which are being jointly sponsored by C-CAP and other Federal, state, local, andacademic institutions.

3March 1995 EARTH SYSTEM MONITOR

News briefsWorkshop produces plan to usepaleoenvironmental research inclimate variability studies

Dr. Jonathan Overpeck, head ofNGDC’s Paleoclimatology Group, co-con-vened a joint International GeosphereBiosphere Programme - World ClimateResearch Programme (IGBP-WCRP) spon-sored workshop entitled “A PaleoclimaticPerspective on Climate Variability andPredictability”. The workshop, held inVenice, Italy, on November 16-20, 1994,brought together the world's leading pa-leoclimatologists and climate physicists togenerate an explicit interdisciplinaryworkplan for using paleoenvironmentalresearch to develop a complete under-standing of interannual to century-scaleclimate variability. Simulation of climatevariability with predictive models was alsoexamined.

This understanding is not possibleusing the short satellite and instrumentalrecord alone. The workshop served as abasis for focussing the international IGBP-WCRP research community on meetingclimate prediction goals that are central toNOAA.

Dr. Overpeck also participated in anExecutive Committee meeting of the Inter-national Geosphere BiosphereProgramme/Past Global Change Core(IGBP/PAGES) Project. Dr. Overpeck,elected to this committee earlier this year,helped guide the implementation of thelarge international IGBP/PAGES researchprogram. In particular, he aided in thecoordination of paleoenvironmental datamanagement efforts around the world.The World Data Center-A for Paleoclima-tology at NGDC is the data managementcoordination center for IGBP/PAGES.

NCDC Supports Florida CoastalScience Center

The National Climatic Data Centerprovided several CD-ROM products tosupport the Florida Oceanographic SocietyCoastal Science Center. The mission of thesociety is to increase the knowledge andunderstanding of Florida’s marine re-sources through education, public aware-ness, and the support of scientificresearch. The Coastal Science Center isbeing developed on Hutchinson Islandalong Florida’s east coast.

The center will include a library, audi-torium, conference center, aquariums,and research facilities. The center will alsooperate and maintain two coastal weather

stations with “real time” weather and seastate conditions available.

NCDC provided copies of the U.S.Navy Marine Climatic Atlas of the WorldVolume 1.0, the International Station Me-teorological Climate Summary Version 2.0,and several additional CD-ROMs as part ofa climatology package which will be ondisplay at the center.

NGDC receives new data from theinternational community

Professor Meiqing Gao, from the Insti-tute of Geophysics, Academia Sinica,Beijing, China, delivered 56 years of geo-magnetic hourly data from the SheshanMagnetic Observatory to NGDC. The datawill be placed on a one-off CD-ROMwhich will be handcarried back to Chinaby Professor Gao. The data will be in-cluded on a planned CD-ROM of geomag-netic hourly values to be produced in1995.

NGDC has also received annual meanvalues from four geomagnetic observato-ries in Vietnam. These data are the firstreceived from Vietnam at NGDC (for SolidEarth Geophysics) in many years. The datawere sent in response to the Solid EarthReport-52, A Report on Geomagnetic Obser-vatories and Observations, 1994, and rep-resent the fulfillment of several months ofwork in establishing contacts with theInstitute of Geophysics in Vietnam.

In addition, a data exchange agree-ment has been established betweenNGDC and the Instituto de Astronomia yGeodesia, Universidad Complutense deMadrid, Spain. The Institute forwardedgravity data from the Mediterranean Seain response to a letter from NGDC thatopened discussions in August. They alsohave offered to forward additional gravi-metric data from Spain and Portugal.

38th conference on Great Lakesresearch scheduled

The International Association forGreat Lakes Research (IAGLR) announcesthe 38th Annual Conference on GreatLakes Research, to be held at the KelloggCenter on the campus of Michigan StateUniversity from May 28 through June 1,1995. The purpose of the conference is toexchange information applicable to theunderstanding of large lakes of the world,

and to the human societies surroundingthem.

To date, at least 25 special symposiaare scheduled. Topics include such issuesas physical dynamics, causality and riskassessment, atmospheric processes, globalchange records in lakes, food chain trans-fers, remedial action plans, combinedsewer overflow, groundwater and lakeinteractions, wetlands research, large lakesof the world, contaminated sediments,toxicology, and exotic species. Preliminaryprogram details will be published in theIAGLR Lakes Letter newsletter released inApril.

Registration for the conference willbegin on Sunday, May 28, 1995; preregis-tration is encouraged. Registration will befollowed by four days of technical ses-sions, poster presentations, and exhibits.For additional information on this confer-ence, please contact:

David T. LongDept. Geological SciencesMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824-1115Phone: 517-353-9618Fax: 517-353-8787E-mail: [email protected]

orJohn P. GiesyDept. of Fisheries and Wildlife13 Natural Resources BuildingMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI 48824Phone: 517-353-2000Fax: 517-423-1699E-mail: [email protected]

Communications hub for ARCSSThe National Snow and Ice Data Cen-

ter (NSIDC) is developing a bulletin boardfor the Arctic System Science (ARCSS)community at the ARCSS Data Coordina-tion Center. A Home Page will be acces-sible using Mosaic or similar software. Thissite will also function as a listserver, allow-ing access by electronic mail as well. UsingMosaic, users will be able to browse text,post and read messages, view the ARCSSData Catalogue, and link to other informa-tion sources at NSIDC.

Users without access to Mosaic can e-mail to the listserver, receive a list of mes-sage headers, and send e-mail back toreceive text of interest.

For more information, please contactMatt Cross at 303–392-5532 or throughthe Internet at: [email protected].


NODC archives shipboard ADCP dataAcoustic Doppler Current Profiler data provides information on structure of the upper ocean

Patrick CaldwellNational Oceanographic Data CenterNOAA/NESDIS

For the past decade, acoustic Dop-pler current profilers (ADCPs) have be-come steadily more common aboard theUniversity National OceanographicLaboratory System (UNOLS), NOAA,and U.S. Navy fleets. During the late1980s, the data quality was limited bylack of continuous Global PositioningSystem (GPS) coverage and uncertaintiesin the ship’s heading information. Forthe past several years, however, thequality has improved significantly dueto the 24-hour GPS coverage, differen-tial gps techniques, and the advent ofGPS heading sensors. With reliableheading and navigation data, absolutecurrents in the upper ocean are deter-mined. The data provide fine resolutionin time (~5 minutes), depth (~10 m),and horizontal distance (~2 km)throughout the duration of a cruise.The accumulating database allows afresh view of upper ocean velocity struc-ture on a variety of temporal and spatialscales.

The National Oceanographic DataCenter (NODC) has been working forseveral years on a management schemefor this important new data set and isnow ready to share the plan with thescientific community and solicit contri-butions to the shipboard ADCP archive.

Methodology of data acquisition The hull-mounted ADCP estimateshorizontal and vertical velocity as afunction of depth by using the Dopplereffect to measure the radial relative ve-locity between the instrument and scat-terers in the ocean (Figure 1). Threeacoustic beams in different directionsare the minimal requirement for mea-suring the three velocity components. A

Sonar beam

Thermocline layer

300

600

ADCP beams

fourth beam adds redundancy and anerror estimate.

The ADCP transmits a ping fromeach transducer element roughly onceper second. The echo arrives back at theinstrument over an extended period,with echoes from shallow depths arriv-ing sooner than ones from greaterranges. Profiles are produced by range-gating the echo signal, which means theecho is broken into successive segmentscalled depth bins which correspond tosuccessively deeper depth ranges. Theoperator configures the length of eachdepth bin and the transmit pulse, whichdetermines the degree of averaging inthe vertical, depending on whether oneis interested more in vertical resolutionor profile penetration.

The noisy velocity estimates fromeach ping are vector-averaged into 1- to10-minute ensembles. The relative ve-locities are rotated from the transducer’sto the earth’s reference frame using theship’s gyrocompass. Finally, relativevelocities and various ancillary param-eters are stored on the ship using a dataacquisition system (DAS) which alsooptionally records navigation informa-tion, such as provided by the GPS. Spe-cifics of the instrument capabilities andconfiguration options are well docu-mented (RDI, 1989). Routine processing, quality control,

and calibration are performed at thehost institution. Standard checks in-clude detecting and correcting timeerrors, applying transducer-level tem-peratures and salinities to obtain a bet-ter estimate of the sound speed for thevelocity calculation, editing out badbins or profiles that have been contami-nated by interference with the bottomor some other physical object such as ahydro wire, and verifying the quality ofthe gyrocompass and the navigationdata. The final gyrocompass estimates ofship heading and the navigation infor-mation are the primary sources for cali-brating the ADCP’s relative currentvelocities.

Typically, one is correcting for a“angle” error due to misalignment ofthe transducer relative to the ship’s hulland an “amplitude” component relatedmostly to minor imperfections of thetransducer geometry. Relative currentvelocity errors caused by these compo-nents are orthogonal; the angle errorslead to uncertainties of the athwartshipsvelocity component while the ampli-tude error introduces uncertaintiesalong the ship track. The navigation calculation is per-formed once calibration is complete.Absolute currents over a fixed depthrange (reference layer) are obtained bysubtracting the average of the ship ve-

▲ Figure 1. Diagram of hull-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler and acousticbeams utilized in developing current profiles. Three acoustic beams sent in different di-rections are the minimal requirement for measuring current velocity components.

Mr. Patrick CaldwellNODC Liaison OfficerShipboard ADCP CenterDept. of OceanographyUniversity of Hawaii, MSB 317Honolulu, HI 96822E-mail: [email protected]


locity relative to a reference layer (i.e.,ADCP velocities) from the absolute shipvelocity over the ground (from naviga-tion, i.e., GPS). The raw absolute currentvelocities relative to the reference layerare smoothed to reduce the effects ofnoise in the position fixes and com-bined with the navigation data to ob-tain the best estimates of ship positionsand velocities, which are stored in thedata base. Thus, absolute currents at anydepth can be determined from the finalship navigation data and the relativeADCP measurements.

NODC’s archive plan A group of data producers and usersof shipboard ADCP met with data man-agement experts at NODC in May 1992to discuss the tasks at hand (Firing,1992). The meeting was convened byDr. Eric Firing, a professor of oceanogra-phy at the University of Hawaii (UH)who is a long standing expert in ship-board ADCP collection, processing, andanalysis. By this point in time, many ofthe difficulties in calibrating and obtain-ing absolute currents had been over-come and the number of scientificpublications using this data was steadilyrising. With the sharp increase in instal-lation and attention to the shipboard

ADCP in the early 1990s, it became clearthat a data management plan was re-quired for centralizing the data set intoa well-documented, quality-assured ar-chive and for allowing easy access to thescientific community. Shortly thereafter, the NODC liaisonassigned to the TOGA Sea Level Centerat UH began collaborating on a part-time basis with Dr. Firing, the NODCdata managers, and other ADCP expertsin the development of an archive strat-egy. The primary logistical problem washow to effectively handle the high-den-sity data set consisting of currents andancillary parameters at the samplinginterval with which the data were re-corded and processed. It is not merelythe volume of data collected on a typi-cal month-long cruise (about 10 Mbytes)that makes this data set complex, butrather the cruise-to-cruise variability (aswell as the intra-cruise variability) of thesampling rates and types of ancillaryparameters. These parameters includethe date-time-group, transducer tem-perature (and salinity), a variety of diag-nostic values, heading information, andnavigational data. Moreover, a methodof flagging bad values and denoting thedepth penetration of reliable data wasneeded. It was obvious that the tradi-

tional flat ASCII file approach was inad-equate and the use of a sophisticatedprocessing and data management sys-tem was required to facilitate fast, effi-cient access to the data. A software package called the Com-mon Oceanographic Data Analysis Sys-tem (CODAS), designed, documented,and maintained by Dr. Eric Firing andassociates at UH, became the focus ofattention. The system has been used atUH since 1988 and has been distributedto over 30 agencies in 12 countries. Inaddition to the processing tools, thisreadily available public domain softwareprovides easy access to the data with avariety of options for averaging, regrid-ding, and selecting only data that meetspecified quality criteria. CODAS storesarrays of flags corresponding to the ve-locity arrays; thus, the original data arenot altered by editing. CODAS is a hier-archal data base which uses a “directoryfile” to keep track of binary “blockfiles.” The system was written in stan-dard C language and the package is pri-marily used on workstations and IBM-compatible PCs. For the binary blockfiles, the software provides translationbetween machines with different binarynumbering conventions and offers acomplete ASCII dump. Because of its flexibility, the NODCdecided to adopt the CODAS system forthe archival of the high-resolution dataset. This move advances NODC’s goalto be not only an archive center, but tomaximize ease of access for the scientificcommunity using the most up-to-datetechnology. The NODC now archivesthe high-density shipboard ADCP dataas CODAS files and a standard subset ofeach cruise at hourly and 10 m depthintervals as ASCII files (Figure 2). TheCODAS files include current velocitiesand all ancillary data while the subsetincludes only the absolute current ve-locities, transducer temperature, andship velocity. For analysis purposes, thestandard subset is best suited for synop-tic and climatological research and thehigh-density set is valuable for fine-scalestudies.

The Shipboard ADCP CenterThe NODC has established the

Shipboard ADCP Center (SAC) at UH forthe acquisition, review, documentation,archival, and distribution of shipboard

NODC Shipboard ADCP Archive CenterUniversity of Hawaii

High Resolution Shipboard ADCP Data

- Originator's format- Processed, calibrated, documented

- ASCII- cruise summary- instrumentation- processing notes- calibration steps- references

Metadata High Resolution Data

- CODAS binary format- sample rate at which data were recorded and

processed- edit flags- ancillary data- navigation- sophisticated data access system

Standard Subset

- ASCII- hourly averages- 10 m depth grid- absolute currents- tranducer temperature- ship velocity

Data Users

▲ Figure 2. Flow diagram of data processing, archival, and distribution procedures forshipboard ADCP data sets received at the Shipboard ADCP Center (SAC). – continued on page 6


ADCP, from page 5

▲ Figure 3. Cruise tracks representative of the current data base available from the Shipboard ADCPCenter. The growing archive now contains ADCP data from over 70 cruises, including data collectedduring the HOTS, TOGA/COARE, and WEPOCS projects.

ADCP data sets (Fig-ure 2). The activitiesare overseen by theNODC liaison andthe locality takes ad-vantage of close prox-imity to the ADCPand CODAS experts(Dr. Firing and associ-ates). A network ofSun workstationsmaintain the archiveonline and facilitatethe archiving steps.Data producers areencouraged to con-tribute the high-den-sity data sets thathave passed the qual-ity control, calibra-tion, and navigationstages. Metadata (in-formation about thedata) are vital for thearchive. The SAC canprovide guidelines forthe type of metadatadesired. The incom-ing data sets areplaced in the CODASformat if necessary, reviewed, reducedto a standard subset, documented, andbacked up. The data producers will becontacted if suspect features are identi-fied or if additional metadata are re-quired. The data sets will be periodicallypassed on to the NODC headquarterswhich will act as the final repository,assist in advertising data availability andin the encouraging submissions fromproducers, and prepare CD-ROMs foreasy distribution of large volumes of thehigh- density data sets. The growing archive now contains77 cruises including a majority of theTropical Ocean Global Atmosphere/Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere ResponseExperiment (TOGA/COARE) legs, severalWorld Ocean Circulation Experiment(WOCE) lines, all of the Western PacificOcean Climate Studies (WEPOCS) sets,and about 75% of the Hawaiian OceanTime series (HOTS) cruises. Cruise tracksof the present data base are shown inFigure 3. The archive is being filled firstprimarily with readily available data setsat UH and other institutes that havepassed scientific scrutiny, are well docu-

mented, and are already in the CODASformat. The database will expand rap-idly over the coming years. RD Instru-ments of San Diego, the dominantsource for instruments, has sold about125 vessel-mounted units to date. If athird of those are active for 10 months ayear, that represents ~400 cruise-months per year of potential data. A browse, inventory, and retrievalsystem (BIRS) has been developed by theSAC for facilitating access to the globaldatabase. Presently, the system is oper-ated solely by the SAC staff, but couldeasily be placed in a public domain loca-tion for anonymous users to query thedatabase and make requests over theInternet. In the interim, please senddata requests directly to the SAC. The high-density data set, the CO-DAS block files (and software if neces-sary) the standard subset (~500 Kbytesper cruise), metadata, inventories, cruisetracks, or general information are avail-able through the mail or by Internet(anonymous ftp). Questions, comments,data submissions, data requests, andCODAS software and manual requests

should be directed to:

Mr. Patrick CaldwellNODC Hawaii Liaison OfficerDept. of OceanographyUniversity of Hawaii, MSB 317Honolulu, Hawaii 96822Phone: 808-956-4105Fax: 808-956-4104Internet: [email protected]

ReferencesFiring, E., 1992. Notes from the Acoustic Doppler

Profiler Workshop, NOAA/National Oceano-graphic Data Center, May 14-15, 1992.Unpublished manuscript. Copies availablefrom P. Caldwell.

RD Instruments, 1989. Acoustic Doppler CurrentProfilers Principles of Operation: A PracticalPrimer. Available from RD Instruments,9855 Businesspark Ave., San Diego, CA92131. ■


C-CAP, from page 2 gators throughout the nation’s coastalregions (Mason, et al., 1994).

Data ManagementC-CAP requested that the National

Oceanographic Data Center (NODC)provide data management support tothe program. The involvement of theNODC with C-CAP has been continuousover five years. At the program level,NODC assisted in the drafting of the C-CAP protocol document, participated ina protocol workshop and C-CAP AnnualMeetings, and provided data manage-ment guidance. At the data manage-ment level, NODC personnel are archiv-ing and distributing products; planningto implement Federal geospatial stan-dards and a national digital database;procuring hardware, software, and train-ing; and developing the necessary inter-nal procedures and infrastructure tosupport the full scope of C-CAP datamanagement.

Currently, the C-CAP Archive atNODC contains only digital raster datasets. The archive and distribution pro-cess for satellite derived land cover ras-ter products begins when they arereceived from C-CAP’s validation group,Geographic Information Systems andComputer Modeling, located at OakRidge National Laboratory. Each data setis displayed by using iAXE, GeoVu, orother Geographic Information System(GIS) package to assist identification,and verified by passing it through analgorithm (which counts the individualpixel values in the scene for comparisonwith a supplied list to insure the datahave not been corrupted). The metadataare reviewed and completed, and inter-nal data management information isextracted for use in a future online cata-log. Each suite of regional products andtheir metadata are copied to their owndirectory on a WORM optical disk con-tained in a 300 GB jukebox for localaccess, and to CD-ROM for archivaloffsite. Similar procedures will be fol-lowed for vector products.

A C-CAP goal is to have a nationaldigital data base containing productsand documentation for the contiguousU.S. coasts, including the Great Lakes, aswell as Alaska, Hawaii, and all the U.S.possessions. NODC has procured a GISto help manage both the raster and vec-tor products and their metadata, and toaid in the implementation of federal

geospatial standards. The C-CAP Ar-chive will be acquiring SRV vector data,which are usually in a proprietary GISformat. The new GIS should help incor-porate these data and metadata into thedigital database, and, for example, con-vert a vector product adjacent to rasterproduct, to raster, for subsequent merg-ing of two into a single raster data set.

The Content Standards for DigitalGeospatial Metadata and Spatial DataTransfer Standards (SDTS) are federallymandated standards that have becomeeffective for these digital data. NODChas obtained copies of the current ver-sions of the metadata standards and iscoordinating with C-CAP representa-tives to prepare digital geospatial meta-data templates for the raster and vectorland cover data sets. In the future, thesetemplates will enable investigators andanalysts to compile the metadata as theproducts are created. This will result inmore accurate and useful metadata.

Data distributionTo advertise the availability of C-

CAP products, a descriptive flyer is pub-lished and distributed after the data andmetadata have been reviewed. Data setscan be distributed on Digital AudioTapes (DAT); 1/2”, 9-track cartridgetape; via FTP and on CD-ROM. CD-ROMhas been the best medium for distribu-tion of the large volume data sets, espe-cially for users with PCs. FTP throughthe Internet should also prove to bepopular since it avoids computer operat-ing system incompatibilities.

As a joint NODC and National Geo-physical Data Center (NGDC) effort, aChesapeake Bay CD-ROM product wascreated and distributed to over 50 inter-ested persons as a stand-alone productwhich uses NGDC’s data access anddisplay software, GeoVu. NGDC hasprovided over 300 of the C-CAP Chesa-peake Bay CD-ROMs to Global Changeresearchers, as one of a set of four in asample Global View CD-ROM productsuite. Currently, two regional products areavailable for one complete monitoringcycle from the C-CAP archive at theNODC. The first is a product suite of theChesapeake Bay. In order to develop astandard, nationally accepted protocolfor mapping emergent coastal wetlandsand adjacent uplands, a prototype

– continued on page 8

tions are underway around the UnitedStates coast. Examples of these projectsinclude:• The change detection of uplands andwetlands in coastal New Jersey is a jointeffort with Rutgers’ University. Thestudy will investigate change along agradient of human influence/distur-bance from heavily impacted BarnegatBay in the north to the relatively pris-tine Great Bay in the south.• Change detection of uplands andwetlands in the Mermantau River basinin Louisiana is a cooperative projectwith the National Biological Service’sSouthern Science Center. This will bethe first C-CAP change detection effortin Louisiana, where some of the largestwetland losses in the nation are occur-ring.• The mapping of submersed vegeta-tion in coastal Massachusetts is a coop-erative project with the MassachusettsDepartment of Environmental Protec-tion. The state of Massachusetts will beusing these data as a component of awater quality monitoring program.• The mapping of submersed vegeta-tion in Willapa Bay, Washington is ajoint effort with the Columbia RiverEstuary Study Task Force. This will bethe first attempt to map submersed veg-etation in the estuary, which is the larg-est producer of oysters in the UnitedStates.• C-CAP is monitoring the HubbardGlacier in Alaska, which is advancingrapidly and within the next ten years isthreatening to close off the RussellFjord. The extremely important com-mercial and recreational fishery of theSituk River may be affected. The analysisof one Landsat scene has been com-pleted for 1992, although snow coverhampered field verification.

C-CAP has also cooperated with othergroups within NOAA on regionalprojects. For example, NOAA’s Chesa-peake Bay Office provided funding forthe Chesapeake Bay change detectionprototype. C-CAP is also establishing anoperational facility at NOAA’s new Cen-ter for Coastal Ecosystem Health atCharleston, South Carolina. The opera-tional facility will perform change de-tection analyses, and manage andcoordinate ongoing regional analysesbeing performed by cooperating investi-


C-CAP, from page 7

change analysis for land cover in theChesapeake Bay region was sponsoredby C-CAP. This study was conducted byresearchers at Oak Ridge National Labo-ratory (ORNL), who compared LandsatThematic Mapper (TM) imagery for1984 and 1988/89 to detect land coverchange. The Chesapeake Bay data setconstitutes one of the largest changedetection efforts ever attempted, cover-ing an area of approximately 30,000square miles. Its greatest value is in itssynoptic coverage and consistent classi-fication over such a large area.

The second regional product avail-able from the C-CAP archive is from theSt. Croix River region in northerncoastal Maine. The St. Croix River hashistorically provided valuable habitatfor salmon. Land use changes from thelarge forest industry in both Maine andCanada have impacted this habitat. Thelogging increases sediment runoff,which impacts the river’s clarity anddepth. Also damaging the quality of theSt. Croix estuary and the Passama-quoddy Bay (within the Gulf of Maine)is human development that contributesother nonpoint source pollutants fromseptic tanks, roads, etc.

In addition, a single 1986 C-CAPraster land cover scene is presently avail-able from NODC for the Hubbard Gla-cier, Russell Fjord, and Yakutat Fore-lands, Alaska region. The remainder ofthe Alaska set and other products areexpected in the near future.

Information about some of C-CAP’sregional products is available throughthe Internet from the C-CAP Home Pageon the World Wide Web:

http://hpcc1.hpcc.noaa.gov/cop/ccap.html

Information on C-CAP products readyfor distribution will be made availablethrough the NODC’s Home Page:

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov

C-CAP has embarked upon an am-bitious task of monitoring man's im-pacts upon the coastal areas of theUnited States. The C-CAP approach ad-heres to a standard protocol, providesfunding support, and uses the expertiseof local individuals who analyze re-motely sensed data to generate land

NOAA Coastal Change Analysis Program(C-CAP) principals

cover classification products in an effec-tive and efficient manner. The results ofthese analyses, which are being col-lected in a digital database for preserva-tion and distribution, will provide localand national decision makers with avaluable resource towards achieving thegoal of sustainable environments.

ReferencesDobson, J. E., 1995. Watch Out for

Jokulhlaups!. GIS World. Vol. 8, No. 1.Dobson, J. E., E. A. Bright, R. L. Ferguson,

D. W. Field, L. L. Wood, K. D. Haddad, H.Iredale, J. R. Jensen, V. V. Klemas, R. J.Orth, and J. P. Thomas, 1995. NOAACoastal Change Analysis Program (C-CAP) -Guidelines for Regional Implementation.Version 1.0, NOAA Technical PublicationNMFS 123, Seattle, WA.

Federal Geographic Data Committee, 1994.Content Standards for Digital GeospatialMetadata. Federal Geographic Data Committee, Washington, D.C.

Ferguson, R. L., L. L. Wood, and D. B. Graham,1993. Monitoring Spatial Change inSeagrass Habitat with Aerial Photography.

Photogrammetric Engineering and RemoteSensing. Vol. 59, No. 6.

Hittelman, A. M. and H. Iredale, 1994. A NewView for CoastWatch Change AnalysisData. Second Thematic Conference on Re-mote Sensing for Marine and Coastal Environments. New Orleans, Louisiana, January31, 1994.

Kiraly, S. J., F. A. Cross, and J. D. Buffington(eds.), 1990. Federal Coastal Wetland Map-ping Programs. Biological Report 90(18),U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Fish and WildlifeService, Washington, D.C.

Mason, C. and R. Cohen, 1994. NOAA Estab-lishes new Center for Coastal EcosystemHealth. Earth System Monitor, Vol. 5,No. 1.

Powers, J. S., 1994. The iAXE Image Processor.NOAA/NESDIS/Interactive ProgrammingBranch, Unpublished Manuscript. ■

Coastal Ocean Program Office

Director:Don ScaviaCOPO/Silver Spring, MD

Coastal Change Analysis Program

Director:Ford A. CrossNMFS/Beaufort, NC

Coordinator:Donald W. FieldNMFS/Beaufort, NC

Technical Director for ChangeDetection of Uplands and Wetlands:Jerome E. DobsonORNL/Oak Ridge, TN

Technical Director for ChangeDetection of Submersed RootedVegetation (SRV):Randolph L. FergusonNMFS/Beaufort, NC

Product Information

Data and Information ArchiveHarry IredaleNESDIS/NODC

Data and Information ServicesMary HollingerNESDIS/NODC

Product Distribution

National Oceanographic Data CenterUser Services Branch, E/OC21Universal Building1825 Connecticut Avenue, NWWashington, DC 20235Phone: 202-606-4549Fax: 202-606-4586E-mail: [email protected]


Long-term climate monitoringof the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS)

International meeting promotes improvements in global climate observations

3University of NebraskaDept. of Agricultural MeteorologyL.W. Chase Hall33rd Street & HoldregeLincoln, NE 68583-0728 USA

4National Center for Atmospheric ResearchClimate and Global DynamicsP.O. Box 3000Boulder, CO 80307-3000 USA

1National Climatic Data Center151 Patton Ave.Asheville, NC 20081-5001 USAE-mail: [email protected]

2University of WisconsinSpace Science and Engineering1225 W. Dayton St.Madison, WI 53706 USA

– continued on page 10

Thomas Karl1

NOAA/NESDISNational Climatic Data Center

Francis Bretherton2

Space Science and EngineeringUniversity of Wisconsin

William Easterling3

Department of Agricultural MeteorologyUniversity of Alaska

Kevin Trenberth4

Climate and Global DynamicsNational Center for Atmospheric Research

Robert G. Quayle1

NOAA/NESDISNational Climatic Data Center

An international meeting of expertswas held January 9-11, 1995 in Ashe-ville, N.C., to help establish a list ofrecommendations for implementationby the Global Climate Observing System(GCOS), a joint program of the WorldMeteorological Organization (WMO),the United Nations Educational, Scien-tific, and Cultural Organization(UNESCO), the United Nations Environ-ment Program (UNEP), and the Interna-tional Council of Scientific Unions(ICSU). The most feasible and practicalgoals currently achievable were enumer-ated by nearly 100 scientists attendingthis workshop. About half the partici-pants were from non-government insti-tutions and the other half were affiliatedwith national governments. Nine par-ticipants also represented world organi-zations. Scientists from ten countriesparticipated, including North America

(Canada and the USA), Europe (CzechRepublic, UK, France, Finland, Ger-many, and the Netherlands), Australia,and Japan. The documentation of long-termclimate variation and change is essentialfor understanding climatic impacts onmanaged and unmanaged social andbiophysical systems. The early detectionof anthropogenically-induced climatechange rests upon an observing systemcapable of delivering adequate long-term data. Several questions have beenposed to the scientific community re-garding the present and past states ofthe climate. Unfortunately, our existingobserving systems and data manage-ment practices have failed to deliver thequality of data required to deduce un-equivocal information about the ratesand often even the sign of multi-decadalchanges and variations.

Answers to specific questions posedto the Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-mate Change (IPCC) are thwarted dueto an inadequate or nonexistent climateobserving system. Among these ques-tions: Is the climate warming? Is thehydrologic cycle changing? Is the atmo-spheric/oceanic circulation changing?Is the climate becoming more variableor extreme? Each of these questions isquite complex because each involvesmany variables at many spatial andtemporal sampling scales. Obviously,without adequate answers to such basicquestions, understanding climatechange and its predictability is not pos-sible. The development of GCOS pro-vides scientists the opportunity to dosomething about existing observing

deficiencies in light of the importance ofdocumenting long-term climate change. This workshop was an importantstep toward improving the present inad-equacies and defining the long-termmonitoring requirements minimallyneeded to address the four IPCC ques-tions posed above. Special emphasis wasplaced on detecting anthropogenic cli-mate change. The workshop focussed onthree broad areas related to long-termclimate monitoring: (A) the scientificbases of the long-term climate products(including their accuracy, resolution,and homogeneity) required from ourobserving systems as related to the de-tection issue and the four questionsposed by the IPCC; (B) the status oflong-term climate products and theobserving systems from which thesedata are derived; and (C) implementa-tion strategies. In his opening remarks, JohnTownshend, speaking on behalf of SirJohn Houghton, Chairman of the JointScientific and Technical Committee,reviewed the overall tasks of GCOS andthe challenges ahead. Thomas Spence,Director of the GCOS Joint PlanningOffice, provided a status report. GregWithee (speaking on behalf of the U.S.’sfocal point for GCOS, Robert Winokur,who is also Co-Chair of the GCOS JointScientific and Technical Committee)challenged the participants to addressfour items of particular concern: Whatis the science behind monitoring? Howcan different measurement systems beused together? How can we prioritizeour most important global monitoringconcerns? How can we best use themeasurements we have?

In addition, a number of principlesof long-term climate monitoring wereintroduced by the meeting’s organizer,Tom Karl. Karl stressed that data man-agement, analysis, and diagnostics arekey parts of a long-term climate moni-toring system. Prior to implementingchanges to existing systems, or intro-ducing new observing systems, assess-ment of the effects on climate


tion. The transition from research mea-surements to operational measurementsfor long-term climate monitoring mustbe planned in an orderly and system-atic manner. Data management systemsmust facilitate full and open exchangeof data, easy data access at low cost,and data analysis. Following introductory lectures, aseries of technical papers were pre-sented and discussed. These papers arein peer-review for the journal ClimaticChange. They were used as the basis fordeveloping recommendations in threebreakout groups: 1) Climate Forcingsand Feedbacks; 2) Climate Responsesand Feedbacks; and 3) Climate Impacts.The task of each break-out group was todevelop a set of recommendations thatcould be used to help ensure an ad-equate global long-term climate moni-toring capability. It was not possible toset priorities with respect to the set ofspecific recommendations as related to

the many needs within each of threebreak-out group topics. Instead, therecommendations should be viewedopportunistically as related to eachcharacteristic of the climate system. The GCOS focus on decade to cen-tennial climate monitoring must not bepolarized into operational versus aca-demic interests. Instead, a partnershipmust be forged among observing sys-tem operators, analysts, and modelers.Experience indicates that operationsand research can indeed work as aneffective team. This takes time, leader-ship, and organization. GCOS interestson decade-to-centennial time scales willhave to ensure that such a partnershipis forged. The General Recommendations in-cluded:• guidance on changes to existingobserving systems in order to quantifyor minimize inhomogeneities (e.g.,note the differences in temperature

▲ Figure 2. Dissolved inorganic carbonmeasured in 1972 using gas chromatog-raphy (circles) and potentiometrictitration (squares), and in 1991.

▲ Figure 3. MSU2R tropospheric temperature bias (plotted by year) attributed todiurnal sampling changes due to orbital satellite drift (Christy, et al., 1995)

monitoring should be standard prac-tice. In addition, routine assessmentsof the long-term monitoring capabilityof existing systems should also be con-sistently performed.

Metadata should include a precisechronology of processing algorithms;instruments; observing practices; sta-tion location, elevation, and exposure;and other pertinent documentation ofeach platform’s history. Such informa-tion is essential and should be treatedwith as much care as the data itself. Insitu and other observations with a longuninterrupted record should be givenspecial consideration. Instrument cali-bration, validation, and maintenanceare critical to long-term climate moni-toring. Observing systems should becomplete, possibly including both “lowtechnology” and “high technology”components and ground truth valida-

GCOS, from page 9

▲ Figure 1. Average differences of temperature between stations prior and subsequent to the switch from liquid-in-glass maximum-minimum thermometers in a wooden Cotton Region Shelter to a thermistor in a plastic “Beehive” shelter (from Quayle et al., 1991).


measurement shown in Figure 1, forwhich overlapping measurements areclearly needed),• quality control, product develop-ment, examination and improvementof the ocean climate data base (e.g.,note the differences in measurement ofdissolved inorganic carbon shown inFigure 2; the 1972B measurements areimprovements, as shown in compari-son more recent with 1991 values ... theapparent 1972A to 1991 “trend” is spu-rious),• on-board calibration of operationalsatellite sensors,• control of polar orbiting satellites (sodiurnal sampling is not biased, asshown in Figure 3),• alternative means for calibratingstratospheric measurements from satel-lites,• full and open international exchangeof data, and• development of metadata informa-tion systems.

Climate Forcings and FeedbacksRecommendations involved monitor-ing of greenhouse gases, aerosols, solarenergy and the Earth’s radiation budget(e.g., note the inter-satellite differencesin measurement of solar irradiancesand concomitant need for overlappingmeasurements shown in Figure 4); inte-grating satellite and in situ cloud data;and measuring water vapor.

Climate Responses and FeedbacksRecommendations included performingmodel reanalyses; improving WMOCLIMAT TEMP data (which has beendeteriorating, as shown in Figure 5);determining greenhouse-sensitive vari-ables to monitor for climate changedetection; establishing reference sta-tions; continuing satellite troposphericand stratospheric temperature measure-ment; improving surface marine moni-toring, sea level measurement, andsubsurface ocean data; and assuringhomogeneous cryospheric and precipi-tation monitoring.

Climate Impacts could best be mea-sured by climate indices using long-term global in situ and satellite data,including weekly snow cover, springonset of greenness, a weekly droughtindex, and land cover change. Clearly there are many opportunitiesfor GCOS to improve our long-termclimate monitoring capabilities. Andclearly, monitoring requires the synthe-

▲ Figure 5. Number of monthly “CLIMAT TEMP” messages (containing monthly upperair temperature summaries) by year received at the UK Meteorological Office through theGlobal Telecommunications System.

▲ Figure 4. Changes in total solar irradiance as measured from different satellites andinstruments (adapted from NRC, 1994).

sis of observations, analyses, and mod-elling. One recommendation stands outamong all others that simply must beaddressed: adequate long-term climatemonitoring will continue to be criti-cally dependent on developing a part-nership among network operators, datamanagers, analysts, and modelers.Such a partnership exists for weatherprediction and must now be supportedfor long-term climate prediction. Allmust be stakeholders in long-term cli-mate monitoring.

ReferencesChristy, J.R., R.W. Spencer, and R.T. McNider,

1995. Reducing noise in the MSU dailylower tropospheric global temperaturedata set. J. Climate, in press.

National Research Council, 1994. Solar influ-ences on global change. National AcademyPress, Washington D.C.

Quayle, R.G., D.R. Easterling, T.R. Karl, and P.Y.Hughes, 1991. Effects of recent thermom-eter changes in the cooperative stationnetwork. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 72,1718-1723. ■


A new home for theNational Climatic Data Center

▲ Figure 1. Groundbreaking: Turning over the first shovels of dirt for the Center. Leftto right: Director Kenneth D. Hadeen, GSA Regional Administrator Gary Cason, DeputyAssistant Administrator for Environmental Information Services Gregory Withee, and theCenter’s Deputy Director Kenneth Davidson.

NCDC facility provides a state-of-the-art meteorological archive and servicing center

National Climatic Data Center151 Patton AvenueFederal BuildingAsheville, NC 28801-5001E-mail: [email protected]

National Climatic Data CenterNOAA/NESDIS

The world’s largest active archiveof weather data, NOAA’s National Cli-matic Data Center (NCDC), has movedinto a new facility in Asheville, NorthCarolina. The new building, located indowntown Asheville, has over 170,000square feet of occupiable space, withthe NCDC requiring 130,000 squarefeet of this amount. In addition to theNCDC, thirteen other Federal agencies,including offices of one of the US Sena-tors from North Carolina, are collo-cated in the building.

Groundbreaking for the datacenter’s new facility took place on June

29, 1992, two years after funding forthe project was approved by Congress(Figure 1). An official ribbon cuttingceremony will be held in April 1995with various Federal and local govern-ment dignitaries invited to participate.In addition to the official ceremony,the NCDC plans an open house forCommerce and NOAA officials, em-ployees and their families. “We’re allvery proud of our beautiful new facilityand want to share it with the entirecommunity” stated Ken Davidson, theCenter’s Deputy Director.

NCDC’s new facility finally pro-vides the state-of-the-art security andenvironmental controls required for thenation’s meteorological archive anddata services Center. The facility wasdeveloped to meet the specificationsand requirements as stated by the Na-tional Archives and Records Adminis-tration (NARA) for a National RecordsCenter. The initial phase of construc-

tion was the requirements definition.This was completed for all occupants byNCDC as the major tenant for thebuilding. The design and constructionphases were led by the General ServicesAdministration (GSA) with input andmonitoring by the tenant agencies.

The NCDC collects informationfrom the National Weather Service,Federal Aviation Administration, CoastGuard, and the Department of Defense.Volunteer cooperative weather observ-ers also contribute to the massive data-base the Center manages for NOAA.“The center is contacted over 100,000times annually by national and interna-tional users for information stored atthe facility,” said NCDC Deputy Direc-tor Kenneth Hadeen. “We have morethan 100 years of data on hand, with55 gigabytes of new information addedeach day—that’s equivalent to 18 mil-lion pages of data a day.”

Ensuring that the architecturaldesign and construction met theCenter’s and other tenants’ require-ments has been on-going for the pasttwo years. This effort was overseen byNCDC Deputy Director, Ken Davidson.“It was a cooperative effort by manyNCDC employees to ensure the com-puter, LAN, archive, furniture and of-fice space met our requirements” statedDavidson. “Many employees were in-volved from the beginning through themove-in phase. They have done a tre-mendous job in limiting down-timeand making this move virtually trans-parent to our customers.

We intentionally established 24different committees with 4-5 employ-ees serving on each to coordinate andplan this move. This permitted all lev-els of employees to be part of (haveownership in) the moving process.”

Today, the move is nearly com-plete. NCDC’s nearly 200 employeesand 120 contractors are working in thenew facility (Figure 2). The massivearchive will continue to be movedthrough March.

The centerpiece of the facility is an


▲ Figure 2. The new modern home of the National Climatic Data Center, located at 151 Patton Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801-5001.

entire floor devoted to computer opera-tions and digital data media storage.The Center manages over 200,000 mag-netic cartridges of climate data andinformation. For the first time in his-tory, these data are now housed underproperly maintained environmentalconditions, with room for continuedgrowth.

The Center's computer move was acomplicated effort in that it involvedmainframes, workstations, and over300 personal computers. To eliminatedowntime during the two-monthphased move process, the NCDC sys-tems staff designed a new Local AreaNetwork (LAN) system for the new fa-cility, and had it connected to the oldfacility with a fiber optic cable. Thisconnection permitted employees inboth locations to continue full opera-tions during the entire move process,including use of all systems and fileservers.

The physical computer move wasaccomplished during evening hours forall personal computers, and over a

weekend for the workstations, mail fileservers, and mainframes. The majorityof Center employees went home aftertheir normal duty day from the oldbuilding and returned the next dutyday to the new building, with their PCworking at the new site. This, of course,enabled the Center to maintain normaloperations, but required constant coor-dination and technical support from asmall group of employees. This group,one of 22 “move” committees formedby the Center, worked many weekendsand nights to make this a “transparent”move.

The new NCDC computer facilityoccupies an entire floor of the buildingand is environmentally controlled to

Department of Commerce and U. S. AirForce requirements. The facility has adry sprinkler system for fire prevention,a full emergency electrical system, anda central Uninterruptible Power Supply(UPS) system. The computer facilityalso provides ample space for expan-sion of computers and digital mediastorage.

In addition, the Center’s new hard-copy archive area is operating at theNARA standards. The Center took ad-vantage of the move to develop a com-puter-based inventory system coveringthe entire hard-copy archive, which isnow available to its customer servicingpersonnel as well as the data manage-ment personnel. Mr. Davidson statedthat “This new inventory system per-mits both experienced and new em-ployees and contractors easy and rapidaccess to the weather archives of thenation.” The new facilities and systemsinstalled for the Center will enable theNCDC to improve its role as the world’sleader in data management for climateinformation. ■

NCDC Customer Service:National Climatic Data CenterFederal Building, 151 Patton AvenueAsheville, NC 28801-5001Phone: 704-271-4800Fax: 704-271-4876E-mail: [email protected]


The NOAA Home Page on the World Wide Web:Gateway to NOAA Internet resources

The NOAA Home Page, available onthe World Wide Web over the Internet,was designed to give users a thematicview—as well as a more traditional lineoffice view—of the various NOAA com-ponents. Since line offices and geo-graphic locations of NOAA offices meanlittle to the general public, the subject-oriented view is likely to be more usefulto most people. In fact, educating thepublic on the broad scope of NOAA'sscientific research and data collectionactivities is a prime function of theNOAA Home Page. A collage of imagesdepicting the parts of the 1995 NOAAstrategic plan was selected to show thecross-cutting nature of NOAA's areas ofresponsibility (Figure 1). By selecting asubject of interest, users can read high-lights from the strategic plan.

Though “hot button” links to homepages of individual NOAA elements andoffices, the NOAA Home Page serves as agateway to all the NOAA resources avail-able on the Internet. Starting at theNOAA Home Page, users can browsethrough the data and information filesinstalled by elements within all five ofthe major NOAA line offices:• National Weather Service;• National Marine Fisheries Service;• National Ocean Service;• National Environmental Satellite,Data, and Information Service; and• Office of Oceanic and AtmosphericResearch.

Many NOAA groups are continuingthe process of building and expandingtheir Internet resources. Some are ex-perimenting with using Internet tools toprovide access to NOAA data and datainventories and catalogs. As this articlegoes to press, there are over 50 NOAAgroups that have installed home pagesthat are part of the interlinked resourcesavailable through the NOAA HomePage.

A portion of the NOAA Home Pageis reserved for new items about NOAA.Many items have already been high-lighted in “NOAA in the News,” includ-ing schedules for television broadcastsfeaturing NOAA, press releases and pic-tures from the new GOES-8 satellite,and announcements of awards received

by NOAA offices and personnel.Following “NOAA in the News,”

the NOAA line offices and cross-cuttingprograms are listed on the NOAA HomePage. Users can read about the variousoffices and programs as well as link tothe home pages of other NOAA compo-nents. The NOAA mission and a photoof NOAA Administrator Dr. D. JamesBaker follow. Finally, a list of Fre-quently Asked Questions (FAQ) aboutNOAA points users directly to informa-tion of general interest. This FAQ in-cludes a pointer to the NOAA onlinephone directory and vacancy an-nouncements.

The NOAA Home Page (at address:http://www.noaa.gov/) was registered

▲ Figure 1. Beginning of the NOAA Home Page on the World Wide Web.

with the World Wide Web Directory ofServers early in 1994. Since then manyhelpful comments have been received.Several government agencies have ex-pressed interest in following NOAA’slead by depicting their agencies in asubject-oriented manner also. Futureplans for the NOAA Home Page includecompleting the text for all NOAA of-fices, adding links from the text of thestrategic plan to the appropriate homepages throughout NOAA, and adding tothe Frequently Asked Questions.

— Anne O’DonnellEnvironmental Information Services

NOAA/NESDIS EIWashington, DC 20235

E-mail: [email protected] ■


Data productsand services

ARCSS/LAII Data SeriesVolume 1 CD-ROM

The first Arctic System Science(ARCSS) CD-ROM is now complete. Thisvolume, titled ARCSS/LAII Data Series Vol-ume1: Alaska North Slope Data Samplercontains climate, soils, permafrost, andvegetation data from the north slope ofAlaska (some data sets cover the entirestate of Alaska) that were identified at theJanuary 1993 Flux Study PI meeting Thedata sets provided on the CD-ROM andthe contributors are listed below:• Climate database for the ImnavaitCreek Watershed—Douglas Kane, Univer-sity of Alaska, Fairbanks.• ETOPO5 gridded elevation data set forall areas above 50°N—National Geophysi-cal Data Center, Boulder, Colorado.• Long Term Ecological Research sitedata (climate, temperature, plant biom-ass, soils, and nutrient data)—David Jonesand John Hobbie, Ecosystems Center,Marine Biological Laboratory, WoodsHole, Massachusetts.• Global Historical Climatology Network(GHCN) monthly temperature and pre-cipitation data for Alaska—Jon Eischeid,University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo-rado, and NOAA/NCDC, Asheville, NorthCarolina.• Permafrost data from Barrow, Alaska(soil temperature, soil moisture, thawdepth, snow depth)—Frederick Nelson,Department of Geography, Rutgers Uni-versity (now at SUNY-Albany, NY).• River runoff data from Arctic Canadaand Arctic Russia—Esther Munoz, Univer-sity of Washington, Seattle, Washington.• Soil Conservation Service soil surveyfrom Barrow, Alaska—John Kimble, SoilConservation Service, Lincoln, Nebraska.• Global FAO soil unit data compiled byLeonard Zobler—Elaine Matthews,Goddard Institute for Space Studies, NewYork, NY.• GIS and Permanent Plot data for theToolik Lake area, North Slope of Alaska—Donald Walker, INSTAAR, University ofColorado, Boulder, Colorado.• Matthews vegetation data set—ElaineMatthews, Goddard Institute for SpaceStudies, New York, NY.

The CD-ROM is available to ARCSS-funded researchers on request. Those notfunded by the ARCSS Program may ob-tain copies for $50.00 including shippingand handling. For more information or toplace an order, contact the NationalSnow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) User

the Microsoft Windows environment.GeoVu also provides:• Help files that identify the source of thedata, the size and structure of the file,and describe the development history;• Histograms of digital elevations foreach data set.The data can also be accessed using UNIXand Macintosh systems, but the user willnot have the advantage of GeoVu.

In addition to the TerrainBase CD-ROM product, NGDC can provide thesedata in a variety of media formats, includ-ing floppy diskettes and magnetic tapes.Electronic delivery of data via Internet isalso possible.

NGDC also has several recently re-leased groups of Geologic Hazard SlideSets available, including slide sets of theJanuary 17, 1994 Northridge, CA earth-quake, and slide sets depicting damagefrom two major tsunamis occurring inNicaragua and Indonesia in 1992, andfrom one of the largest tsunamis inJapan's history in 1993. Please contact theCenter for pricing and information.Contact: NGDC

Historical Soviet Daily SnowDepth CD-ROM

The NSIDC announces the release ofthe Historical Daily Snow Depth CD-ROM. Production of this CD-ROM wasfunded by the NOAA Earth Science Dataand Information (ESDIM) Initiativethrough the NGDC.

Historical Soviet Daily Snow Depth isbased on observations at a series of 284World Meteorological Organization(WMO) stations throughout the formerSoviet Union. The earliest operationalstations began recording snow depth in1881, and the data continues until 1985.Geographic distribution of stations is pri-marily in the mid-latitudes of Eurasia, andcorrespond to inhabited areas. Stationsrange from 35° to 75°N and from 20° to180°W. Stations range in altitude from-15 meters to 2100 meters.

Daily data, as well as NSIDC-gener-ated monthly means, are available on asingle CD-ROM containing ASCII datafiles, extraction software, and data docu-mentation. The source of the data used isthe State Hydrometeorological Service inObninsk, Russia. Data were provided toNSIDC via the Bilateral US-USSR WG-8Exchange. For further information, pleasecontact NSIDC User Services.Contact: NSIDC

Services Branch by mail at: NSIDC, Coop-erative Institute for Research in Environ-mental Sciences (CIRES), Campus Box449, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO80309-0449; by phone at: 303-492-6199; by FAX at 303-492-2468; or by E-mail at: [email protected];Contact: NSIDC

New data collections from theNational Geophysical Data Center

The NGDC announces the availabilityof a new collection of digital elevationdata on CD-ROM. The collection, calledTerrainbase, includes improved 5-minutedigital terrain data of land and oceanvalues for the entire world. Also includedon the CD-ROM are 26 regional grids thatprovide land elevation and ocean depthvalues for various areas throughout theworld.

The data are stored on the CD-ROMin binary format. Included on the CD-ROM is GeoVu, a browse, visualization,and access application, which operates in

CONTACT POINTS

National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)Climate Services:704-271-4682

Fax: 704-271-4876E-mail: [email protected]

Satellite Services:301-763-8399


National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)303-497-6958


National Oceanographic Data Center(NODC)

202-606-4549Fax: 202-606-4586


NOAA Environmental Services Data Directory

202-606-5012(Gerry Barton)


NOAA Central LibraryReference Services:

301-713-2600Fax: 301-713-4599



Address C

orrection Requested

OFFIC

IAL BU

SINESS

Penalty for Private Use $300

software), gopher to:

gopher.nodc.noaa.gov

and then select NODC’s Ocean BulletinBoard and browse.2) Via the World Wide Web (must haveMosaic, or some other WWW clientsoftware), open URL:

http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/

and then select the NODC Ocean Bulle-tin Board direct link or NODC’s GopherServer on the Home Page.3) Via E-mail: Send a message to:

[email protected]

with no subject or message. You willreceive via return mail a list of allNODC Gopher offerings. Reply to themessage and put an X in front of theline: NODC’s Ocean Bulletin Board.Then send. You will receive via return mail a listof all items on the bulletin board.Again, reply and insert an X in front ofthe items that you want to receive andsend it. (Note: no Xs will get you every-thing in the list). Keep doing this untilyou have seen everything that interestsyou.

Users may also subscribe to theOcean Bulletin Board. Using this op-tion, any messages posted to the OceanBulletin Board will automatically besent to you through e-mail. The bulle-tin board works in concert with a listprocessor. To subscribe, send an e-mailmessage to:

[email protected] the line: subscribe ocean_list <yourname> in the body of the message. Nosubject is needed on the subject line, asin the following example:

To: [email protected]: [email protected]: subscribe ocean_list John SmithTo be removed from the list send theline: unsubscribe ocean_list <your name>.

— Andrew AllegraUser Services Branch

National Oceanographic Data CenterNOAA/NESDIS E/OC21

Washington, DC 20235 E-mail: [email protected] ■

The NODC Bulletin Board ServiceThe National Oceanographic Data

Center (NODC) announces the creationof an Ocean Bulletin Board Service (BBS)to promote communication among theoceanographic community. This newbulletin board was implemented usingtools and resources of the Internet. Ev-ery effort will be made to keep it simpleto use. Users of the NODC Ocean BBSwill be able to post and read oceano-graphic messages of their choice. Theywill also have the option to browse theposted messages or subscribe to the BBSand have all the messages automaticallysent to them through e-mail.

Currently, NODC plans to havethree different types of access to itsOcean BBS. The easiest way to browseand read messages will be to useInternet tools such as Mosaic or Gopher.The NODC Home Page and GopherServer will also have future utilities forposting user messages.

Those who do not have Mosaic orGopher servers at their disposal can usee-mail to post, read, and subscribe tothe BBS. New messages can be found inthe main area of the BBS. Old messageswill be combined and archived under adifferent heading on the BBS. The initialNODC Ocean BBS has already beenimplemented, and improvements willbe made when necessary.

In order to post messages to thebulletin board, the user simply sendsthe message via e-mail to:

[email protected]

Please use a subject heading, so thatother users know the content of themessage before they read it, as shown inthe following example:

To: [email protected]: <your e-mail address>Subject: name of message, or your nameBody of message:

Tools are being developed that willallow a user to post messages using Go-pher or Mosaic. When they are com-plete, it will be announced on theOcean Bulletin Board.

In order to read messages on theNODC bulletin board, users have threeoptions:

1) Via Gopher (must have gopher client

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earth system monitor - national oceanographic data … · the u.s. geological survey, the national...

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