ESRL 2008 News
Avoiding Turbulent Travel
Many of us have experienced the unpleasant situation and domino effect caused by flight delays. It’s a logistic nightmare for both airlines and travelers when storms cause shutdowns.
At the Earth System Research Laboratory in Boulder, CO, research and computer scientists create forecaster tools and weather displays that are tailored to provide positive impact on the aviation industry. The sophisticated technology allows air traffic controllers, managers, and aviation dispatchers to make informed decisions about how to route planes around the path of severe weather events and even volcanic ash plumes. The focus of this technology is to increase flight efficiency and safety, and minimize delays.
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Tracking the World's Carbon
Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a colorless, odorless gas that’s produced by animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms by normal respiration. CO2 is used by plants during photosynthesis — the chemical process of converting CO2, sunlight, and water into oxygen. Carbon dioxide also is generated by burning fossil fuels or vegetable matter such as wood from trees. NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), which researches atmospheric mechanisms that drive the Earth’s climate, monitors CO2 emissions through a global network of carbon monitoring stations.
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NOAA Scientists Win International Award for Ozone Layer Research
May 23, 2008
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) named two NOAA scientists among the winners of the agency’s international Ozone Protection Award. They are among the authors of a groundbreaking paper that calculated the benefits to the climate from citizen action and the Montreal Protocol in phasing out ozone-depleting substances that are also powerful greenhouse gases.
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Annual Greenhouse Gas Index (AGGI) Indicates Sharp Rise in Carbon Dioxide and Methane in 2007
April 23, 2008
In 2007 global levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the primary
driver of global climate change, increased by 0.6 percent, or 19 billion tons.
Additionally methane rose by 27 million tons after nearly a decade with
little or no increase. NOAA scientists released these and other
findings today as part of the Annual Greenhouse Gas
Index (AGGI), which tracks data from 60 sites around the world.
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Celebrate Earth Day 2008 with NOAA
April 22, 2008
NOAA in Boulder is hosting a full day of Science On a Sphere
showings to celebrate Earth Day. Science On a
Sphere showings will be presented for 30 visitors each
hour on the hour from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Visitors will also be able to view Cloud Paintings and Poetry: an Exhibit
of Art and Science by the 2nd grade class of Mesa Elementary.
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ARCPAC Studies Link Between Arctic Pollution and Climate
April 9, 2008
NOAA scientists fly through springtime Arctic pollution to find
out why the region is warming -- and summertime sea ice is melting -- faster
than predicted. Some 35 NOAA researchers are gathering with government and
university colleagues in Fairbanks, Alaska, to conduct the study through
April 23.
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Sacramento: The Nation's Next Urban Flood Disaster?
March 2008
West Coast winter storms may lack the "star power" of East Coast hurricanes.
They aren't named at birth or routinely tracked by the media. But the impact
of these western cyclones, spawned over Earth's largest ocean and nourished
by long ribbons of moisture from the tropics, can be even more devastating
than their famous cousins back East.
Widespread power outages, flooding, and debris flows can follow,
rivaling the destruction of major hurricanes.
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NOAA Invests $3 Million for Unmanned Aircraft System Testing
Pilotless Craft Gather Data for Hurricane Forecasts, Climate, West Coast Flood Warnings
January 22, 2008
Unmanned aircraft bearing automated sensors may soon help NOAA scientists
better predict a hurricane's intensity and track, how fast Arctic summer
ice will melt, and whether soggy Pacific storms will flood West Coast cities.
"This technology has the potential to revolutionize our monitoring of the
entire Earth," said Marty Ralph, a research meteorologist at
ESRL.
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HMT Ready for Once-in-a-Decade Storm
January 2008
The NOAA Hydrometeorological Testbed is a national strategy that works
regionally to enhance weather forecasts and accelerate weather research
into operations. HMT combines state-of-the-art
observing systems and numerical modeling to develop tools for forecasters
who make decisions about watches and warnings for high-precipitation events, like the one beginning Jan. 3 that is expected to last four days. Such events
can cause flooding, bollix up transportation of all types and cause landslides
and other threats to people and property.
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