For the last three years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been giving its data to five of the largest cloud service providers in an effort to increase public access, lower costs for the agency and potentially create new markets. Now, as the initial run nears its end, NOAA officials want to know if it’s working. [Read more…] about NOAA wants to hear from users about OpenData
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Facts and stats on the freezing of ocean water
Ever wondered what it takes for the ocean to freeze? Thanks to the crew at NOAA the following are some facts and figures about freezing and what it takes for the ocean to freeze over:
Image Credit (theGuardian)
- Ocean water freezes just like freshwater, but at lower temperatures.
- Fresh water freezes at 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit), but seawater freezes at about -1.9 degrees Celsius (28.4 degrees Fahrenheit) because of the salt in it.
[Read more…] about Facts and stats on the freezing of ocean water
Data Tip – NOAA Digital Coast Data Access Viewer adds LiDAR
Here’s details of a pretty sweet data access tool from the NOAA Coastal Service Center– the Data Access Viewer. In a recent update from NOAA we learn that Many new LiDAR data sets recently have been added to the resource. More details available in this announcement.
Stay informed of NOAA activities and data tips via the NOAA GeoZone blog
NOAA Reports One Year After Hurricane Sandy
It’s been one year since Sandy struck the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts with powerful winds, rain, and storm surges that caused unprecedented damages in some of the nation’s most populous areas.
[Read more…] about NOAA Reports One Year After Hurricane Sandy
Educators Gain access to Environmental Data with NOAA View
Something new this week as NOAA introduces a new educational resource designed to give the public and educators access to environmental data and more! The NOAA View imagery portal provides a single point for experiencing NOAA data, including environmental information captured by satellites, inserted into scientific models and other data analyses. Users can browse, animate and download high-resolution imagery from the NOAA Visualization Lab, making it an ideal tool for putting NOAA data into the hands of students in classrooms around the world.
NOAA View is compatible with all major internet browsers, as well as Apple and Android mobile devices – see more in this announcement or jump directly to NOAA View
NOAA printed maps may be replaced by the PDF
An interesting read, albeit not a huge surprise, from myfoxny that touches on the topic of NOAA doing away with printed nautical charts. This from the article… The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced Tuesday that to save money, the government will stop turning out the traditional brownish, heavy paper maps after mid-April. See the official announcement from NOAA [PDF]: Effective April 13, 2014, government s tops lithographic printing of NOAA nautical charts.
Could these paper charts be obsolete soon?
[Read more…] about NOAA printed maps may be replaced by the PDF
Newly Updated National Elevation Inventory
An interesting data tip from NOAA… The United States Interagency Elevation Inventory has been updated. The inventory is a comprehensive, nationwide listing of known high-accuracy topographic data, primarily lidar, as well as bathymetric data, such as NOAA hydrographic surveys, multibeam data, and bathymetric lidar. The data are shown on a map with their geographic extents and each entry includes information such as vertical accuracy, point spacing, date of collection, and often a direct link to download data. This project is an ongoing collaborative effort between NOAA and the U.S. Geological Survey, with contributions from the FEMA. The inventory is current as of November 2012 and will continue to be updated annually. See www.csc.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/topobathy
Source: csc.noaa.gov via Glenn on Pinterest
Tips For Ocean and Climate Literacy
Some fun, and educational resources from NOAA as Ocean Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts, and Climate Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts present a vision of an ocean and climate-literate society. A practical resource for educators, these guides outline the knowledge required to be considered ocean and climate literate in accordance with the National Science Education Standards (NSES). An ocean-literate person:
- understands the Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts about the functioning of the ocean;
- can communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way; and
- is able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources.
Outlook for the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane season
Each year, NOAA provides an outlook for the coming hurricane season and this year is no different. -sadly we got a big reminder of this over the past week! Several weeks ago NOAA released details of their forecast for the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season calling for an above-average season for the year. So what does this mean?
Across the entire Atlantic Basin for the season – June 1 to November 30 – NOAA’s updated seasonal outlook projects a total (which includes the activity-to-date of tropical storms Alberto, Beryl, Debbie, Florence and hurricanes Chris and Ernesto) of:
- 12 to 17 named storms (top winds of 39 mph or higher), including:
- 5 to 8 hurricanes (top winds of 74 mph or higher), of which:
- 2 to 3 could be major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of at least 111 mph)
The numbers are higher from the initial outlook in May, which called for 9-15 named storms, 4-8 hurricanes and 1-3 major hurricanes. Based on a 30-year average, a normal Atlantic hurricane season produces 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. See details of the outlook HERE
A reminder, for preparation tips visit www.ready.gov
Source: noaanews.noaa.gov via Glenn on Pinterest
Space Station (ISS) tracking individual ships crossing the seas
Some interesting news via NASA shared from high above the Earth… The ship-detection system being tested is based on the Automatic Identification System, or AIS, the marine equivalent of the air traffic control system. AIS allows port authorities and coast guards to track seagoing traffic, but the system relies on VHF radio signals with a horizontal range of just 40 nautical miles (74 km). This makes it useful within coastal zones and on a ship-to-ship basis, but not in the open ocean; ocean traffic was largely untracked. On a good day, approximately 400,000 ship position reports are received from more than 22,000 different ship identification numbers! See more details HERE
Featured Image – ISS tracking individual ships crossing the seas