Dr. Ken Crawford, NOAA/NWS/OS&T Project Manager

1. An Overview of NOAA's Environmental Real-time Observation Network (NERON) Special Presentation to TheCommittee for Climate Analysis, Monitoring, and ServicesJanuary 18, 2006 Dr. Ken Crawford, NOAA/NWS/OS&T Project Manager

2. Requested NERON Briefing • Illustrate how NERON is organized • Provide a status on the Climate Reference Network • Provide a status on the COOP modernization effort • Illustrate NERON’s relationship to the International Working Group on Earth Observations

3. NERON Project Overview NOAA's Environmental Real-time Observation Network • A national program that collects, processes, & disseminates land based observations to meet the Nation’s climate, weather, and water needs • Each modernized station records air temperature & precipitation and has expansion capability for measuring many other variables • Integrates existing NOAA & many non-NOAA networks that observe a diverse set of atmospheric parameters

4. NERON Project Overview (continued)NERON also modernizes other NOAA observing networks including the Cooperative Observer Network • Stations collect observations every five minutes • Data transmitted every 15 to 60 minutes • Stations at intervals — on average — of one station every 400 square miles (20 by 20 statute mile grid) • All stations must have capability to measure other parameters: • wind, pressure, solar radiation, relative humidity, soil temperature/moisture, snowfall*, snow depth*, water equivalent* *manually acquired observations early in NERON, becoming automated with time

5. NERON OverviewContribution to IEOS and GEOSS GEOSS • NERON is a critical component to: • ISOS: NOAA’s contribution to an Integrated Earth Observing System (IEOS) • IEOS: The U.S. • contribution to the international GEOSS program US IEOS NOAA IOS IOOS ISOS IUOS Other NOAA Networks/Parameters e.g., Solar, Satellite COOP-M ASOS USCRN Other Networks w/o NOAA Stds. Other Networks w/NOAA Standards USHCN Legacy COOP NERON

6. NERON Project MotivationWhy Now? • Integration of surface data via NERON is critical to USGEO activities. • Addresses all six US GEO near term opportunities (example: surface data needed for a National Integrated Drought Information System) • Integrated surface data needed to answer questions that address diverse societal benefits • Uncoordinated & separate systems continue to create inefficiencies, incompatibilities, & duplication of effort. Societal Benefits • Improve weather forecasting • Reduce Loss of Life and Property from Disasters • Protect and Monitor our Ocean Resources • Understand, Assess, Predict, Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Variability and Change • Support Sustainable Agriculture and Combat Land Degradation • Understand the Effect of Environmental Factors on Human Health & Well Being • Develop the Capacity to Make Ecological Forecasts • Protect and Monitor Water Resources • Monitor and Manage Energy Resources 6

7. NERON Project MotivationExamples of Separate Observing Networks to be Integrated NOAA CRN ~100 stations Legacy COOP ~11,000 sta. ASOS/AWOS ~1500 sta. Partner- ships High Resolution Temp. Initiative Partner 100 sta. GA Partners >250 sta. Mesonets >1000 stations

8. NERON Strategy for Modernization 100% Requirement: Average density of 1 station every 400 sq. miles (20 mile by 20 mile grid) across the U.S. • Where quality partnership stations exist (defined by siting, sensor, and previous maintenance quality): • Leverage with existing networks and their state-of-the-art technologies • Provide limited upgrades and possibly cost-share maintenance at sites considered critical to describe the variability of the local climate • Where non-NOAA partnership stations do not exist: • Perform rigorous site selection from among those that exist — or — • Purchase, install and maintain new surface observing stations

9. NERON Strategy for ModernizationThree Critical Components • Site Selection in Each 20 by 20 mile Grid • Most critical & complicated task of NERON Modernization Project • Regional Site Selection Teams ‘judge’ which sites to select • Teams use site survey selection standards (developed jointly by NCDC and NWSH) and a weighted series of GIS layers • Team Membership: Government, State, Private sector partners • Data Quality Assurance/Control/Maintenance • Ingest via MADIS • Real-time Quality Assurance (QA) • Post-processing Quality Control (QC) at NCDC • Maintenance dispatch based upon human judgment & QA/QC • Decommissioning Stations • Stations not modernized will attrition to closure (e.g., politically sensitive sites) or be closed (e.g., as ‘poor performers’)

10. NERON Project GovernanceHow the Investment will be Managed NOAA NOSC IEOS planned IOOS existing IOUS planned ISOS planned Goal Leads W&W Climate C&T Line Offices NERON Steering Committee TBD (Budget Approval, Issue Resolution) NERON Project Office Site Acquisition & Installation Engineering Support Field Ops Science CCB System Acquisition Data Mgmt. Ops Working Groups

11. NERON COOP Modernization Performance Measures • Spatial Coverage — Based on Guidance from 2005 • Cumulative number of NERON sites deployed and operational: 593 through FY07, 1,641 through FY10 and 1,811 through FY12. • Timeliness • Within 1 hour of the observation time, 95% of the possible data are collected and ready for archiving. (Prior to modernization in New England, NERON data not available in real time [i.e., baseline = 0%].) • Quality • Of the data ready for archives, 95% will pass all QC/QA tests.

12. NERON Progress to Date • 100 operational stations deployed in the NE U.S. • Contract maintenance underway for these stations • Prototype “QA and maintenance decision dispatch system” at work • Expansion of NERON with partners in Georgia, Alabama and Kentucky • ~20 other states in the queue! Air Temperature from Modernized COOP Sites at 8:30 PM EDT on 4/20/05 (Color Fill: Blue = Cold; Red = Warm)

13. NERON Progress to DateAdministrative Issues • Needs broad NOAA endorsement of NERON ‘governance plan’ shown in Slide 10 • Solidifies NERON as NOAA Project, not an agency-specific project • Needs broad NOAA endorsement of NERON plans for Functional Requirements, Site Surveys/Site Metadata, and Site Maintenance: • Represents NOAA ‘seal of approval’ and high standards • Defines networks that become part of NERON versus networks that remain complementary to the NOAA mission

14. NERON Progress to DateBudget Issues • Limitations: Funds to speed the modernization and add partners — substantial reduction in project $$$ • Solutions based upon available funds: • To meet 100% requirement in average station density • Upgrade: ~2720 NOAA, ~800 Federal, and ~4480 partner sites • End state is 2025 with 56% partners & $111 million cost-avoided • Looming issues: • Earmarks (AL in FY05 and FY06, KY in FY06, MS and MO in the works) • Growing number of cities who want modern equipment, will purchase it, and ask NOAA to close the Legacy COOP site • Not enough FTEs to keep it all together

15. Following the NEC MeetingJanuary 10, 2006Some Mid-Course Corrections are Coming

16. NEC Decisions • Define ISOS • Determine the NOAA role in a “National Mesonet” in the FY09 budget process • Revise the NERON Project to be consistent with the new ISOS definition and a National Mesonet

17. Differences Between NOAA ISOS, National Mesonet and COOP Modernization • NOAA ISOS will blend quality-assured data from other NOAA line agencies and from the National Cooperative Mesonet with thousands of users so as to return economic dividends to the economy of the United States. • The National Cooperative Mesonet will grow to be a network of 50,000+ surface observations from public and private partners of NOAA. It will serve as the ‘pathfinder’ for NOAA ISOS. • The modernized COOP network, in combination with the CRN, will provide data that can be used to detect climate change and initialize futuristic microscale NWP models. The modernized COOP will become the cornerstone of the National Cooperative Mesonet.

18. NOAA ISOS — U. S. Pathfinder for GEOSS • Identify current and evolving requirements for a comprehensive U.S. Integrated Earth Observation System. • Prioritize parameters to be observed and, by extension, prioritize legacy and planned observation systems. • Enable scientific and societal/economic benefits from GEOSS. • Expand existing governmental partnerships and develop new long-term partnerships with industry, academia and non-governmental organizations.

19. An Integrated Surface Observing System for the U.S.A. (ISOS) National Cooperative Mesonet

20. Steps Along The Way to ISOS • A modernized COOP network, a National Mesonet, and an emerging ISOS provide linkages to: • Private Mesonets (e.g., AWS) whose data are complementary to the NOAA mission • State-level Mesonets that appear to be valuable partners to leverage Federal resources • State and local levels — the foci of NIDIS development • Extensible infrastructure for 21st century needs • An observation/data management system that is comprehensive and sustainable. => In the end, we minimize ‘stove pipes’, assist with meeting all of NOAA’s strategic goals, provide opportunities for the private sector, and directly support the GEOSS goals.

21. Scope of The National Cooperative Mesonet (NCM) • Pathfinder for NOAA ISOS • Establishes a high-quality infrastructure for future expansion • Integrates non-NOAA data from public and private networks • Integrates data from ASOS, CRN and the modernized COOP network • Quality-assures all data and makes it available within minutes of the observation time

22. QuestionsNERON Web Sitehttp://www.isos.noaa.gov/