1.
Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
2.
Silver Spring, Maryland
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Silver Spring is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 76,716 according to 2013 estimates by the United States Census Bureau, making it the fourth most populous place in Maryland, after Baltimore, Columbia, and Germantown. The urbanized, oldest, and southernmost part of Silver Spring is a business hub that lies at the north apex of Washington. As of 2004, the Central Business District held 7,254,729 square feet of space,5216 dwelling units and 17.6 acres of parkland. The population density of this CBD area of Silver Spring was 15,600 per square mile all within 360 acres, the community has recently undergone a significant renaissance, with the addition of major retail, residential, and office developments. Silver Spring takes its name from a spring discovered there in 1840 by Francis Preston Blair. Acorn Park, tucked away in an area of south Silver Spring away from the downtown area, is believed to be the site of the original spring. As an unincorporated area, Silver Springs boundaries are not officially defined and this definition is a 15% reduction from the 9.4 sq. mi. used in previous years. The United States Geological Survey locates the center of Silver Spring at 38°59′26″N 77°1′35″W, by another definition, Silver Spring is located at 39°0′15″N 77°1′8″W. Residents of a swath of South-Eastern Montgomery County have Silver Spring mailing addresses. This area extends roughly from the Washington, D. C, Prince Georges County, Maryland and Howard County, Maryland lines to the west, north and east, and Rock Creek Park and Plyers Mill Road to the west and north-west. These boundaries make Silver Spring larger in area than any city in Maryland except for Baltimore. Rock Creek Park passes along the west side of Silver Spring, and offers hiking trails, picnic grounds, and bicycling on weekends, Sligo Creek Park follows Sligo Creek through Silver Spring, it offers hiking trails, tennis courts, playgrounds and bicycling. The latter is facilitated on weekends, when parts of Sligo Creek Parkway are closed to automobiles, the bike trails are winding and slower than most in the region. Recently, rocks have been spread along either side of the road, providing a hazardous bike ride, acorn Park in the downtown area of Silver Spring is believed to be the site of the eponymous silver spring. The 14. 5-acre Jesup Blair Park was recently renovated and features a field, tennis courts, basketball courts. Brookside Gardens is a 50-acre park within Wheaton Regional Park, in greater Silver Spring and it is located on the original site of Stadler Nursery. Northwest Branch Park is a 700-acre park surrounding the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River, the park includes hiking, equestrian, and cycling trails on the Northwest Branch and Rachel Carson Greenway Trails
3.
Maryland
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The states largest city is Baltimore, and its capital is Annapolis. Among its occasional nicknames are Old Line State, the Free State, the state is named after Henrietta Maria of France, the wife of Charles I of England. George Calvert was the first Lord of Baltimore and the first English proprietor of the colonial grant. Maryland was the state to ratify the United States Constitution. Maryland is one of the smallest U. S. states in terms of area, as well as one of the most densely populated, Maryland has an area of 12,406.68 square miles and is comparable in overall area with Belgium. It is the 42nd largest and 9th smallest state and is closest in size to the state of Hawaii, the next largest state, its neighbor West Virginia, is almost twice the size of Maryland. Maryland possesses a variety of topography within its borders, contributing to its nickname America in Miniature. The mid-portion of this border is interrupted by Washington, D. C. which sits on land that was part of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties and including the town of Georgetown. This land was ceded to the United States Federal Government in 1790 to form the District of Columbia, the Chesapeake Bay nearly bisects the state and the counties east of the bay are known collectively as the Eastern Shore. Close to the town of Hancock, in western Maryland, about two-thirds of the way across the state. This geographical curiosity makes Maryland the narrowest state, bordered by the Mason–Dixon line to the north, portions of Maryland are included in various official and unofficial geographic regions. Much of the Baltimore–Washington corridor lies just south of the Piedmont in the Coastal Plain, earthquakes in Maryland are infrequent and small due to the states distance from seismic/earthquake zones. The M5.8 Virginia earthquake in 2011 was felt moderately throughout Maryland, buildings in the state are not well-designed for earthquakes and can suffer damage easily. The lack of any glacial history accounts for the scarcity of Marylands natural lakes, laurel Oxbow Lake is an over one-hundred-year-old 55-acre natural lake two miles north of Maryland City and adjacent to Russett. Chews Lake is a natural lake two miles south-southeast of Upper Marlboro. There are numerous lakes, the largest of them being the Deep Creek Lake. Maryland has shale formations containing natural gas, where fracking is theoretically possible, as is typical of states on the East Coast, Marylands plant life is abundant and healthy. Middle Atlantic coastal forests, typical of the southeastern Atlantic coastal plain, grow around Chesapeake Bay, moving west, a mixture of Northeastern coastal forests and Southeastern mixed forests cover the central part of the state
4.
NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps
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The NOAA Corps is the smallest of the U. S. The NOAA Corps is the smallest of the seven uniformed services of the United States Government and it has over 300 commissioned officers, but no enlisted or warrant officer ranks. The NOAA Corps today provides a cadre of professionals trained in engineering, earth sciences, oceanography, meteorology, fisheries science, the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps traces its roots to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey. The Coast and Geodetic Surveys predecessor, the United States Survey of the Coast – renamed the United States Coast Survey in 1836 – was founded in 1807 under President Thomas Jefferson. Until the American Civil War, the Coast Survey was manned by civilian personnel working with United States Army and United States Navy officers. During the Civil War, Army officers were withdrawn from Coast Survey duty, never to return, while all, with the outbreak of the Spanish–American War in April 1898, the Navy again withdrew all of its officers from Coast and Geodetic Survey assignments. They returned after the war ended in August 1898, but the system of U. S, from July 1900, the Coast and Geodetic Survey continued as an entirely civilian-manned organization until after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. Before World War I ended in November 1918, over half of all Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps officers had served in the U. S. Army, the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps returned to peacetime scientific pursuits after the war. Its first flag officer was Rear Admiral Raymond S. Patton, when the United States entered World War II in December 1941, the Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps again suspended its peacetime activities to support the war effort, often seeing front-line service. Over half of all Coast and Geodetic Survey officers were transferred to the U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, U. S. Louis, Missouri. Three officers who remained in Coast and Geodetic Survey service were killed during the war, following the establishment of the ESSA, Rear Admiral H. Arnold Karo was promoted to admiral in order to help lead the agency. Tison, Jr. was the first director of the ESSA Corps, the ESSA was reorganized and expanded to become the new National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on October 3,1970. As a result, the ESSA Corps was redesignated the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps, Rear Admiral Harley D. Nygren was appointed as the first director of the new NOAA Corps. In 1972, the NOAA Corps became the first uniformed service of the U. S. Government to recruit women on the basis as men. On June 1,2012, the NOAA research vessel RV Gloria Michelle, on January 2,2014, Michael S. The NOAA Corps uses the same commissioned officer ranks as the U. S. Navy, while the grade of admiral has been established as a rank in the NOAA Corps, the rank has not been authorized for use by the United States Congress. Current NOAA Corps ranks rise from ensign to admiral, pay grades O-1 through O-9 respectively
5.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
6.
United States Department of Commerce
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The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making and this organizations main purpose is to create jobs, promote economic growth, encourage sustainable development and improve standards of living for all Americans. The Department of Commerce headquarters is the Herbert C. Hoover Building in Washington, the department was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14,1903. It was subsequently renamed the Department of Commerce on March 4,1913, as the bureaus, in 1940, the Weather Bureau was transferred from the Agriculture Department, and the Civil Aeronautics Authority was merged into the department. In 1949, the Public Roads Administration was added to the department due to the dissolution of the Federal Works Agency, in 1958, the independent Federal Aviation Agency was created and the Civil Aeronautics Authority was abolished. In 1966, the Bureau of Public Roads was transferred to the newly created Department of Transportation, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was created on October 3,1970.6 billion. The budget authorization is broken down as follows, Proposals to reorganize the Department go back many decades, the Economic Development Administration would be completely eliminated. The Obama administration projects that the reorganization would save $3 billion, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration would be transferred from the Department of Commerce into the Department of the Interior. Later that year, shortly before the 2012 presidential election, Obama invoked the idea of a secretary of business in reference to the plan. The reorganization was part of a proposal which would grant the President the authority to propose mergers of federal agencies. This ability had existed from the Great Depression until the Reagan presidency, the Obama administration plan faced criticism for some of its elements. However, environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council feared that the reorganization could distract the agency from its mission of protecting the nations oceans, the plan was reiterated in the Obama administrations FY2016 budget proposal that was released in February 2015
7.
National Marine Fisheries Service
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The National Marine Fisheries Service is a United States federal agency, responsible for the stewardship of national marine resources. The agency conserves and manages fisheries to promote sustainability and prevent lost economic potential associated with overfishing, declining species, the National Marine Fisheries Service is a United States federal agency, informally known as NOAA Fisheries. Under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, exclusive economic zone beyond state waters. The agency also attempts to balance competing public needs for the resources under its management. The NMFS also serves as a law enforcement agency, working closely with state enforcement agencies, the United States Coast Guard. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Office for Law Enforcement is based in Silver Spring, the NMFS regulatory program is one of the most active in the federal government, with hundreds of regulations published annually in the Federal Register. The NMFS also regulates fisheries pursuant to decisions of regional fishery management organizations, the rules were enacted to specifically protect the North Atlantic Right Whale, of which about only 350 remain. Marine gear entanglements and ship strikes are the top causes of right whale deaths. On July 1, the lanes in and out of Boston Harbor were rotated to avoid an area with a high concentration of the right whales. There are eight domestic regional fisheries management councils that make binding regulations for federal waters off various parts of the U. S, the science centers correspond roughly to the administrative division of fisheries management into five regions, with the west coast utilizing two fisheries science centers. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in Woods Hole, Massachusetts and it operates laboratories at five other locations, and an additional marine field station. The primary mission of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center is the management of fisheries on the Northeast shelf, however, it also oversees the operation of the National Systematics Lab, in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution. The Northeast Fisheries Science Center also operates the Woods Hole Science Aquarium in conjunction with the Marine Biological Laboratory, the National Marine Fisheries Service maintains the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers are both located in Seattle. The Alaska fisheries Science Center is located on the grounds of the now-closed Naval Station Puget Sound, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center is located adjacent to the University of Washington. This site is home to the Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Center Library. This library was founded in 1931, as of 2011, this library contained 16,000 books and subscribed to 250 periodicals. Its subject interests include science, biochemistry, fisheries biology, fisheries management, food science. The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii and it operates several facilities, including facilities for NOAA ships at Ford Island
8.
National Ocean Service
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The National Ocean Service, an office within the U. S. Its mission is to provide science-based solutions through collaborative partnerships to address evolving economic, environmental, NOS works closely with many partner agencies to ensure that ocean and coastal areas are safe, healthy, and productive. NOS is a scientific and technical organization of 1,700 scientists, natural resource managers, NOS delivers a dynamic range of nationwide coastal and Great Lakes scientific, technical, and resource management services in support of safe, healthy, and productive oceans and coasts. As one of six NOAA Line Offices, NOAAs National Ocean Service observes, studies, NOAAs National Ocean Service is composed of seven program and two staff offices. CO-OPS is composed of four divisions, The Field Operations Division operates and maintains all oceanographic, the Division ensures the continuous operations of navigation and other real-time observing systems needed to support the protection of life and property. FOD also operates the Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Facility in order to support Requirements and Development Division, FOD operates equipment to test and evaluate new observing systems and software modules developed to support NOS mission objectives. The Information Systems Division provides a variety of computer based system, the Division also develops computer systems, including those designed for effective delivery of real-time data. The Division sets standards and creates policy governing the access and use of CO-OPS computing resources, the Oceanographic Division ensures the quality of all data collected by CO-OPS, and produces/disseminates operational products from this data stream. The Division monitors the performance of all CO-OPS observing systems and reports discrepancies to appropriate Center personnel, the Engineering Division establishes observation and analysis requirements for CO-OPS based on the assessment of user/customer needs. The Division also manages the Ocean Systems Test and Evaluation Program, the Division develops new oceanographic measurement systems and techniques to improve the safety of marine navigation. The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provides research, scientific information and tools to balance the nations ecological, social. The research and tools provided are central to addressing issues raised in legislation. NCCOS was formed within the National Ocean Service in March 1999 as the point for coastal ocean science. Research areas and strategy were selected in response to Federal legislation, stakeholder input, NCCOS has five centers with specific capabilities and research expertise in coastal and ocean issues. Three of the centers are dedicated research laboratories, another conducts research through analyses of field data, answers questions about the impacts of environmental stress and change on the function ecosystems and health of coastal resources and people. Conducts research on the effects of habitat change and restoration on living marine resources such as seagrasses, marshes, reefs. Conducts field research and data analysis to support marine resource management at local, regional, administers NCCOS Extramural Research - a portfolio of 11 programs consisting of 73 multi-year awards held by over 370 university, state and government scientists and managers. The Hollings Marine Laboratory studies the interaction between marine environments, aquatic organisms and their connections to human health
9.
National Weather Service
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It is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration branch of the Department of Commerce, and is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland. The agency was known as the United States Weather Bureau from 1890 until it adopted its current name in 1970, the NWS performs its primary task through a collection of national and regional centers, and 122 local weather forecast offices. As the NWS is a government agency, most of its products are in the public domain, the agency was placed under the Secretary of War as Congress felt military discipline would probably secure the greatest promptness, regularity, and accuracy in the required observations. Within the Department of War, it was assigned to the U. S. Army Signal Service under Brigadier General Albert J. Myer, General Myer gave the National Weather Service its first name, The Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce. The agency first became an enterprise in 1890, when it became part of the Department of Agriculture. The first Weather Bureau radiosonde was launched in Massachusetts in 1937, the Bureau would later be moved to the Department of Commerce in 1940. On July 12,1950, bureau chief Francis W, the Weather Bureau became part of the Environmental Science Services Administration when that agency was formed in August 1966. The Environmental Science Services Administration was renamed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on October 1,1970, at this time, the Weather Bureau became the National Weather Service. NEXRAD, a system of Doppler radars deployed to improve the detection and warning time of local storms, replaced the WSR-57. Bob Glahn has written a history of the first hundred years of the National Weather Service. The NWS, through a variety of sub-organizations, issues different forecast products to users, although, throughout history, text forecasts have been the means of product dissemination, the NWS has been using more forecast products of a digital, gridded, image or other modern format. Each of the 122 Weather Forecast Offices send their graphical forecasts to a server to be compiled in the National Digital Forecast Database. The NDFD is a collection of weather observations used by organizations and the public, including precipitation amount, temperature. Specific points in the database can be accessed using an XML SOAP service. The National Weather Service issues many products relating to wildfires daily, for example, a Fire Weather Forecast, which have a forecast period covering up to seven days, is issued by local Weather Forecast Offices daily, with updates as needed. The forecasts contain weather information relevant to fire control and smoke management for the next 12 to 48 hours, such as direction and speed. The appropriate crews use this information to plan for staffing and equipment levels, the ability to conduct scheduled controlled burns, and assess the daily fire danger. Once per day, NWS meteorologists issue a coded fire weather forecast for specific United States Forest Service observation sites that are input into the National Fire Danger Rating System
10.
NOAA ships and aircraft
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The Director of OMAO and the NOAA Corps is Rear Admiral David A. Score. Rear Admiral Anita L. Lopez, NOAA, is the Director of the Marine, NOAAs Aircraft Operations Center, located at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, is home to NOAAs fleet of aircraft. The aircraft often operate over open ocean, mountains, coastal wetlands, Arctic pack ice, specialized noncommercial aircraft support NOAAs atmospheric and hurricane surveillance/research programs, NOAA Hurricane Hunters. NOAAs ship fleet was created when various United States Government scientific agencies merged to form NOAA on 3 October 1970, the NOAA fleet provides hydrographic survey, oceanographic and atmospheric research, and fisheries research vessels to support NOAAs strategic plan elements, and mission. Some ships of the fleet have been retired from the United States Navy or other maritime services, the vessels are located in various locations around the United States. The ships are managed by the Marine Operations Center, which has offices in Norfolk, Virginia, NOAAs aircraft and ship fleet is operated and managed by a combination of NOAA Corps Officers, wage marine and civilian employees. Officers and OMAO civilians frequently serve as chief scientists on program missions, the wage marine and civilian personnel include licensed engineers, mechanics, navigators, technicians, and members of the engine, steward, and deck departments. Administrative duties and navigation of the vessels are performed by the commissioned officers, the aircraft and ships officers and crew provide mission support and assistance to embarked scientists from various NOAA laboratories as well as the academic community. Notice, This article incorporates material taken from the public website of the NOAA OMAO. NOAA has since decommissioned many of ships and replaced them with ships acquired from the United States Navy or new ships built specifically for NOAA
11.
Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
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Oceanic and Atmospheric Research is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. OAR is also referred to as NOAA Research, the origins of NOAA Research date back more than 200 years with the creation of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson. The Coast Survey, which became the U. S, lake Survey office in 1841, was developed to undertake a hydrographic survey of northwestern lakes. The same traits of world class, long-term research continue to define NOAA Research today, OAR works with end-users to integrate mature technologies into larger systems, either in NOAA operations or partner applications, via testbeds, patents, etc. NOAA Research is a research network consisting of seven federal research laboratories, six program offices, sixteen Cooperative Institutes. OAR also relies on work performed at public, private. Develop and deploy new observing technologies to provide data to support predictive models, develop new analytical and forecast tools to improve weather services and earlier warnings for natural disasters. Use new information technology to share information with federal and academic scientists. Prepare scientific assessments and information products to enhance education and guide governmental action. Research plans and products are developed in partnership with academia and other federal agencies, a high premium is placed on external collaboration both domestically and internationally. NOAA Research has three research areas, Climate, Weather and Air Chemistry, and Oceans, Coasts & the Great Lakes. NOAAs research laboratories, the Climate Program Office, and research partners conduct research into complex climate systems and how they work. The aim of this research is to predict climate variation in the term, for example, cold spells or periods of drought. NOAA scientists are at the forefront of studying climate change and modeling what the effects will be on the Earth, the CHARM model provides a realistic surface-atmosphere feedback portrayal, and accounts for runoff from land surfaces. It allows researchers to predict that global warming likely will bring higher temperatures, development of a second generation of CHARM is underway to help answer questions about greenhouse warming effects on Great Lakes water quantity. NOAA researchers closely monitor the Earths atmosphere searching for clues about long-term changes in the global climate, the data collected worldwide by NOAA researchers contributes to the understanding of complex climatic systems and the ability to forecast changes. NOAA Research organizations conduct research on the upper and lower atmosphere as well as the space environment and their findings form the basis for NOAAs contributions to major national and international environmental programs and agreements. For instance, improvements in forecast and warning services provided by the National Weather Service are a result of NOAA research
12.
Ocean
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An ocean is a body of saline water that composes much of a planets hydrosphere. On Earth, an ocean is one of the major divisions of the World Ocean. These are, in descending order by area, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, the word sea is often used interchangeably with ocean in American English but, strictly speaking, a sea is a body of saline water partly or fully enclosed by land. The ocean contains 97% of Earths water, and oceanographers have stated that less than 5% of the World Ocean has been explored, the total volume is approximately 1.35 billion cubic kilometers with an average depth of nearly 3,700 meters. As the world ocean is the component of Earths hydrosphere, it is integral to all known life, forms part of the carbon cycle. The world ocean is the habitat of 230,000 known species, but because much of it is unexplored, the origin of Earths oceans remains unknown, oceans are thought to have formed in the Hadean period and may have been the impetus for the emergence of life. Extraterrestrial oceans may be composed of water or other elements and compounds, the only confirmed large stable bodies of extraterrestrial surface liquids are the lakes of Titan, although there is evidence for the existence of oceans elsewhere in the Solar System. Early in their histories, Mars and Venus are theorized to have had large water oceans. The Mars ocean hypothesis suggests that nearly a third of the surface of Mars was once covered by water, compounds such as salts and ammonia dissolved in water lower its freezing point so that water might exist in large quantities in extraterrestrial environments as brine or convecting ice. Unconfirmed oceans are speculated beneath the surface of many planets and natural satellites, notably. The Solar Systems giant planets are thought to have liquid atmospheric layers of yet to be confirmed compositions. Oceans may also exist on exoplanets and exomoons, including surface oceans of water within a circumstellar habitable zone. Ocean planets are a type of planet with a surface completely covered with liquid. The concept of Ōkeanós has an Indo-European connection, Greek Ōkeanós has been compared to the Vedic epithet ā-śáyāna-, predicated of the dragon Vṛtra-, who captured the cows/rivers. Related to this notion, the Okeanos is represented with a dragon-tail on some early Greek vases, though generally described as several separate oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water sometimes referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean. This concept of a body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography. The major oceanic divisions – listed below in descending order of area and volume – are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, Oceans are fringed by smaller, adjoining bodies of water such as seas, gulfs, bays, bights, and straits. The Mid-Oceanic Ridge of the World are connected and form the Ocean Ridge, the continuous mountain range is 65,000 km long, and the total length of the oceanic ridge system is 80,000 km long
13.
Weather
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Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the lowest level of the atmosphere, Weather refers to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the averaging of atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, weather is understood to mean the weather of Earth. Weather is driven by air pressure, temperature and moisture differences between one place and another and these differences can occur due to the suns angle at any particular spot, which varies with latitude. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the largest scale atmospheric circulations, the Hadley Cell, the Ferrel Cell, the Polar Cell, Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow. Because the Earths axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane, on Earths surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C annually. Over thousands of years, changes in Earths orbit can affect the amount and distribution of energy received by the Earth, thus influencing long-term climate. Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences, higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes as most atmospheric heating is due to contact with the Earths surface while radiative losses to space are mostly constant. Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. The Earths weather system is a system, as a result. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout history, and there is evidence that human activities such as agriculture, studying how the weather works on other planets has been helpful in understanding how weather works on Earth. A famous landmark in the Solar System, Jupiters Great Red Spot, is a storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. However, weather is not limited to planetary bodies, a stars corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind, on Earth, the common weather phenomena include wind, cloud, rain, snow, fog and dust storms. Less common events include natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, typhoons, almost all familiar weather phenomena occur in the troposphere. Weather does occur in the stratosphere and can affect weather lower down in the troposphere, Weather occurs primarily due to air pressure, temperature and moisture differences between one place to another. These differences can occur due to the sun angle at any particular spot, in other words, the farther from the tropics one lies, the lower the sun angle is, which causes those locations to be cooler due the spread of the sunlight over a greater surface. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the large scale atmospheric circulation cells and the jet stream, Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow
14.
Environment (biophysical)
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The biophysical environment can vary in scale from microscopic to global in extent. It can also be subdivided according to its attributes, examples include the marine environment, the atmospheric environment and the terrestrial environment. The number of environments is countless, given that each living organism has its own environment. The term environment is used as a short form for the biophysical environment. The expression the environment often refers to a global environment in relation to humanity. All life that has survived must have adapted to conditions of its environment, temperature, light, humidity, soil nutrients, etc. all influence any species, within any environment. However life in turn modifies, in forms, its conditions. Some long term modifications along the history of our planet have been significant and this process consisted in the breakdown of carbon dioxide by anaerobic microorganisms that used the carbon in their metabolism and released the oxygen to the atmosphere. This led to the existence of oxygen-based plant and animal life, other interactions are more immediate and simple, such as the smoothing effect that forests have on the temperature cycle, compared to neighboring unforested areas. Environmental science is the study of the interactions within the biophysical environment, part of this scientific discipline is the investigation of the effect of human activity on the environment. Ecology, a sub-discipline of biology and a part of environmental sciences, is mistaken as a study of human induced effects on the environment. Environmental studies is an academic discipline that is the systematic study of interaction of humans with their environment. It is a field of study that includes the natural environment, built environments. Environmentalism is a social and philosophical movement that, in a large part, seeks to minimise. The issues of concern for environmentalists usually relate to the environment with the more important ones being climate change, species extinction, pollution. One of the studies related include employing Geographic Information Science to study the biophysical environment, biophysics subject to the context List of conservation topics List of environmental issues Lists of environmental topics Miller, G. Tyler. McCallum, Malcolm L. Gwendolynn W. Bury, google search patterns suggest declining interest in the environment
15.
Uniformed services of the United States
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Department of Defense is set by DOD Directive 1005.8 and is not dependent on the date of creation by the U. S. Congress. United States Coast Guard,4 August 1790 Note, The U. S. Coast Guard was a part of the U. S. Department of Transportation from 1967 to 2002. Prior to 1967, it was a part of the U. S. Department of the Treasury, United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps,4 January 1889 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps,22 May 1917. The NOAA Corps was created as the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey Corps, the ESSA Corps became the NOAA Corps as a component of NOAA when ESSA was abolished and NOAA simultaneously was created on 3 October 1970. Under all three names, the Corps has been an element of the Department of Commerce throughout its existence, the seven uniformed services are defined by 10 U. S. C. §101, The five uniformed services make up the United States Armed Forces are defined in the previous clause 10 U. S. C. §101, The term armed forces means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, five of the uniformed services make up the U. S. Armed Forces, four of which are within the U. S. Department of Defense, the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security and has both military and law enforcement duties. Title 14 states that the Coast Guard is part of the military at all times, during a declared state of war, however, the President or Congress may direct that the Coast Guard operate as part of the Navy. Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces are all members of the military, the National Guard was first formed in the Colony of Virginia in 1607 and is the oldest uniformed military force founded in the New World. The National Guard can also be mobilized by the President to operate under Federal authority through Title 10, however, in Federal service command and control of National Guard organizations will fall under the designated Geographic or Functional Combatant Commander. The National Guard of the United States serves as a component for both the Army and the Air Force and can be called up for federal active duty in times of war or national emergencies. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps is a branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is the personnel system of the United States Public Health Service. Commissioned officers of NOAA and PHS wear uniforms that are derived from U. S. Navy uniforms, except that the devices, buttons. Uniformed officers of NOAA and PHS are paid on the scale as members of the armed services with respective rank. Additionally, PHS Officers are covered by the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Act, furthermore, all seven uniformed services are subject to the provisions of 10 USC1408, the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act. PHS and NOAA consist of commissioned officers only and have no warrant ranks or enlisted ranks, Commissioned officers of the PHS and NOAA may be militarized by the President
16.
Lockheed WP-3D Orion
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The Lockheed WP-3D Orion is a highly modified P-3 Orion used by the Aircraft Operations Center division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Only two of these aircraft exist, each incorporating numerous features for the role of collecting weather information, during hurricane season, the WP-3Ds are deployed for duty as hurricane hunters. The aircraft also support research on topics, such as Arctic ice coverage, air chemistry studies. The WP-3Ds are equipped with three weather radars, C band radars in the nose and on the fuselage. They are also equipped with the ability to deploy dropsondes into storm systems, and have onboard temperature sensors, the aircraft are not specially strengthened for flying into hurricanes, however their decks were reinforced to withstand the additional equipment load. It has two barber-pole samplers which protrude from the front, a tail Doppler weather radar. NOAA currently operates two WP-3Ds nicknamed Miss Piggy and Kermit, and their logos featuring the characters created by Jim Henson Productions. NOAAs other hurricane hunting aircraft, the Gulfstream IV-SP, is named Gonzo, as of 2014, the two Orions had each flown more than 10,000 hours and flown into more than 80 hurricanes. During 2015 to 2017 the aircraft will receive major overhauls, costing a total of $35 million and this work is being performed by the US Navy, Fleet Readiness Center SE in Jacksonville Florida. The work includes new wings and engines and upgraded radars and avionics, NOAA anticipates that these changes will allow the aircraft to fly for another 15-20 years. General characteristics Crew,11 Length,116 ft 10 in Wingspan,99 ft 8 in Height,33 ft 8.5 in Wing area,1300 ft² Empty weight,61,500 lb Loaded weight, lb Max
17.
U.S. National Geodetic Survey
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United States Coast Survey and United States Coast and Geodetic Survey redirect here. Since its foundation in its present form in 1970, it has been part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Geodetic Surveys history and heritage are intertwined with those of other NOAA offices. As the U. S. Coast Survey and U. S, upon the creation of the Environmental Science Services Administration in 1965, the commissioned corps was separated from the Survey to become the Environmental Science Services Administration Corps. Thus, the National Geodetic Surveys ancestor organizations are also the ancestors of todays NOAA Corps, in addition, todays National Institute of Standards and Technology, although long since separated from the Survey, got its start as the Surveys Office of Weights and Measures. The National Geodetic Survey is an office of NOAAs National Ocean Service, NGS is responsible for defining the NSRS and its relationship with the International Terrestrial Reference Frame. The NSRS enables precise and accessible knowledge of things are in the United States. The NSRS may be divided into its geometric and physical components, the official geodetic datum of the United States, NAD83 defines the geometric relationship between points within the United States in three-dimensional space. The datum may be accessed via NGSs network of marks or through the Continuously Operating Reference Station network of GPS reference antennas. NGS is responsible for computing the relationship between NAD83 and the ITRF, the physical components of the NSRS are reflected in its height system, defined by the vertical datum NAVD88. This datum is a network of orthometric heights obtained through spirit leveling, NGS will release new datums in 2022. The North American Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2022 will supersede NAD83 in defining the relationship between the North American plate and the ITRF. United States territories on the Pacific, Caribbean, and Mariana plates will have their own respective geodetic datums, the North American-Pacific Geopotential Datum of 2022 will separately define the height system of the United States and its territories, replacing NAVD88. It will use a geoid model accurate to 1 centimeter to relate orthometric height to ellipsoidal height measured by GPS, NGS provides a number of other public services. The Online Positioning and User Service processes user-input GPS data and outputs position solutions within the NSRS, the agency offers other tools for conversion between datums. A Swiss immigrant with expertise in surveying and the standardization of weights and measures, Ferdinand R. Hassler, was selected to lead the Survey. Hassler departed on August 29,1811, but eight months later, while he was in England, Hassler did not return to the United States until August 16,1815. The Survey finally began surveying operations in 1816, when Hassler started work in the vicinity of New York City, the first baseline was measured and verified in 1817. S. S. Army and U. S. Navy responsibility for coastal surveys, Hassler was reappointed as the Surveys superintendent that year
18.
United States Fish Commission
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In 1903, it was reorganized as the United States Bureau of Fisheries, which operated until 1940. Robert Barnwell Roosevelt, a Democratic congressmen from New Yorks 4th Congressional District, Congress and the states, and to oversee restoration efforts. The Commission was organized into three divisions, the Division of Inquiry respecting Food-Fishes and Fishing Grounds, the Division of Fisheries, under the leadership of first Spencer F. Baird, then Marshall McDonald, George Brown Goode, and finally George Bowers, the U. S. The Edenton Station hatchery was established in 1899, from 1871 to 1903, the Commissions Annual Report to Congress detailed its efforts and findings in all of these areas. From 1881 to 1903, the Commission also published an annual Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission summarizing the commissions Annual Report to Congress, in 1884, the Commission published the seminal work, Fisheries and Fisheries Industries of the United States. By an Act of Congress of February 14,1903, the U. S. S, Fish Commission and U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. The NMFS is considered the successor to the U. S. Fish Commission and U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission, Spencer Baird and Ichthyology at the Smithsonian 1850-1900. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, records of the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. FISH COMMISSION Harvard University, Pacific Expeditions of the US Fish Commission Steamer Albatross,1891, 1899–1900, 1904–1905
19.
Richard Nixon
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Richard Milhous Nixon was an American politician who served as the 37th President of the United States from 1969 until 1974, when he became the only U. S. president to resign from office. He had previously served as a U. S, Representative and Senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California, after completing his undergraduate studies at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937 and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife Pat moved to Washington in 1942 to work for the federal government and he subsequently served on active duty in the U. S. Navy Reserve during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950 and his pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president and he waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California to Pat Brown in 1962. In 1968, he ran for the presidency again and was elected by defeating incumbent Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Nixon ended American involvement in the war in Vietnam in 1973 and brought the American POWs home, and ended the military draft. His administration generally transferred power from Washington D. C. to the states and he imposed wage and price controls for a period of ninety days, enforced desegregation of Southern schools and established the Environmental Protection Agency. Nixon also presided over the Apollo 11 moon landing, which signaled the end of the moon race and he was reelected in one of the largest electoral landslides in U. S. history in 1972, when he defeated George McGovern. The year 1973 saw an Arab oil embargo, gasoline rationing, the scandal escalated, costing Nixon much of his political support, and on August 9,1974, he resigned in the face of almost certain impeachment and removal from office. After his resignation, he was issued a pardon by his successor, in retirement, Nixons work writing several books and undertaking of many foreign trips helped to rehabilitate his image. He suffered a stroke on April 18,1994. Richard Milhous Nixon was born on January 9,1913 in Yorba Linda, California and his parents were Hannah Nixon and Francis A. Nixon. His mother was a Quaker and his father converted from Methodism to the Quaker faith, Nixons upbringing was marked by evangelical Quaker observances of the time, such as refraining from alcohol, dancing, and swearing. Nixon had four brothers, Harold, Donald, Arthur, four of the five Nixon boys were named after kings who had ruled in historical or legendary England, Richard, for example, was named after Richard the Lionheart. Nixons early life was marked by hardship, and he quoted a saying of Eisenhower to describe his boyhood, We were poor. The Nixon family ranch failed in 1922, and the moved to Whittier
20.
Presidency of Barack Obama
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The presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20,2009, when Barack Obama was inaugurated as President of the United States, and ended on January 20,2017. Obama, a Democrat, took office as the 44th United States president following a victory over Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election. Four years later, in the 2012 election, he defeated Mitt Romney to win re-election and he was the first African American president, the first multiracial president, the first non-white president, and the first president to have been born in Hawaii. Obama was succeeded by Republican Donald Trump, who won the 2016 presidential election, Obama also appointed Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, the latter of whom became the first Hispanic American on the Supreme Court. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress until Republicans won a majority in the House of Representatives in the 2010 elections, following the elections, Obama and Congressional Republicans engaged in a protracted stand-off over government spending levels and the debt ceiling. In his second term, Obama took steps to combat climate change, signing an international climate agreement. Obama also presided over the implementation of the Affordable Care Act and other legislation passed in his first term, the number of American soldiers in Afghanistan fell dramatically during Obamas second term, though U. S. soldiers remained in Afghanistan throughout Obamas presidency. The presidential transition period began following Obamas election to the presidency in November 2008, John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse co-chaired the Obama-Biden Transition Project. During the transition period, Obama announced nominations for his Cabinet, in November 2008, Congressman Rahm Emanuel accepted Obamas offer to serve as White House Chief of Staff. Obama was inaugurated on January 20,2009, succeeding George W. Bush, Obama officially assumed the presidency at 12,00 pm, EST, and completed the oath of office at 12,05 pm, EST. He delivered his inaugural address immediately following his oath, following his inauguration, Obama and the Senate worked to confirm his nominees to the United States Cabinet. Obama nominated several former Clinton administration officials to the Cabinet and to other positions, on April 28,2009, the Senate confirmed former Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius as Secretary of Health and Human Services, completing Obamas initial Cabinet. In March 2016, Obama nominated Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D. C. Circuit to fill Scalias seat, garlands nomination remained before the Senate for longer than any other Supreme Court nomination in history, and the nomination expired with the end of the 114th Congress. President Donald Trump is widely expected to appoint a successor to Scalia, Obamas presidency saw the continuation of battles between both parties over the confirmation of judicial nominees. Democrats continually accused Republicans of stalling nominees throughout Obamas tenure, after several nomination battles, Senate Democrats in 2013 reformed the use of the filibuster so that it could no longer be used on executive or judicial nominations. Obamas judicial nominees were significantly more diverse than those of previous administrations, with more appointments going to women, some of the first actions of Obamas presidency focused on reversing measures taken by the Bush administration following the September 11 attacks. Another order, Executive Order 13491, banned torture and other coercive techniques, on January 29, Obama signed a bill for the first time in his presidency, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 revised the statute of limitations for filing pay discrimination lawsuits. On February 3, he signed the Childrens Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, on March 9,2009, Obama lifted restrictions on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research
21.
AccuWeather
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AccuWeather is an American media company that provides commercial weather forecasting services worldwide. AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, then a Pennsylvania State University graduate student working on a degree in meteorology and his first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running his company, Myers also became a member of Penn States meteorology faculty, the company adopted the name AccuWeather in 1971. AccuWeather is headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania, with offices in Rockefeller Center in New York City and Fort Washington. In 2006, AccuWeather acquired WeatherData, Inc. of Wichita, as WeatherData Services, Inc. an AccuWeather company, the Wichita facility now houses AccuWeather’s specialized severe weather forecasters. AccuWeather markets weather products and services, with 175,559 clients worldwide in media, business and it also runs the free, advertising-supported website AccuWeather. com, an online weather provider. Third-party web analytics providers Alexa and SimilarWeb rated the site as the 200th most visited website in the United States, AccuWeather employs 404 people, of whom 113 are meteorologists. AccuWeather operates a 24-hour commercially sponsored weather channel known as The Local AccuWeather Channel, the Local AccuWeather Channel launched in 2006 and is currently on the air in 56 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston. Joel N. Myers, the founder of AccuWeather, serves as president of the firm and his brother Barry Lee Myers became the chief executive officer in 2007, and his other brother, Evan Myers, serves as Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President. The regular weather provider for Bloomberg Television and numerous local TV stations, AccuWeather, through the United Stations Radio Networks, also provides weather for numerous radio stations and newspapers, including WINS in New York City, KFWB in Los Angeles and WBZ in Boston. During severe-weather episodes, AccuWeather experts have called upon by television journalists such as Larry King, Geraldo Rivera. Many of its broadcast meteorologists, such as Elliot Abrams, are known nationally, AccuWeather produces local weather videos each day for use on their own web site, on the Local AccuWeather Channel, on wired Internet and mobile application and web sites. The company is active in the areas of convergence and digital signage. They have added a video section to their photo gallery. In 2015, Verizon FiOS replaced The Weather Channel with a new 24/7 all-weather television network called The AccuWeather Channel and this followed earlier negotiations among AccuWeather, The Weather Channel and DirecTV. The AccuWeather Channel is an operation from The Local AccuWeather Channel. It became the third 24/7 weather network to launch on American Television, after The Weather Channel in 1982, AccuWeather created a unified and proprietary apparent temperature system known as The AccuWeather Exclusive RealFeel Temperature and has used the quantity in its forecasts and observations. AccuWeather has been granted a United States patent on The RealFeel Temperature, in response to AccuWeathers RealFeel, The Weather Channel introduced their FeelsLike temperature reading
22.
NOAA Central Library
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The NOAA Central Library is the flagship library of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s network of over 20 research libraries. It is also a federal depository library for United States federal government publications. The NOAA Central Library is located on the floor of NOAA Building III on the Silver Spring Metro Center campus. In 1970, with the formation of NOAA, the libraries of the National Weather Service, the Coast Survey, part of the NOAA Central library collection is from the former United States Weather Bureau library, itself descended from the United States Signal Corps library. The library was located in Rockville, Maryland just northwest of Old Georgetown Road until 1993. Its website was established in 1995, NOAA employees have full access to the library’s e-resources and physical holdings. Visiting scientists, contracted labor, and other NOAA affiliates can gain access through their federal supervisor, members of the public can access the library by calling in advance. The library is open from 9 am through 4 pm, Monday through Friday, the library subscribes to over one thousand peer-reviewed journals in print and electronic formats, and is the official repository of all NOAA publications. It also holds works and artifacts pertaining to the history of NOAA and its microfilm collection includes decades of surface weather observations and surface weather analyses from the United States and Japan. The library maintains an online collection of over 40,000 images taken by NOAA staff. Some of those images are hosted on the NOAA Flickr account. The NOAA Central Library has been active within the Climate Digital Modernization Program, projects have included digitizing foreign climate data books, the United States Daily Weather Map series, and Monthly Weather Review articles. NOAA Central Library NOAA photo library NOAA photo library on Flickr
23.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
24.
Weather forecasting
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Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, hence, forecasts become less accurate as the difference between current time and the time for which the forecast is being made increases. The use of ensembles and model consensus help narrow the error, there are a variety of end uses to weather forecasts. Weather warnings are important forecasts because they are used to protect life, forecasts based on temperature and precipitation are important to agriculture, and therefore to traders within commodity markets. Temperature forecasts are used by utility companies to estimate demand over coming days, on an everyday basis, people use weather forecasts to determine what to wear on a given day. Since outdoor activities are severely curtailed by rain, snow and wind chill, forecasts can be used to plan activities around these events. In 2014, the US spent $5.1 billion on weather forecasting, for millennia people have tried to forecast the weather. In 650 BC, the Babylonians predicted the weather from cloud patterns as well as astrology, in about 340 BC, Aristotle described weather patterns in Meteorologica. Later, Theophrastus compiled a book on weather forecasting, called the Book of Signs, chinese weather prediction lore extends at least as far back as 300 BC, which was also around the same time ancient Indian astronomers developed weather-prediction methods. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, ancient weather forecasting methods usually relied on observed patterns of events, also termed pattern recognition. For example, it might be observed if the sunset was particularly red. This experience accumulated over the generations to produce weather lore, however, not all of these predictions prove reliable, and many of them have since been found not to stand up to rigorous statistical testing. It was not until the invention of the telegraph in 1835 that the modern age of weather forecasting began. Before that, the fastest that distant weather reports could travel was around 100 miles per day, the two men credited with the birth of forecasting as a science were officer of the Royal Navy Francis Beaufort and his protégé Robert FitzRoy. Beaufort developed the Wind Force Scale and Weather Notation coding, which he was to use in his journals for the remainder of his life. He also promoted the development of reliable tide tables around British shores, Robert FitzRoy was appointed in 1854 as chief of a new department within the Board of Trade to deal with the collection of weather data at sea as a service to mariners. This was the forerunner of the modern Meteorological Office, all ship captains were tasked with collating data on the weather and computing it, with the use of tested instruments that were loaned for this purpose. Fifteen land stations were established to use the new telegraph to transmit to him daily reports of weather at set times leading to the first gale warning service and his warning service for shipping was initiated in February 1861, with the use of telegraph communications
25.
Severe weather terminology (United States)
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This article describes severe weather terminology used by the National Weather Service in the United States. This article describes NWS terminology and related weather scales used by the agency, some terms may be specific to certain cities or regions. Winter storms – Weather hazards associated with freezing or frozen precipitation or combined effects of winter precipitation, fire weather – Weather conditions leading to an increased risk of wildfires. Flooding – Hazardous hydrologic events resulting in temporary inundation of areas not normally covered by water. Marine hazards – Hazardous events that may affect marine travel, fishing and shipping interests along large bodies of water, including hazardous seas and freezing spray. Other hazards – Weather hazards not directly associated with any of the above including extreme heat or cold, dense fog, high winds, Tornado Watch – Conditions are favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes in and close to the watch area. These watches are issued, and usually mean that a major tornado outbreak is possible. These watches are usually valid for a period of time and issued for a larger area by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman. This type of watch is only reserved for forecast high-end severe weather events. Tornado Warning – Strong rotation in a thunderstorm is indicated by Doppler weather radar or a tornado is sighted by Skywarn spotters or other persons and it is usually issued as the initial tornado warning or as a complete re-issuance of the previous tornado warning. These may also include wording for a Tornado Emergency, a severe thunderstorm contains large damaging hail of 1 inch diameter or larger, and/or damaging winds greater than 58 mph or greater. Isolated tornadoes are possible but not expected to be the dominant severe weather event. Isolated tornadoes are possible but not expected to be the dominant severe weather event, an expected severe wind event is the mostly likely reason for a PDS Severe Thunderstorm Watch to be issued, with widespread winds greater than 90 mph possible. These watches are usually valid for a period of time and are issued for a larger area by the Storm Prediction Center in Norman. This type of watch is only reserved for forecast high-end severe weather events. If, however, tornadoes are expected to be a major threat in addition to the preceding criteria. Severe Thunderstorm Warning – A severe thunderstorm is indicated by Doppler weather radar or sighted by Skywarn spotters or other persons, a severe thunderstorm contains large damaging hail of 1 inch in diameter or larger, and/or damaging winds of 58 mph or greater. These warnings are issued on a polygonal basis
26.
Global warming
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Global warming and climate change are terms for the observed century-scale rise in the average temperature of the Earths climate system and its related effects. Multiple lines of evidence show that the climate system is warming. The largest human influence has been emission of gases such as carbon dioxide, methane. These findings have been recognized by the science academies of the major industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing. Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe, anticipated effects include warming global temperature, rising sea levels, changing precipitation, and expansion of deserts in the subtropics. Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans and greatest in the Arctic, with the retreat of glaciers, permafrost. Effects significant to humans include the threat to security from decreasing crop yields. Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction, adaptation to its effects, building systems resilient to its effects, most countries are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, whose ultimate objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change. Public reactions to global warming and concern about its effects are also increasing, a global 2015 Pew Research Center report showed a median of 54% consider it a very serious problem. There are significant regional differences, with Americans and Chinese among the least concerned, the global average surface temperature shows a warming of 0.85 °C in the period 1880 to 2012, based on multiple independently produced datasets. Earths average surface temperature rose by 0. 74±0.18 °C over the period 1906–2005, the rate of warming almost doubled for the last half of that period. The rest has melted ice and warmed the continents and atmosphere, the average temperature of the lower troposphere has increased between 0.12 and 0.135 °C per decade since 1979, according to satellite temperature measurements. The warming that is evident in the temperature record is consistent with a wide range of observations. The probability that these changes could have occurred by chance is virtually zero, temperature changes vary over the globe. Since 1979, land temperatures have increased about twice as fast as ocean temperatures, ocean temperatures increase more slowly than land temperatures because of the larger effective heat capacity of the oceans and because the ocean loses more heat by evaporation. Since the beginning of industrialisation the temperature difference between the hemispheres has increased due to melting of sea ice and snow in the North. Average arctic temperatures have been increasing at almost twice the rate of the rest of the world in the past 100 years, the thermal inertia of the oceans and slow responses of other indirect effects mean that climate can take centuries or longer to adjust to changes in forcing. Some of this warming will be driven by past natural forcings which are still seeking equilibrium in the climate system
27.
Ozone depletion
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The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. In addition to these well-known stratospheric phenomena, there are also springtime polar tropospheric ozone depletion events, the details of polar ozone hole formation differ from that of mid-latitude thinning but the most important process in both is catalytic destruction of ozone by atomic halogens. The main source of these atoms in the stratosphere is photodissociation of man-made halocarbon refrigerants, solvents, propellants. These compounds are transported into the stratosphere by winds after being emitted at the surface, both types of ozone depletion were observed to increase as emissions of halocarbons increased. CFCs and other substances are referred to as ozone-depleting substances. Three forms of oxygen are involved in the cycle, oxygen atoms, oxygen gas. Ozone is formed in the stratosphere when oxygen molecules photodissociate after intaking an ultraviolet photon whose wavelength is shorter than 240 nm and this converts a single O2 into two atomic oxygen radicals. The atomic oxygen radicals then combine with separate O2 molecules to create two O3 molecules and these ozone molecules absorb ultraviolet light between 310 and 200 nm, following which ozone splits into a molecule of O2 and an oxygen atom. The oxygen atom then joins up with a molecule to regenerate ozone. This is a process that terminates when an oxygen atom recombines with an ozone molecule to make two O2 molecules. 2 O3 →3 O2 The overall amount of ozone in the stratosphere is determined by a balance between production and recombination. Ozone can be destroyed by a number of free radical catalysts, the dot is a common notation to indicate that all of these species have an unpaired electron and are thus extremely reactive. Cl and Br atoms destroy ozone molecules through a variety of catalytic cycles, in the simplest example of such a cycle, a chlorine atom reacts with an ozone molecule, taking an oxygen atom to form chlorine monoxide and leaving an oxygen molecule. The ClO can react with a molecule of ozone, releasing the chlorine atom. More complicated mechanisms have been discovered that lead to destruction in the lower stratosphere as well. On a per atom basis, bromine is more efficient than chlorine at destroying ozone. As a result, both chlorine and bromine contribute significantly to overall ozone depletion, Laboratory studies have shown that fluorine and iodine atoms participate in analogous catalytic cycles. On average, a chlorine atom is able to react with 100,000 ozone molecules before it is removed from the catalytic cycle
28.
NEXRAD
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Its technical name is WSR-88D, which stands for Weather Surveillance Radar,1988, Doppler. NEXRAD detects precipitation and atmospheric movement or wind and it returns data which when processed can be displayed in a mosaic map which shows patterns of precipitation and its movement. NEXRAD has an emphasis on automation, including the use of algorithms. The Joint Doppler Operational Project was formed in 1976 at the National Severe Storms Laboratory to study the usefulness of using Doppler radar to identify severe, a working group that included the JDOP published a paper providing the concepts for the development and operation of a national weather radar network. In 1979, the NEXRAD Joint System Program Office was formed to move forward with the development and deployment of the proposed NEXRAD radar network and that year, the NSSL completed a formal report on developing the NEXRAD system. The JSPO group opted to select a contractor to develop and produce the radars that would be used for the national network, Radar systems developed by Raytheon and Unisys were tested during the 1980s, however it took four years to allow the prospective contractors to develop their proprietary models. Unisys was selected as the contractor, and was awarded a production contract in January 1990. Installation of a prototype was completed in the fall of 1990 in Norman. The first installation of a WSR-88D for operational use in everyday forecasting was in Sterling, the last system deployed as part of this installation campaign was installed in North Webster, Indiana on August 30,1997. The site locations were chosen to provide the most overlapping coverage between radars in case one failed during a severe weather event. Where possible, they were co-located with NWS Weather Forecast Offices to permit access to maintenance technicians. The NEXRAD radars incorporated a number of improvements over the systems that were previously in use. The new system provided Doppler velocity, improving tornado prediction ability by detecting any rotation present within the storm at different scan angles, the radars also had a much increased range allowing detection of weather features at much greater distances from the radar site. WSR-88D development, maintenance, and training are coordinated by the NEXRAD Radar Operations Center located at the National Weather Center in Norman, unlike its predecessor, the WSR-88D antenna is not directly controllable by the user. Instead, the system continually refreshes its three-dimensional database via one of several predetermined scan patterns. Since the system samples the atmosphere in three dimensions, there are variables that can be changed, depending on the desired output. Due to the traditionally vertically incomplete coverage, a known as The Cone of Silence is present with all NEXRAD radars. The phenomenon describes the lack of radar coverage, usually directly over the site of the radar
29.
Weather radar
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Weather radar, also called weather surveillance radar and Doppler weather radar, is a type of radar used to locate precipitation, calculate its motion, and estimate its type. Modern weather radars are mostly pulse-Doppler radars, capable of detecting the motion of rain droplets in addition to the intensity of the precipitation, both types of data can be analyzed to determine the structure of storms and their potential to cause severe weather. During World War II, radar operators discovered that weather was causing echoes on their screen, techniques were developed to filter them, but scientists began to study the phenomenon. Soon after the war, surplus radars were used to detect precipitation, since then, weather radar has evolved on its own and is now used by national weather services, research departments in universities, and in television newscasts. Raw images are used and specialized software can take radar data to make short term forecasts of future positions and intensities of rain, snow, hail. Radar output is even incorporated into weather prediction models to improve analyses. During World War II, military radar operators noticed noise in returned echoes due to rain, snow, after the war, military scientists returned to civilian life or continued in the Armed Forces and pursued their work in developing a use for those echoes. In the United States, David Atlas, at first working for the Air Force and later for MIT, Marshall and R. H. Douglas formed the Stormy Weather Group in Montreal. By 1950 the UK company EKCO was demonstrating its airborne cloud, in 1953 Donald Staggs, an electrical engineer working for the Illinois State Water Survey, made the first recorded radar observation of a hook echo associated with a tornadic thunderstorm. Between 1950 and 1980, reflectivity radars, which measure position, the early meteorologists had to watch a cathode ray tube. During the 1970s, radars began to be standardized and organized into networks, the first devices to capture radar images were developed. The number of scanned angles was increased to get a view of the precipitation, so that horizontal cross-sections. Studies of the organization of thunderstorms were then possible for the Alberta Hail Project in Canada, the NSSL, created in 1964, began experimentation on dual polarization signals and on Doppler effect uses. In May 1973, a tornado devastated Union City, Oklahoma, for the first time, a Dopplerized 10 cm wavelength radar from NSSL documented the entire life cycle of the tornado. The researchers discovered a mesoscale rotation in the cloud aloft before the tornado touched the ground – the tornadic vortex signature, NSSLs research helped convince the National Weather Service that Doppler radar was a crucial forecasting tool. The Super Outbreak of tornadoes on 3–4 April 1974 and their devastating destruction might have helped to get funding for further developments, between 1980 and 2000, weather radar networks became the norm in North America, Europe, Japan and other developed countries. Conventional radars were replaced by Doppler radars, which in addition to position, in the United States, the construction of a network consisting of 10 cm radars, called NEXRAD or WSR-88D, was started in 1988 following NSSLs research. In Canada, Environment Canada constructed the King City station, with a 5 cm research Doppler radar, by 1985 and this led to a complete Canadian Doppler network between 1998 and 2004
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Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
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NOAA Weather Radio
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NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts, weather observations and other hazard information 24 hours a day. It also broadcasts alerts of non-weather emergencies such as security, natural, environmental. Known as The Voice of NOAAs National Weather Service, NOAA Weather Radio is provided as a service by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The radio service continuously transmits weather and marine forecasts and other related information, in addition, NWR works in cooperation with the FCCs Emergency Alert System, providing comprehensive severe weather alerts and civil emergency information. For example, a receiver that only tunes in standard FM or AM broadcast stations will not suffice, the seven FM channels, reserved by the U. S. In the wake of the Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak of 1965, starting in 1966, the Environmental Science Services Administration started a nationwide program known as ESSA VHF Weather Radio Network. In the early 1970s, this would be changed to NOAA Weather Radio, the original frequency was 162.550 MHz, with 163.275 MHz recommended as a backup. However, this frequency was dropped due to issues with other federal agencies, and 162.400 MHz was added in 1970. Honolulu NWR station KBA99 transmitted on 169.075 MHz for twelve years until it was moved to 162.550 in 1975, many basic weather band receivers manufactured and sold from the mid-1970s through the mid-1990s were configured to only receive the three main weather channels. However, for much of period, four additional intermediate channels existed to accommodate anticipated expansion. Over the years, a proliferation of stations meant to ensure near-complete geographical coverage, in addition, more mainstream consumer electronics, such as clock radios, portable multi-band receivers and two-way radios, now feature the ability to also receive NWR channels. Many of the devices also incorporate alerting capabilities. There are two different channel numbering systems used by various radio manufacturers. The first is the sequence that the radio frequencies were allocated to the service, 1=162.550, 2=162.400, 3=162.475, 4=162.425, 5=162.450, 6=162.500. The second is in simple increasing radio frequency sequence, 1=162.400, 2=162.425, 3=162.450, 4=162.475, 5=162.500, 6=162.525, 7=162.550. The NWS suggests that users determine which frequency is intended for their location so that they are assured of receiving correct. Government time, and are operated by Department of Commerces National Institute of Standards, according to NOAA, reliable signal reception typically extends in about a 40-mile radius from a full-power transmitter, assuming level terrain. However, signal blockages can occur, especially in mountainous areas, as of 2016, there are over a thousand NWR transmitters across the United States, covering 95% of the population
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Transmitter
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In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which generates a radio frequency alternating current. When a connected antenna is excited by this current, the antenna emits radio waves. The term transmitter is usually limited to equipment that generates radio waves for communication purposes, or radiolocation, such as radar and navigational transmitters. Generators of radio waves for heating or industrial purposes, such as ovens or diathermy equipment, are not usually called transmitters even though they often have similar circuits. The term is used more specifically to refer to a broadcast transmitter. This usage typically includes both the proper, the antenna, and often the building it is housed in. A transmitter can be a piece of electronic equipment, or an electrical circuit within another electronic device. A transmitter and a receiver combined in one unit is called a transceiver, the term transmitter is often abbreviated XMTR or TX in technical documents. The purpose of most transmitters is radio communication of information over a distance, the transmitter combines the information signal to be carried with the radio frequency signal which generates the radio waves, which is called the carrier signal. The information can be added to the carrier in several different ways, in an amplitude modulation transmitter, the information is added to the radio signal by varying its amplitude. In a frequency modulation transmitter, it is added by varying the signals frequency slightly. Many other types of modulation are used, the radio signal from the transmitter is applied to the antenna, which radiates the energy as radio waves. The antenna may be enclosed inside the case or attached to the outside of the transmitter, as in portable devices such as phones, walkie-talkies. In more powerful transmitters, the antenna may be located on top of a building or on a tower, and connected to the transmitter by a feed line. The first primitive radio transmitters were built by German physicist Heinrich Hertz in 1887 during his investigations of radio waves. These generated radio waves by a high voltage spark between two conductors, beginning in 1895 Guglielmo Marconi developed the first practical radio communication systems using spark transmitters. These spark-gap transmitters were used during the first three decades of radio, called the wireless telegraphy or spark era, vacuum tube transmitters took over because they were inexpensive and produced continuous waves, which could be modulated to transmit audio using amplitude modulation. This made possible commercial AM radio broadcasting, which began in about 1920, experimental television transmission had been conducted by radio stations since the late 1920s, but practical television broadcasting didnt begin until the 1940s
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Office of Coast Survey
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The Office of Coast Survey is the official chartmaker of the United States. Set up in 1807, it is one of the U. S. governments oldest scientific organizations, in 1878 it was given the name of Coast and Geodetic Survey. In 1970 it became part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The agency was established in 1807 when President Thomas Jefferson signed the document entitled “An act to provide for surveying the coasts of the United States. ”While the bill’s objective was specific—to produce nautical charts—it reflected larger issues of concern to the new nation, national boundaries, commerce, and defense. After his return, he worked on a survey of the New York Harbor in 1817, after several years under the control of the U. S. Army, the Survey of the Coast was reestablished in 1832, and President Andrew Jackson appointed Hassler as superintendent. The U. S. Coast Survey was a civilian agency but, from the beginning, members of the Navy and Army were detailed to service with the Survey, and Navy ships were also detailed to its use. In general, army officers worked on topographic surveys on the land and maps based on the surveys, alexander Dallas Bache, great-grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was the second Coast Survey superintendent. Bache was a physicist, scientist, and surveyor who established the first magnetic observatory, under Bache, Coast Survey quickly applied its resources to the Union cause during the Civil War. Bache detailed these activities in his reports to Congress. Coast Survey cartographer Edwin Hergesheimer created the map showing the density of the population in the Southern states. Bache was also one of four members of the governments Blockade Strategy Board, planning strategy to essentially strangle the South, on April 16,1861, President Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the blockade of ports from South Carolina to Texas. Bache’s Notes on the Coast provided valuable information for Union naval forces, Coast Survey attracted some of the best and brightest scientists and naturalists. It commissioned the naturalist Louis Agassiz to conduct the first scientific study of the Florida reef system, james McNeill Whistler, who went on to paint the iconic “Whistler’s Mother”, was a Coast Survey engraver. The naturalist John Muir was a guide and artist on “Survey of the 39th Parallel” across the Great Basin of Nevada, the agency’s men and women led scientific and engineering activities through the decades. In 1926, they started production of aeronautical charts, during the height of the Great Depression, Coast and Geodetic Survey organized surveying parties and field offices that employed over 10,000 people, including many out-of-work engineers. Civilians on the home front produced over 100 million maps and charts for the Allied Forces, eleven members of the C&GS gave their lives during the war. President Richard Nixon formed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1970, today, the Office of Coast Survey provides the nation with navigation products and information for improving commerce and security, and for protecting coastal environments. Among other products and services the Office produces the U. S. nautical charts, leaders of Coast Survey 1816 to present, Official site of the Office of Coast Survey
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United States National Marine Sanctuary
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The National Marine Sanctuary System consists of 14 marine protected areas that encompass more than 783,000 square miles. The program began after the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill off the coast of California brought the plight of marine ecosystems to national attention, the United States Congress responded in 1972 with the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act which allowed for the creation of marine sanctuaries. The resources protected by U. S. national marine sanctuaries range from coral reef ecosystems in American Samoa, Florida, Hawaii, and Texas, to shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, designation as a National Marine Sanctuary does not automatically prohibit fishing and other activities. Recreational and commercial fishing is allowed in some sanctuaries and it is possible to restrict consumptive or destructive activities through the initial designation process and NMSP actions. There are restrictions in some sanctuaries that are enforced by other governing agencies
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Office of Response and Restoration
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The Office of Response and Restoration’s interdisciplinary scientific spill team responds to oil and chemical spills and other emergencies, providing critical advice for federal response efforts. OR&R also represents the Department of Commerce on the National Response Team, as a natural resource trustee, OR&R works on a cross-NOAA team to protect and restore marine resources threatened by waste sites and oil spills. OR&R conducts natural resource damage assessments by assessing environmental and economic injury, the Office works cooperatively with other agencies, responsible parties, and communities to resolve natural resource liability and implement restoration projects. OR&R also develops and tests new approaches for improved and cost-effective cleanup strategies, damage assessment, since 1999, OR&R has led the restoration and cleanup of the Pribilof Islands, Alaska. This effort will enable the transfer of lands to local island entities. OR&R administers NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, the Program was re-established in 2005 and supports domestic and international efforts to prevent, identify, remove, and reduce the occurrence of marine debris. The Program is identifying and evaluating the impacts of marine debris and designing programs to inform industry. Ecology Earth Science Natural environment Nature Conservation Movement Sustainability Biodiversity Office of Response and Restoration National Ocean Service NOAA
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Mussel Watch Program
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Status and Trends Mussel Watch Program is a contaminant monitoring program that started in 1986. It is the longest running continuous contaminant monitoring program of its kind in the United States, Mussel Watch consults with experts to determine appropriate contaminants to monitor, these include dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls. As of 2008, Mussel Watch monitors approximately 140 analytes, data collected by Mussel Watch can also be used to monitor the effectiveness of coastal remediation. Mussel Watch is a program that monitors the health of bivalves, mussels and this program was launched in 1986 and since then is the longest government-run monitoring program that has national influence. It was made in response to a mandate to preserve the marine environment. In 2008 they released an assessment of their data from 1986 through 2005, in this report, concentrations of many different metals and organic pollutants are shown over the two decades of data collection. Using this set of data, trends can be identified for different coastal areas, in 2010 and 2012 Western Washington University students assisted Whatcom County Public Works. Mussel Watch originally monitored areas known for contamination where data would be easily found, now the focus is to shift to areas of concern directed by organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency. Instead of focusing just on trends in the data Mussel Watch is looking to see if a policy has actually made a positive impact on a specific environment. Mussel Watch uses a combination of national oversight from NOAA with a network of regional and local groups to monitor coastal health throughout the United States. Contamination in one region can lead to effects in areas thousands of miles away. A performance based quality assurance process is used by the Mussel Watch Program to maintain data quality, the QA process reduces intralaboratory and interlaboratory variation. The community of over 120 members continues to work to aid citizen scientists. An example of the collaboration between national and local groups is the Washington State 2009/10 Mussel Watch Pilot Project. ”This involved a representative from NOAA assisting PSAMP staff and volunteers with a successful sampling of all Mussel Watch sites. The result of pilot project was a significant reduction in labor time of professional staff in the field due to the assistance. Proper training of volunteers is necessary to maintain consistent and accurate collection methods, more than 140 chemical contaminants are monitored by the Mussel Watch Program. The EPA lists many of these analytes as Priority Pollutants under the Clean Water Act and they have been chosen based on their bioavailability, possible uptake and storage into animal tissues, toxicity to aquatic life, and potential harm to humans. Metals measured in the Mussel Watch Program include aluminum, antimony, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, silicon, silver, thallium, tin and these metals come from both natural and anthropogenic sources
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National Centers for Environmental Information
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National Centers for Environmental Information, headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, is the worlds largest active archive of environmental data. In 2015 it was established from the merger of the National Climatic Data Center, the National Geophysical Data Center, the current director is Thomas R. Karl, who was the director of NCDC before merger. The establishment of NCEI was rooted in the increase in the demand for environmental data. The transition is expected to finish beyond 2020, while at the meantime none of the existing products, NOAA Central Library Climate Prediction Center Environmental data rescue National Severe Storms Laboratory State of the Climate Storm Prediction Center National Centers for Environmental Information
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United States Navy
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The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U. S. Navy is the largest, most capable navy in the world, the U. S. Navy has the worlds largest aircraft carrier fleet, with ten in service, two in the reserve fleet, and three new carriers under construction. The service has 323,792 personnel on duty and 108,515 in the Navy Reserve. It has 274 deployable combat vessels and more than 3,700 operational aircraft as of October 2016, the U. S. Navy traces its origins to the Continental Navy, which was established during the American Revolutionary War and was effectively disbanded as a separate entity shortly thereafter. It played a role in the American Civil War by blockading the Confederacy. It played the role in the World War II defeat of Imperial Japan. The 21st century U. S. Navy maintains a global presence, deploying in strength in such areas as the Western Pacific, the Mediterranean. The Navy is administratively managed by the Department of the Navy, the Department of the Navy is itself a division of the Department of Defense, which is headed by the Secretary of Defense. The Chief of Naval Operations is an admiral and the senior naval officer of the Department of the Navy. The CNO may not be the highest ranking officer in the armed forces if the Chairman or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The mission of the Navy is to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression, the United States Navy is a seaborne branch of the military of the United States. The Navys three primary areas of responsibility, The preparation of naval forces necessary for the prosecution of war. The development of aircraft, weapons, tactics, technique, organization, U. S. Navy training manuals state that the mission of the U. S. Armed Forces is to prepare and conduct prompt and sustained combat operations in support of the national interest, as part of that establishment, the U. S. Navys functions comprise sea control, power projection and nuclear deterrence, in addition to sealift duties. It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, the Navy was rooted in the colonial seafaring tradition, which produced a large community of sailors, captains, and shipbuilders. In the early stages of the American Revolutionary War, Massachusetts had its own Massachusetts Naval Militia, the establishment of a national navy was an issue of debate among the members of the Second Continental Congress. Supporters argued that a navy would protect shipping, defend the coast, detractors countered that challenging the British Royal Navy, then the worlds preeminent naval power, was a foolish undertaking. Commander in Chief George Washington resolved the debate when he commissioned the ocean-going schooner USS Hannah to interdict British merchant ships, and reported the captures to the Congress
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United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
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Federal Aviation Administration
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The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States is a national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation. The FAAs roles include, Regulating U. S, each LOB has a specific role within the FAA. Airports — plans and develops projects involving airports, overseeing their construction, Air Traffic Organization — primary duty is to safely and efficiently move air traffic within the National Airspace System. ATO employees manage air traffic facilities including Airport Traffic Control Towers, Aviation Safety — Responsible for aeronautical certification of personnel and aircraft, including pilots, airlines, and mechanics. Commercial Space Transportation — ensures protection of U. S. assets during the launch or reentry of commercial space vehicles, the FAA is headquartered in Washington, D. C. as well as the William J. The newly created Aeronautics Branch, operating under the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight, in fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on such functions as safety regulations and the certification of pilots and aircraft. It took over the building and operation of the system of lighted airways. The Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce in 1934 to reflect its status within the Department. As commercial flying increased, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers for providing air traffic control along the airways, in 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system. The pioneer air traffic controllers used maps, blackboards, and mental calculations to ensure the separation of aircraft traveling along designated routes between cities. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred the civil aviation responsibilities from the Commerce Department to a new independent agency. The legislation also expanded the role by giving them the authority. President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies in 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board, CAA was responsible for ATC, airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB was entrusted with safety regulation, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines, the CAA was part of the Department of Commerce. The CAB was an independent federal agency, on the eve of Americas entry into World War II, CAA began to extend its ATC responsibilities to takeoff and landing operations at airports. This expanded role eventually became permanent after the war, the application of radar to ATC helped controllers in their drive to keep abreast of the postwar boom in commercial air transportation. The approaching era of jet travel, and a series of midair collisions and this legislation gave the CAAs functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency. The act transferred air safety regulation from the CAB to the new FAA, the FAAs first administrator, Elwood R. Quesada, was a former Air Force general and adviser to President Eisenhower
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National Climatic Data Center
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The United States National Climatic Data Center, previously known as the National Weather Records Center, in Asheville, North Carolina was the worlds largest active archive of weather data. Starting as a unit in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1934. It was later renamed the National Climatic Data Center, with relocation occurring in 1993, in 2015, it was merged with the National Geophysical Data Center and the National Oceanic Data Center into the National Centers for Environmental Information. In 1934, a unit was established in New Orleans. Climate records and upper air observations were punched onto cards in 1936 and this organization was transferred to Asheville, North Carolina in 1951, where the National Weather Records Center was established. It was housed in the Grove Arcade Building in Asheville, North Carolina and this name was maintained by the agency through 1967. The NCDC was then housed at the Veach-Baley Federal Complex in downtown Asheville where it moved after the completion in 1995. In 2015, NCDC merged with the National Geophysical Data Center, the Center provided historical perspectives on climate which were vital to studies on global climate change, the greenhouse effect, and other environmental issues. The Center stored information essential to industry, agriculture, science, hydrology, transportation, recreation and these services are still provided by the NCEI. The NCDC stated, Evidence is mounting that global climate is changing, the extent to which man is responsible is still under study. Regardless of the causes, it is essential that a baseline of long-term climate data be compiled, therefore, global data must be acquired, quality controlled, NCDC provides the historical perspective on climate. Through the use of over a years of weather observations. From this knowledge the clientele of NCDC can learn from the past to prepare for a better tomorrow, wise use of our most valuable natural resource, climate, is the goal of climate researchers, state and regional climate centers, business, and commerce. NCDC also maintained World Data Center for Meteorology, Asheville, the four World Centers have created a free and open situation in which data and dialogue are exchanged. NCDC maintained the US Climate Reference Network datasets amongst a vast number of climate monitoring products. Climate Prediction Center Environmental data rescue National Severe Storms Laboratory State of the Climate Storm Prediction Center
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National Oceanographic Data Center
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The National Oceanographic Data Center was one of the national environmental data centers operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the U. S. Department of Commerce. The main NODC facility was located in Silver Spring, Maryland and was made up of five divisions, in 2015, NODC was merged with the National Climatic Data Center and the National Geophysical Data Center into the National Centers for Environmental Information. NOAA also operated two data centers, National Climatic Data Center, Asheville, North Carolina and National Geophysical Data Center, Boulder. In 2015, the three merged to form the National Centers for Environmental Information, also, the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado is operated for NGDC by the University of Colorado through the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences. These discipline-oriented centers served as national repositories and dissemination facilities for environmental data. Working cooperatively, the provided data products and services to scientists, engineers, resource managers, policy makers. Established in 1961, the NODC was originally an interagency facility administered by the U. S. Naval Hydrographic Office, the NODC was transferred to NOAA in 1970 when NOAA was created by Executive Order by then-President, Richard Nixon. In the words of its charter, the NODC serves to acquire, process, preserve, the NODCs mission statement was To provide scientific stewardship of marine data and information. These data included physical, biological and chemical measurements derived from in situ oceanographic observations, satellite remote sensing of the oceans, and ocean model simulations. The Data Center represents NESDIS and NOAA to the public, government agencies, private institutions, foreign governments. The NODC managed the worlds largest collection of publicly available oceanographic data, NODC holdings included in situ and remotely sensed physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic data from coastal and deep ocean areas. NODC data holdings extended back over one hundred years, and the volume is expected to grow exponentially as new ocean observing systems are deployed, another significant user community was Education, where these data and information products help teach each new generation of students about the oceans. Requests for oceanographic data and information have increased each year since the Center was established in 1961, access to these archives is still available through the NCEI. A significant percentage of the data held by NODC was foreign. They are part of the World Data Center System initiated in 1957 to provide a mechanism for data exchange, under NODC leadership, the Global Data Archeology and Rescue project grew into a major international program sponsored by the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission. GODAR is an effort to locate, rescue, quality control. The NODC provided data management support for ocean science projects. The combined libraries contained millions of volumes including books, journals, CD-ROMs, DVDs, audio and these holdings are now managed by the NCEI
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