NOAA Chief: Weather Coalitions Gain In Importance

By Randall Turk

Transcript Business Editor

The administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Friday his agency is interested in developing larger coalitions like the National Weather Center in Norman.

Retired Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher also said NOAA will be competing with other scientific agencies this year for congressional appropriations. He hinted that coalitions like the Weather Center will be essential to getting more bang from the federal buck.

"We are competing this year in the same money bin as NASA (the National Aeronautic -- Space Administration), NSF (the National Science Foundation) and other scientific agencies," Lautenbacher said.

NOAA, which administers the National Weather Service, has a $3.9 billion annual budget, making it the smallest agency among those competing for government dollars, he said. "We need to work with our partners and gain recognition for what's there."

Lautenbacher said he was visiting Norman to view construction progress on the $67 million National Weather Center building on the new University of Oklahoma research campus, scheduled to open this spring, and get briefed about weather research projects under way. "I wanted to talk to our people, see the new building and get updated," he said. "A lot has happened in Norman in the last year and a half. I wanted to see that."

He spoke at a luncheon meeting of the Norman Chamber of Commerce Weather Committee."

Any day in Norman is better than any day in Washington," Lautenbacher told the group. "Norman is unique, a center of excellence for weather -- for applying weather technology to societal benefits. You're on the right track."

He said breakthroughs in technology developed by Norman's weather community such as NEXRAD [next generation radar] have greatly improved predicting severe storms, resulting in better advance warning and response time. "The best warning system in the world doesn't do any good unless it gets to the people and they use it in the right ways," he said.

Weather research has enormous potential for the public good and the private sector, he said. "There are huge markets out there."

Lautenbacher said he is particularly interested in developing weather programs that improve surface transportation. "No government can do a lot about it," he said. He added that collaboration among government, private sector and academic researchers can produce technology such as remote sensor systems and wideband dissemination of weather information. "NOAA doesn't have to own all the resources for that."

NOAA is working to organize larger coalitions like the weather center's, he said. The Global Earth Observing System, an alliance of 60 countries and 47 international organizations, is one of the coalitions the U.S. has been actively engaged in for several years, he said. Private companies and local governments can participate in the Alliance for Earth Observation "to let the government know what they need from the program."

In later comments for The Transcript, Lautenbacher said the new appropriations process for NOAA and the other scientific agencies takes effect with the new government fiscal year, which began this month.

There may be a transition process involved in the new funding system, he said. "Different congressmen and senators are part of the budget process now." But he said all agencies competing for funding have productive working relationships. "We collaborate with NASA in certain areas and rely on NSF for basic research."

Lautenback said the Global Earth Observing System gathers environmental information from the earth, outer space and the oceans. "This is where basic life comes from." He said GEOS data will be used to preserve health, protect natural resources such as marine life and coastal zones and improve agriculture and weather-related commerce.

At the Friday luncheon, OU received the "StormReady" designation for severe storm readiness from the National Weather Service. OU is one of 10 universities in the country to receive the StormReady designation for meeting NWS guidelines for severe weather reception and monitoring equipment, readiness to issue weather warnings and community preparedness. The City of Norman's Emergency Operations Center operates Norman's outdoor warning systems.

OU ranks first nationally in mesoscale and severe storms research and is among the top seven meteorology programs in the U.S. One of the first 11 science and technology centers in the country -- the Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms (CAPS) -- is at OU. CAPS has established two new NSF-funded research centers: the Center for Collaborative, Adaptive Sensing of the Atmosphere (CASA), and Linked Environments for Atmospheric Discovery (LEAD).

Also on the research campus is One Partners Place, the first of a series of buildings for private weather-related enterprises. The building is occupied by Weathernews Americas, Inc., the world's largest private weather company.

Construction is expected to begin soon for Two Partners Place, the second building for private weather companies.