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Federal Coordinator’s Update COPC/SPOSC 2001-2 Meetings

Federal Coordinator’s Update COPC/SPOSC 2001-2 Meetings. Samuel P. Williamson Federal Coordinator November 28-29, 2001. Overview. Ongoing Activities/Recent Accomplishments Administration Transition Issues Homeland Security U.S. Weather Research Program Wind Chill Temperature Index

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Federal Coordinator’s Update COPC/SPOSC 2001-2 Meetings

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  1. FederalCoordinator’s UpdateCOPC/SPOSC 2001-2 Meetings Samuel P. Williamson Federal Coordinator November 28-29, 2001

  2. Overview • Ongoing Activities/Recent Accomplishments • Administration Transition Issues • Homeland Security • U.S. Weather Research Program • Wind Chill Temperature Index • Upcoming Events • Workshop on Strategy for Providing Atmospheric Information • Workshop on Effective Emergency Response • 56th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference

  3. Administration Transition Issues • Following Nov 2000 FCMSSR meeting, prepared white paper for agency use during transition team interactions • Paper addressed the following issues: • The Next Step Beyond Modernization • Climate Services • Comprehensive Strategy for Emergency Management • Landfalling Hurricanes* • Transportation* • Strategy for Atmospheric Information*

  4. Administration Transition Issues (2) • Landfalling Hurricanes • Improve hurricane track and intensity forecasts • Major 55th IHC outcome--the need to develop a sustain-able, formalized approach to transition successful hurricane research results to operations • First step: Prepared article entitled, Research to Operations: Bridging the Valley of Death, for the FY 2002 Federal Plan • Transportation • Aviation: With the National Aviation Weather Initiatives Tier 3/Tier 4 report, established baseline for ongoing and planned R&D and a vehicle for transitioning research to operations

  5. Administration Transition Issues (3) • Aviation: Taking leadership role in coordinating the establishment of a national training program • Aviation: Will soon publish A National Framework for Volcanic Ash Hazards to Aviation • Surface Transportation: A comprehensive requirements document is currently being reviewed by a technical editor and will be published soon • Strategy for Atmospheric Information • A workshop is planned to address Leadership and Management Recommendation 1 of the National Research Council/ National Academy of Sciences BASC report, The Atmospheric Sciences Entering the Twenty-First Century

  6. Homeland Security • June 2000-OFCM sponsored a Workshop on Multiscale Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling within the Federal Community • The goal: To bring users and developers of dispersion models together to improve development and operational coordination • The events of September 11, 2001, have brought the issue of dispersion modeling to the forefront because of the possible use of WMD during a terrorist attack

  7. Homeland Security (2) • In response to this threat and the 4 Oct meeting between NOAA/NWS, Air Force, and Navy, the OFCM-sponsored, interagency Joint Action Group for Environmental Support to Homeland Security was formed and has met weekly since 11 Oct. Key players include: • NOAA (NWS, OAR, NESDIS, NOS), Navy, Air Force, DOE, EPA, FEMA, NRC, FAA, USCG, and DTRA • As we move forward, will seek inputs from DOI, NASA, USDA, and FHWA

  8. Homeland Security (3) • Reviewed the functions of the Office of Homeland Security (OHS), which are Detection, Prevention, Preparedness, Protection, and Response/ Recovery • Reviewed supporting infrastructure and developed inventories of product, service, and support capabilities • Agencies documented capabilities in matrices tailored to the OHS functions • “Single points of failure” were to be addressed at the individual agency level due to security considerations

  9. Homeland Security (4) • Analyzed Lead Federal Agency (LFA) responsibilities for consequence management • Specifically: • Identified capabilities, shortfalls, cooperative support and backup arrangements, areas where other agencies’ capabilities are currently being leveraged, and future leveraging opportunities • Addressed the current support structure and process for providing consequence assessment under various scenarios, using atmospheric transport and diffusion (ATD) models • On 16 Nov, briefed FCMSSR on initial results

  10. Homeland Security (5) • Action items from FCMSSR meeting: • Arrange for representation from the Office of Homeland Security and the Justice Department to work with OFCM on homeland security issues and to attend future meetings related to environmental support to homeland security • Establish an interagency process to identify requirements and establish priorities for meteorological support to homeland security • Identify areas for increased leveraging and backup between agencies • OFCM host a meeting in a classified environment to discuss single points of failure within relevant agencies

  11. Homeland Security (6) • Action items from FCMSSR meeting (continued): • Establish a working relationship with the Office of Homeland Security so that the meteorological community can make appropriate contributions. Set up a meeting so that appropriate individual(s) in the Office of Homeland Security can receive a briefing from the provider agencies on support which can be provided to the OHS • Proceed with the Workshop on Effective Emergency Response: Selecting a Suitable Dispersion Model for a Given Application, December 5-6, 2001

  12. U.S. Weather Research Program • Hosted meetings on expanded USWRP participation on May 11 and August 24, 2001 • In a letter to the NOAA Administrator, the Board of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (BASC) reinforced the importance of the USWRP and recommended expanded agency participation • Current participation includes: NOAA, NSF, NASA, and the U.S. Navy • New potential participants include: FAA, FHWA, FEMA, DOE, USDA, and U.S. Air Force • It is expected that several will join and that USWRP priorities will be expanded to address their needs

  13. Wind Chill Temperature Index • Oct 2000: OFCM Joint Action Group for Temperature Indices (JAG/TI) agreed to specific criteria for wind chill temperature (WCT) index • Initiated wind chill temperature index development project based on combined indices of Canada’s Defense and Civil Institute for Environmental Medicine (DCIEM) and Indiana University/Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) • Feb 2001: Agreed to conduct human studies at DCIEM; funding provided by DCIEM, OFCM, and the Army • Aug 2001: Study results presented and the new WCT index and algorithms were accepted • New WCT Index implemented for Winter 2001-2002 by NWS, DOD, and Canada

  14. Strategy for Providing Atmospheric Information • Workshop planned for Dec 3-5, 2001 • Overarching goal: • Provide a framework for developing a strategy leading to an optimal 21st century national atmospheric information system • Objectives: • Introduce and define the issue of providing atmospheric information in an evolving, decentralized national system • Consider atmospheric information issues in the context of a sample of meteorological disciplines or areas of application, to include natural and technological hazards, agriculture, climate, transportation, and urban meteorology

  15. Strategy for Providing Atmospheric Information (2) • Explore collection and distribution methodologies and related issues focused on making atmospheric information more universally available • Investigate the application of standards, formats, and other mechanisms as agents for making atmospheric information more universally useful • Propose a coordination methodology for use in developing a strategy for providing atmospheric information • Additional Considerations: • Environmental support requirements to Homeland Security • Potential access and security constraints on operational information

  16. Workshop on Effective Emergency Response • Workshop planned 5-6 December, 2001 • Overarching goal: • Define a system for supporting the objective determination of the most appropriate dispersion model to be used in a given situation • Objectives: • Select categories to be used for screening dispersion models for application in a given scenario • Develop appropriate criteria within the selected categories to be used for objective screening of models • Introduce and discuss processes and critical issues relating to model evaluation

  17. Workshop on Effective Emergency Response (2) • Additional Considerations: • Aggressive timeline due to urgency of situation • There’s ~145 ATD models of various types • Response (national, regional, and local use) • Regulatory • R&D • Various levels of verification and validation • No common concept of operations

  18. 56th Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference • Theme: Hurricane Season 2002: 10 Years after Hurricane Andrew • Dates: March 11-15, 2002 • Location: Hyatt Regency Superdome Hotel, New Orleans, LA • Call for Abstracts and the Brochure will be in the mail soon

  19. Summary/OFCM Web Site • Conference/Forum/ Workshop/ Committee presentations and summaries will be available on OFCM Web site • Click on “Special Projects” and navigate to the desired location http://www.ofcm.gov/

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