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National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Utilizes a Freeware Solution for Plotting Historical Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) N-O-P Data
Mr. Daniel Wilkinson of the National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) has utilized a readily available freeware package to solve an unforeseen problem encountered in attempting to generate time-series plots of GOES N-O-P space weather data. NGDC has traditionally used the Interactive Data Language (IDL) graphics utility for plotting NOAA satellite data. Mr. Wilkinson found that IDL could not access GOES relational archives on available 64-bit Linux computers without the purchase of a $2,000 option called IDL Dataminer. However, Mr. Wilkinson found and tested a more cost-effective solution that uses a freeware IDL package, available from Marc Buie with the South West Research Institute that efficiently accesses the GOES relational archive. The freeware was, of course, successfully tested for Information Technology (IT) compliance.
( or 303-497-6137)
NOAA Hydrographic Data Improves Coastal Inundation Mapping
NGDC received praise from Tim Osborn (NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS), Office of Coastal Survey) and Elizabeth Behrens U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE/New Orleans) for the rapid response and data delivery supporting the Gulf of Mexico risk reduction and habitat restoration efforts. Thanks to American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding to improve access and utility of NOS hydrographic data, NGDC was able to deliver the most recent hydrographic data in formats more useful to the habitat and inundation modeling communities. This included several high-resolution sidescan sonar images, bathymetric data, and digital elevation models. According to Osborn, the timely delivery and ease of use significantly improved the most recent inundation models for the eastern Gulf of Mexico. NOAA provides water level and elevation data, among other services, to support the New Orleans and Southeast Louisiana Interagency Hurricane Protection System led by the USACE.
( or 303-497-6429)
National Geophysical Data (NGDC) Implements Use of New Software for Real-time Ionosonde Data Analysis
NOAA's NGDC, the Cooperative Institute of Research in the Environmental Sciences, and the Space Environment Corporation (Logan, UT), have implemented a new software product called Expert System for Ionogram Reduction (ESIR). The ESIR provides for the real-time analysis of raw ionogram data from a variety of ionosondes and produces validated ionospheric profiles of electron density. NGDC will use ESIR for processing operational space products used by the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center and the U.S. Air Force Weather Agency. Additionally, this software will be used in long-term climate change studies by normalizing the methods used for processing historical ionosonde data. NGDC is the first Federal agency to adopt this newly available software package for real time use.
( or 303-497-4788)
Expanding User Community and Applications of the World Magnetic Model (WMM)
The National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC), working in partnership with the British Geological Survey (BGS, Edinburgh, Scotland) develops a new WMM every five years to keep pace with the Earth's constantly changing magnetic field. The WMM incorporates the latest magnetic information from satellite and ground observatories to provide a high-quality model of the Earth's magnetic field for use in both military and civilian navigation systems. While the traditional use of the magnetic model was in navigation, surveys and geophysical exploration, WMM is finding new uses in consumer electronic devices with built-in digital compasses. New generation smart phones, hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) and digital cameras make use of the WMM to precisely estimate bearing. NGDC is providing support to several application development engineers to port the WMM to their applications. We anticipate that with this new user-base, the demand for WMM products and software will increase very significantly in the near future. This will also bring the WMM into everyday life of many people. To learn more about the WMM, compute magnetic field values on-line, or to download the model, software, and maps of the magnetic field, visit the WMM web site: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/.
( or 303-497-4642)
National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) Supports Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Efforts
NGDC is supporting the Office of Coast Survey's Vertical Datum Transformation (VDatum) Program by building high-resolution coastal (on- and off-shore) digital elevation models (DEMs) for select communities in the Gulf of Mexico. VDatum, designed to vertically transform geospatial data among a variety of tidal, orthometric and ellipsoidal vertical datums, supports Coastal & Marine Spatial Planning (CMSP) by allowing users to convert their data from different horizontal/vertical references into a common system; enabling the fusion of diverse geospatial data in desired reference levels. NGDC delivered DEMs for Mobile, AL to NOAA's Coast Survey Development Laboratory in December 2009 and is currently developing DEMs for New Orleans, LA and Panama City, FL as well as a Coastal Relief Model (CRM) of the Central Gulf Coast. These integrated bathymetric-topographic DEMs will be used to evaluate the utility of VDatum and will also support storm surge inundation forecasting, coastal hazard assessment and sea level rise studies. The completed Mobile, AL DEMs are available for download at the new project web site and just developed a web site to support the project: (http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/inundation/vdatum/vdatum.html). The DEMs were compiled from the best available digital data obtained from U.S. federal agencies, after collecting requirements from the storm surge modeling community and Gulf Coast stakeholders. This work is funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
( or 303-497-6767)
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