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Benefits of GEOSS in Arkansas
In Arkansas, Earth Observations will:
Aid in tornado preparation by using satellite data, weather models, Doppler radar, and other information; thereby, reducing natural disaster impacts.
Average annual damage from tornadoes is $1.1 billion.1
Facilitate response to flooding and clean-up efforts after flooding by providing residents and officials better information on flooding, road loss, and extent of property damage.
Flood loss claims in 2004 have already totaled more than $32 million nationally in the first 7 months of 2004.2 The costliest U.S. flood event occurred in the Midwest during the summer of 1993, resulting in approximately $24 billion in losses (in 2000 dollars) and 48 fatalities.3
Help in the management of large and small farms by providing better local and regional scale temperature, rainfall, and soil moisture information. With Earth observations information, farmers can decide the rate of fertilizer application, placement of seeds, and use of irrigation to maximize crop yield and minimize crop damage.
Evaluate stress in crops through satellite monitoring of soil moisture and tracking of plant diseases and invasive species.
Enable state and local air quality forecasters to issue more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings about episodes of poor air quality to the public so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health.
It is estimated that by the year 2010, $10B and 65,000 jobs will have been saved by the neighboring State of Texas' revisions of their air quality management plan, according to an independent economic analysis by the University of Chicago and University of Houston. The revisions were made based on NOAA's discoveries of previously unexpected factors that cause the Houston area to experience the highest ozone levels in the nation.4
Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save Arkansas millions of dollars in heating and cooling costs.
The value of understanding the interrelationships between weather variables and electric load can save a small utility at least $0.5 M annually through improved temperature forecasts.5
Protect watersheds through water quality monitoring and mapping of land cover changes; thereby, protecting sources of water for agriculture, forestry, and human uses.
Monitor local ground water supplies and surrounding facilities to protect groundwater resources.
Track and forecast Lyme disease through geographic analyses of people and places affected.
Promote reduction of erosion and other non-point sources of pollution in many watersheds, and help to reduce sediment, urban contributions, and fecal coliform bacteria contributions to rivers, lakes, streams and other waters, and potentially reduce phosphorus and nitrogen contributions to waters.
1 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Environmental and Societal Impacts Group, and the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society, 2001, Extreme Weather Sourcebook 2001: Economic and Other Societal Impacts Related to Hurricanes, Floods, Tornadoes, Lightning, and Other U.S. Weather Phenomena, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. Available only online at http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/sourcebook/data.html
2 Federal Emergency Management Agency, www.fema.gov
3 Lott, N. and T. Ross, A Climatology of Recent Extreme Weather and Climate Events, NCDC Technical Report 2000-02, Asheville, N.C., NOAA National Climatic Data Center, 2000. Also available online at http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql...re.prodspecific?prodnum=C00517-PUB-A0001
4 Tolley, George and Smith, Bruce, An Economic Evaluation of Alternative Strategies Cleaning Up Houston's Act, Final Report to Greater Houston Partnership from RCF, Inc. January, 2001.
5 Tribble, A.N., 2003: The relationship between weather variables and electricity demand to improve short-term load forecasting. Ph. D. dissertation, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 221 pp., from Building The National Cooperative Mesonet: Program Development Plan For COOP Modernization dated October 2003.