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Benefits of GEOSS in California
In California, Earth Observations will:
Provide better information to decision-makers and the public about the potential for earthquakes, including near real-time updates on the extent of potential danger and damage.
In 1992 alone, earthquake damage in California was estimated by the U.S. Geological Survey to have cost $158 million.1
Enable us to predict how changing environmental conditions, including sea currents, affect the whereabouts and numbers of fish and marine resources; thereby, giving commercial and recreational fishermen critical information as to where fish are in abundance or identifying scarce fish resources which, in turn, will help sustain the financial income of $3.4 billion for commercial and the $20 billion in recreational fishing each year.
The economic value added to the national economy by the commercial fishing industry is approximately $28.5 billion yearly. Approximately 17 million Americans engage in marine fishing as a recreational activity and spend approximately $25 billion per year on fishing related activities.2
Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save the state's citizens millions of dollars in heating and cooling costs. For example, in the San Francisco Bay, the unanticipated rapid cooling due to the unpredicted onset of sea breeze (Delta Breeze) can result in energy load forecast errors. In 2003, the load forecast error for the Delta Breeze was calculated at $9.9 Million.
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.3
Integrate satellite images and water quality models that will help pinpoint beach areas impacted by environmental pollutants such as harmful aquatic blooms and oil spills.
Economic impact of harmful aquatic blooms in United States average annually $49 million but individual outbreaks can cause economic damage that exceeds the annual average. For example, outbreaks in Chesapeake Bay (1997) cost the Maryland seafood and recreational fishing industries almost $50 million in just a few months.4
Enable state and local air quality forecasters to issue more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings regarding bad air quality to the public so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health.
An estimated 3.9 million Californians (children and adults) report that they have been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives. Nearly 2.9 million Californians with asthma (8.8%) experienced asthma symptoms in the previous 12 months.5
Track smoke plume direction and air quality effects from wild and hazardous material fires. Earth observations will also allow prediction of emergency costs for lost property and habitat, fire fighting, rebuilding, and the economic costs of human health impact.
Severe fire seasons due to drought and frequent winds can result in billions of dollars in damages. The Western Fire Season of Spring-Summer 2000 resulted in nearly seven million acres burned and an estimated $2 billion in damage costs (including fire suppression).6
Aid in meteorological predictions of El Niño events and other high and lower water years; thereby, helping to manage drought years, major spring floods, and water levels in streams and lakes that receive snow pack runoff.
California storm losses in the 1997-98 El Niño were $1.1 billion.7
Enhance meteorological modeling of small-scale weather events, precipitation and storm tracking; create a better understanding of soil moisture available to crops, and understand weather related crop damage and its extent.
Average annual damage from floods is $1.1 billion nationally.8
Monitor drought conditions for agriculture and forestry and help farmers, agribusiness, and local water management authorities better manage water resources.
Drought is estimated to result in average annual losses to all sectors of the economy of between $6-8 billion.9
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.
Pollution has rendered 44 percent of tested United States estuaries and 12 percent of ocean shoreline waters unfit for uses such as swimming, fishing, or supporting aquatic life.10
1 U.S. Geological Survey, Estimated Earthquake Losses, 1987-1997.
2 Fisheries of the United States, 2000, 2001, 2002, http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/. Marine Angler Expenditures in the Northeast Region 1998. NOAA Tech Memo No. NMFS-F/SPO-47.
3 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.
4 Hoagland, D.M. Anderson, Y. Kaoru and A.W. White. August 2002. The economic effects of harmful algal blooms in the United States: estimates, assessment issues, and information needs. Estuaries 25 (4b): 819-837.
5 ER Brown, YY Meng, SH Babey, E Malcolm. Asthma in California in 2001: High Rates Affect Most Population Groups.
6 Economic Impacts of Drought and the Benefits of NOAA's Drought Forecasting Services, NOAA Magazine, September 17, 2002. Website: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/magazine/stories/mag51.htm.
7 Changnon, Stanley A., ed. El Niño 1997-1998: The Climate Event of the Century, Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 22.
8 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
9 Economic Impacts of Drought and the Benefits of NOAA's Drought Forecasting Services, NOAA Magazine, September 17, 2002. Website: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/magazine/stories/mag51.htm.
10 Health of the Oceans Report 2002, The Ocean Conservancy, http://www.oceanconservancy.org/