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Benefits of GEOSS in Georgia
In Georgia, Earth Observations will:
Help expand the ability to track and forecast natural disasters (such as hurricanes and storms). Through Earth observations, Georgia can have near real-time monitoring that will improve storm and hurricane forecasts and help to dramatically reduce the cost of damage to property and the loss of life.
Average annual damage from hurricanes and floods is $10.3 billion nationally, of which:
- hurricanes average $5.1 billion and 20 deaths per year; and,
- floods account for $5.2 billion, and average over 80 deaths per year.1
Give us information on flooding, road loss, and extent of property damage, as well as facilitate clean-up activities. Ground monitors, models, and satellite images give emergency responders and relief crews ways to respond faster (with more geographic precision) and avoid hazards themselves.
Average annual damage from floods is $5.2 billion and over 80 deaths per year.2
Pinpoint Georgia's beach areas impacted by environmental pollutants such as harmful aquatic blooms and oil spills.
Economic impact of harmful aquatic blooms in United States averages $49 million annually, but individual outbreaks can cause economic damage that exceeds the annual average. Outbreaks in Chesapeake Bay (1997) cost the Maryland seafood and recreational fishing industries almost $50 million in just a few months.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 to the public more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings about episodes of poor air quality so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health.
It is estimated that 31 million Americans including 9 million children have asthma. Ground level ozone in the summer time is the chief cause for poor air quality warnings and human exposure to ozone is known to aggravate asthma. Another component of air, airborne particulate matter, is associated with increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for people with heart and lung disease and increased work and school absences.A major cause of childhood illness is on the rise in Georgia.4
An estimated eleven percent of the state's children have asthma.5
Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save Georgia homeowners and businesses 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.6
Aid in stormwater management in sprawl areas like Atlanta. Earth observations' large collection of rainfall data and forecasting tools can benefit Georgia in its efforts to track storms, plan for drought, and manage wet weather runoff.
Drought is estimated to result in average annual losses to all sectors of the economy of between $6-8 billion.7
Integrate measurement systems to allow the tracking of the sea level (critical to the many Georgia's residents who live within 50 miles of the coast) and making appropriate decisions if sea levels start to rise.
Help track West Nile virus and Lyme disease through spatial analyses of environmental conditions, organisms, and people and places affected.
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 Ibid
3 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.
4 U.S. Centers for Disease Control
5 Georgia Division of Public Health. Burden of Asthma Report, 2003, report.
6 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.
7 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.