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Benefits of GEOSS in Oklahoma
In Oklahoma, Earth Observations will:
Aid in tornado preparation by using satellite data, weather models, Doppler radar, and other information; thereby, reducing natural disaster impacts.
The costliest U.S. tornado outbreak caused nearly $1.6 billion in insured losses on May 3-7, 1999, with the greatest losses in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area.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.
Average annual damage from floods is $5.2 billion and over 80 deaths per year nationally.2
Help manage 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.3
Children with asthma miss more than 14 million school days annually and asthma accounts for an estimated 14.5 million lost work days per year.4
Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save the state 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.
Irrigation is the number one use of water in Oklahoma; water supply is a close second, followed distantly by livestock watering. The majority of the state's surface water (approximately 60 percent) is used for public water supply.6
Monitor local ground water supplies and surrounding facilities to protect groundwater resources.
Groundwater accounts for almost 90 percent of total irrigation water use in Oklahoma. Groundwater is the prevalent source of water in the western half of the state.7
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 Insurance Information Institute, 2002. http://www.disasterinformation.org
2 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
3 U.S. Centers for Disease Control
4 CDC. Surveillance for asthma: United States, 1980-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2002;51(SS01):1-13
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.
6 Oklahoma Water Resources Board, 2004.
7 Ibid.