Benefits of GEOSS in Oregon

In Oregon, Earth Observations will:

Benefit forestry management through tracking of plant diseases and invasive species, as well as soil moisture and meteorology. Ground-based measures coupled with satellite data can help Oregon's foresters predict, plan, and manage.

Help protect the coastal fisheries by predicting the preferred fish habitats; thereby, giving commercial and recreational fishermen critical information as to where fish are in abundance 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.¹

Assist in the protection of endangered or scarce fish resources such as salmon fisheries. By tagging and tracking fish in near real time, Earth observations helps improve the understanding of fish habitats and cycles, increasing our ability to protect their habitats.

Be critical to wildfire management by: improving wildfire prediction; improving fire tracking; improving prediction of fire and smoke plume movement, and improving fire response coordination. 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 from smoke inhalation.

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 (includes fire suppression).²

Further promote the United States' ability to use satellite data, models, and monitoring observations to help state officials to maintain air quality standards for ground level ozone.

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

In 2000, the 15 states with the highest rates of current asthma prevalence were Arizona, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.⁵

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 nationally.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.

Overall, the 1997-1998 El Niño is estimated to have had total U.S. economic impacts on the order of $25 billion.⁷

Integrate measurement systems to allow the tracking of the sea level, which is critical to the many Oregon's residents who live within 50 miles of the coast and aid them in making appropriate decisions if sea levels start to rise.

Track land use changes to predict water runoff, flooding, stream water quality, and water supplies. This, in turn, helps Oregon to determine the amount of plant and animal habitats that are being lost.

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.

¹ 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.

² 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.

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 CDC. Self-reported asthma prevalence among adults: United States, 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. August 17, 2001;50(32):682-686.

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.

Benefits of GEOSS in Oregon

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