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Benefits of GEOSS in South Dakota

In South Dakota, Earth Observations will:

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 tornadoes and floods is $6.3 billion nationally, of which:

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.2

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 by the year 2010, $10B and 65,000 jobs will have been saved by 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.3

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.4

Protect watersheds through water quality monitoring and mapping of land cover changes; thereby, protecting sources of water for agriculture, forestry, and human uses.

Economic activity in coastal regions is very large. In the U.S., seventy-five percent of the nation's Gross States' Products came from the coastal states in 2000. Almost half of the national economy came from the coastal watershed counties, and more than one-third came from those counties in which states operate their Coastal Zone Management programs. The near shore area, which is four percent of the nation's land, produces more than 11 percent of the nation's economic output.5

Monitor local ground water supplies and surrounding facilities to protect groundwater resources.

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 US estuaries and 12 percent of ocean shoreline waters unfit for uses such as swimming, fishing, or supporting aquatic life.6

Monitor snow moisture and water runoff, particularly in areas that receive a major portion of their river and stream waters from mountain snow packs.

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 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 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.

4 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.

5 National Ocean Economics Project, www.oceaneconomics.org.

6 Health of the Oceans Report 2002, The Ocean Conservancy, http://www.oceanconservancy.org/

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