![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Benefits of GEOSS in Vermont
In Vermont, Earth Observations will:
Enable state and local air quality forecasters to issue to the public more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings regarding bad air quality so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health. By 2005, ozone forecasts will be made available along the entire East Coast and by 2009, particulate matter forecasts will be made available.
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.1
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.2
Track effects of global climate change. It has been predicted that if the temperature warms, Vermont's maple syrup production would be adversely affected because warmer temperatures reduce the sap flow. Integration of various sources of information would help predict the rate of change and thus position maple syrup farmers to adjust their production estimates and plan for additional or alternative crops.
Weather- and climate-sensitive industries, both directly and indirectly, account for about one-third of the Nations' GDP, or $3 trillion, ranging from finance, insurance, and real estate to services, retail and wholesale trade and manufacturing.3
Help expand the ability to track storms and precipitation. Through Earth observations, Vermont can have near real-time monitoring that will improve storm forecasts and help to dramatically reduce the cost of damage to property and loss of life.
Average annual damage from hurricanes and floods is $10.2 billion nationally, of which:
- hurricanes average $5.1 billion and 20 deaths per year;
- floods account for $5.2 billion, and average over 80 deaths per year.4
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 Vermont's foresters better predict, plan, and manage.
Help protect the fish and wildlife by tracking water quality in Vermont waters. Recreational fishing tops $20 billion each year.
Track water temperatures, harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and other environmental factors affecting Vermont's lakes and streams.
Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save Vermonters 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
Analyze land cover and land use changes that may affect vegetation, forestry, and agriculture in Vermont.
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 U.S. Centers for Disease Control
2 CDC. Surveillance for asthma: United States, 1980-1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2002;51(SS01):1-13
3 Dutton, John A., Opportunities and priorities in a new era for weather and climate services, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, September 2002, volume 83, no. 9, pp 1303-1311.
4 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
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.