NOAA, FHWA and the Environmental Enterprise: Partnering for a Safer Surface Transportation System James R. Mahoney, Ph.D. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere NOAA Deputy Administrator ITSA Annual Meeting Phoenix, Arizona May 3, 2005 James R. Mahoney, Ph.D. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere NOAA Deputy Administrator ITSA Annual Meeting Phoenix, Arizona May 3, 2005

2 Why NOAA Is Here The impacts of adverse weather, annually, on the Nation’s roads are significant:  7,000 deaths  1.4 million crashes  More than 600,000 injuries  $42 billion in economic loss NOAA's Public Safety Challenge: (fatalities per year) Flood Lightning Tornado Hurricane Heat Cold Winter Storm Total NWS tracked Adverse Road Weather

3 Why NOAA Is Here NOAA’s Commerce and Transportation Goal Team Vision is Aligned with FHWA Objectives:  Safe, secure, efficient, and seamless movement of people and goods in the U.S. transportation system.  Environmentally sound development and use of the U.S. transportation system.

4 NOAA’s Mission & Goals To understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment and manage coastal and marine resources to meet the Nation’s economic, social and environmental needs. Mission Goals:  Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through an ecosystem approach to management  Understand climate variability and change to enhance society’s ability to plan and respond  Serve society’s needs for weather and water information  Support the Nation’s commerce with information for safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation  Provide critical support for NOAA’s mission

5 Partnerships Crucial to Success ITSA, AMS and TRB The “Enterprise” FHWA: Clarus, VII and MADIS Auto Manufacturers (for VII)

6 Partnering The Clarus Initiative Goals:  Establish network for exchanging surface transportation weather observations  Harness data to develop decision support tools  Fill data gaps (for all applications)  Utilize emerging and existing technology

7 Partnering The Clarus Initiative Integrates RWIS observations with other data for traveler safety Showcases potential of NERON, ISOS and GEOSS Assesses the utility of environmental information to meet the needs of the transportation enterprise

8 Partnering The Vehicle Infrastructure Integration (VII) Initiative Data from mobile sensors (vehicles) Vehicle probe data as surrogates for atmospheric variables Data to improve safety via immediate decision making

9 VII Decision Making Opportunities VII enables enhanced response and planning  Immediate response (e.g. black ice, fog banks) conveyed in seconds to minutes  Tactical response (e.g. thunderstorms, flash floods) forecast in minutes to hours  Strategic response (e.g. blizzards, floods, heat) forecast in hours to days

10 Supporting GEOSS NOAA’s Integrated Observing System GEOSS IOOS IUOS IOS NERON ISOS HCN COOP-M Legacy COOP CRN Other Networks ASOS

11 The Mechanism for Data Integration

12 U.S. Commitment “ The United States is making the commitment to move earth observation to the next level to benefit this next generation. This is one of President Bush’s environmental priorities… US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez Earth Observation Summit III February 16, 2005 Brussels, Belgium

13 Conclusion Data are at the heart of meteorological services NOAA is responsible for protecting life and property and promoting safe and efficient commerce and transportation

NOAA, FHWA and the Environmental Enterprise: Partnering for a Safer Surface Transportation System James R. Mahoney, Ph.D. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere NOAA Deputy Administrator ITSA Annual Meeting Phoenix, Arizona May 3, 2005 James R. Mahoney, Ph.D. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans & Atmosphere NOAA Deputy Administrator ITSA Annual Meeting Phoenix, Arizona May 3, 2005