National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) officials will open the East Coast Node of NOAA’s CoastWatch program, which provides quick access to near real-time satellite data, including sea-surface temperatures, ocean-surface winds, and chlorophyll-a levels for the Chesapeake Bay, coastal waters along the East Coast, and eventually across the Atlantic.
NOAA plans for the Annapolis based office to be a one-stop shop for satellite data throughout the Atlantic that will be a boon for scientists, resource managers, and the fishing community.
In 2007, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, celebrates 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America’s scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation’s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners and more than 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes.