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A Healthy Return on Investments 

April 2019

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How proud I am to introduce NOAA's 2018 Business Brief! As this report shows, the outstanding work of NOAA staff in advancing our strategic priorities has led to an innovative range of scientific and technological achievements and a healthy return on our nation’s investments.

I am especially proud that job satisfaction at NOAA has risen steadily over the past six years, topping 70 percent in 2018 and exceeding the federal average. 

NOAA forecaster Greg Dial shows Dr. Neil Jacobs satellite imagery at NOAA's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. A severe thunderstorm watch was proposed for the area shaded in green.

By putting people first, forging strong partnerships, and achieving progress through innovation, NOAA has a profound local-to-national and global reach. The impact on lives, livelihoods and America's economic prosperity and national security is enormous. 

Everyone at NOAA and our many partners can take great pride in this report, which provides a sampling of visionary, often pioneering collaboration and a glimpse of exciting innovations on the horizon.

Thank you!

Neil A. Jacobs, Ph.D.
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction performing the duties of Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere

Extreme Weather and Water Events

Weather helps shape lives and livelihoods and has a profound impact on the U.S. economy. Continuing a historic trend, there were 14 U.S. billion-dollar events in 2018. Totaling $91 billion, the number and cost of these events trailed only those of 2011, 2016 and 2017.

NOAA investments paid off at 2018 hotspots. In September, days before Hurricane Michael hit Florida, NOAA's track, lead-time, storm-surge and flood projections meant assets were ready and the public warned. In December, NOAA's close working relationships with local emergency managers and on-target tornado forecasts helped keep an Illinois community safe. A parade was canceled shortly before a strong tornado struck. Five hundred buildings were destroyed, but no lives were lost.

NOAA’s National Water Model was key to accurately forecasting catastrophic flood levels during Hurricane Florence. Effective drought prediction helped water resource managers and many others mitigate drought's impact. NOAA exceeded research-to-operations targets in 2018 by producing, for example, a fast, high-resolution product that increases weather forecast accuracy and doubles lead time for some hazards.

NOAA’s improved performance in understanding and predicting extreme weather and water events is critical. The U.S. averages about 10,000 thunderstorms, 5,000 floods, 1,300 tornadoes and 2 Atlantic hurricanes annually. Along with wildfires and widespread droughts, these events cause about 650 deaths each year.


Blue Economy

Rising fast on the horizon, a blue economy offers great promise for making our nation safer, healthier and more prosperous. NOAA is on the front lines of this emerging new ocean economy, pioneering the science, techniques and tools to help it grow wisely and sustainably. 

In particular, NOAA's science and collaborative efforts to end overfishing and rebuild stocks are showing results. Overfished stocks are at an all-time low. Canary rockfish were rebuilt in 15 years instead of the expected 30. Pacific ocean perch were rebuilt 34 years ahead of schedule. As a global leader in sustainable fisheries, NOAA is also on the front lines of aquaculture, modeling economically and environmentally viable ways to support this visionary and steadily growing U.S. industry. 

A thriving blue economy stems from healthy ocean and coastal resources, and NOAA's role in mapping and studying them is critical. Mariners rely on NOAA nautical charts to support navigation along nearly 95,000 miles of ocean and coasts. NOAA's HAB forecasts are vitally important in supporting state and local decisions in coastal communities, which now represent about 50 percent of GDP. In 2018, these forecasts helped Washington State open a razor clam fishery, adding about $7 million to regional revenue. 


RDML Tim Gallaudet, NOAA Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy NOAA Administrator, visited the Qwuloolt Estuary restoration project in Marysville, Washington to see a NOAA success firsthand. NOAA’s Damage Assessment Remediation and Restoration Program supported the project, which reconnected a former marsh and created more than 350 acres of estuarine marsh, access to stream habitat critical to growing salmon, and community access to local trails. Shown (from left), RDML Gallaudet; Kurt Nelson, Tulalip Tribes scientist; Rebecca Hoff, NOAA environmental scientist; and Jennifer Steger, NOAA Restoration Center regional supervisor.



America's ports are the lifeline of our economy. Just one extra inch of water depth enables larger ships to transport millions of dollars of added cargo. Active across the nation, NOAA's PORTS®, or Physical Real-time Oceanographic System, provides data and other navigation products to promote safe, efficient and competitive commerce while protecting U.S. coastal waters, especially estuarine habitats vital to the health of most of our nation’s fisheries.


Observational and Cyber Infrastructure

NOAA ships, planes, satellites and computing power were used to full advantage during the active 2018 hurricane and wildfire seasons. Satellites exceeded NOAA’s goal of providing critical real-time satellite data without gaps.

Two geostationary satellites, GOES-East and GOES-West, improved hurricane tracking and smoke detection. The satellites scan five times faster, quadruple image resolution, and triple the channels of precursors. NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown completed an international mission to service buoys monitoring waters that influence U.S. heat waves and flooding.

A massive NOAA supercomputer upgrade boosted high-performance capability by 50 percent and added 60 percent more storage capacity, enabling billions of observations from planes, satellites, buoys and ground stations to be ingested and analyzed daily. 

NOAA’s land, sea and space observations save lives, conduct research and protect America’s coasts. Each year, NOAA aircraft conduct more than 1,500 flights. These flights support weather and hurricane forecasting, nautical charting and water resource and fisheries management. Polar-orbiting satellites provide 85 percent of data feeding weather forecast models, yielding over $35 billion in economic benefits to U.S. households. Unmanned systems capture data where other resources can’t operate. Saildrones monitor fish stocks. Drones experimentally map coastlines and count protected marine species.


NOAA Innovations!

Working From Pole to Pole

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