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Strategic Goal 3

 

Observe, protect, and manage the Earth’s resources to promote environmental stewardship

STRATEGIC GOAL 3 TOTAL RESOURCES
Fiscal Dollars
(Dollars in Millions)
FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005
$3,398.4 $3,458.6 $3,802.0 $4,064.0
FTE 1 Resources
FY 2002 FY 2003 FY 2004 FY 2005
11,585 11,898 11,868 11,918
1. FTE— Full-Time Equivalent ( back)
STRATEGIC GOAL 3 REPORTED RESULTS
Rating Results
On Target 21
Slightly Below Target  3
Below Target  2
See Appendix A: Performance and Resource Tables for individual reported results.

The Department is a future-minded environmental science agency whose mission is 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. The Department has responsibilities for the environment, ecosystems, safety, and commerce of this nation that span oceanic, coastal, and atmospheric domains. Understanding the oceans and atmosphere is essential to sustaining the United States’ environmental and economic health. The Department provides products and services that are a critical component of the daily decisions made across the United States. From satellite imagery to tornado warnings, navigational charts to fish stock assessments, hurricane tracking to El Niño and harmful algal bloom predictions, severe weather forecasts to coastal zone management—Commerce’s science, service, and stewardship touch the life of every citizen in this country and in much of the world every day.

Together Commerce and its partners provide weather and climate services; manage and protect fisheries and sensitive marine ecosystems; conduct atmospheric, climate, and ecosystems research; promote efficient and environmentally safe commerce and transportation; and provide emergency response and vital information in support of homeland security. The breadth and scope of these services require the Department to be responsive to both short-term and long-term societal needs.

In fiscal year (FY) 2005 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) accomplished some major bureau-wide successes:

NOAA Provided Critical Information and Support Before and After Hurricane Katrina: Within 48 hours of landfall on the central Gulf coast, all NOAA National Hurricane Center forecasts indicated that Katrina would come ashore in southeastern Louisiana with a hurricane intensity of at least a level four. NOAA accurately predicted the path of this hurricane well in advance of landfall, enabling governments to initiate mass evacuations. During Katrina, NOAA collected accurate tide and current information on storm surge that will be invaluable to engineers planning the recovery and rebuilding of the coasts according to standards safe for people and the environment. NOAA provided thousands of before and after Katrina images using high-resolution aerial photography that provided critical help to damage assessment teams and emergency recovery operations. Google Earth and GlobeXplorer companies integrated the imagery into their Web services allowing the public to use these images to begin assessing impacts and damages and the insurance industry to expedite claims disbursements. NOAA’s mapping and charting services acted immediately after the storm to find navigation obstructions that might impede maritime commerce and delivery of critical supplies to stricken populations. NOAA analyzed satellite imagery of the area to determine coastal impacts (e.g., amount of land inundated and wetland loss.) NOAA assisted the State of Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement agents in security and safety matters involving marine rescues through the provision of NOAA enforcement agents and vessels. NOAA determined a commercial fishery failure and a fishery resource disaster in the Gulf of Mexico which will enable additional assistance to be delivered. Further, NOAA helped provide emergency response for more than 200 hazard incidents, including several Superfund hazardous waste sites.

The Department Led the Advancement of Integrated Earth Observations Systems: The Department led the approval and is leading the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the US Integrated Earth Observation System through the U.S. Group on Earth Observations (USGEO). USGEO, a standing subcommittee of the White House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources composed of 15 federal agencies and three White House offices, created the plan released in April 2005. The Department then led a U.S. Public Engagement Workshop in May 2005 to discuss the plan and its implementation. On a parallel track, the Department continued to provide international leadership in Earth observations and helped to facilitate international agreement on the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). The 10-year implementation plan was adopted at the Third Global Earth Observation Summit, held in February 2005 in Brussels. By adopting the plan, the nations have accomplished the first phase of realizing the goal of a comprehensive, integrated, and sustained Earth observation system. The Department also played a vital role in the establishment of the permanent Group on Earth Observations (GEO) through membership on its Executive Committee and in the successful transition of its Secretariat from the United States to Geneva, Switzerland.

NOAA Created its First-ever Corporate 20-Year Research Vision and 5-Year Research Plan in FY 2005: Documents to guide the long and short-term direction of NOAA’s research enterprise were developed and widely distributed through an extensive stakeholder outreach campaign. The 20-Year Research Vision adopts a longer-term perspective of ecological challenges and the scientific advances that can be expected to help meet those challenges, while the 5-Year Research Plan includes milestones for NOAA’s research that are aimed at improving NOAA’s products and information services in the near term.

NOAA’s Successful Satellite Launch Ensures Continuity and Improved Collection of Data: NOAA-N was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California on May 20, 2005. Upon achieving orbit NOAA-N became NOAA-18 and was declared operational on August 30, 2005 as the primary afternoon satellite in the Polar Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) constellation. NOAA-18 marks the beginning of the NOAA and European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Initial Joint Polar System (IJPS) agreement. The IJPS project comprises two NOAA polar satellites (NOAA-18 and NOAA-N Prime) and two EUMETSAT satellites (Metop A and Metop B). This gives NOAA and EUMETSAT the ability to share satellite instrument data and products.

SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC GOAL 3 PERFORMANCE GOALS
PERFORMANCE GOAL STATUS*
Serve society’s needs for weather and water information (NOAA) Yellow, Met (75% to 99%)
Understand climate variability and change to enhance society’s ability to plan and respond (NOAA) Green, Met (100%)
Protect, restore, and manage the use of coastal and ocean resources through an ecosystem approach to management (NOAA) Red, Not Met (<75%)
Support the nation’s commerce with information for safe, efficient, and environmentally sound transportation (NOAA) Green, Met (100%)
* Green = Met (100%) Yellow = Significantly Met (75% - 99%)  Red = Not Met (<75%)  (back)

The following are the strategic objectives that fall under this strategic goal:


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