skip to content

SEARCH  |  SITEMAP

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research
1315 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-713-2458

NOAA Strategic Goal: Climate Variability and Change

NOAA has several observational sites that support the World Climate Research Programme’s Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX). One of NOAA’s GEWEX sites is located near Champaign, Illinois. GEWEX sites were established to provide detailed measurements and information about the physical and biological processes that occur at the land/surface interface. Observations from these sites are being used to test and improve the current generation of land surface models that are used for both regional and global climate prediction. Key observations from these sites include the turbulent fluxes of heat, water vapor, momentum, carbon dioxide, air temperature, and relative humidity. Support for this Air Resources Laboratory effort comes from the GEWEX Americas Prediction Project, which is jointly administered by the NOAA Climate Program Office and NASA. See www.ceop.net for details.

One of NOAA’s Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network (AIRMoN) sites is located in Champaign County, IL. AIRMoN provides a research-based foundation for the routine operations of the nation’s deposition monitoring networks. Major ion data (sulfate, nitrate, pH, ammonium, sodium, chloride, and soil cations) are routinely in demand by scientists addressing process oriented studies concerned with the study of atmospheric fate and transport of various chemicals as well as numerous ecosystem issues. Other process studies of more limited duration address issues related to the maintenance of air quality, and the interaction of air pollution with the terrestrial, aquatic, and biospheric environments. Both monitoring and shorter term projects are relevant to climate, which is one driver of long-term variability and change in environmental quality. For more information and data access, please see http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/AIRMoN.

NOAA is installing the U. S. Climate Reference Network across the country, to measure weather and climate. About 110 stations are envisioned for the network and more than 80 stations are presently operating in 40 states, including Illinois. The network is intended to operate for many decades, providing highly accurate and well-documented measurements of key variables such as air temperature and precipitation. Data is used operationally to put climate anomalies into historical perspective and to detect climate change. The effort is supported by the NOAA Research Climate Observation and Services Program and the Air Resources Laboratory, which designed the stations and has been assembling, calibrating, deploying, and maintaining the network sites in collaboration with NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite and Data Information Service. A list of the operational sites and links to their data are available at this URL: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/crn/hourly.

To carry out NOAA’s mission to provide climate forecasts and products, the Climate Program Office supports research projects across the nation conducted by investigators outside the federal government, within the federal government, and in NOAA Cooperative Institutes. This research is accomplished through the strong support of the academic and private sectors, as well as NOAA and other federal laboratories. The research contributes to improved predictions and assessments of the effects of climate variability over a range of time scales from season to season, year to year, and over the course of a decade and beyond. Grants Recipients: University of Illinois, Changnon Climatologist, Northern Illinois University

The Earth System Research Laboratory operates seven stations as part of its surface radiation measurement network (SURFRAD). The station measurements support regional and global weather and climate research with accurate, continuous, long-term measurements of the surface radiation budget over the United States. Solar radiation is the driving energy for geophysical and biological processes that control weather and affect planetary life; understanding the global surface energy budget is, therefore, key to understanding climate and the environmental consequences to agriculture and other statewide concerns. Because it is impractical to cover the whole earth with monitoring stations, the answer to global coverage lies in reliable satellite-based observations. Accurate and precise ground-based measurements across a range of climate regions are essential to refine and verify the satellite observations. One of these stations is located near Bondville, Illinois. These ground-based measurements also support special research projects on radiation and climate processes in the Illinois region and serve as important verification for weather forecasts. Information about these stations can be found at http://www.srrb.noaa.gov

NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) operates a new and growing small aircraft-based North American network of sampling sites (Carbon America) to measure vertical profiles of important greenhouse gas concentrations. Air is sampled above the surface up to approximately 25,000 feet above sea level using a reasonably small, light, and economical automated system developed by ESRL researchers. These air samples are delivered to the ESRL laboratory in Boulder, Colorado for measurements of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gasses. This data will improve global carbon cycle models. Weekly sampling is conducted from Peru, IL. The Peru site is operated in coordination with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere experiment.

NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) operates surface-based aerosol monitoring sites in five states. The sites in Illinois and Oklahoma expand ESRL’s aerosol monitoring capabilities to include continental sites in response to the finding that human activities primarily influence aerosols on regional/continental scales rather than on global scales. Aerosols create a significant perturbation of the Earth’s radiative balance on regional scales. The Illinois site is located in rural Champaign County at the Bondville Environmental and Atmospheric Research Site, about 10 miles south-west of Urbana-Champaign. The measurements made include aerosol optical properties (how the particles absorb and scatter solar radiation), aerosol number concentration and chemical composition of the aerosol particles. The site was established in 1994. The research aims to improve understanding of how trends in the properties of atmospheric aerosols relate to changes in human activity in the region.

NOAA Strategic Goal: Weather and Air Quality

Computer systems developed by the NOAA Research Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) are in operation at all NOAA National Weather Service (NWS) field offices, two of which are located in Illinois. ESRL has been the prime developer of the data ingest and display components of the NWS weather display and text generation system known as AWIPS (Advanced Weather Information Processing System). This system integrates meteorological, hydrological, satellite, and radar data. ESRL also developed the Interactive Forecast Preparation System Graphical Forecast Editor, a system that allows forecasters to display and manipulate forecast depictions of sensible weather (temperature, wind, precipitation, etc.), and use these to generate text and graphical forecasts for the public and other customers. NWS field offices are using this system to produce gridded forecast products, which allows forecasters to convey more information to the customers than they did in the past.

The NOAA Profiler Network (NPN) consists of 35 unmanned Doppler Radar sites located in 18 U.S. states. One NPN site is in Illinois. The NPN provides critical upper-air wind and temperature data to the National Weather Service, other NOAA entities, the military, universities, researchers and forecasters in the private sector. The NPN has been fully operational since 1992. Data from the NPN are directly associated with improved weather forecasting which saves lives and helps protect property. The NPN is particularly important in forecasting tornadoes and NPN data is also used to route aircraft for increased safety and fuel economy. The NPN continuous measurement of winds are used by the U.S. Departments of Defense, Energy, and Homeland Security. For more information visit www.profiler.noaa.gov

NOAA Strategic Goal: Ecosystems

In Illinois waters of Lake Michigan, a Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory scientist in collaboration with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Illinois Natural History Survey researchers is documenting yellow perch recruitment dynamics to assess both short and long-term outlook in perch reproduction in support of informed and effective management decisions affecting the fishery.

The Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory Marine Instrumentation Laboratory has deployed and is maintaining a real-time network of shore-based meteorological instrument packages including one in Chicago. The meteorological observations obtained from the network are being used in GLERL's Great Lakes Coastal Forecasting System to improve nowcasts and forecasts of wind, waves, water levels, and circulation. In addition, the National Weather Service forecast office in Chicago is using the observations to improve marine forecasts and warnings. The Chicago station measures/records wind speed, wind gust, wind direction, and air temperature at five-minute increments that are updated every 15 minutes on the web. In addition, a webcam provides an image of nearshore Chicago waters and skyline that is updated every 30 minutes at http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/metdata/chi/.

NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program is a federal-university partnership that integrates research, education, and outreach (extension and communications). Sea Grant forms a network of 32 programs in all U.S. coastal and Great Lakes states, Puerto Rico and Guam. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant works to promote the wise use of Great Lakes resources, primarily along southern Lake Michigan. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant research addresses reducing the spread, introduction, and economic impact of non-indigenous species; improving both the biological and human aspects of the Lake Michigan fishery through attainment, transfer, and application of knowledge of food web and ecosystem dynamics of the lake; supporting ecologically sound and sustainable coastal economic development and land use; reducing non-point pollution stemming from increased land development; and developing a viable aquaculture industry for the region. The public, industry, and policy makers are kept informed on issues related to biological resources, aquaculture, water quality, and coastal business and environment through the Program's extension and outreach services. Extension efforts in both states are enhanced through partnerships with the Cooperative Extension Service at both the University of Illinois and Purdue University. For example, a Tri-State Water Consortium (composed of over 44 governmental, industry, and organizational leaders from Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana) will develop a regional plan and a formal policy structure that ensures a sustainable water supply in the Chicago Metropolitan region in the three states. For more information see http://www.iisgcp.org.

NOAA's Undersea Research Program (NURP) is a unique national service that provides undersea scientists with tools and expertise that they need to work in the undersea environment, from the shoreline to the deep sea. Each year, the program supports 200 or more undersea research projects related to NOAA's mission as steward of oceanic resources and environments, including research to support NOAA's management responsibilities in fisheries (stock assessment validation, understanding essential fish habitat), corals, and other coastal resources. NURP is comprised of a network of six regional centers and a national technology institute. NOAA's Undersea Research Center for the North Atlantic and Great Lakes (NAGL), one of the six NURP regional centers, is housed at the University of Connecticut. The NALG Center supports undersea research off the U.S.’s northeastern coast (i.e., Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank and the Southern New England Coast including Long Island Sound) and in the Great Lakes. The center’s research focuses on ecosystem response to human induced stress such as fishing and pollution and the role of habitat in sustaining fisheries and biological diversity. Underwater diving technologies available through NAGL include occupied submersibles, remotely operated vehicles (ROV's), and Nitrox scuba. For more information see http://www.nurp.noaa.gov/natlan.html.

CONTACT US  ·  PRIVACY POLICY  ·  DISCLAIMER

Updated June 8, 2006