A -- IMPROVE GLOBAL OCEAN CURRENT STATISTICS

A - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA),NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE DATA AND INFORMATION SERVICE, OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS INTENDS TO NEGOTIATE WITH EARTH AND SPACE RESEARCH , 1910 FAIRVIEW AVENUE EAST, SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, TO IMPROVE THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA)S PROCESSING SYSTEM AND DATA CENTER TO PROVIDE OCEAN SURFACE VELOCITY FIELDS ESTIMATED FROM SATELLITE ALTIMETERS AND VECTOR WIND DATA. THE PRESENT NOAA SYSTEM IS THE END- PRODUCT OF WORK STARTED IN 2001, AS PART OF A THREE-YEAR PROJECT SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL OCEAN PARTNERSHIP (NOPP). IN 2005, EARTH AND SCIENCE RESEARCH (ESR) PROPOSES TO EXPAND THE OSCAR SYSTEM TO INCLUDE THE ATLANTIC AND INDIAN OCEANS AND TO EXPAND THE LATITUDINAL COVERAGE TO COVER MOST OF THE LARGE TIDAL BASINS. THE END PRODUCT WILL BE AN INTERNET-BASED SYSTEM THAT WILL PROVIDE GLOBAL SURFACE OCEAN CURRENTS WITH A 2-DAY DELAY FROM THE TIME OF SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS. DRIFTING OCEAN BUOYS WILL BE USED TO MONITOR AND VALIDATETHE OSCAR-II GLOBAL ANALYSES. ALSO, OSCAR-II WILL IMPROVE THE SURFACE CURRENTS MEASUREMENTS NEAR COASTLINES. FOR EXAMPLE, NEAR SHORE CURRENTS FROM SHORE-BASED COASTAL RADARS WILL BE USED, WHERE AVAILABLE, TO VALIDATE THE OSCAR-II CURRENT ANALYSES. THIS WILL ALLOW COASTAL MANAGERS TO BE AWARE OF OFFSHORE CURRENTS THAT MAY INFLUENCE EVENTS SUCH AS HAZARDOUS ALLGAL BLOOMS (RED TIDES), AND STORM SURGES.