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Benefits of GEOSS in Montana

In Montana, Earth Observations will:

Aid in transborder air quality efforts between the U.S. and Canada. Sharing ground-truth measures and satellite images will improve understanding of transborder pollution phenomena and better appreciation of Federal and state efforts to reduce air pollutants.

Enhance meteorological modeling of small-scale weather events, precipitation and storm tracking; create a better understanding of soil moisture available to crops, and understand weather related crop damage and its extent.

Average annual damage from tornadoes and floods is $6.3 billion nationally, of which:

Monitor drought conditions for agriculture and forestry and help farmers, agribusiness, and local water management authorities better manage water resources.

Drought is estimated to result in average annual losses to all sectors of the economy of between $6-8 billion.2

Help in the management of large and small farms by providing better local and regional scale temperature, rainfall, and soil moisture information. With Earth observations information, farmers can decide the rate of fertilizer application, placement of seeds, and use of irrigation to maximize crop yield and minimize crop damage.

Evaluate stress in crops through satellite monitoring of soil moisture and tracking of plant diseases and invasive species.

Enable state and local air quality forecasters to issue more timely, accurate, and site-specific warnings about episodes of poor air quality to the public so that people (especially the sensitive population) may take prudent actions to protect their health.

It is estimated that 31 million Americans including 9 million children have asthma. Ground level ozone in the summer time is the chief cause for poor air quality warnings and human exposure to ozone is known to aggravate asthma. Another component of air, airborne particulate matter, is associated with increased hospital admissions and emergency room visits for people with heart and lung disease and increased work and school absences.3

Provide more accurate weather forecasting and save the state millions of dollars in heating and cooling costs.

The value of understanding the interrelationships between weather variables and electric load can save a small utility at least $0.5 M annually through improved temperature forecasts.4

Monitor local ground water supplies and surrounding facilities to protect groundwater resources.

Protect watersheds through water quality monitoring and mapping of land cover changes; thereby, protecting sources of water for agriculture, forestry, and human uses.

Promote reduction of erosion and other non-point sources of pollution in many watersheds, and help to reduce sediment, urban contributions, and fecal coliform bacteria contributions to rivers, lakes, streams and other waters, and potentially reduce phosphorus and nitrogen contributions to waters.

1 National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Environmental and Societal Impacts Group, and the Atmospheric Policy Program of the American Meteorological Society, 2001, Extreme Weather Sourcebook 2001: Economic and Other Societal Impacts Related to Hurricanes, Floods, Tornadoes, Lightning, and Other U.S. Weather Phenomena, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. Available only online at http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/sourcebook/data.html

2 Economic Impacts of Drought and the Benefits of NOAA's Drought Forecasting Services, NOAA Magazine, September 17, 2002. Website: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/magazine/stories/mag51.htm.

3 U.S. Centers for Disease Control

4 Tribble, A.N., 2003: The relationship between weather variables and electricity demand to improve short-term load forecasting. Ph. D. dissertation, School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, 221 pp., from Building The National Cooperative Mesonet: Program Development Plan For COOP Modernization dated October 2003.

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