NOAA ESRL Physical Sciences Division  
Accomplishments

Climate
SEARCH Arctic Cloud and Aerosol Observatory Deployed
More Climate News...
Weather and Water
Sensor Demonstrates Hydrological Mapping Capabilities During SMEX04/NAME
More Weather and Water News...
Ecosystems
New Survey Techniques for Epipelagic Fish Stocks Tested
Ghost Net Survey Completed
More Ecosystems News...
Technology
ETL Microwave Instrumentation Featured in IEEE and ARM Articles
More Technology News...
Education Outreach
Summer Internships End with Seminars

NOAA ETL Joins the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory

As of October 1, 2005 the Environmental Technology Laboratory has merged into the Earth System Research Laboratory as part of the Physical Sciences Division. As part of our transition, the ETL Optical Remote Sensing Divison will be moving to the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division.

Building on a history of research excellence, ESRL represents a strategic repositioning of NOAA's broad climate and weather capabilities to better undertake the complex, interdisciplinary research increasingly necessary to achieve scientific and technological breakthroughs in today's modern world.

SEARCH Arctic Cloud and Aerosol Observatory Deployed

The first NOAA SEARCH observatory designed to make long-term climate measurements of Arctic clouds and aerosols has been established by NOAA's Environmental Technology Laboratory (ETL) in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin and the Canadian CANDAC program. As part of the NOAA Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) program, the observatory was deployed to improve atmospheric and sea ice observations. These observations will be combined with historical data to better understand Arctic change.

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Finding the Source of Atmospheric Rivers

Scientists and forecasters have long understood that the continental United States looks to the Pacific Ocean for its rainfall. Part of a complex global cycle, water evaporated from the Pacific Ocean travels in clouds to produce rain and snow over land. To better explain and predict droughts and floods, scientists are examining the processes which govern these flows.

Globe showing locations of current field programs which links to the Programs page.

Searching for Ghostnets

Thousands of miles from any human habitation, fishing nets lost or abandoned foul huge swaths of the Pacific Ocean. These "ghostnets" continue to fish, untended, entangling and killing fish stocks, marine mammals and birds. While this problem has been known to fisheries managers and fishermen alike, the sheer mass of ghostnets has come as an unpleasant surprise to NOAA scientists. NOAA researchers are developing techniques to identify areas in the open ocean where debris is concentrated and can be cost effectively retrieved.

Picture of a scuba diver next two a ball of tangled fishing gear.

NOAA
Earth System Research Laboratory
Physical Science Division (PSD)
Formerly
Environmental Technology Laboratory

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