News Archive
August 1999

Data from NASA's Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study (BOREAS) are now available from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Distributed Active Archive Center (ORNL DAAC). The objectives of the BOREAS Project were (1) to improve process models that describe the generation and exchanges of energy, water, heat, CO₂, and trace gases between the boreal forest and the lower atmosphere in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada, and (2) to develop methods for applying the process models over large spatial scales using remote sensing and other integrative modeling techniques. This collection of data currently includes 180 data sets of surface, airborne, and satellite-based observations. Additional data from this study will be provided as they become available.

August 11, 1999 -- The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published in the Federal Register a second notice regarding a 1998 law that makes university research data accessible to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Specifically, the law requires OMB to amend its Circular A-110 to permit FOIA requests for research data generated by federally sponsored awards to universities, medical schools, teaching hospitals, and non-profit institutions. The OMB is inviting public comment on this latest notice to be received no later than September 10, 1999, and intends to implement the revisions, in compliance with the Shelby statute, by September 30.

Blistering summer temperatures have brought drought conditions across large sections of the United States, especially in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and upper Ohio Valley regions. This new site from the US Geological Survey (USGS) offers a number of drought resources. These include the latest condition reports for selected states and realtime streamflow data from the mid-Atlantic region; links to current information from the National Weather Service and the Department of Agriculture; drought definitions; and notes from a recent Congressional Briefing on drought in the Middle Atlantic states. The last item includes a number of graphs and streamflow maps. Numerous links to related sites and sources for more information are provided throughout Drought Watch.

Ambient atmospheric CO₂ data through 1998 from Mauna Loa, Hawaii (as well as Barrow, Alaska; Cape Matatula, Samoa; and the South Pole), contributed by Charles David Keeling and Timothy Whorf (Scripps Institution of Oceanography), have been put online by the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC). The Mauna Loa atmospheric CO₂ measurements constitute the longest continuous record of atmospheric CO₂ concentrations available in the world. The Mauna Loa site is considered one of the most favorable locations for measuring undisturbed air because possible local influences of vegetation or human activities on atmospheric CO₂ concentrations are minimal and any influences from volcanic vents may be excluded from the records.

Millions of global environmental records, including handwritten ships' logs from the 19th century and early American weather observations, are being saved from deterioration by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The records, located in NOAA's three national data centers, include deteriorating paper and acetate based film, and tape which is becoming obsolete. As the media deteriorate with age, records can be lost. NOAA has started an Environmental Data Rescue Program (EDRP), which coverts data to more stable storage media. "The goal of the data rescue program is to preserve the meteorological, climatological, geophysical, oceanographic and biological data stored in NOAA's national data centers, and throughout NOAA," said Tim Roberts, program manager. So far, the program has saved, among others, 13.5 million paper meteorological forms, 732,000 oceanographic observations recorded on paper, 131,000 pages of coastal data on paper and 88,000 reels of microfilm containing meteorological data.

GCDIS has created a Data Policies Forum with references to the latest information about access to research data, pending legislation, and organizational responses to national and international efforts to control access to research data and information. Included is the Data Management Working Group's "Full and Open" Definition which has gained significant acceptance internationally as a policy for free and unrestricted availability of environmental and natural resources data.

On July 23, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of a new Air Quality Index, which is used by state and local agencies for reporting on daily air quality to the public, especially in major cities. The new Index has been revised to enhance public understanding of air quality and associated health effects, and it reflects updated health information on several pollutants. In addition to the full text of the new AQI Rule (105 p.), several related documents are offered at the site. These include the AQI fact sheet, Air Quality Guide, Ozone Health Effects Booklet, and Guideline for Reporting of Daily Air Quality.

July 15, 1999 - House Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and Technology holds Hearing on H.R. 88: Research Data Available under the Freedom of Information Act. The hearing, chaired by Steve Horn, included two panels with members: Hon. Rush D. Hold, Hon. James C. Miller III, James T. O'Reilly, Dr. Harold E. Varmus, Bruce Alberts, Dr. Robert W. Hahn, William L. Kovacs, Dr. Robert Shelton, Anthony Obadal, Dr. George D. Thurston, Michael Gough, Dr. Gary D. Bass.

This continuously-updated catalog provides a comprehensive list of global change-related data sets made available during 1999 from federal agencies. The third in a series of yearly publications, this catalog represents an important step in the interagency process of making data and information from the U.S. Global Change Research Program available to researchers, the commercial world, policy makers, and the public.

Do you need help finding Global Change data or information? If so, check out the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page. It is packed with useful information. If that doesn't help, just Ask Dr. Global Change. He stands ready to answer you most difficult questions about Global Change on Planet Earth.