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Visit the NOAA Family at:

NOAA is more than just the National Weather Service (NWS).  Major Line Offices of NOAA include:  National Ocean Service (NOS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS).  Here's an introduction to a couple of smaller components of  our parent agency.

     The NOAA Corps is the smallest of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The service, consisting of approximately 299 commissioned officers, in an integral part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which is an agency of the Department of Commerce.
      The NOAA Commissioned Corps traces its roots back to the former US Coast and Geodetic Survey, which dates back to 1807 and President Thomas Jefferson.   Today, the NOAA Corps provides a cadre of professionals trained in engineering, earth sciences, oceanography, meteorology, fisheries science, and other related disciplines. The officers serve in assignments within the major Line Offices of NOAA:  National Ocean Service (NOS), National Weather Service (NWS), National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), and National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS).  Officers operated ships, fly aircraft, lead mobile field parties, manage research projects, conduct diving operations, and serve in staff positions throughout NOAA.
     Duty Stations are located across the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, as well as overseas at remote research sites such as the interior of Australia and the South Pole.
     Like other uniformed services, the NOAA Corps has its own set of insignia, and ribbons.  The ranks within the NOAA Corps are the same as the US Navy, from ensign to rear admiral.

     Living in Maine, snow plays a large part in all our lives.  Whether it is to play in, drive through, shovel, or just to admire through the living-room window, snow is an inescapable fact. 
     But snow can cause problems.  It can be a disaster when it falls (if there is too much that falls at once), and it can be a disaster when it melts (if it melts too quickly). 
     We would like to introduce you to another part of the National Weather Service family - NOHRSC -  The National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center.  Based out of Minneapolis, MN,  the NOHRSC helps to keep an eye on the snow pack across the entire United States.  They contribute to the  National Weather Service Mission of river and flood forecasting during the snow season by providing critical airborne -  and satellite-derived snow data and products to improve snow melt flood forecasting for the Nation. 
     The NOHRSC uses two snow survey aircraft simultaneously during the winter to make airborne snow-water equivalent measurements in regions of the country where information on the snow pack is critical to the NWS Hydrologic Services Program. Commissioned NOAA Corps Officers serve as Airborne Snow Survey pilots. 
     During the winter of 2000-2001, 1,316 airborne snow measurements were made over 21 states and 5 Canadian provinces.  The NOHRSC gener

Visit NOHRC on the web at:

www.nohrsc.nws.gov

ated over 35,000 map products of snow water equivalent, snow depth, snow cover, surface temperature, and freezing and thawing degree days.   A new snow product, introduced in 2001, is a snow depth analysis, using all available snow depth observations including those from cooperative observers.

Check them out this winter season.

The NOAA Corps is on the web at:

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