Achieving Environmental Literacy with NOAA's Observing Systems Data

Author： McDougall Carrie Ibanez Atziri White Susan

ISSN： 0025-3324

Source： Marine Technology Society Journal, Vol.39, Iss.4, 2005-0, pp. : 48-55

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Abstract

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has significantly increased its commitment to promoting environmental literacy by adopting this effort as a strategic cross-cutting priority, forming an Office of Education and establishing an Education Council. Another of NOAA's strategic cross-cutting priorities is integrating global environmental observations and data management. NOAA possesses a vast array of observing systems that monitor oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial parameters. The streaming data from these systems offers broad opportunities to create real-time visualizations of dynamic Earth processes and to capture rare and spectacular events that occur on regional or global geographic scales. Making these visualizations available to and understandable by the general public is not an easy task. The potential return on investment however, is large. NOAA's Education Council realizes the educational potential that observing system data offer and has adopted Earth Observing Systems Education as a top priority. An effort is currently underway in NOAA to assess existing observing system education activities within and outside the Agency and to pilot education programs using the available streaming data. We will report on the process of assessment and on some of the pilot projects we have begun with a focus on a case study provided by the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), a program that provides a fully operational network of integrated observing systems focused on the nation's estuaries.