According to a cost/benefit study done by NIST, the modernization, once com- 

 pleted, will provide benefits valued at $7 billion per year that include: 1) an en- 

 hancement in weather information provided to the public; and 2) an increase in ben- 

 efits to the American economy due to improvements in weather and stream flow 

 forecasting. This enables decision makers in various sectors of the economy (e.g., 

 aviation, agriculture, construction, and manufacturing) to take action to avoid 

 weather-caused losses and unnecessary preparedness costs due to false alarms. 



The FY 1994 request of $673.1 million lor the National Weather Service (NWS) 

 and $429.2 million for the National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information 

 Service allows NOAA to continue the modernization program, provide critical weath- 

 er services including local warnings and forecasts, and maintain all current services 

 of the NWS at their present levels. The FY 1994 request allows the NWS to main- 

 tain operations while meeting the conditions outlined in Public Law 102-567, which 

 establishes requirements for the commissioning and decommissioning of equipment, 

 and the staffing, certifying and restructuring ofall field offices. 



The FY 1994 request contains an increase of $217.4 million for weather service 

 modernization that allows NOAA to proceed with the following components of the 

 program: 



• Modernization and Associated Restructuring Demonstration and Implementa- 

 tion (MARDI) provides funds: to staff and train personnel required to operate and 

 commission Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD) units to improve signifi- 

 cantly severe weather warning capabilities; to provide funding necessary to prepare 

 for a multi-site operational demonstration; and, to support the certification require- 

 ments contained in section 706 of Public Law 102-567. Recent delays in the transi- 

 tion to modernized operations make it critical now to expedite Weather Forecast Of- 

 fice and River Forecast Center staffing and training, as well as associated system 

 work. This acceleration is needed to close the gap between facilities construction and 

 major system deployments — and the corresponding internal NWS operational transi- 

 tion neededto fully use these capabilities. Our request proposes acceleration of the 

 transition to bring modernization components into closer alignment in FY 1994. An 

 increase of $52.5 million is requested. 



• Next Generation Weather Radar (NEXRAD), with Doppler capability, will pro- 

 vide nationwide radar coverage, improve detection of severe weather and flash 

 floods, reduce false alarm rates, increase warning lead time, and replace the exist- 

 ing obsolete radar network. An increase of$40.6 million is requested for acquisition 

 and deployment. 



• Weather Forecast Office (WFO) construction provides for the acquisition, con- 

 struction, or renovation of the office facilities of the modernized and restructured 

 National Weather Service. An increase of $14.7 million is requested. 



• The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AW IPS/NO AAPORT) 

 will enable local forecasters to integrate, process, and transmit high volume radar, 

 satellite, upper air, surface observation data, and guidance information, provide 

 communications capability for internal and external users, and remap GOES (sat- 

 ellite) data to significantly improve forecasting capabilities. An increase of $29.7 

 million is requested. 



• The Central Computer Facility upgrade, including acquisition of a Class VTJ 

 supercomputer, will improve weather prediction modeling, and increase accuracy of 

 centralized forecast guidance products. The increased capabilities of the requested 

 computer system are necessary to execute, in a timely manner, the mesoscale pre- 

 diction models that are essential to support the NWS modernization. An increase 

 of $3.1 million is requested. 



• Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOS) will reduce time-consuming 

 manual observations, provide continuous weather watch, and yield increased staff 

 productivity. An increase of $0.6 million is requested. 



• The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) request pro- 

 vides for the continued procurement of GOES I-M satellites, instruments and 

 ground systems that are the primary source of advance warnings of hurricanes and 

 other severe weather events. An increase of $66.2 million is requested. 



• The Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) request provides for the 

 continued procurement of replacement spacecraft and instrument payloads nec- 

 essary to maintain a constellation of two global environmental satellites until the 

 early 2000's. At that time the Europeans will assume responsibility for the morning 

 coverage, with NOAA and European payload contributions. Continuity will thereby 

 be assured. An increase of $10 million is requested. 



With regard to the last two systems, there have been adjustments to previously 

 announced launch dates: 



• The GOES-I launch was anticipated to be in the middle of April next year. 

 When NASA went to General Dynamics (the launch services contractor) to negotiate 



