ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SERVICES 



The National Environmental Satellite Service (NESS) manages 

 and operates the national operational environmental satellite 

 system, composed of earth-orbiting spacecraft equipped to observe 

 and collect environmental data on a global basis. Images of the earth 

 and clouds and measurements of radiation from the atmosphere and 

 ocean surface are acquired and processed at the World 

 Meteorological Center in Washington for application to weather, 

 marine, hydrologic, and resource survey services. Regular products 

 include charts of sea surface temperature, sea ice, and snow cover for 

 the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and cloud cover and other 

 meteorological data. Future products will include surface current 

 patterns, sea state, pollutant plume delineation, shoreline changes 

 due to storm action, and marine biological processes significant for 

 fisheries resource studies. 



THE NATIONAL SEA GRANT PROGRAM 



The Sea Grant Program is the principal national instrument for 

 carrying out cooperative programs in the coastal zone with state and 

 local governments, academic institutions, and industry for the 

 purpose of fostering marine resource development, technology, 

 environmental research, education and training, and advisory 

 services. Its major activities include assisting coastal states to 

 improve their abilities to manage their coastal zones through 

 research, education, and advisory services; facilitating the ability of 

 private enterprise to explore for and utilize marine resources and 

 engage in marine commerce and commercial recreational activities 

 through technology development, identification of new or unutilized 

 marine resources, and providing the information required for the 

 solutions to socio-economic and legal problems; operating and 

 managing a National Marine Advisory Program to facilitate the 

 transfer of information between researchers and users; and helping 

 provide the skilled manpower required to meet national needs in 

 marine activities. More detailed information is reported in Appendix 

 C. 



ACTIVITIES IN THE COASTAL ZONE 



The principal areas of activity in the coastal zone are as follows: 



Marine Ecosystems Analysis 



Marine ecosystems investigations in selected areas consist of 

 studies of the ecology of the marine environment, changes in that 

 ecology which result from human activity, impacts of those changes, 

 and the development of ecological descriptions to provide a reference 

 base for planning and managing future uses of marine resources in 

 such a way as to have minimum adverse impact on the environment. 



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