NOAA
IN THE EIGHTIES
The 1980's
have, similarly, been an exciting time for NOAA. Along with continuing
commitment to control Federal spending, NOAA has remained committed
to serving the Nation. The agency organization chart for NOAA in 1980
reflected many of the changes in responsibility and programmatic responsibilities
wrought during the seventies. Five principal line offices had been
created (largely as the result of an agency reorganization in 1977)
to address major elements of the Agency's responsibilities:
•
The Office of Fisheries -- responsible for: managing
and conserving fishery resources within 200 miles of the coast; protecting
vital fish and marine mammal habitats; and promoting the economic
development of the U.S. fishing industry.
•
The Office of Coastal Zone Management -- responsible
for: the establishment of national policies on the use and protection
of coastal areas; support to states for the development and implementation
of coastal zone management programs (pursuant to the CZMA); and the
protection of unique coastal areas through establishment of estuarine
or marine sanctuaries.
•
The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Services -- responsible
for: the issuance of weather forecasts and warnings; the preparation
of nautical and aeronautical charts and other navigational aids; management
of the NOAA fleet; and operation of the largest environmental data
storage and retrieval system in the world.
•
The Office of Research and Development -- responsible for:
the support (in NOAA laboratories and in the academic community) for
environmental research to support NOAA program needs; implementation
of the Sea Grant program; and Federal leadership for interagency,
international research programs like the Global Atmospheric Research
Program (GARP).
•
The Office of Satellites -- responsible for: management
of the Nation's operational weather satellite program; and the transition
of the experimental land remote sensing (LANDSAT) program to an operational
program.
A new
Office of Ocean Minerals and Energy, charged with implementing new
statutory responsibilities for the regulation of deep seabed mining
and ocean thermal energy conversion systems, was established in 1980.
NOAA responsibilities to coordinate and develop five-year plans for
marine pollution and climate activities throughout the Federal Government
were carried out by the National Marine Pollution Program Office and
the National Climate Program Office both housed within an Office of
Policy and Planning which reported directly to the Administrator.
NOAA
entered the eighties with a number of unique physical assets including:
•
The Nation's largest civil oceanographic research and hydrographic
survey fleet as well as a fleet of research and weather reconnaissance
aircraft.
•
The Nation's only civilian operational satellite system including:
geostationary satellites which, in orbit 22,000 miles above a fixed
point on the equator, provide continuous monitoring of environmental
conditions like hurricanes and tropical storms; polar-orbiting satellites
which orbit 522 miles above the earth and monitor global environmental
conditions such as atmospheric temperatures, snow and ice fields,
and cloud cover; and the land remote sensing satellite (LANDSAT) system
which was initiated as an experimental system by NASA in 1972.
•
An extensive computing capability across the country with the principal,
large-scale, advanced computing facility located in Suitland, Maryland
in support of meteorological and satellite programs; and
•
A major national asset in the form of a network of research laboratories
across the country including:
- the
Environmental Research Laboratory (ERL) system (headquartered in Boulder)
which managed four atmospheric, two oceanographic and five multi-disciplinary
laboratories;
- twenty
National Marine Fisheries Service laboratories supporting biological
and ecological research; and
- ten
other laboratories and facilities for applied research and development
focused on the need for new technology applications to improve NOAA
services.
Thus,
NOAA entered the 1980's well-prepared to start a second decade committed
to fulfilling it's numerous statutory responsibilities including those
enacted during the height of the environmental movement in the 1970's;
and exercising the mandate of Reorganization Plan No. 4 as the Nation's
lead oceanic and atmospheric science and service agency.
