Egypt-NOAA Cooperation: Advancing our Environmental Science, Technology, and Education

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1 Egypt-NOAA Cooperation: Advancing our Environmental Science, Technology, and Education T. G. Onsager NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center and NWS International Activities Office (one-year detail)

2 NOAA s Role National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) leads science-based efforts from the surface of the Sun to the ocean floor: - To understand and predict Earth s environment - To inform our social and economic decisions

3 Egypt-NOAA S&T Cooperation Current Egypt-NOAA Partnerships - Environmental Modeling System - Climate adaptation and mitigation S&T Partnership Opportunities - Satellite-based environmental monitoring - Coastal and Ocean protection - Ocean for Life education program - Atmospheric baseline observatory - Space weather observing and prediction

4 Current NOAA-Egypt Partnerships Weather Research Forecast Environmental Modeling System - Egyptian Meteorological Authority - World Meteorological Organization Regional Training Center - Presidency for Meteorology and Environment, Saudi Arabia Climate Change: Facts for Mitigation and Realities for Adaptation in the Arab Region - Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe - Presidency for Meteorology and Environment, Saudi Arabia

5 Weather Research Forecast Environmental Modeling System Egyptian Meteorological Authority Workshop on Numerical Weather Prediction - 30 participants from nine Arab League States - Mesoscale modeling - Forecast sensitivities to model configuration Interest for follow-on research and development - Dust storm forecasting - Wind shear - Nile delta fog - Ensemble forecasting - Data assimilation

6 Climate Change: Adaptation and Mitigation Center for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (CEDARE) Workshop on Climate Change (October, 2009) - Government institutions and ministries - Regional organizations - Scientists Goal is to improve our strategy for mitigation and adaptation to climate change - Gather views on issues and solutions - Initiate e-learning course - Establish climate-change information system

7 Satellite-Based Environmental Monitoring - NOAA s Center for Satellite Application and Research (STAR) - Satellite-based methods to predict and monitor: - Disaster management drought detection and monitoring - Prediction of agricultural production losses - Desertification area and intensity assessment - Climate variation and impacts - In situ measurements are required to calibrate and validate the satellite measurements

8 Remote Sensing and Biogeography to Support Marine Spatial Planning Use of underwater remote sensing technology and divers to identify, classify and characterize habitats Habitat utilization and modeling Use of technology to assist in the establishment and characterization of protected areas Pollution and Ocean Health Impacts of legacy contaminants and contaminants of emerging concern on coastal and marine ecosystems and human health Impact of excess nutrients on coastal and marine ecosystems Coral Health and Coral Diseases Research Coral health assessment and identification of coral diseases Impacts of climate change, pollution, and other human stressors on coral health Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) Research, Control and Mitigation Phytoplankton Monitoring Network ( and Rapid Detection Methods for Identification of HAB species Technology transfer of toxin identification tools and potential development of new ones to protect seafood supply Use of satellite remote sensing to forecast HAB events coral disease harmful algal blooms ocean remote sensing coastal pollution

9 Ocean for Life Two-week, hands-on immersive field studies 30 Middle Eastern students 30 Western students Speak English Able to Swim

10 Ocean for Life Vision: Promote cross-cultural understanding between world cultures through a greater appreciation of the ocean and how it connects us all. Mission: Provide high quality, immersive ocean field studies and follow-on education programs to facilitate cross-cultural learning, appreciation and lasting experiences between multi-national students.

11 Ocean for Life 2009 Countries represented in California Field Study: United States Canada Saudi Arabia Bahrain Egypt Jordan

12 Ocean for Life 2011 Ocean for Life Field Study to the Hawaiian Archipelago Claire Fackler (805) ext. 18 Jonathan Shannon (301) ext

13 Atmospheric Baseline Observatory Program NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) is interested in exploring an atmospheric baseline observatory program to monitor the changing composition of the atmosphere that is driving climate change. Egypt has a number of WMO-sanctioned Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) stations that could be the basis for joint research. ESRL would welcome a point of contact for further discussions.

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16 Navigation and Communication Impacts of Space Weather NOAA has a regional GPSaccuracy product Europe has regional research and products Egypt could contribute to regional ionospheric research and navigation services Kintner et al., 2009 South America is establishing a network of real-time measurements UN-sponsored International Space Weather Initiative is deploying research instruments in Africa Research network is being established in South-East Asia

17 Navigation Errors During Space Storms Cornell Univ.

18 International Space Weather Cooperation Egypt is located beneath a dynamic region of the ionosphere that degrades navigation and communication Ground-based and space-based instruments could be integrated with international observing network Research partnerships could strengthen space-related education and operational activities International research and operational organizations would benefit from data obtained in Egypt, and regional modeling would contribute to global predictions

19 Summary NOAA is currently working with organizations in Egypt on numerical weather prediction and climate change Potential new collaborations include: - Satellite-based environmental monitoring - Coastal and Ocean protection - Ocean for Life education program - Atmospheric baseline observatory - Space weather observing and prediction We are interested in proposing a Workshop on Weather and Climate to foster joint science, technology and education collaborations in Egypt and the United States