Helping small communities in a disaster

Helping small communities in a disaster

By ELLEN GOLDBAUM
Contributing editor

Whether it’s springtime flooding, an infectious disease outbreak or a volcanic eruption, small or rural communities affected by natural disasters often suffer additional hardship because of their size, say organizers of “Natural Disasters in Small Communities: How Can We Help?” a conference sponsored by the University at Buffalo on March 29 and 30

The conference, which will be held at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center, 2401 North Forest Road, Getzville, is open to faculty, students, researchers and all stakeholders in the consequences of natural hazards. For more information, go to the Geohazards Web site.

“In the U.S. and around the world, smaller communities, clusters of less than 20,000-30,000 people, are generally less well-prepared to deal with extreme natural phenomena than are larger communities,” said Michael F. Sheridan, director of the UB Center for Geohazards Studies, which is organizing the conference. “They often are caught by surprise by an event that probably has been brewing for a long time.

“Small communities generally lack the more sophisticated communication networks, hospital facilities, crisis rescue squads, emergency housing and other resources that larger communities have,” he added. “They also are more remote, which means help takes longer to arrive.”

To address the disaster and emergency management issues specific to small communities, the multidisciplinary conference will feature presentations and case studies by researchers from across the U.S. and the globe focused on a broad range of hazards.

Among the disasters researchers will discuss are: volcanic activity in Chile and Argentina; a 2005 dengue fever outbreak on the border between Texas and Mexico and evacuation questions in communities near Ecuador’s Tungurahua volcano.

A cross-disciplinary group of geographers, geologists, computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and social scientists will present data on planning, communication, modeling and assessment tools, such as remote sensing, satellites, geographic information systems and high-end computation.

Several presentations will focus on disaster communication and management issues in small communities and will address the role of relief agencies and how social networks can help a community recover.

A key focus of the conference will be on a community’s resilience in the aftermath of disaster, Sheridan said.

“Resilience is the capacity to recover after experiencing a large disaster,” Sheridan explained. “Small, precautionary measures, such as construction of a barrier to divert mudflows, a plan to move to higher ground or the use of gas generators for prolonged power outages, can make a great difference in survival rates and overall resilience,” he noted.

The conference is an outcome of UB's strategic strength in mitigation and response to extreme events. Research in this area has been identified in the UB 2020 strategic plan as one of eight areas of strategic strength that, along with a commitment to academic excellence, will be the foundation elevating UB to the ranks of the nation’s top public research universities.

In addition to Sheridan, UB faculty participating in the conference include Marcus Bursik, professor; Eliza Calder, assistant professor; Beata M. Csatho, assistant professor, all in the Department of Geology; Hugh S. Cole, professor of urban and regional planning; Bruce Pitman, associate dean for research, College of Arts and Sciences and professor of mathematics; Christian S. Renschler, associate professor of geography; and Natalie C. Simpson, associate professor of management science and systems in the School of Management.

Bruce McCombe, dean of the UB College of Arts and Sciences, will make welcoming remarks.

Conference sponsors include the UB Department of Geology, the College of Arts and Sciences and the State University of New York, Conversations in the Disciplines.

Established in 2007, the Center for Geohazards Studies seeks to reduce harmful societal effects of such natural phenomena as volcanic eruptions, landslides, mudflows, avalanches, climate change and groundwater contamination. The center’s team of scientists and engineers work together with social scientists, urban planners and public-health researchers to evaluate harmful effects of hazardous geological phenomena. The goal is to integrate analyses of the various impacts of geophysical mass flows from natural disasters on lifelines, structures and the environment in order to reduce property losses, bodily injury and mortality.

WEATHER NOTE

Agency funnels information to potential storm spotters
By Kathy Antoniotti/Beacon Journal online journalist

Spring is here -- at least according to the calendar.

And with spring severe weather in Northeast Ohio often arrives in the form of heavy thunderstorms and sometimes tornadoes.

Tornadoes are "one of our major concerns'' during severe weather, Lt. Jeff Nash of the Twinsburg Police Department said. He remembers the one that ripped through his town in 2001.

To prepare for the Mother Nature's onslaught, which usually occurs from April through September, the National Weather Service in Cleveland provided a tornado spotter training course to about 70 people at the Summit County Chapter of the American Red Cross in Akron Thursday night. The class was sponsored by the Summit County Emergency Management Agency.

Gary Garnet, meteorologist and warning coordinator for the weather service, taught the crowd, many of whom were amateur radio operators, how to effectively assist in warning Northeast Ohio residents about potentially damaging wind, hail and rain before a storm actually reaches them.

''Despite the advances in technology, it's still just that -- technology. You are our reality check,'' Garnet told the audience.

The weather service gathers information from technology and experience and uses the reports from the spotters as ''real-time verification,'' Garnet said.

The attendees were given the opportunity to register as official Skywarn Spotters and when they left they would know how to identify the speed of wind gusts by the amount of damage caused and all about the danger of urban flooding.

They were told how to use the Internet, amateur radios and telephones to relay weather information to the Weather Service in Cleveland and not to call 911.

Garnet told the potential spotters that if the weather service found their reports reliable, their location might be represented on the radar map as a star, which could be considered a mixed blessing.

''If you are (a star) and you get a call from us, you know something bad is going to happen,'' he said.

Mike Mullaly, a business consultant from Bath Township, said he intended to register as a storm spotter following the training. ''I've always enjoyed observing the weather and identifying storms," he said.

Akron geologist Vicki Deppisch, who works for the Ohio Environmental Agency, said the class was her third refresher course. She's been a trained weather spotter for six years because ''I personally feel we are going through a climate change,'' she said.

MARITIME NOTES

RIVERDANCE

Incident Summary

The Ro-Ro Ferry RIVERDANCE grounded near Blackpool on 31 January. The ship is a 6,041 GT, 116m in length Ro-Ro ferry which was on route from Warren Point in Northern Ireland to Heysham, Lancashire. The ship is owned by Seatruck Ferries and registered in the Bahamas. The ship has 100 tonnes of light fuel oil on board.

At 1943 on 31 January Liverpool Coastguard received a MAYDAY transmission from the Ro-Ro Ferry RIVERDANCE advising that their cargo had shifted and the ship had developed a 40º list. The vessel had 23 people on board. The weather on scene was difficult with winds gusting to Force 10.

Liverpool Coastguard immediately requested the assistance of tugs, the RNLI Lifeboats from Lytham and Fleetwood and rescue helicopters, from Vallet, Prestwick and Dublin. With the situation deteriorating the ship’s Master requested that the 4 passengers be evacuated

The RAF Rescue Helicopter from Valley safely winched the 4 passengers from the ship at 2100. Two additional rescue helicopters from Prestwick and Dublin were also tasked to assist and with the ship’s increased list to 60º the decision was taken to evacuate 10 non-essential crew, who were airlifted to Liverpool Airport. The two rescue helicopters and RNLI Lifeboats stayed on scene whilst the nine remaining crew attempted to stabilise the situation.

Using the ship’s pumps, the list was reduced to 20º although the sea conditions remained difficult. At 2200 the Master asked for all the remaining crew to be airlifted from the ship due to the weather conditions and the worsening list which had increased to 35º. All remaining crew were safely winched from the vessel by RAF Rescue helicopter 177 from Prestwick. All passengers and crew were evacuated without injury.

The ship is currently hard aground at Blackpool North Beach – 200m off the promenade close to Norbrecht Castle Hotel.

We are not aware of any hazardous goods on board. There are no signs of any oil leaking.

The Secretary of State’s Representative for maritime salvage and intervention (SOSREP) has set up a Salvage Control Unit locally. A formal National Contingency Plan Environment Group has been set up under the chair of Natural England.

Latest Information 04/2/08

The vessel remains aground approximately 450 metres offshore however overnight the list increased to approximately 55 degrees.

Salvors successfully boarded the vessel yesterday to check its condition. The vessel is still intact and the engine room and cargo decks are free from flooding and the ramp is secure.

The vessel has 1,199 tonnes of freight on board, non of this is considered dangerous. The contents from some of these trailers have fallen overboard.

Frequently Asked Questions

Link to Images of the Riverdance

mcanet.mcga.gov.uk/press/Riverdance

Link to further information about the Secretary of States Representative for Salvage and Intervention (SOSREP)

www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-environmental/secretary_of_states_representative.htm

Link to further information about the Receiver of Wreck

www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-environmental/mcga-dops_row_receiver_of_wreck.htm

RS

Gravity Waves Make Tornados

Gravity Waves Make Tornadoes

+ Play Audio | + Download Audio |

March 19, 2008: Did you know that there's a new breakfast food that helps meteorologists predict severe storms? Down South they call it "GrITs."

GrITs stands for Gravity wave Interactions with Tornadoes. "It's a computer model I developed to study how atmospheric gravity waves interact with severe storms," says research meteorologist Tim Coleman of the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

According to Coleman, wave-storm interactions are very important. If a gravity wave hits a rotating thunderstorm, it can sometimes spin that storm up into a tornado.

Above: Click on the image to watch a gravity wave roll over Tama, Iowa, on May 7, 2006. Credit: Iowa Environmental Mesonet Webcam.

What is an atmospheric gravity wave? Coleman explains: "They are similar to waves on the surface of the ocean, but they roll through the air instead of the water. Gravity is what keeps them going. If you push water up and then it plops back down, it creates waves. It's the same with air."

Coleman left his job as a TV weather anchor in Birmingham to work on his Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. "I'm having fun," he says, but his smile and enthusiasm already gave that away.

"You can see gravity waves everywhere," he continues. "When I drove in to work this morning, I saw some waves in the clouds. I even think about wave dynamics on the water when I go fishing now."

Gravity waves get started when an impulse disturbs the atmosphere. An impulse could be, for instance, a wind shear, a thunderstorm updraft, or a sudden change in the jet stream. Gravity waves go billowing out from these disturbances like ripples around a rock thrown in a pond.

When a gravity wave bears down on a rotating thunderstorm, it compresses the storm. This, in turn, causes the storm to spin faster. To understand why, Coleman describes an ice skater spinning with her arms held straight out. "Her spin increases when she pulls her arms inward." Ditto for spinning storms: When they are compressed by gravity waves, they spin faster to conserve angular momentum.

"There is also wind shear in a gravity wave, and the storm can take that wind shear and tilt it and make even more spin. All of these factors may increase storm rotation, making it more powerful and more likely to produce a tornado."

"We've also seen at least one case of a tornado already on the ground (in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 8, 1998) which may have become more intense as it interacted with a gravity wave."

Above: Click on the graphic to play an actual Doppler radar movie of a gravity wave interacting with a rotating thunderstorm and making it stronger in northwest Alabama on Jan. 22, 1999. Credit: NOAA.

Coleman also points out that gravity waves sometimes come in sets, and with each passing wave, sometimes the tornado or rotating storm will grow stronger.

Tim and his boss, Dr. Kevin Knupp, are beginning the process of training National Weather Service and TV meteorologists to look for gravity waves in real-time, and to use the theories behind the GrITs model to modify forecasts accordingly.

Who would have thought grits could predict bad weather? "Just us meteorologists in Alabama," laughs Coleman. Seriously, though, Gravity wave Interactions with Tornadoes could be the next big thing in severe storm forecasting.

Weather Notes

Spring Yields Tame To Tempest

The long awaited spring will arrive none too soon. With it comes more tolerable temperatures and those flower sprouting showers you hear songs about. But the core of this season’s rain activity isn’t portrayed as gentle showers as much as in pounding thunderstorms. The contrast in temperature between the receding grip of winter and summer’s northward advance will determine their intensity. Storms can vary from a distant annoyance to a raging overhead fury. Your best defense is to hope for the best while preparing for the worst. Your first line of defense when threatening weather approaches is not to panic. Cooler heads prevail. Should you hear sirens alerting you of impending danger, or you personally see damage occurring from advancing storms, seek shelter along the wall of your basement. If you have no basement, retreat to a central first floor room with no outside walls. This could be a bathroom or closet.

Let’s prepare even further ahead. While the weather is placid, make a plan now for where you will go when the worst occurs. Should your home become unlivable after an event, you will need a money resource and ID to hold out until your home is restored. To avoid these things being lost in the storm, prepare now what you will collect enroute to your shelter. Know where these items are at all times so you don’t spend precious time looking for them. Keep a bag or satchel at the ready to collect them on the run. Some of these items should include any cash, your checkbook, charge cards, driver’s license, and your car keys in case your vehicle survives. This is your survival kit, the seed to putting your life back together.

The National Weather Service classifies “severe” thunderstorms as producing ¾ inch diameter hail or greater, strong wind downbursts of 58 mph or more, or a storm producing a tornado. National outlooks for the probability of severe storms will be issued days ahead of time with suspected trouble areas covering whole regions of the country. Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Watches are usually issued hours before storms appear or blossom into severe stage and may cover several states. If you are included in a Watch area, this is a good time to gather your valuables or take note of where they are. Watches are in effect for many hours and are not specific when or where any one location will experience severe thunderstorms.

Warnings are issued when a severe thunderstorm or tornado has been reported or determined by local radar to be imminent. A warning will be cause for local authorities to sound the sirens for your area. These are issued for a period of an hour or less, covering parts of an individual county. A Severe Thunderstorm Warning implies the large hail and/or high winds, as defined above, with the possibilities of tornadoes. A Tornado Warning implies specifically that a tornado has been spotted in or near your area.

While most receive their alerts via siren or the television crawl, the quickest reception will be through NOAA weather radio. Technology has come a long way since the old weather band radios. You can now purchase crystal controlled weather alert radios from a local electronics store. These modern day weather radios can be programmed to a local frequency to alert you of any warnings issued in or near your community. In non-threatening weather, you can use them to keep abreast of current weather conditions and forecasts, commercial-free. Warnings will interrupt the regular forecasts within seconds of their issuance from the National Weather Service. And the faster you are aware of the danger, the more time you have to take cover.

Keeping food safe during an emergency

March 20, 2008

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing recommendations to the regions affected by severe weather and flooding in the Central United States. USDA is hopeful that this information will help minimize the potential for foodborne illnesses due to food spoilage from power outages and other problems that are often associated with severe weather events.

“Power outages can occur at any time of the year and it often takes from a few hours to several days for electricity to be restored to residential areas,” said USDA Under Secretary for Food Safety Dr. Richard Raymond. “Without electricity or a cold source, foods stored in refrigerators and freezers can become unsafe. Bacteria in food grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, and if these foods are consumed, people can become very sick.”

Steps to follow to prepare for a possible weather emergency:

• Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator and freezer. An appliance thermometer will indicate the temperature in the refrigerator and freezer in case of a power outage and help determine the safety of the food.
• Make sure the freezer is at 0 °F or below and the refrigerator is at 40 °F or below.
• Freeze containers of water for ice to help keep food cold in the freezer, refrigerator or coolers after the power is out.
• Freeze refrigerated items such as leftovers, milk and fresh meat and poultry that you may not need immediately — this helps keep them at a safe temperature longer.
• Plan ahead and know where dry ice and block ice can be purchased.
• Store food on shelves that will be safely out of the way of contaminated water in case of flooding.
• Have coolers on hand to keep refrigerator food cold if the power will be out for more than 4 hours. Purchase or make ice cubes and store in the freezer for use in the refrigerator or in a cooler. Freeze gel packs ahead of time for use in coolers.
• Group food together in the freezer - this helps the food stay cold longer.

Steps to follow after the weather emergency:

• Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature.
• The refrigerator will keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if it is unopened. A full freezer will hold the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) and the door remains closed.
• Discard refrigerated perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, soft cheeses, milk, eggs, leftovers and deli items after 4 hours without power.
• Food may be safely refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40 °F or below when checked with a food thermometer.
• Never taste a food to determine its safety!
• Obtain dry or block ice to keep your refrigerator and freezer as cold as possible if the power is going to be out for a prolonged period of time. Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot full freezer for 2 days.
• If the power has been out for several days, check the temperature of the freezer with an appliance thermometer. If the appliance thermometer reads 40 °F or below, the food is safe to refreeze.
• If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. If the food still contains ice crystals, the food is safe.
• Drink only bottled water if flooding has occurred.
• Discard any food that is not in a waterproof container if there is any chance that it has come into contact with flood water. Discard wooden cutting boards, plastic utensils, baby bottle nipples and pacifiers.
• Undamaged, commercially prepared foods in all-metal cans and retort pouches (for example, flexible, shelf-stable juice or seafood pouches) can be saved. Follow the Steps to Salvage All-Metal Cans and Retort Pouches.
• Thoroughly wash all metal pans, ceramic dishes and utensils that came in contact with flood water with hot soapy water and sanitize by boiling them in clean water or by immersing them for 15 minutes in a solution of 1 tablespoon of unscented, liquid chlorine bleach per gallon of drinking water.
• When in Doubt, Throw it Out!

Asia: Satellites Help Manage Disasters

United Nations, Mar 20 (Prensa Latina) The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) calls to use satellites to predict and manage natural disasters in Asia.

Asia-Pacific have endured six of the worst natural disasters of the decades so the experts consider that an effective data collection from satellites may be effectively used for such end.

ESCAP said Disaster Management is the topic at a 72-hour seminar opened Wednesday in Bangkok, Thailand, with officials from 22 countries of Asia, host of 21,000 disaster victims in 2006, three fourth such events in the world.

Of the 53 member states of ESCAP, eight are among the 10 most affected by such natural calamities.

The specialists define as adequate disaster management an effective use of data supplied in time to assess risks, mitigate the impact, monitor the phenomena and issue early warning.

Shigeru Mochida, executive vice president of ESCAP, added that satellites may play a relevant role in rescue and assistance.

MARITIME NOTES

DNV “CASUALTIES TWICE AS LIKELY AS 5 YEARS AGO”

Thursday, 21 February 2008

NORWEGIAN classification society DNV says the chances of a ship being involved in a serious casualty have doubled in five years. DNV, which monitors the annual frequency of serious accidents, says that over the past five years, there has been an increasing incidence of serious navigational accidents in several shipping segments.

Speaking at DNV seminar in Singapore yesterday. Helge Kjeøy, regional manager DNV Maritime South East Asia said: “The main factors explaining the negative developments over the past few years are - that the undersupply of crew worldwide results in reduced experience and that the high commercial pressure results in a high workload. Adding new and more complex equipment does not only help the situation. Avoiding accidents under such situations requires a good safety culture, something which the maritime industry evidently needs to focus more on.”

Torkel Soma, Principal Safety Consultant in DNV Maritime, said: “DNV’s statistics shows that a ship is twice as likely to be involved in a serious grounding, collision or contact accident today compared to only five years ago. In addition, estimates show that also the costs of these accidents have doubled. Since this is the general trend for the international commercial fleet, the maritime industry needs to act on this immediately.”

The boom in the shipping market and increased deliveries of newbuildings has resulted in pressure on crews. The shortage of officers has resulted in lower retention and faster promotion. As a result, the general level of experience is decreasing on board. At the same time new technical solutions have been introduced which might have increased the complexity of operations.

Dr. Soma pinpoint: “Reliable technology and complying manuals are no assurance against making errors. Collisions, groundings and contact accidents do almost always involve human acts.”

Ferry Riverdance decision due next week
By Lisa Ettridge

A DECISION on the future of stranded ferry Riverdance has been deferred again as coastguards say more information is needed.

It was hoped the fate of the stricken ship could be made at a meeting today but now discussions will not be taking place until next week. A spokesman for the Marine and Coastguard Agency said: "No decision about Riverdance is going to be made until next week at the earliest. "We had hoped the future of the vessel could be decided this week but we are still exploring our options at this stage. "We need to gather more information so we can make a properly informed choice and all parties concerned will meet probably in the middle of next week." Companies who lost property aboard the stranded ferry are cutting their losses one businessman said today. Steve Slater of SJ Slater Transport which is based in Cockerham, near Lancaster says he does not believe he will get his trailer back. He said: "I suppose what has happened to Riverdance is just one of those things, there is nothing that can be done about it."

Messing About In Ships Podcast Episode # 16

March 21, 2008, 4:27 am
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: daily source code, lloyds list, london bridge, mais, maritime, merchant marine, podcast, queen of the north, severe weather, ships, twitter

Messing About In Ships podcast episode #16 has launched.

(54 minutes)

Download MP3 file: Messing About In Ships 16

Subscribe Via iTunes HERE

Spring has sprung, the grass has riz, wonder where all the flowers is?

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!
Seafarers Prayers





RS

LEO-15 Undersea Node

LEO-15 Undersea Node

What is a Node?

Rutgers University has two unmanned undersea research nodes that are deployed 9 kilometers off the coast of Brigintinne, New Jersey. These two nodes are part of a research site called LEO-15.

They are linked to the Rutgers Marine Field Station in Tuckerton, NJ, with an electro-optic cable that contains optical fibers to transfer information and copper wires to transfer power. This link provides a real-time connection between the undersea world off the coast of New Jersey and the Internet, providing scientists, engineers, and educators with realtime access to the sea. It permits them to monitor experiments and to alter their direction from essentially any classroom, office building, or laboratory in the world. The cable also provides continuous and ample electrical power, a luxury denied to experimentalists using traditional methods to study the ocean.

The LEO-15 Concept

To most Americans, the coastal ocean is one of our nation's most important natural treasures. Issues associated with its management are the subject of constant debate by the public, the media, and politicians. A common feature of these debates is the need for better information about the ocean environment. Until now, we have depended upon ships, satellites, and a few buoys for information. A major limitation is our inability to make frequent observations of ocean processes from one place in the ocean over long periods of time. LEO-15 is designed to address that limitation; it is on line almost continuously, providing scientists and engineers realtime data.

NSSL PODCASTS - Severe Weather

Improving Forecasts of Severe Storms

National Severe Storms Laboratory Chief of Forecast Research and Development Dr. David Stensrud discusses severe weather modeling and improving forecasts of severe weather events. Recorded 8 November 2007

• Section 1 - Research focused on improving forecasts and warnings for severe weather (4:55)
• Section 2 - How radar data are used in models (1:25)
• Section 3 - Hazardous Weather Testbed collaborative research effort (1:58)
• Section 4 - The goal of forecast and warning research (1:10)
• Section 5 - Dave discusses his career path (2:56)

  LISTEN TO THE COMPLETE PODCAST RUNTIME 12:27 TEXT TRANSCRIPT

WEATHER NOTES

Enhanced River Flood Warning Service for the Iroquois River

On Tuesday, April 1 2008 at 8 am CDT, the National Weather Service (NWS) Chicago Forecast Office in Romeoville Illinois will begin providing river forecast and flood warning service for the Iroquois River at Rensselaer Indiana in Jasper county and the Iroquois River near Foresman Indiana in Newton county.

River flood products will be issued when these locations are at or forecast to rise to flood stage or above. The flood products will provide information such as the current and forecast river stages for these locations to provide early notification of potential flooding on the Iroquois river in Indiana. In addition, the current and forecast information for these locations will be available on the NOAA NWS Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) web page at weather.gov/chicago.

If you have any questions or comments on this change...please Contact:

William Morris
Hydrologic Program Manager
National Weather Service Forecast Office
333 West University Drive
Romeoville, IL
Phone: 815-834-0600 x493
Email: william.morris@noaa.gov

What's New at the NDBC Web Site? 2008

• March - DART buoy network expansion complete! NDBC deployed a new water level measuring buoy in the Pacific. This completes the planned expansion of the NOAA tsunami reporting network and brings the total number of DART stations to 39.

• February - DART buoy network expanded. NDBC deployed four new DART buoys in the Pacific. This brings the total number of DART water level measuring stations in the NOAA tsunami reporting network to 38.

• January - Waves/ocean buoy at Buzzards Bay! NDBC established WAMDAS buoy 44070 and added it to the Rhode Island map.

MARITIME NOTES

Salvage experts consider wrecking stricken ferry

The future of the stricken Riverdance ferry will be decided during crisis talks on Thursday.

Salvors, insurers and the boat's owners will meet to discuss what to do next, after the vessel was battered by further bad weather.

The ferry is now completely on its side and is sinking into the sand, and salvors have admitted that cutting the boat up on the sand is a possibilty, but still a last resort.

But it is starting to look like the most likely option, after attempts to salvage the boat over the last month have failed.

NOAA – CAMEO proposals

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a notice stating that it is soliciting proposals to strengthen the scientific basis for the Comparative Analysis of Marine Ecosystem Organization (CAMEO) program. The CAMEO program assists policy makers and resource managers to make ecosystem-science-based decisions that fulfill policy goals and management objectives of society. Proposals must be received no later than June 17. 73 Fed. Reg. 14774 (March 19, 2008).

RS

New weather project could help track tornadoes more closely

New weather project could help track tornadoes more closely

By Ellis Goodwin, Daily Staff Writer

The 1996 movie "Twister" showed storm chasers travelling across Oklahoma and Kansas toting Dorothy, a mobile device that launches hundreds of flying sensors into a tornado.

In the film, Dorothy works by collecting data from the sensors, but in real life that would be nearly impossible, said Don Burgess, retired National Severe Storms Lab meteorologist.

Burgess said Dorothy is just a movie prop. It was based on a real piece of technology from the early '80s that did not fling hundreds of sensors into the air. Instead of Dorothy, it was called the Totable Tornado Observatory - TOTO for short.

TOTO weighs a few hundred pounds and holds basic atmospheric sensors that measure temperature, wind speed, pressure, dew point and other atmospheric characteristics, Burgess said. Burgess said the National Severe Storm Lab used TOTO for four or five years, but they did not have much success with it. It was big, bulky and difficult to put in the path of a tornado.

"There was just one TOTO; it was heavy and took a while to deploy," Burgess said. "We got close a number of times but had a problem getting a tornado to go right over it "

The technology in TOTO was high-tech for its time, but forecasters needed better technology to learn more about tornadoes, Burgess said.

In the mid '90s, a new design, VORTEX 1, incorporated new technologies developed after TOTO, NSSL Deputy Director Kevin Kelleher said.

Burgess said the VORTEX 1 machines that replaced TOTO are called Turtles. These devices are smaller and easier to deploy, and there are numerous units that can be placed in a grid.

Kelleher and Burgess described these devices as large, upside-down metal bowls that are loaded with atmospheric sensors. "You can set those out real quick so you don't have to worry as much about the safety factor," Burgess said.

Kelleher said forecasters learned a lot from VORTEX 1, but it there was still a lot to discover.

"VORTEX 1 was initially designed to find out what causes rotation," Kelleher said. "We wanted to forecast how [tornadoes] occur and how they dissipate, and what we learned is there is a lot we don't know."

New Technology

Large-scale tests like VORTEX 1 happen fairly rarely, NSSL Research Meteorologist Lou Wicker said. "VORTEX 1 made a significant difference," Wicker said. "But now we have a lot more technology to make real-time predictions, which can increase warning times."

The NSSL and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are working with the National Science Foundation to develop VORTEX 2, Kelleher said.

VORTEX 2 is a bigger and better version of the original VORTEX project, he said. The NSSL will prepare this spring for the test, which will be conducted in the springs of 2009 and 2010, Kelleher said.

"It is basically VORTEX 1 on steroids," Wicker said.

VORTEX 2 was developed to give researchers a better understanding of tornadoes and increase the warning time for those in the path of tornadoes, Kelleher said. VORTEX 2 should help forecasters complete the picture of how and why tornadoes occur, he said.

"The goal is to use the best observations we have now and all of the information we gathered in VORTEX 1, and take that to make models," Kelleher said. "The end game is to help forecasters predict what is going on more accurately."

In VORTEX 2, the NSSL and partners will track the storm from all sides at three different levels and will use most of today's available forecasting technology.

Tracking a storm

The first level of observation includes Turtles, Stick-nets – another type of sensor – and Mobile Mesonets, vehicles with sensors attached to their roofs. This level of observation records basic atmospheric functions.

The second level of observation is conducted by trucks called Shared Mobile Atmospheric Research and Teaching Radars, known as SMART-Radars.

In 1997, OU, the NSSL and other partners developed these trucks, which are 34 feet long and have a 5 cm Doppler radar dish in the back, said Mike Biggerstaff, associate professor of meteorology and director of the SMART-Radar program. The 5 cm dish is less powerful than the larger stationary 10 cm Doppler radars, but its mobility allows it to move much closer to a storm and observe a clearer picture, he said.

The SMART-Radars are able to use radar signals to penetrate the storm, which bounce back and produce an image of what the storm looks like, Biggerstaff said.

"We can see the entire storm scale, the effect of the updrafts and the downdrafts on the development of circulation," he said.

On the third level of observation, behind the SMART-Radars, are the larger stationary 10 cm Doppler radar dishes. These radars provide a much farther-reaching radar sweep, Biggerstaff said. The more powerful beam provides a picture of the storm and areas surrounding it. Like the smaller radars, these take data and plug them into a computer algorithm, which creates a map of the storm, he said.

In VORTEX 2, the NSSL will also incorporate the new phased array radar, which was developed by the military. Phased array radar uses multiple beams and frequencies to reduce scanning time and can give forecasters minute by minute updates, Kelleher said.

Biggerstaff said there has never been a weather experiment as extensive as this one. And what makes VORTEX 2 so unique is the combination of all the technologies to create a data set that can be used to forecast future storms.

"I don't even think we have found all the ways that tornadoes form," Biggerstaff said. "We need to be able to observe all the scales of motion, and VORTEX 2 is designed to allow that to happen.”

WEATHER NOTES

The UK Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser’s review of the operational response by the Fire and Rescue Service to the widespread flooding in England during 2007 has been released. PDF at:

http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/fire/pdf/725360


Tornadoes in 2008

Here’s a look at where tornadoes have occurred in 2008 so far. Tornado season starts in the deep south and migrates north and northwest. Note the few number of tornadoes in the Plains States.

We have had 69 tornado fatalities in the U.S. (and it’s still winter!), well ahead of average. A total of 465 tornadoes have been reported. Usually we go until late May to get that many tornadoes.There have been 19 “killer tornadoes” in 9 states. 37 of the 69 fatalities were people inside mobile homes (which, unfortunately, tend to become more mobile in a tornado). Note the isolated tornadoes in California and Oregon (small spinups). There are two advantages to cool weather in late March and April…less severe weather and the blossoms don’t come out too soon. We should stay a little cooler than average through the rest of March.

Fortified Homes Capture Growing Interest In Wake Of Disasters

The insurance industry takes special note of the changes in weather patterns that are doling out spectacular new property losses. A spokesperson for the Institute for Business and Home Safety, (IBHS) a non-profit supported by the insurance industry, recently remarked:

"Ours is not to decide why it's happening, we just know disasters are more prevalent."

While "fortified" homes can refer to structures designed in the tradition of Joel Skousen as a buffer against uncertain times and to enhance survival in times of civil unrest, the term is now being used to describe structures that can resist, or survive, natural disasters.

Last week one such home was dedicated in Louisiana by Louisiana System Built Homes. IBHS sets out requirements for a home to be designated as "fortified," and the process includes inspections by those trained in inspecting for this purpose. It might surprise some to know that this home is largely built in a factory setting and transferred to the building site where it is assembled. This particular company uses SIPs as the building blocks.

IBHS certification promises to reduce insurance costs for the building owner. Requirements are related to where the structure is being built so they will vary from place to place but in Louisiana some of the requirements are:

• Able to withstand wind speeds 20 mph higher than those established by the American Society of Civil Engineers;
• Able to withstand high pressure at doors and windows;
• Able to withstand water penetration, high winds and hail in the roof area.

In Seattle, where another of these homes was recently certified, requirements look like this:

• Concrete construction must exceed seismic code standards by 20 percent;
• Roof to wall to foundation connections have to be able to stand 130 mph winds;
• Light metal roofs that resist shaking momentum but still also resist wind, hail and fire;
• Two moisture barriers below the roof covering;
• Windows and doors with a high degree of wind and water resistance.

By visiting this IBHS page you can view a number of videos with tips for fortifying buildings.

IBHS is also taking on the tough question that people always ask after a community sustains major losses from a natural disaster that was always expected to happen: "Why did they let them build there?"

You've all heard that one asked after yet another flood wipes out a portion of a community where the same thing happened in recent memory. As you might expect, answering the question requires getting into the nits and grits of some very formidable topics not the least of which have to do with property values and feelings related to "home." IBHS is advocating more comprehensive incorporation of natural hazards when communities consider land-use.

Images from the 03/15/08 tornadoes in Floyd and Polk County.

MARITIME NOTES

Independent Assessment by Coast Guard on Marine Safety program

In November 2007, VADM James C. Card, Ret. completed an independent assessment and analysis of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety program. Below is taken from the introduction and gives a brief over view of the document:

Recently, Congress and the industry have criticized the Coast Guard because they believe Coast Guard Marine Safety performance and service have deteriorated. Many point to the Coast Guard’s increased role in Maritime Security and its move to the Department of Homeland Security as primary reasons for the deterioration. Coast Guard Marine Safety professionals also have concerns about the Coast Guard’s lack of focus on Marine Safety as an important mission.

The results gathered in this report show that concerns and suggestions fall into six major categories. Listed by priority they are: Strategy; Leadership; People; Policy; Customer Focus; and Organization.

Here is the link to the rest of the document Coast Guard Marine Safety Analysis


RS

NOAA: Coolest Winter Since 2001 for U.S., Globe

NOAA: Coolest Winter Since 2001 for U.S., Globe

March 13, 2008

The average temperature across both the contiguous U.S. and the globe during climatological winter (December 2007-February 2008) was the coolest since 2001, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C. In terms of winter precipitation, Pacific storms, bringing heavy precipitation to large parts of the West, produced high snowpack that will provide welcome runoff this spring.

A complete analysis is available online.

U.S. Winter Temperature Highlights

• In the contiguous United States, the average winter temperature was 33.2°F (0.6°C), which was 0.2°F (0.1°C) above the 20th century average – yet still ranks as the coolest since 2001. It was the 54th coolest winter since national records began in 1895.

• Winter temperatures were warmer than average from Texas to the Southeast and along the Eastern Seaboard, while cooler-than-average temperatures stretched from much of the upper Midwest to the West Coast.

• With higher-than-average temperatures in the Northeast and South, the contiguous U.S. winter temperature-related energy demand was approximately 1.7 percent lower than average, based on NOAA’s Residential Energy Demand Temperature Index.

U.S. Winter Precipitation Highlights

• Winter precipitation was much above average from the Midwest to parts of the West, notably Kansas, Colorado and Utah. Although moderate-to-strong La Niña conditions were present in the equatorial Pacific the winter was unique for the above average rain and snowfall in the Southwest, where La Niña typically brings drier-than-average conditions.

• During January alone, 170 inches of snow fell at the Alta ski area near Salt Lake City, Utah, more than twice the normal amount for the month, eclipsing the previous record of 168 inches that fell in 1967. At the end of February, seasonal precipitation for the 2008 Water Year, which began on October 1, 2007, was well above average over much of the West.

• Mountain snowpack exceeded 150 percent of average in large parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oregon at the end of February. Spring run-off from the above average snowpack in the West is expected to be beneficial in drought plagued areas.

• Record February precipitation in the Northeast helped make the winter the fifth wettest on record for the region. New York had its wettest winter, while Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Vermont, and Colorado to the West, had their second wettest.

• Snowfall was above normal in northern New England, where some locations posted all-time record winter snow totals. Concord, N.H., received 100.1 inches, which was 22.1 inches above the previous record set during the winter of 1886-87. Burlington, Vt., received 103.2 inches, which was 6.3 inches above the previous record set during the winter of 1970-71.

• While some areas of the Southeast were wetter than average during the winter, overall precipitation for the region was near average. At the end of February, two-thirds of the Southeast remained in some stage of drought, with more than 25 percent in extreme-to- exceptional drought.
• Drought conditions intensified in Texas with areas experiencing drought almost doubling from 25 percent at the end of January to 45 percent at the end of February.

Global Highlights

• The combined global land and ocean surface temperature was the 16th warmest on record for the December 2007-February 2008 period (0.58°F/0.32°C above the 20th century mean of 53.8°F/12.1°C). The presence of a moderate-to-strong La Niña contributed to an average temperature that was the coolest since the La Niña episode of 2000-2001.

• While analyses of the causes of the severe winter storms in southern China continues, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory scientists are focusing on the presence of unusually strong, persistent high pressure over Eastern Europe, combined with low pressure over Southwest Asia. This pattern directed a series of storms across the region, while northerly low level flow introduced cold air from Mongolia. Unusually high water temperatures in the China Sea may have triggered available moisture that enhanced the severity of these storms.

• Record Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent in January was followed by above average snow cover for the month of February. Unusually high temperatures across much of the mid- and high-latitude areas of the Northern Hemisphere in February began reducing the snow cover, and by the end of February, snow cover extent was below average in many parts of the hemisphere.

• While there has been little trend in snow cover extent during the winter season since records began in the late 1960s, spring snow cover extent has been sharply lower in the past two decades as global temperatures have increased.

February Temperature Highlights

• February was 61st warmest in the contiguous U.S. and 15th warmest globally on record. For the U.S., the temperature was near average, 0.2°F (0.1°C) above the 20th century average of 34.7°F (1.5°C), which was 2.0°F (1.1°C) warmer than February 2007.

• Globally, the February average temperature was 0.68°F/0.38°C above the 20th century mean of 53.8°F/12.1°C.

WEATHER NOTES

Disasters cost taxpayers £77K

Emergency evacuations sparked by fire, flooded rivers and a burst water mains have cost Oxfordshire taxpayers more than £77,000 over the past year.

Oxfordshire County Council coordinated four emergency evacuations between January 2007 and January 2008.

Fifty people were evacuated from Normandy Crescent, in Cowley, after a water mains burst last January.

Residents were evacuated to the nearby council-owned Shotover Day Centre for one day at no cost to County Hall, but food and emergency supplies cost £380.

Some were later moved to the Premier Travel Inn, Cowley, where a few stayed for up to four months - but Thames Water picked up the bill.

Just six months later, in July, about 100 people were evacuated to the Kassam Stadium complex after floods struck the county.

The county council spent £27,550 on emergency accommodation for up to eight nights. It also spent £4,500 on transport, £1,202 on emergency supplies and £36,145 on food for evacuees and emergency workers.

In January 2008, the county council evacuated residents from Bablock Hythe, near Cumnor, due to floods but did not have to accommodate any of them because they all stayed with relatives.

The county council did spend £145 on food - transport costs are not yet known.

An explosion at a petrol station in Sutton Courtenay the same month saw 93 people evacuated to the Kassam Stadium with food and one night's accommodation costing £6,500 and emergency supplies costing £780.

The total cost to date of all four evacuations was £77,202 - but former evacuees said it was money well spent.

Yvonne Cocking, 78, was put up in a hotel at the Kassam Stadium after being evacuated from her house in Sutton Courtenay.

She said: "It sounds like a lot to an individual, but in terms of public money I suppose it is not too bad."

Normandy Crescent resident, Joseph Pearson, 77, said: "The council did all they could for us. I think it was worth every penny.

The county council's chief emergency planning officer, John Kelly, said spending the money was essential: "It is hard to see how people whose homes are plunged into the midst of an emergency can be left to fend for themselves."

6:00pm Saturday 15th March 2008

Flooding Possible Tonight into Tuesday Night

(click to enlarge)

Forecasted rainfall over the next three days from the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center

Periods of rain and isolated thunderstorms are expected over portions of northern Illinois and northwest Indiana this afternoon through Tuesday night. Total rainfall amounts through Tuesday night of 1 to 3 inches are expected. The soil moisture remains above normal in many areas from recent snowmelt. Many streams remain high from recent runoff including the Rock, Upper Des Plaines, and Kankakee Rivers. Heavy rainfall may result in renewed rises on these and other streams in the area with possible flooding. Residents in low lying flood prone areas should continue to closely monitor this developing weather situation.

For the latest outlook on the flooding potential, refer to the Flood Watch issued by the NWS Chicago.

River forecasts for locations in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana can be found by clicking on a river forecast point from the NWS Chicago Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service page.

MARITIME NOTES

Riverdance ferry could be cut up

By Lisa Ettridge

SALVAGE experts have admitted for the first time that the Riverdance may have to be cut up to get her off the beach.

The move would be a last resort once all options of refloating the stricken vessel had been exhausted.

But, after suffering "significant" damage in last week's storms and sinking further into the sand, the possibility of taking the ship apart is being discussed.

A meeting early this week will decide the next steps for the salvage team who have been working on righting the ferry for more than a month.

See more information on The Riverdance

View our Shipwreck online special

See The Riverdance webcam

See our Riverdance picture gallery

It is expected the destruction of the boat would come as a bitter blow to the salvors and the Riverdance fans who have come from far and wide to see her resting on the sands just south of Cleveleys.

It was hoped that flotation tanks welded to the upward side of the ferry and the pumping of water from the starboard to the port side would help right her.

The keel would then be slipped into a huge trench which has been dug along the side of the Riverdance.

But the team has been forced into a rethink after 78mph winds battered the ship last week.

The future of the vessel today seems uncertain with a range of options being considered including dragging her upright with a series of winches and taking her apart.

Donald McDonald, the coastguard's counter pollution and salvage officer, who is overseeing the operation, said: "The way that we were intending to right the vessel cannot be achieved so we are now looking at alternative methods.

"First of all we are looking at the possibility of righting her using mechanical winches then we will look at the damage she has sustained with a view to refloating her.

"If it looks like this will be impossiblethen we will have to consider cutting her up on the beach – but we are not at that stage yet. The salvage team met for discussion on Friday and will deliver their proposed plan of action in the middle of next week."

Owners Seatruck Ferrys Ltd are keen to see the ship saved. Spokesman Tony Reddings said there were a number of possibilities yet to be explored.

He said: "She suffered significant damage during the storm but we believe there are several options still open to us. The salvors might still be able to employ part of the original plan or they might have to look at using winches or even cutting her up. No decisions have so far been made, we will have a better picture after the meeting this week."

Riverdance got into trouble during high winds and story seas on January 31 while en route from Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland to Heysham, landing on the Fylde coast on February 1.

RS

Using synthetic aperture radar data to detect and identify ships

Using synthetic aperture radar data to detect and identify ships

Vassilis Tsagaris, Giorgos Panagopoulos, and Vassilis Anastassopoulos

A novel approach shows the value of polarimetric Envisat data for a range of important security and environmental applications.

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems are active sensors offering unique high spatial resolution regardless of weather or other conditions, with wide area coverage over swaths up to 500km across. Furthermore, SAR data can be acquired with great reliability to enable precision monitoring of Earth's surface. These properties make SAR data the first candidate for operational, near-real-time applications like natural crisis monitoring and surveillance of extensive areas. In the field of Earth observation, SAR is a useful tool for operational or pilot services related to security and the environment. For example, ship detection and identification based on SAR data is a key part of any service or system dealing with maritime traffic, illegal fishery, or sea border activity, or with ocean and coastal management issues such as oil spill detection and monitoring.

SAR images have high spatial resolution, so they can be used in sea surface ship monitoring. Ships are typically constructed from large flat metal sheets and hence are usually radar bright and detectable in SAR imagery.¹ Oceangoing ships tend to be larger and made of metal, whereas coastal boats are smaller and may be made of wood or fiberglass. Moreover, when oil slicks occur, they are typically associated with ships.

A ship detection system generally consists of five stages, shown in Figure 1. After the image is registered, the land is masked, since most ship detectors produce false alarms when applied to land areas. In some cases, a preprocessing step is necessary to provide more accurately calibrated SAR data. The third step is the actual detection process, which uses constant false alarm rate (CFAR) or other detectors. Then a discrimination step is used to reject false alarms where target measurements or characterization of oceanographic or meteorological phenomena are available. Finally, the estimation algorithm provides information about the parameters of the detected ships for classification.

Figure 1. The steps required for a generic ship detection and identification scheme.

Methods of ship detection using SAR data are usually based either on CFAR detectors^2,3 or on image transformation and, typically, the wavelet transform. Benchmarking for operational detection systems was carried out in the Detection and Classification of Maritime Traffic from Space project.⁴

The detection module of the system we developed⁵ is based on a modification of the Search for Unidentified Maritime Objects (SUMO) detector introduced by the Joint Research Center of the European Community. In our approach, the detection process is applied to small parts (1500(×)400 pixels) of a SAR image from Envisat, one of the European Earth observation satellites. The mean brightness and standard deviation are calculated for each tile, and its value is compared with three different thresholds to determine whether it can be characterized as a target. In the SUMO detector, three region-dependent factors are used, and these need to be calculated for the sea area of interest. In our work we use data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS), operating at the University of Patras, as ground truth data in order to calculate these factors for the sea region of the Patraikos Gulf, as illustrated in Figure 2.

The AIS provides information about the length, width, speed, and latitude and longitude coordinates of each ship in the area covered. Thus we can form a vector with the ground truth information for each ship, and use the vectors to test the entire ship detection system.

Figure 2. A screen from the AIS and the corresponding advanced synthetic aperture radar image from the Patraikos Gulf acquired in VH polarization.

A key stage in our team's research is the development of the feature extraction process. To form a reliable and robust feature vector, the information contained in both vertical transmitted, vertical received (VV) and vertical transmitted, horizontal received (VH) polarizations should be used. The characteristics that we used and tested were the total area of the ship, the eccentricity, the γ ratio, the pecstrum (pattern spectrum), the length of the largest ship's axis, the ratio of the image intensity in the center and edge points of the ship, and the ratio of the total intensity in VV and VH polarizations.

These features are tested in order to assess their robustness in the thresholding and detection process. The length of the ship's axis and the ratio of the image intensity have been shown to be the most effective features in different threshold levels. This is because these features describe the ship's silhouette, which remains almost invariant at different threshold levels. On the other hand, the eccentricity, pecstrum, and γ ratio are very sensitive to different threshold levels. The feature vector we use for vessel identification is

From the available scenes from the Patraikos Gulf, 92 vessels were identified and stored in our vessel database as the signature data set. Based on AIS information, the 92 ships were separated into seven categories. Classification experiments were carried out using a simplified Bayesian classifier (Euclidean distance) and the leave-one-out method. The results revealed that only 16% of the available ships were misclassified.

A prototype of the ship detection system described here is currently under development, and extensions to conventional ship detection systems are being made. A new feature of this work is the inclusion of an automated procedure for evaluating the SUMO detector factors in cases where AIS data is available. Furthermore, the proposed feature vector incorporates in compact form information from the available polarizations when it is proven to be invariant under rotation. This feature vector will be extended in the case of fully polarimetric SAR data, and the detection system will also include a decision fusion step in the case of identification in different polarizations.

---

Vassilis Tsagaris, Giorgos Panagopoulos, Vassilis Anastassopoulos

Electronics Laboratory

University of Patras

Rio, Greece

Vassilis Tsagaris is a postdoctoral researcher. His research interests include remote sensing, pattern recognition, SAR data processing and classification, and data fusion. He is a reviewer for the International Journal of Remote Sensing and IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

Giorgos Panagopoulos is currently pursuing a PhD in image processing for remote-sensing images in the Department of Physics. His main research interests include ship detection and remote sensing.

Vassilis Anastassopoulos is a professor with research interests in digital signal processing, image processing, radar signal processing, data fusion, and pattern recognition and classification. He is a member of IEEE and a reviewer for several scientific journals.

---

References:

1. F. Askari, B. Zerr, Automatic Approach to Ship Detection in Spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery: An Assessment of Ship Detection Capability using RADARSAT, Technical Report SACLANTCEN-SR-338, 2000.

2. V. Anastassopoulos, G. Lampropoulos, Optimal CFAR detection in Weibull clutter, IEEE Trans. Aerospace Electron. Syst. 31, no. 1, pp. 52-64, 1995.

3. V. Anastassopoulos, A. N. Venetsanopoulos, The classification properties of the pecstrum and its use for pattern identification, Circuits Syst. Signal Process. 10, no. 3, pp. 293-326, 1991.

4. Harm Greidanus, Benchmarking operational SAR ship detection, IEEE Int'l. Geosci. Remote Sens. Symp. 2004 6, pp. 4215-4218, 2004.

5. G. Panagopoulos, V. Tsagaris, V. Anastassopoulos, A novel ship identification system based on polarimetric ASAR data, Proc. SPIE 6748, pp. 67480X, 2007.

doi:10.1117/12.737570

WEATHER NOTES

Cyclone disrupts Vladivostok-Russky isle ferry service

VLADIVOSTOK, March 13 (Itar-Tass) - A cyclone that came to Russia's Primorsky (maritime) Territory (or Primorye, for short) from the Amur Region disrupted the ferry service between Vladivostok and the Russky Island on Thursday. It is raining heavily here now, with storm wind gusts of up to 22 metres per second. According to the Territorial hydrometeorological center, it is overcast weather in Primorye. It is currently raining in the western part of the Territory. Rainy weather is expected to spread over to the rest of the Territory later in the day. In the evening the atmospheric front is expected to move to the eastern areas of Primorye and it will be raining there throughout the night. The cyclone that brought rains is the first one in more than two months. Full lack of precipitations was recorded in January and February, for the first time over the entire period of meteorological observations throughout the Territory. Such phenomenon had been recorded in Vladivostok only once -- in 1947. The rainfall is also expected to ease the forest fire situation. Owing to dry and warm weather, a fire-hazard season began in Primorye one month and a half earlier than usual

National Flood Safety Awareness Week March 17-21, 2008

Northern Illinois and northwest Indiana experienced record and near record flooding over portions of the Kankakee, Iroquois, and Vermilion Rivers this past winter. Ice jam flooding occurred along the Kankakee, Fox, and Rock Rivers. Flooding is a coast to coast threat to the United States in all months of the year.

National Flood Awareness Week is intended to highlight the many ways floods can occur, the hazards associated with floods, and what you can do to save life and property. Flooding in northern Illinois and northwest Indiana can include flash flooding especially in the highly urbanized areas, ice jam flooding, and river flooding. During Flood Safety Awareness Week, a different threat will be discussed each day. A Public Information Statement will be issued each morning during Flood Safety Awareness Week and aired on NOAA All Hazards Radio. (continued)

MARITIME NOTES

New plan to move Riverdance ferry

A new plan has been put together to move the stricken ferry Riverdance from a Blackpool beach.

Storms and high tides have delayed hopes of refloating the ferry, which has been on the sands at Cleveleys since the end of January.

An action plan is now being put forward for Hugh Shaw, the Secretary of State's Representative for Maritime Salvage and Intervention, (SOSREP) to look at.

The vessel is now on its side and has sunk into the sand.

The ferry had been heading from Warrenpoint, County Down, to Heysham, Lancashire, when it was hit by a freak wave on 31 January.

Trade boost

But high winds, rain and spring tides have thwarted efforts to get the Riverdance moving.

It has now become a tourist attraction with an estimated 100,000 onlookers having visited it, boosting local trade.

Mr Shaw said the priority was moving the vessel.

"I look forward to receiving a revised outline plan with options early next week for my consideration," he said.

FROM HOLLAND AND KNIGHT

St. Patrick’s Day

Today, March 17th, is celebrated as St. Patrick’s Day. There are numerous legends surrounding this day, as you learn from any Irishman. All are true!

HAPPY ST. PAT'S DAY!

RS