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NOAA, Partners Develop National Water Model to Aid Flood Forecasting Efforts
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NOAA, Partners Develop National Water Model to Aid Flood Forecasting Efforts


floodingThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has implemented a new tool that works to simulate water movements in the country’s rivers and streams as well as generate water forecast information.

NOAA said Tuesday the National Water Model is designed to run on the agency’s Cray XC40 supercomputer and process data from more than 8,000 stream gauges maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey.

NOAA also seeks to provide detailed water data to emergency managers, reservoir operators, first responders, recreationists, farmers, barge operators and ecosystem and floodplain managers with the tool.

“With a changing climate, we’re experiencing more prolonged droughts and a greater frequency of record-breaking floods across the country, underscoring the nation’s need for expanded water information,” said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service.

Uccellini added the National Water Model aims to help increase U.S. communities’ resiliency to water extremes.

Thomas Graziano, NOAA’s office of water prediction at the National Weather Service, said the tool will help provide additional water variables, such as soil moisture, runoff, stream velocity, and other parameters, for a better understanding of water behavior within the country.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research created the model’s underlying technology.

NOAA built and implemented the model with the NCAR, the National Science Foundation, the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Sciences and the Integrated Water Resources Science and Services Consortium.

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Adm. Cecil Haney: 2 US Space Programs Key to Deter Natl Security Satellite Threats
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Adm. Cecil Haney: 2 US Space Programs Key to Deter Natl Security Satellite Threats


Cecil Haney
Cecil Haney

Navy Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Strategic Command, has said he believes two space threat deterrence programs can help the country thwart potential adversary attacks on national security satellites, Space News reported Tuesday.

Mike Gruss writes Haney told audience at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium that the Defense Department and the intelligence community have established the Joint Interagency Combined Space Operations Center at Schriever Air Force Base in an effort to help address emerging threats in space.

Haney added he believes the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program can serve as a deterrent to space security threats, according to the report.

The report said the U.S. Air Force sent two Orbital ATK-built GSSAP satellites into orbit in 2014 and is scheduled to launch two similar satellites Friday.

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Navy, German Research Team Prepare for Joint Underwater Munitions Mapping Project Milestone
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Navy, German Research Team Prepare for Joint Underwater Munitions Mapping Project Milestone


Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP) interns describe the Capture the Flag (CTF) cybersecurity challenge to Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) employees during the CTF event at Gulf Coast State College on July 15, 2016. Pictured from left to right: NREIP intern Trevor Phillips, Mark Bates, NREIP intern Daniel Jermyn, Josh Westmoreland, David Cole and Tim McCabe. U.S. Navy Photo by Katherine Mapp (Released) 160715-N-PD526-007

The Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City division and Germany’s Bundeswehr Technical Center for Ships and Naval Weapons, Maritime Technology and Research have started preparations for the first milestone of a joint project to advance the detection, classification and mapping of underwater munitions.

The U.S. Navy said Friday U.S. and German mine warfare experts will utilize technology such as acoustic and magnetic sensors for activities at the Baltic Sea in September as part of the Allied Munitions Detection Underwater program.

“We are seeking to bring together the best of our unexploded ordnance detection capabilities and merge them with those of the Germans, so that both countries can learn and benefit from developments ongoing in the other country,” said Jesse Angle, a physicist with NSWC PCD.

Navy noted ALMOND seeks to conduct international sea trials and workshops to help develop and test unmanned autonomous survey concepts into a mature system concept design that the Naval Sea Systems Command expeditionary missions program office will transition to the fleet.

The joint program aims to deliver a detailed technical report on the sea trials, sensor/test bed, signal and information processing techniques, hardware and software development and recommendations for transition, the service branch added.

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Matt Goodrich: FedRAMP Rolls Out Updated Marketplace Dashboard
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Matt Goodrich: FedRAMP Rolls Out Updated Marketplace Dashboard


cloudThe Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program has unveiled the updated dashboard for the FedRAMP marketplace.

FedRAMP Director Matt Goodrich wrote Wednesday FedRAMP selected TrueTandem to build the marketplace dashboard through the use of the Agile blanket purchase agreement from the General Services Administration’s 18F digital services team.

Matt Goodrich
Matt Goodrich

TrueTandem won a $150,000 task order in June to complete development work on the FedRAMP dashboard within 60 days.

Goodrich said TrueTandem developed the dashboard within 55 days.

The updated FedRAMP marketplace dashboard seeks to help users search, compare, sort and download information on cloud service providers, government agencies and third-party assessment organizations, he noted.

He also mentioned that agencies can also use the dashboard to determine the FedRAMP authorization status of various CSPs.

US Navy Enters Biofuel R&D Partnership With Queensland Govt; Annastacia Palaszczuk Comments
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US Navy Enters Biofuel R&D Partnership With Queensland Govt; Annastacia Palaszczuk Comments


biofuelThe U.S. Navy and the government of Queensland in Australia have signed an agreement to advance research and development work on biofuels.

Thomas Hicks, deputy undersecretary of the Navy for management, signed a statement of cooperation with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as part of the Great Green Fleet program, the Queensland government said Wednesday.

The service branch’s Great Green Fleet initiative seeks to generate 50 percent of fuel from renewable energy sources by 2020.

Palaszczuk said the partnership would help Queensland develop its biofuels sector and facilitate supply of renewable fuels to the Pacific fleet.

Queensland has introduced a 10-year roadmap and allocated approximately $15.4 million to four funds in support of the Australian state’s biotechnology and bioproducts industry.

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Rear Adm. Brian Brakke Takes Helm of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command
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Rear Adm. Brian Brakke Takes Helm of Navy Expeditionary Combat Command

 

Rear Adm. Brian Brakke
Brian Brakke

Rear Adm. Brian Brakke, former deputy director of operations and intelligence integration at the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization, has assumed a new role as head of the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command.

The U.S. Navy said Friday Brakke officially took command of NECC from Rear Adm. Frank Morneau during a ceremony at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia.

Morneau also received a Distinguished Service Medal Gold Star end-of-tour award at the ceremony to signify his retirement after 33 years of service, the Navy added.

Brakke said he intends to support distributed fleet operations and logistics based on the Design for Maintaining Maritime Superiority guidance of Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson.

In his former role, Brakke helped provide operational information, intelligence and technology support to combatant commanders as they worked to counter IED threat networks.

He also worked as director of the Counter-IED Operation/Intelligence Integration Center alongside his position at JIEDDO.

He joined the Navy in 1984 and has served as chief of staff of NECC Pacific.

NECC aims to provide expeditionary forces that can be deployed for a range of worldwide military operations and perform sea-to-shore and inland operating environment tasks.

 

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Naval Research Office Uses Genetically Modified Bacteria to Produce Nanowires
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Naval Research Office Uses Genetically Modified Bacteria to Produce Nanowires


research and development RDThe Office of Naval Research has developed nanoscale electrical wires made of genetically modified soil bacteria.

ONR’s warfighting performance department sponsored a team of researchers led by Derek Lovley, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, to create a synthetic nanowire based on genetically engineered Geobacter, ONR said Tuesday.

Researchers altered the bacteria’s genetic profile and substituted two amino acids with tryptophan, an amino acid that works to transport electrons at the nanoscale.

Study results show that the synthetic nanowires conducted electricity 2,000 times more than their common counterparts.

“Being able to produce extremely thin wires with sustainable materials has enormous potential application as components of electronic devices such as sensors, transistors and capacitors,” said Linda Chrisey, a program officer at ONR’s warfighter performance department.

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Census Bureau Searches for Information Security Office Chief
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Census Bureau Searches for Information Security Office Chief


JobAdThe U.S. Census Bureau has begun its search for a candidate who will serve as head of the office of information security in Washington.

The bureau said in an Aug. 3 notice on USAJobs that the selected candidate will draft plans and coordinate information security programs for all computers, communication systems and electronic storage devices across the agency.

The OIS chief role is a full-time Senior Executive Service position that will require a Top Secret-level security clearance and will serve as the bureau’s representative to the Commerce Department on data security issues.

The chosen candidate will also oversee the development and maintenance of an enterprise-wide data security management initiative, serve as an information security consultant as well as provide technical insights to facilitate the development and implementation of data security policies, systems and processes.

Applications for the position will be accepted through Sept. 2, according to the notice.

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FCC to Rehire Paul de Sa as Strategic Planning, Policy Analysis Head
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FCC to Rehire Paul de Sa as Strategic Planning, Policy Analysis Head


FCCSealPaul de Sa, a senior analyst for U.S. telecommunications at Bernstein Research, is set to return to the Federal Communications Commission as head of the agency’s Office of Strategic Planning and Policy Analysis.

He will succeed Elizabeth Biley Andrion, who has served as acting OSP chief since January and will leave the commission in late August, FCC said Tuesday.

“Paul is the ideal person to lead OSP as we pursue our agenda of promoting innovation and competition and protecting consumers,” said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler.

De Sa led OSP between 2009 and 2012 after he served as a partner at McKinsey & Company’s Washington, D.C. and Seoul offices, with a focus on telecom/media, private equity and corporate finance.

He left that role for Bernstein Research, where he published research on fixed and mobile broadband, spectrum, corporate strategy and competition.

OSP provides advisory on policy initiatives, strategic plans and policy objectives to the FCC.

NASA Launches Online Portal for Space Research Findings
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NASA Launches Online Portal for Space Research Findings


websiteNASA has unveiled a new web portal that offers public access to scientific information from various agency-funded studies.

The space agency said Tuesday it aims to expand the dissemination of fundamental space research data through the Funded Research Results portal on the NASA.gov website.

“Through open access and innovation we invite the global community to join us in exploring Earth, air and space,” noted Dava Newman, NASA deputy administrator.

“Making our research data easier to access will greatly magnify the impact of our research,” said Ellen Stofan, NASA chief scientist.

NASA created the portal to comply with the Office of Science and Technology Policy‘s directive requiring science-funding agencies to increase access to the findings of federally-funded studies.

The agency requires agency-funded researchers to make their original science journal articles publicly accessible via a publication repository called PubSpace.

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