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March 16, 2001 — Predicting how much water will come from the heavy snow covering much of New England is vital to NOAA's National Weather Service flood forecasters who have already raised a red flag over the region's potential for flooding this spring.

To give forecasters the upper hand in monitoring the flood risk, a special aircraft operated by NOAA has been traversing the skies over New England and is feeding vital snow pack data to the Northeast River Forecast Center in Taunton, Mass.

"With up to a foot of water locked up in the snow pack, we are keeping a watchful eye on much of New England where a rapid snow melt could cause flooding," said Ronald Martin, hydrologist-in-charge of the river forecast center. "The remote sensing data is of great value to the flood forecast process because it pinpoints the snow pack's water equivalent."

(Click image for larger view.)

NOAA Corps pilots Lt. CDR Barry Choy (middle) and Lt. Eric Berkowitz speak with Ron Martin of NOAA's Northeast River Forecast Center at Hanscom Field in Massachusetts on flight plans for areas of New England facing potential spring floods.

According to Martin, while the short term forecast doesn't call for flooding at this time, a rapid warming trend coupled with heavy rain could melt the snow fast enough to cause severe flooding of rivers and streams.

Armed with a sophisticated spectrometer, the Twin Engine Aero Commander is the world's first airborne survey platform, noted pilot Barry Choy, a NOAA Corps Lieutenant Commander from the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center in Chanhassen, Minn. For the New England work, the plane is operating out of Jet Aviation at Hanscom Field.

The sensing equipment measures natural gamma radiation from the earth and compares it to readings taken when the land was free from snow. "By gauging the amount of radiation blocked by the snow pack, we can precisely calculate the water equivalent of the snow," Choy said. Data from each flight line is transmitted directly to the river forecast center where the information is put into the computer models used to produce flood potential maps and forecasts. (Click image to see NOAA's latest national flood threat forecast.)

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA's Northeast River Forecast Center — Get the latest flood forecast information.

NOAA's National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center

NOAA's Quick Look At Northeast Conditions

FLOODS: AMONG THE GREATEST NATURAL DISASTERS

ADVANCED HYDROLOGIC PREDICTION SERVICES: INFORMATION FOR A STRONGER AND SAFER AMERICA

Spring 2001 Outlook from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center — The outlook will be updated on April 12 at 3 p.m EST.

NOAA's River Forecast Centers

USA Regional Climate Maps — See the latest precipitation and temperature summaries

NOAA's National Weather Service

NOAA's Hydrometeorological Prediction Center

U.S. Threats Assessment

Calculated Soil Moisture Maps

Seasonal Forecasts

Precipitation Time Series

Daily and Weekly Precipitation Maps

Flood Web Links

National Hydrologic Assessment — Flood Potential

Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Services

The following National Weather Service Web sites are available to provide up-to-the-minute winter weather information.

Current storm watches, warnings and temperatures across the United States

National forecasts that extend from three to 14 days in advance

Map showing the latest conditions over the United States

NOAA's Weather Page — includes latest satellite images and weather maps

NOAA's National Weather Service Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services

NOAA Weather Radio

Media Contact:
Bob Chartuk, NOAA's National Weather Service Eastern Region, (631) 244-0166
(Photo of NOAA pilots and hydrologist-in-charge courtesy of Bob Chartuk)