SENATOR GREGG ANNOUNCES FEDERAL FUNDING FOR NEW ENGLAND WEATHER TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE SIGNED INTO LAW

The following information was released by New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg:

U.S. Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) today announced that the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations bill which contains $188,000 for the New England Weather Technology Initiative at Plymouth State University was signed into law on Wednesday. These funds will allow the University, in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, to provide the next generation of observational sites to measure, record, and transmit meteorological and air quality data. The funding for this project was included within the Committee allocation set out for the Fiscal Year 2008 spending measures.

Senator Gregg stated, "The researchers and students at Plymouth State undertaking this innovative work continue to break new ground in air quality research, bringing national and global recognition to New Hampshire' strong research reputation. New Hampshire' location on the East Coast affords its residents numerous benefits; however, New Hampshire has become the tailpipe of the nation as pollution and smog settle over our state. This project addresses the pollution problem in the Granite State head on by developing ways to improve the quality of our environment and ensure the air we breathe is safe."

Gregg continued, "Though the Democratic Leadership pushed this year' appropriations process into the 11th hour, it is important to note that Republicansa efforts to control spending successfully eliminated nearly $18 billion in new spending. I am pleased my colleagues were able to reach across the aisle and come up with an omnibus package which is more in line with the budget request, provides critical funding for troops in the field, and still includes funding for important New Hampshire initiatives."

Jim Koermer, Director of the Meteorology Institute at Plymouth State University, stated, "Senator Gregg has been a leader in providing important funding for environmental projects that have had significant national and regional impacts. Expanding upon the New England Weather Technology Initiative will allow our team at Plymouth State University, working with the New Hampshire Department of Transportation and other partners, to build upon the current statewide infrastructure that is used to gather important meteorological, air and surface environmental data. More importantly, it will also support the research needed to interpret and use these data to improve the information provided to decision-makers responsible for public health and life safety issues."

Sara Jayne Steen, President of Plymouth State University, stated, "We are enormously grateful to Senator Gregg for his support of this important project. His commitment to research that increases our understanding of roadways and weather conditions will advance public safety and directly benefit New Hampshire."

This New England Weather Technology Initiative will expand and accelerate the present multipurpose New Hampshire "mesonet," i.e., the establishment of additional ground-based, instrumented observational sites that will help to fill in the gaps between the current observational network, consisting of 13 airport weather reporting sites and also from another site at the summit of Mount Washington. Meteorologists need these higher density observations to define smaller "mesoscale" weather features not seen with conventional networks. These sites will be equipped to measure surface and subsurface temperatures, as well as atmospheric ozone.