Overview of the NOAA Observing System Integrated Analysis (NOSIA) II Assessment Capability

Overview of the NOAA Observing System Integrated Analysis (NOSIA) II Assessment Capability

NOAA spends approximately $2.7B annually to develop, acquire, and operate operational and research-oriented earth observing systems. Due to budgetary pressures and the increasing cost and complexity of earth observations, the question of which systems or combination of systems provide the greatest value has become paramount. To address this question, NOAA has developed a best-in-breed observing system portfolio analysis capability. The NOSIA methodology was adopted by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for the 2012 Earth Observation Assessment which informed the 2014 National Plan for Civil Earth Observations.

NOAA leadership directed the Technology, Planning, and Integration for Observations (TPIO) Division in 2012 to expand the integrated analysis capability developed in the 2011 NOSIA I pilot study to encompass NOAA's entire observing system enterprise. The NOSIA II approach is based on a value chain that functionally articulates NOAA's mission into its four Mission-Goals and 25 Mission Service (MSA) areas. Each MSA is further articulated into Key Products and Services (KPS) which are linked to over 1000 Surveyed Products. Over 500 NOAA subject matter experts were interviewed to identify and evaluate the impact of internal or external data sources used to generate the Surveyed Products. Impacts are mapped to a numerical scale used across all inputs. Data sources include direct observations, other products, databases, and models. Ultimately, nearly every data source is articulated into the observing systems that provide fundamental earth observations.* All of these elements and relationships (approximately 20,000 connections) are represented in a portfolio analysis model using the PALMA© tool. NOSIA II “firsts” include:

● NOAA-wide representative list of Key Products and Services (KPS) and Surveyed Products (including Research Objectives) (1000+ Surveyed Products) ● Assessment of Status-Quo Performance Levels of KPS and Surveyed Products ● NOAA-wide identification of data sources (Observing Systems, Databases and Models) used to generate Surveyed Products ● Compilation of impact scores for each data source with respect to each Surveyed Product

 Assessment of level of satisfaction for each data source Individual system listings for missions and KPS they support with specific impacts and satisfaction values

● NOSIA enables and cost-effectiveness of observing systems at the NOAA, Mission Goal and MSA levels; and ● Analyze the optimal set of NOAA's observing system portfolios under budget constraints.

*Note: Earth observations include human-based observations and socio-economic observations as well as geo-physical and biological observations.

Key Word Tags: NOAA, earth observation, environmental observation, investment analysis, portfolio analysis, repeatable process, multi-criteria decision analysis, optimization, swing-weighting, value-model, mission-objective decomposition, impact analysis, cost-impact analysis, efficient frontier, Weather-Ready Nation, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation, NOAA, Resilient Coasts, Healthy Oceans, climate observations, coastal observations, weather observations, fisheries, ecosystems.

PALMA is a copyright of The MITRE Corporation 2014.