Boeing

A team led by Boeing [NYSE: BA] will demonstrate how network-centric operations can improve decision making for coastal resource managers under a contract awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The demonstration for an Integrated Coastal Ocean Observing System (ICOOS) will involve making important information -- such as improved earth observation data -- available over an extended network to the coastal resource management community. This community includes coastal planners, fisheries, water treatment districts, tourism, and government and industry organizations that regularly work with coastal environmental issues.

As part of the contract, Boeing will work with NOAA's Coastal Services Center and National Data Buoy Center, Battelle Memorial Institute, Texas A&M University and the University of New Hampshire.

The demonstration, developed by Boeing Phantom Works, will leverage work that Boeing recently completed on an Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) demonstration, which was jointly funded by NOAA and the U.S. Navy. In addition, the ICOOS program draws on Boeing's expertise in network-centric operations, large-scale systems integration, satellite data processing, geospatial modeling and earth observation technology used to observe and accurately forecast complex weather systems.

Coastal flooding and its aftermath continue to be a major problem for coastal resource managers throughout the United States. In particular, the northern Gulf of Mexico is an area of concern because of its geography and the concentration of offshore oil operations. As part of the ICOOS contract, the Boeing-led team will look into the complexities and contributing factors of planning for and responding to weather impacts in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

"Our Boeing team looks forward to demonstrating a solution that supports NOAA's vision of improved earth observation, which is necessary for making more effective, weather-related decisions," said Rick Baily, Boeing Phantom Works vice president and director of Network-Centric Programs and Technologies. "The need and timeliness of such a system has been reinforced by recent coastal storms with their accompanying devastation."