ARL News

Visit to ARL by Congressman Wamp

 

November 12, 2003

The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division of ARL (in Oak Ridge, Tennessee) was visited by a high-level entourage that included Congressman Zach Wamp of Tennessee, on Tuesday, 4 November. The visit was specifically to hear about the ARL DCNet program.

The event started with an introduction by the Oak Ridge Mayor, David Bradshaw, who took the occasion to praise the local efforts to help develop a national Homeland Security program. In particular, he highlighted the interaction between NOAA’s DCNet program and ORNL’s SensorNet. He described this as a perfect opportunity to join sensor data acquisition technology and IT/data manager capabilities to address a national issue.

Congressman Wamp was shown a typical DCNet weather installation, with a SensorNet node attached. Along with the meteorological sensors, there were a chemical nerve gas detector and a radiation detector integrated into the data acquisition system.

The Congressman pointed out that during his first term he served on the appropriations committee with jurisdiction over NOAA. He is well aware of what NOAA does. He was outspoken in his praise of the collaborative efforts between NOAA/ARL/ATDD and the Oak Ridge National Lab’s SensorNet program. He expressed his pride that DCNet was “born in East Tennessee and deployed in the Nation’s Capital”. He stated that President Bush is very aware of the DCNet program in Washington but is not yet aware that the idea was conceived, developed and deployed from NOAA’s Oak Ridge laboratory. He said he would make sure that the President was aware that the effort was generated from his district. He referred to NOAA “as the Nations’ unsung heroes”. He stated that he wanted to see that the gaps are filled in DCNet coverage in Washington, DC.

Contact information: Will Pendergrass
Phone: (865) 576-6234
e-mail: pendergrass@atdd.noaa.gov