The GOES pictures, to be fully useful, must be delivered quickly and without loss of quality to the forecast offices, where they are used in forecast preparation. This is
being accomplished by installation of high quality photographic recorders at Weather Service Forecast Offices (WSFO). Of the 52 WSFOs, 33 were served by equipment
or by collocated Satellite Held Service Stations at the end of FY 1975. The remaining 16 WSFOs in the GOES program plan received equipment and began receiving
GOES pictures in FY 1976. The three WSFOs in Alaska are not in the GOES program plan as the satellite does not provide useful observations north of about 60° to
65° Latitude.

Remote sensing research - NOAA conducts a research program in remote sensing to develop ground-based techniques for the remote measurement of critical
meteorological and oceanographic parameters required by research and service programs. Remote sensing techniques have advantages over instruments now in use,
which measure the atmosphere and oceans only at single points where the instruments are located. Typically, remote sensing from a single location provides
simultaneous measurements of parameters important to weather and the state of the ocean*s surface at many points throughout a wide area; provides data continuously
rather than intermittently; does not require any costly telemetry networks; and generally is highly automated, requiring fewer operational staff than conventional
observation techniques. Considerable success has been achieved in establishing the feasibility of remote sensing of the atmosphere and the oceans using acoustic, radio
and optical signals. A tall meteorological research tower will, when fully instrumented, provide an essential engineering facility for the evaluation, demonstration and
calibration of remote sensing instruments in support of research and service applications.

Prototypes of various NOAA configurations of atmospheric acoustic sounders are being evaluated by the NWS, Federal Aviation Administration, Environmental
Protection Agency, Forest Service, and Department of Defense. These sounders continuously take measurements from which wind shear, turbulence, and temperature
structure in the lower atmosphere can be determined. Field experiments employing lidars (optical radars) are being conducted in the development of techniques to
measure profiles of particulate pollutants, and to study cloud processes. Doppler lidars will measure the wind field of vortex phenomena, including dust devils and
waterspouts. Optical techniques for continuously measuring average horizontal winds across long paths have been demonstrated and are applied in atmospheric
investigations. An optical, two-laser system is being developed to measure visibility continuously, and to automatically identify the nature of obstructions to visibility.
An over-fhe-horizon radar recently constructed on San Clemente Island near Los Angeles will be used to determine the reliability and practicality of remote monitoring
of sea state in the Northeast Pacific.

Equipment development - NOAA conducts research to devise and develop new concepts of instrumentation for measurement of weather elements, and improved
versions of existing equipment, with primary emphasis on automation. NOAA is currently developing additional sensors to be used with their automated observing
systems. Automatic interrogation equipment is being tested to acquire data from the automatic remote stations. Integration of this equipment into the Automation of
Field Operations and Services system (AFOS) data acquisition sub-system will allow for computer-controlled collection and processing of this observational data. The
information will be stored in the AFOS system until it is used by operational personnel or replaced by data from the next observation. Another effort in equipment
development is the use of high-speed computer processing of weather radar data to give faster and more accurate detection of severe storms and the heavy rainfall that
causes flash floods. NOAA is presently operating a four-station digitized radar data processing system in the midwest where new radar system techniques and user
applications are being tested. A special test site has been established at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to develop these new techniques, e.g. hydrologic products, radar
operator aids and new AFOS products. Test and evaluation of NOAA weather equipment is conducted at a facility in Sterling, Virginia. This facility, which has the
capability to simulate a typical NOAA weather station, conducts tests of equipment and procedures under a wide range of environmental and operating conditions.