- Success Stories
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Organizing Teams to Monitor Coastal Contaminants
For nearly 40 years NOAA’s National Mussel Watch Program has been monitoring contaminants in coastal waters in over 400 sites around the U.S. by testing sediment and bivalves, such as oysters and mussels. A CSS employee owner organizes and coordinates the regional missions to collect and test samples. This includes developing a schedule and coordinating several teams to collect samples in different subregions for each region as well as shipping equipment and supplies needed for each of the team to carry out their tasks.
CSS employee owners work alongside federal program staff and local partners to collect samples throughout the regions. In fiscal year 2024 CSS staff deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean, which includes Alaska, Hawaii, and the West Coast. The team adds data they collect during these missions to the Coastal Pollution Data Explorer, a cloud-based ArcGIS platform that allows users to search by location or type of contaminant, generate a report, and download the data. A CSS employee owner serves as the lead developer for this online platform. Learn more about NOAA’s National Mussel Watch Program.
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Evaluating the Use of Earth Observations Digital Twin Technologies
Earth Observations Digital Twin technologies are data analytics, artificial intelligence, and advanced modeling technologies that provide an estimate of the true state of the Earth. An Earth Systems Digital Twin is observations-based and grid-flexible with multiple components and high-resolution data over space and time to capture all available observations and feed a variety of direct…
Rapid Reporting of a Close Call Incident
CSS Safety Protocols During a routine collection of waste, a container of white powder disintegrated without warning, causing the powder to spill and be expelled into the air. Thanks to CSS’s safety protocols and quick response, our Center for Disease Control waste disposal staff was able to assess the situation and respond to the chemical…
1000 Samples of Lake Water Collected and Processed
Congrats to our team supporting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development for completing the processing and initial chemical analyses of 1000 lake water samples! They received lake water samples from across the continental U.S. this past summer and have completed the initial chemical analyses as part of the U.S. EPA 2022 National…