Observing Systems

Economic Benefits (Research on the economic benefits of / cost mitigation by NOAA data & products related to GOES / GOES-R)

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1. Improved data from GOES-R satellites, as it would impact specific sectors of the economy including aviation, energy (i.e. electricity and natural gas), irrigated agriculture, and recreational boating - has a combined annual value for 2015 that exceeds $1.2 billion. The present value of the combined estimated benefits for the 2015-2027 period approaches $7.0 billion" (Centrec, 2007).
2. The potential benefits of improved GOES-R data will result in "enhanced forecasts leading to more efficient irrigation of crops - resulting in water savings, energy savings by not having to pump water, and revenue gains from selling excess water" valued at: $61 million in 2015 and $1.09 billion from 2015-2027 (Centrec, 2007).
3. The potential benefits of improved GOES-R data will result in "more accurate temperature forecasts contributing to improved energy demand expectations and savings in the electricity and natural gas sectors" valued at: $512 million in 2015 and $2.56 billion from 2015-2027 (Centrec, 2007).
4. The potential benefits of improved GOES-R data will result in "improvements in avoidable delays, value of passenger time avoided, avoidable repair costs due to volcanic ash, and avoidable risk of aircraft/life lost" valued at: $169 million in 2015 and $768 million from 2015-2027 (Centrec, 2007).
5. The potential benefits of enhanced GOES-R observations improves NOAA tropical cyclone forecasting resulting "in more effective action to protect property and to enable evacuation of individuals" residing in the path of the storm: $450 million in 2015 (average of $130,000 per U.S. coastline mile from Maine to Texas) and $2.4 billion from 2015 to 2027 (average of $690,000 per U.S. coastline mile from Maine to Texas) (Centrec, 2007).
6. An improved NOAA satellite imager and sounder will improve maximum and minimum temperature predictions and create $504 million/year in economic benefits, as derived from load forecasting efficiency for electric utility providers in the US, from electric, gas, and sanitary services (NOAA, 2002).
7. The potential benefits of enhanced GOES-R observations improves NOAA tropical cyclone forecasting resulting in "reduced losses to the recreational boating industry" valued at: $31 million in 2015 and $141 million from 2015-2027 (Centrec, 2007).
8. Enhanced NOAA satellite imager and sounder to improve short-term (3-hr) temperature forecasts: $9 million/year derived from improvements in frost mitigation (NOAA, 2002).
9. Economic benefits of enhanced NOAA satellite imager and sounder, to improve evapotranspiration estimates: $33 million/year as derived from improved irrigation efficiency (NOAA, 2002)
10. Improvements in NOAA satellite imager and sounder provide economic benefits of $58 million/year from reduced air travel delays and accidents. Specifically, $40 million derived from reduced flight delays, and $18 million derived from avoiding volcanic ash plumes (NOAA, 2002)
11. Integrated terminal weather system services provide economic benefits of $176 million/year from improved air traffic decision making, resulting in reduced gridlock and delays (Alan et al., 2001)
12. Weather sensing, data fusion, and forecasting services create an economic benefit of $590 million/year from improved travel safety and national delay reduction. Benefits for specific airports include: $16.7 million for SEA, $25.7 million for LAX, and $119 million for SFO (Evans et al., 1999)
13. An enhanced NOAA satellite imager and sounder will improve marine forecasts of winds and waves, creating an economic benefit of $95 million/year for commercial shipping, from transit time savings and cargo loss reductions (NOAA, 2004)
14. The economic benefits of improvements in short-term ice formation and fog condition forecasts (e.g. more than 2 hours notice) exceeds $29 million/year derived from rerouting efficiencies in the trucking industry (Adams et al., 2004)
15. Improved forecasting of snow events and temperature predictions created potential economic benefits over $500 million/year for natural gas and electric utility providers (Adams et al., 2004)
16. An enhanced NOAA satellite imager and sounder will improve irrigation and grounds maintenance efficiencies, resulting in $298 million per year in economic benefits from avoidable losses to the residential landscaping industry (NOAA, 2004)
17. An enhanced NOAA satellite imager and sounder will create $196 million/year in socioeconomic benefits, through weather information that can improve golf safety, irrigation efficiency, grounds maintenance, tournament and personal golf planning (NOAA, 2004)
18. An enhanced NOAA satellite imager and sounder will improve hurricane intensity forecasts creating $191 million/year in economic benefits for preserved landscaping costs (NOAA, 2004)
19. Improved NOAA satellite imager and sounder will improve hurricane intensity forecasts creating $31 million/year in economic benefits, from damage avoidance in recreational ocean boating, amusement, and recreation services (NOAA, 2002).
20. NOAA forecasts, warnings, and the associated responses produce approximately $3 billion in savings, during a typical hurricane season. Two-thirds of this savings ($2 billion) is attributed to the reduction in hurricane-related deaths, and one-third ($1 billion) is attributed to a reduction in property-related damage, due to social action and preparedness (Willoughby, 2001).
21. NOAA forecasting in reducing the length of coastline under hurricane warnings saves at least $640,000 per mile in costs of evacuations, etc. This has been cited in various sources, but the calculation of per mile evacuation costs are highly variable, with reports in the literature varying from under $100,000 to $1 million.
22. An improved NOAA satellite imager and sounder will improve the accuracy of biomass survey results creating $3.08 million in economic benefits for commercial fishing. Less uncertainty in biomass estimates will result in more efficient fishing restriction decisions without harm to sustainability (NOAA, 2004)
23. Total annual Federal spending for weather information is about $25 per household (including aviation and defense, in addition to NOAA), which produces an annual benefit-cost ratio of (4.4 to 1.0) for U.S. households alone, or net national benefits of $8.8 billion/year. This does not include benefits in agriculture, transportation, construction, or benefits to households in other countries that rely on weather information from the U.S. (Lazo and Chestnut, 2002).
24. The sum of all federal agency spending on meteorological operations and supporting research in fiscal year 2007 was about $3.4 billion (Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorology, 2007). In 2006, the United States had an estimated 114,384,000 households (U.S. Census Bureau). Accounting for the 3.6% of households who do not use forecasts (and thus presumably have no value for forecasts), this study calculated a total value of $31.5 billion per year to U.S. households for all weather forecast services. When this total amount is divided by the total number of forecasts obtained per year (301 billion) as derived in the "Sources of forecasts" section, the average value is 10.5 cents per forecast obtained (Lazo et al. 2009).
25. NOAA's Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service (AHPS) provides economic benefits of $240 million/year, in mitigating flood losses and an additional $520 million/year in benefits for water resource users including: hydropower, irrigation, navigation, and water supply (National Hydrologic Warning Council, 2002).
26. The economic benefits of regional ocean observing systems, in reducing the risk of maritime accidents, improving search and rescue, etc., may be worth over $30 million/year to the Gulf of Maine and $300 million/year to all US coasts (Kite-Powell et al., 2005).
27. Total annual marginal benefits from the Advanced Baseline Images (ABI) and Hyperspectral Environmental Sounder (HES) on GOES-R are approximately $638 million/year with discounted sum-of-direct benefits of approximately $3.1 billion over a 13-year effective benefit lifecycle (NOAA, 2002).