The National Space Club recently selected HRI Doctoral Fellow Peter Etnoyer for the prestigious 2008 NOAA - David Johnson Award for outstanding and innovative use of satellite data. The award, first given in 1999, is presented by the National Space Club, in honor of the first administrator of what was to become NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA Satellite and Data Service).

Peter will receive the award in a black-tie ceremony March 7, 2008 at the Goddard Memorial Dinner at the Goddard Space Center in Washington, D.C.

This award is given to a young professional who has developed an innovative use of Earth observation satellite data (or in combination with non-satellite data) to assess or predict atmospheric, oceanic or terrestrial conditions. It recognizes a young scientist and future leader who encourages new thinking, problem solving or applications of satellite data.

NOAA's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA Satellite and Data Service) is the nation's primary source of space-based meteorological and climate data. In addition to search and rescue, NOAA's environmental satellites are used for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and other environmental applications such as volcanic eruptions, ozone monitoring, and sea surface temperature measurements and wild fire detection.

This is a great honor for Peter. The award was announced by Vice Admiral Conrad Lautenbacher, Administrator of NOAA. The award recognizes Peter’s efforts to identify pelagic habitat for blue whales and sea turtles in the Northeast Pacific using satellite telemetry data with sea surface temperature data in order to identify subtle temperature gradients across foraging trajectories far offshore. Peter used this information to model pelagic habitat for the Northeast Pacific using a geographic information system (GIS).

Peter wants to acknowledge the contributions of his co-authors and research partners, including Dr. Bruce Mate and Joel Ortega-Ortiz of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols of Ocean Conservancy and California Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Lance Morgan and David Canny of the Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI). The methods developed for these studies under the auspices of the Baja to Bering Marine Conservation Initiative led by MCBI were designed to add interpretive value to pre-existing telemetry data for blue whales generated by Mate (under Office of Naval Research funding) and for turtles by Nichols.

The studies found blue whales and sea turtles spending periods of weeks to months moving along persistent, but subtle temperature gradients. Blue whales and sea turtle lingered in offshore regions with a high frequency of temperature fronts, presumably in search of prey aggregated by oceanographic mechanisms. The results were published in Oceanography and Science in 2004, and further developed in Deep-Sea Research 2006. The techniques should help researchers incorporate pelagic habitat into marine protected area network designs, and aid biologists in performing better stock assessments of pelagic animals.