The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will receive an $802,500 grant from the Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration to rebuild the last 2.3 miles of the 18-mile-long Mauna Loa Observatory Road, announced U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii.
The road suffers from deterioration because of the high altitude and harsh conditions. Prior funding allowed for 8 miles of the road to be rebuilt, but left the last miles unfinished.
“The Mauna Loa Observatory is a world-class research facility that has provided quality data on rising carbon dioxide levels for over fifty years,” Schatz said. “These funds will improve the condition of the road so researchers can safely access to one of the world’s premiere sites for climate change research.”
The Mauna Loa Observatory is part of the Global Monitoring Division of NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory. In its 50 years of operation, the observatory has supported hundreds of cooperative research programs with national and international universities, government organizations and foreign agencies.