Hearing- Examining the Nation’s Current and Next Generation Weather Satellite Programs Defense Weather Satellites: DOD Faces Acquisition Challenges for Addressing Capability Needs, GAO “GAO found in March 2016 that the Department of Defense (DOD), in conducting a requirements review and Analysis of Alternatives (AOA) from 2012 to 2014, generally performed a thorough review for identifying capability gaps in meteorological and oceanographic data also referred to as weather data that needed […]

Hearing: Weather Satellite Delays, Data Gap to Harm U.S. Forecasting (with testimony links) “Today, the Subcommittees on Oversight and Environment held a joint hearing to examine schedule delays to our nation’s next generation weather forecasting satellites and the implications of the impending gap in weather data. Witnesses provided an update on operations and development of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) polar-orbiting (JPSS) and geostationary (GOES) weather satellite programs […]

Weather Service stops receiving satellite data, issues notice about forecast quality, Washington Post “Since at least Tuesday, some satellite data – an important input to weather prediction models – has stopped flowing into the National Weather Service due to an apparent network outage.” National Weather Service National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Satellite Data Outage “THE FOLLOWING DATA TYPES CONTINUE TO BE UNAVAILABLE FOR THE MODELS. MODIS IR AND WV […]

Monster Snow Storm As Seen From Space “The monster winter storm that brought icing to the U.S. southeast moved northward along the Eastern Seaboard and brought snow, sleet and rain from the Mid-Atlantic to New England on February 13. A new image from NOAA’s GOES satellite showed clouds associated with the massive winter storm stretch from the U.S. southeast to the northeast.” @NASA_Marshall Marshall will resume operations & reopen Friday, […]

Keith’s note: The bad weather on the east coast has pretty much brought the Washington DC Metro and mid-atlantic area to a crawl with bad road conditions and increasing power outages. This will continue through tomorrow. So you can expect NASA HQ, GSFC, Wallops and also IV&V and LaRC to all be running at less than full efficiency.

Subcommittees Review Looming Gap in Weather Satellite Coverage Call for Better Prioritization to Ensure Consistent Weather Data, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology “The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified a high probability in degraded weather satellite coverage starting as early as next year, and has designated this data gap as a new high-risk area in a report earlier this year. Given this potential gap in weather satellite […]

Impacts of Delays and Cost Overruns on Nation’s Weather Satellites “Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight Chairman Paul Broun (R-GA) and Subcommittee on Energy and Environment Chairman Andy Harris (R-MD) held a hearing yesterday on the status of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) polar-orbiting and geostationary weather satellites. Two Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports on the respective satellite systems were released at the hearing.” – Geostationary Weather Satellites: Design […]

NASA Launches Multi-Talented Earth-Observing Satellite PCAST Meeting Featured Bolden (2011), earlier post “Bolden also refered to NPOESS as “one of my nightmares” and that it is “also one of John Holdren’s nightmares” and “we won’t talk about that unless you really want to”. – Hearing on Polar Weather Satellites(2011), earlier post – The NPOESS “Headache” Just Got Worse(2011), earlier post – NPOESS Woes Continue (2009), earlier post – Prepared Statements […]

Photo: Hurricane Irene Seen in a Planetary Context From Orbit “NASA / NOAA GOES-13 satellite image showing earth on August 26, 2011 at 14:45 UTC (10:45 a.m. EDT). Hurricane Irene can been seen on the U.S. East Coast. Irene Almost 1/3 the Size of East Coast. Irene has become a major hurricane, and NASA satellite data shows its diameter is now about 510 miles — roughly 1/3 the length of […]

Photo: Monster Winter Storm Affecting 30 States NASA image release January 31, 2011. This visible image was captured by the GOES-13 satellite and shows the low pressure area bringing snowfall to the Midwest Jan. 31, 2011. Heavy snow is expected today in portions of northern Iowa, southern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Snowfall from the system extends from Michigan west to Montana, Idaho, Utah and Arizona. A mix of rain and snow […]