Clearing Skies in the Forecast for Nation's Weather Satellites

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and DOD sit at pivot points with a rare opportunity to plan the next generation of environmental satellites that will comprise the combined U.S. architecture out to 2040 and beyond. In parallel, China’s muscular initiatives in the SBEM mission area threaten U.S. preeminence and introduce the risk of future reliance by global weather centers for operational forecast modeling on potentially high-quality data from an adversary. The alignment of future SBEM planning activities across the U.S. government, combined with the emergence of the commercial sector, presents a rare opportunity to conduct a national dialogue to explore a whole-of-nation approach to address strategic SBEM challenges.

Authors: Tim Hall, Dr. Thomas Adang, Michael Bedard, Dr. Michael Bolla