NOAA Looking to Increase Radio Occultation

Aerospace and Defense Review | Wednesday, January 22, 2020

The six-satellite COSMIC-2 constellation currently produces 4,000 soundings daily and is on the path of meeting its goal of producing 5,000 daily soundings. Despite these efforts, it would still leave the NOAA far short from obtaining its objective of 20,000 soundings each day.

FREMONT, CA: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is looking to increase the supply of radio occultation soundings significantly, which it feeds into weather forecast models. Currently, the NOAA obtains a little more than 2,000 soundings daily from satellites of its own and its international partners. According to Steve Volz, NOAA assistant administrator for satellite and information services, the agency is looking to acquire 20,000 soundings per day.

The second U.S.-Taiwan Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) constellation could provide a partial solution to this deficiency. The six-satellite COSMIC-2 constellation currently produces 4,000 soundings daily and is on the path of meeting its goal of producing 5,000 daily soundings. Despite these efforts, it would still leave the NOAA far short from obtaining its objective of 20,000 soundings each day. Fortunately, private companies are eager to make up the difference.

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The NOAA had awarded contracts to GeoOptics, PlanetIQ, and Spire in 2018 in its second Commercial Weather Data Pilot. The analysis for the same is scheduled to be completed this month. The agency's budget targets indicate the promise of commercial weather data. For 2021, the NOAA requested a total of USD 23 million, and USD 23 million from 2022 through 2024 for commercial data pilots and data buys. Despite these budgets, the NOAA still faces challenges with commercial data.

The agency has a long-standing tradition of working mainly with data supplied by its satellites and those of its international government partners. While the NOAA tackles the question of integrating commercial data into the global observing systems, other companies are establishing or expanding radio occultation constellations and testing new technologies. PlanetIQ aims to launch its first small radio occultation satellite in March on a Falcon 9 rocket. The company's second satellite is scheduled to travel in July into dawn-to-dusk orbit on India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. So far, PlanetIQ has raised USD 18.7 million and received contracts from the NOAA and the U.S. Air Force.

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