Latest news with #DMSP
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Defense Department to end satellite data programs used for storm forecasts
June 28 (UPI) -- With the of peak hurricane season looming, forecasters will be without key information starting Monday because the Defense Department said it will no longer provide them with data from the weather satellites. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration published a notice Wednesday about the change. "Due to recent service changes, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) will discontinue ingest, processing and distribution of all DMSP data no later than June 30, 2025," the notice said. "This service change and termination will be permanent." This change is coming amid cuts in staffing at NOAA, as well as reductions in scientific programs. One unidentified NOAA scientist told The Guardian the changes amount to a "systemic destruction of science." For 40 years, the Pentagon has operated satellites for atmospheric and ocean conditions. There are three now. The satellites gather multiple wavelengths of light, including visible, infrared, microwave, Kim Wood, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Arizona, told Scientific American. Microwaves are used to monitor hurricanes, Wood said, "because the waves are so long they get through the tops of the clouds" and help scientists to understand a storm's inner workings, especially those that occur at night. The U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center processes raw data, which is then used by scientists and forecasters for real-time data. The satellites also are used to collect data on sea ice in polar regions. A U.S. Space Force spokesperson said in a statement that the satellites and instruments are functional and that the Department of Defense will continue to use them while access for scientists is cut off. The agency uses data to track conditions for its ships. "It's not an issue of funding cuts," Mark Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center, a federally funded research center in Colorado, told NPR. "There are cybersecurity concerns. That's what we're being told." With the data, hurricane experts can see where the center of a storm forms, and hence figure out the direction where it could be headed, including land. Also, they can see when a new eyewall forms, which helps determine intensity. That was done with Hurricane Erick earlier this month in the Pacific Ocean. The National Hurricane Center, which is overseen by NOAA, doesn't expect less-accurate forecasts. "NOAA's data sources are fully capable of providing a complete suite of cutting-edge data and models that ensure the gold-standard weather forecasting the American people deserve," NOAA communications director Kim Doster told NPR. NOAA and NASA also operate satellites that are used for forecasts. Brian Tang, a hurricane researcher at the University at Albany, told NPR that it is important to have as many data sensors as possible. "I was surprised, given how important it is for forecasting hurricanes and monitoring important features like sea ice," Tang said. "This is data that forecasters use regularly." "We're a bit blind now," said Allison Wing, a hurricane researcher at Florida State University, told The Guardian. "Before these types of satellites were present, there would often be situations where you'd wake up in the morning and have a big surprise about what the hurricane looked like," she said. "Given increases in hurricane intensity and increasing prevalence towards rapid intensification in recent years, it's not a good time to have less information." The hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 with five so far named in the Pacific and one so far in the Atlantic.
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Sudden loss of key US satellite data could send hurricane forecasting back ‘decades'
A critical US atmospheric data collection program will be halted by Monday, giving weather forecasters just days to prepare, according to a public notice sent this week. Scientists that the Guardian spoke with say the change could set hurricane forecasting back 'decades', just as this year's season ramps up. In a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) message sent on Wednesday to its scientists, the agency said that 'due to recent service changes' the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) will 'discontinue ingest, processing and distribution of all DMSP data no later than June 30, 2025'. Due to their unique characteristics and ability to map the entire world twice a day with extremely high resolution, the three DMSP satellites are a primary source of information for scientists to monitor Arctic sea ice and hurricane development. The DMSP partners with Noaa to make weather data collected from the satellites publicly available. Related: Trump plans on 'phasing out' Fema disaster agency after hurricane season The reasons for the changes, and which agency was driving them, were not immediately clear. Noaa said they would not affect the quality of forecasting. However, the Guardian spoke with several scientists inside and outside of the US government whose work depends on the DMSP, and all said there are no other US programs that can form an adequate replacement for its data. 'We're a bit blind now,' said Allison Wing, a hurricane researcher at Florida State University. Wing said the DMSP satellites are the only ones that let scientists see inside the clouds of developing hurricanes, giving them a critical edge in forecasting that now may be jeopardized. 'Before these types of satellites were present, there would often be situations where you'd wake up in the morning and have a big surprise about what the hurricane looked like,' said Wing. 'Given increases in hurricane intensity and increasing prevalence towards rapid intensification in recent years, it's not a good time to have less information.' The satellites also formed a unique source of data for tracking changes to the Arctic and Antarctic, and had been tracking changes to polar sea ice continuously for more than 40 years. 'These are some of the regions that are changing the fastest around the planet,' said Carlos Moffat, an oceanographer at the University of Delaware who had been working on a research project in Antarctica that depended on DMSP data. 'This new announcement about the sea ice data really amounts to blinding ourselves and preventing us from observing these critical systems.' Researchers say the satellites themselves are operating normally and do not appear to have suffered any errors that would physically prevent the data from continuing to be collected and distributed, so the abrupt data halt might have been an intentional decision. Related: Key US weather monitoring offices understaffed as hurricane season starts 'It's pretty shocking,' Moffat said. 'It's hard to imagine what would be the logic of removing access now and in such a sudden manner that it's just impossible to plan for. I certainly don't know of any other previous cases where we're taking away data that is being collected, and we're just removing it from public access.' The loss of DMSP comes as Noaa's weather and climate monitoring services have become critically understaffed this year as Donald Trump's so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) initiative has instilled draconian cuts to federal environmental programs. A current Noaa scientist who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation said that the action to halt the DMSP, when taken in context with other recent moves by the Trump administration, amounted to 'a systematic destruction of science'. The researcher also confirmed that federal hurricane forecasters were left unprepared for the sudden change with only a few days of notice. 'It's an instant loss of roughly half of our capabilities,' said the scientist. 'You can't expect us to make accurate forecasts and warnings when you take the useful tools away. It frankly is an embarrassment for the government to pursue a course with less data and just pretend everything will be OK.' Scientists said the decision to halt the DMSP will result in immediately degraded hurricane forecasts during what is expected to be an above-average season as well as a gap in monitoring sea ice – just as Arctic sea ice is hitting new record lows. Given increases in hurricane intensity and increasing prevalence towards rapid intensification ... it's not a good time to have less information Allison Wing, hurricane researcher 'This is a huge hit to our forecasting capabilities this season and beyond, especially our ability to predict rapid intensification or estimate the strength of storms in the absence of hurricane hunters,' said Michael Lowry, a meteorologist who has worked at Noaa's National Hurricane Center and with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'The permanent discontinuation of data from these satellites is senseless, reckless and puts at risk the lives of tens of millions of Americans living in hurricane alley.' The DMSP dates back to 1963, when the Department of Defense determined a need for high-resolution cloud forecasts to help them plan spy missions. The program, which had been the longest-running weather satellite initiative in the federal government, has since evolved into a critical source of information not just on the inner workings of hurricanes, but also on polar sea ice, wildfires, solar flares and the aurora. In recent years, the DMSP had struggled to maintain consistent funding and priority within the Department of Defense as it transitioned away from its cold war mission. The only other nation with similar satellite capability is Japan, and messages posted earlier in June indicate that scientists had already been considering a switch to the Japanese data in case of a DMSP outage – though that transition will take time. Related: 'Flying blind': Florida weatherman tells viewers Trump cuts will harm forecasts Neither Noaa nor the Department of Defense specified exactly which service changes may have prompted such a critical program to be so abruptly halted. In a statement to the Guardian, Noaa's communications director, Kim Doster, said: 'The DMSP is a single dataset in a robust suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools in the National Weather Service portfolio. This routine process of data rotation and replacement would go unnoticed in past administrations, but the media is insistent on criticizing the great work that Noaa and its dedicated scientists perform every day. 'Noaa's data sources are fully capable of providing a complete suite of cutting-edge data and models that ensure the gold-standard weather forecasting the American people deserve.' One Noaa source the Guardian spoke to said the loss of DMSP's high-resolution data could not be replaced by any other existing Noaa tool. A statement from an official at US space force, which is part of the Department of Defense, said: 'The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) operates the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) for the DoD on behalf of the US Space Force, who has satellite control authority.' The official went on to say that Noaa receives the data from the US navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) and added: 'While the Space Force does provide DMSP data and processing software to DoD users, to include the US Navy, questions about the reasons for FNMOC's changes to DMSP data processing should be directed to the Navy. 'Even as FNMOC is making a change on their end, the posture on sharing DMSP data has not changed. Noaa has been making this DMSP data publicly available, and many non-DoD entities use this data that is originally processed by FNMOC. 'DMSP satellites and instruments are still functional. The data provided to FNMOC is just one way the DoD uses DMSP data. DoD users (including the Navy) will continue to receive and operationally use DMSP data sent to weather satellite direct readout terminals across the DoD.' The Guardian is approaching the US navy for comment.
3 hours ago
- Climate
Hurricane season is here and meteorologists are losing a vital tool for forecasting them
Meteorologists are losing a sophisticated tool that many say has proved invaluable when monitoring and forecasting hurricanes. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced in a service change notice this week that it would be ending the importing, processing and distribution of data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS). "This service change and termination will be permanent," wrote NOAA. The SSMIS instruments are part of three weather satellites in low-Earth orbit and are maintained by NOAA in cooperation with the United States Department of Defense. The SSMIS provides critical weather information that can't yet be replaced by other satellites and weather instruments, according to NOAA. The tool offers forecasters the ability to examine the inner workings of active tropical systems and understand their behavior. Specifically, SSMIS uses microwaves to penetrate clouds and obtain a clearer picture of the inner structure of a tropical cyclone, including its exact center. Other weather satellites use visible and infrared imagery, which can only capture surface-level details of the cloud tops rather than what's happening inside the cyclone. These satellites are also ineffective after sunset when it's too dark to see and when direct observations over open water are scarce. Forecasters, therefore, rely on the data collected from the SSMIS system during these periods. The SSMIS data not only allows forecasters to better monitor the current progress of a tropical cyclone but also to identify the center of the system for weather forecast models. Weather forecast models are sensitive to initial weather conditions and rely on multiple sources of accurate weather data for forecasting. Any degradation or discontinuity in the data, whether in terms of quality or quantity, could negatively affect the model's forecasting skill, scientists warn. While there is other microwave data available to forecasters, SSMIS accounts for almost half of all microwave instruments, which would dramatically reduce the data available to forecasters. In a worst-case scenario, forecasters say it could lead to missing a tropical system that intensifies overnight, which would not be apparent from using infrared satellite imagery alone. The SSMIS system is part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which is operated by NOAA on behalf of the Defense Department's Space Force, which has satellite control authority. The DMSP program focuses on the design, development, launch, and maintenance of satellites that track weather patterns, oceanic conditions and solar-terrestrial physics. A Space Force official told ABC News the U.S. Navy is responsible for processing the SSMIS data and providing it to NOAA and they are referring all questions about the decision to the Navy, which did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment. In a statement, a Space Force official wrote that "satellites and instruments are still functional." The official added that Department of Defense users, including the Navy, "will continue to receive and operationally use DMSP data sent to weather satellite direct readout terminals across the DoD." Scientists from around the country, meanwhile, expressed their concerns about the decision, stating that it will negatively impact the weather community's capabilities and accuracy in tracking life-threatening cyclones. Matthew Cappucci, an atmospheric scientist and senior meteorologist at @MyRadarWX wrote on X, "Please be aware that this change can and will have a negative impact on the forecasts relied upon by Americans living in hurricane-prone areas." Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist at ABC affiliate WPLG in Miami, wrote on his Substack blog, "The permanent discontinuation of data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) will severely impede and degrade hurricane forecasts for this season and beyond, affecting tens of millions of Americans who live along its hurricane-prone shorelines." And Brian McNoldy, a hurricane researcher at the University of Miami, wrote on Bluesky that "For anyone near a hurricane-prone area, this is alarmingly bad news." Space Force told ABC News that while the U.S. Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) "is making a change on their end, the posture on sharing DMSP data has not changed," noting that NOAA has been making DMSP data publicly available, and that many non-Defense Department entities use this data.
The Guardian
14 hours ago
- Science
- The Guardian
Sudden loss of key US satellite data could send hurricane forecasting back ‘decades'
The Department of Defense will halt a critical atmospheric data collection program at the end of June and has given weather forecasters just days to prepare, according to a public notice sent this week. Scientists that the Guardian spoke with say the change could set hurricane forecasting back 'decades', just as this year's season ramps up. In a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) message sent on Wednesday to its scientists, the agency said that 'due to recent service changes' the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) will 'discontinue ingest, processing and distribution of all DMSP data no later than June 30, 2025'. Due to their unique characteristics and ability to map the entire world twice a day with extremely high resolution, the three DMSP satellites are a primary source of information for scientists to monitor Arctic sea ice and hurricane development. The DMSP partners with Noaa to make weather data collected from the satellites publicly available. Noaa said the changes would not impact the quality of forecasting. However, the Guardian spoke with several scientists inside and outside of the US government whose work depends on the DMSP, and all said there are no other US programs that can form an adequate replacement for its data. 'We're a bit blind now,' said Allison Wing, a hurricane researcher at Florida State University. Wing said the DMSP satellites are the only ones that let scientists see inside the clouds of developing hurricanes, giving them a critical edge in forecasting that now may be jeopardized. 'Before these types of satellites were present, there would often be situations where you'd wake up in the morning and have a big surprise about what the hurricane looked like,' said Wing. 'Given increases in hurricane intensity and increasing prevalence towards rapid intensification in recent years, it's not a good time to have less information.' The satellites also formed a unique source of data for tracking changes to the Arctic and Antarctic, and had been tracking changes to polar sea ice continuously for more than 40 years. 'These are some of the regions that are changing the fastest around the planet,' said Carlos Moffat, an oceanographer at the University of Delaware who had been working on a research project in Antarctica that depended on DMSP data. 'This new announcement about the sea ice data really amounts to blinding ourselves and preventing us from observing these critical systems.' Researchers say the satellites themselves are operating normally and do not appear to have suffered any errors that would physically prevent the data from continuing to be collected and distributed, so the abrupt data halt might have been an intentional decision. 'It's pretty shocking,' Moffat said. 'It's hard to imagine what would be the logic of removing access now and in such a sudden manner that it's just impossible to plan for. I certainly don't know of any other previous cases where we're taking away data that is being collected, and we're just removing it from public access.' The loss of DMSP comes as Noaa's weather and climate monitoring services have become critically understaffed this year as Donald Trump's so-called 'department of government efficiency' (Doge) initiative has instilled draconian cuts to federal environmental programs. A current Noaa scientist who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation said that the action to halt the DMSP, when taken in context with other recent moves by the Trump administration, amounted to 'a systematic destruction of science'. The researcher also confirmed that federal hurricane forecasters were left unprepared for the sudden change with only a few days of notice. 'It's an instant loss of roughly half of our capabilities,' said the scientist. 'You can't expect us to make accurate forecasts and warnings when you take the useful tools away. It frankly is an embarrassment for the government to pursue a course with less data and just pretend everything will be OK.' Scientists said the decision to halt the DMSP will result in immediately degraded hurricane forecasts during what is expected to be an above-average season as well as a gap in monitoring sea ice – just as Arctic sea ice is hitting new record lows. 'This is a huge hit to our forecasting capabilities this season and beyond, especially our ability to predict rapid intensification or estimate the strength of storms in the absence of hurricane hunters,' said Michael Lowry, a meteorologist who has worked at Noaa's National Hurricane Center and with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. 'The permanent discontinuation of data from these satellites is senseless, reckless and puts at risk the lives of tens of millions of Americans living in hurricane alley.' The DMSP dates back to 1963, when the Department of Defense determined a need for high-resolution cloud forecasts to help them plan spy missions. The program, which had been the longest-running weather satellite initiative in the federal government, has since evolved into a critical source of information not just on the inner workings of hurricanes, but also on polar sea ice, wildfires, solar flares and the aurora. In recent years, the DMSP had struggled to maintain consistent funding and priority within the Department of Defense as it transitioned away from its Cold war mission. The only other nation with similar satellite capability is Japan, and messages posted earlier in June indicate that scientists had already been considering a switch to the Japanese data in case of a DMSP outage – though that transition will take time. Neither Noaa nor the Department of Defense specified exactly which service changes may have prompted such a critical program to be so abruptly halted. In a statement to the Guardian, Noaa's communications director, Kim Doster, said: 'The DMSP is a single dataset in a robust suite of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools in the National Weather Service portfolio. This routine process of data rotation and replacement would go unnoticed in past administrations, but the media is insistent on criticizing the great work that Noaa and its dedicated scientists perform every day. 'Noaa's data sources are fully capable of providing a complete suite of cutting-edge data and models that ensure the gold-standard weather forecasting the American people deserve.' One Noaa source the Guardian spoke to said the loss of DMSP's high-resolution data could not be replaced by any other existing Noaa tool. The Guardian has also reached out to the Department of Defense for further explanation and will update this story with any response.
New York Post
a day ago
- Climate
- New York Post
Vital hurricane satellites to go dark weeks into Atlantic storm season— and NOAA rips media for causing panic
Vital hurricane-tracking satellites are expected to go dark just weeks into the Atlantic storm season — and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is pointing fingers at the media for fueling panic behind the shutdown while clarifying that crucial data will still be gathered. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), jointly owned by NOAA and the Department of Defense and responsible for critical collecting environmental and weather data, will cease operations Monday amid a string of federal cuts to the administration, the agency announced Wednesday. 'The service change and termination will be permanent,' officials stated in the announcement without providing a reason for ending the crucial service or information about a possible replacement. Advertisement 4 A NOAA spokesperson clarified that a microwave instrument on another satellite will still provide crucial readings. REUTERS A NOAA spokesperson, however, was quick to cast blame on newscasters for 'criticizing' scientists and reporting the service change in a way that could incite public outrage — later clarifying that a microwave instrument on another satellite will still provide crucial readings. 'The DMSP is a single dataset in a robust suit of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools in the NWS portfolio, which also includes microwave sensing data via the recently launched WSF-M satellite, which was the planned replacement for the DPSM program,' Kim Doster told The Post Friday. Advertisement 'The routine process of data rotation and replacement would go unnoticed in past administrations, but the media is insistent on criticizing the great work that NOAA and its dedicated scientists perform every day.' 4 A meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center monitors weather patterns. AFP via Getty Images Despite the terse explanation, experts remain concerned that limited data will hinder efforts to track hurricanes, detect changes in storm structure, and accurately predict a storm's path in real-time. Forecasters depend on polar-orbiting satellites equipped with microwave sensors to track winds speeds and other data connected to intensifying tropical storms and hurricanes — especially at night when other observation methods are limited. Advertisement 'This is an incredibly big hit for hurricane forecasts, and for the tens of millions of Americans who live in hurricane-prone areas,' Michael Lowry, a hurricane specialist in South Florida, told the New York Times. 4 While the military satellites with remain in orbit, their data will not longer be processed by the federal government. REUTERS 'The nightmare scenario is going to bed with a tropical storm and waking up to a hurricane,' he added, explaining that soon-to-be suspended satellite streams are key to preventing a jarring 'sunrise surprise.' With microwave observations also allow meteorologists to locate a storm's center, Lowry warned that being off by even a few miles can have 'huge ramifications.' Advertisement While the military satellites with remain in orbit, their data will not longer be processed by the federal government. 4 NOAA logo on a blue and white surface. AFP /AFP via Getty Images 'We don't want to have less data for no reason,' Andy Hazelton, a hurricane modeling expert at the University of Miami, told the outlet. 'We already don't get as much microwave data as we'd like to see operationally.' The news of the program's suspension came just two days after Tropical Storm Andrea, the first named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, formed in the central Atlantic Ocean Tuesday morning. Hurricane season typically lasts through the end of November. The White House and Department of Defense did not immediately respond to The Post's request for comment.
