Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




WEATHER REPORT
U.S. faces gap in weather satellite data
by Staff Writers
Washington (UPI) Oct 26, 2012


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

The United States is facing a gap in crucial satellite coverage that provides invaluable data for predicting storm tracks, officials warned.

A number of recent official investigations have pointed to years of program mismanagement, lack of funding and delays in putting replacements in orbit that will leave the Unites States without sufficient satellites and make forecasts of storms like Hurricane Sandy, expected to hit the U.S. Northeast next week, less accurate, The New York Times reported.

Research has shown that if satellite data had not been available forecasters would have underestimated by half the massive snowfall that hit Washington in the 2010 blizzard nicknamed "Snowmageddon."

Existing polar satellites that scan the entire planet one strip at a time as they orbit are reaching the end of their life expectancies, and the next replacement, dubbed the Joint Polar Satellite System or JPSS-1, is not expected to launch until early 2017.

That could create a gap in satellite coverage available to forecasters of at least a year, officials said.

"There is no more critical strategic issue for our weather satellite programs than the risk of gaps in satellite coverage," Jane Lubchenco, the undersecretary of commerce responsible for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, said in a memorandum ordering a restructuring of the JPSS-1 program.

She called the program "this dysfunctional program that had become a national embarrassment due to chronic management problems."

.


Related Links
Weather News at TerraDaily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WEATHER REPORT
Goodness, gracious, great balls of lightning
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Oct 22, 2012
Sightings of balls of lightning have been made for centuries around the world - usually the size of a grapefruit and lasting up to twenty seconds - but no explanation of how it occurs has been universally accepted by science. Even more mysterious are sightings of balls of lightning forming on glass and appearing in homes and in aeroplanes. CSIRO scientist John Lowke has been studying ball ... read more


WEATHER REPORT
NASA's LADEE Spacecraft Gets Final Science Instrument Installed

Astrium presents results of its study into automatic landing near the Moon's south pole

European mission to search for moon water

Model reconciles Lunar Earth composition with giant impact theory

WEATHER REPORT
Opportunity Undertakes Survey Drives Of Local Area

Assessing Drop-Off to Mars Rover's Observation Tray

Valles Marineris - the largest canyon in the Solar System

Curiosity Rover Collects Fourth Scoop of Martian Soil

WEATHER REPORT
Space daredevil Baumgartner is 'officially retired'

NASA must reinvest in nanotechnology research, according to new Rice University paper

Austrian space diver no stranger to danger

Baumgartner feat boosts hopes for imperilled astronauts

WEATHER REPORT
China to launch 11 meteorological satellites by 2020

China makes progress in spaceflight research

Patience for Tiangong

China launches civilian technology satellites

WEATHER REPORT
New crew docks with ISS: Russia

ISS Crew Gets Ready for New Expedition 33 Trio

New ISS Crew Confirmed

Russia launches three astronauts to ISS

WEATHER REPORT
Pleiades 1B joins its launcher at the Spaceport for Arianespace's Soyuz mission in November

S. Korea readies third bid to join global space club

Brazil eyes closer space cooperation with Ukraine

S. Korea plans third rocket launch bid Friday

WEATHER REPORT
New Study Brings a Doubted Exoplanet 'Back from the Dead'

New small satellite will study super-Earths for ESA

Most Planetary Systems are 'Flatter than Pancakes'

Glitch could end NASA planet search

WEATHER REPORT
A new take on the Midas touch - changing the colour of gold

Northrop Grumman Matures Laser Threat Terminator Technology to Address Emerging Threats

US DoE's Ames Laboratory improving process to recycle rare-earth materials

Droplet response to electric voltage in solids exposed




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement