US military satellite data for research: Valuable practice nearing extinction
For over 50 years, US military satellites provided weather data for civilian research, but this long-standing practice is now nearing its end.
(Image: NASA images/Shutterstock.com)
Allegedly to avert a significant cyber security risk to infrastructure, the US military will stop processing or sharing data from its satellites for climate research and weather forecasting at the end of July. This is according to a NASA announcement. The US news portal NPR adds that this will bring an abrupt end to a decades-old practice that has helped to predict and warn of hurricanes, among other things. Originally, it was even planned that the program would be discontinued at the end of June with even less warning time. Following criticism from those affected, the date was pushed back by a month.
Passing on information for decades
The information that will soon no longer be passed on comes from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Satellites have been collecting data on various weather phenomena, including hurricanes, for more than 60 years. The observations are primarily intended for the US military, but for decades they have been processed by a special unit of the US Navy for civilian use and passed on to research institutions. At the end of June, it was announced that this would pose a "significant cyber security risk to high-performance computing". This practice will therefore be discontinued. The date was then postponed once again, but the planned discontinuation has not changed.
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The US Navy has not responded to inquiries about the move, writes NPR. The head of a snow and ice research facility that has been accessing the data since 1979 added that the case is probably not about cost. The new US administration under Donald Trump has been causing a stir for months with immense budget cuts, which have also affected research. The National Scow and Ice Data Center is now expecting interruptions in mapping the extent of sea ice at the North and South Poles. Meanwhile, the US oceanographic agency NOAA has assured that the cessation of data transmission will not change the accuracy of hurricane forecasts, NPR adds. Remaining satellites should suffice.
When the end of data sharing became known, CNN also reported that the Trump administration was working to close a measuring station in Hawaii that plays a central role in climate change research. The Mauna Loa Observatory has been collecting data on the composition of and changes to the Earth's atmosphere since 1958. Located on the northern slope of the volcano of the same name, it is not only far away from human settlements and the associated emissions, but the sparse vegetation also means that the fauna has little influence. The measurement there, which shows the increase in COâ‚‚ concentration, is world-famous. This "Keeling curve" is one of the best-known pieces of evidence of man-made global warming.
(mho)
