The US Navy has announced plans to continue distributing satellite data needed for hurricane forecasting, months after authorities said the data stream was to be turned off.
The U-turn comes after protests from weather forecasters and an alternative approach from amateur satellite enthusiasts, which showed users how to receive and decode data straight from the satellite.
The Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) has said it plans to continue distributing Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data beyond July 31, offering weather forecasters a respite.
As a result, there will be no interruption to DMSP data delivery and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will continue to have access to the data for the duration of the program’s lifespan.
In a statement, a US Navy spokesperson said: “The center [FNMOC] had planned to phase out the data as part of a Defense Department modernization effort. But after feedback from government partners, officials found a way to meet modernization goals while keeping the data flowing until the sensor fails or the program formally ends in September 2026.”
In June, a notice from the NOAA said the satellite data used for hurricane forecasting was scheduled to be cut off by the close of that month due to “recent service changes.” It later said it would delay the date until the end of July.
One weather forecaster warned that a failure to distribute data from the DMSP’s Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) instrument could severely impact hurricane forecasts in the US.
Writing on X, atmospheric scientist Matthew Cappucci said the SSMIS satellite data is extremely important. “The microwave satellite imagery allows us to peer under the overcast of a storm, probing the inner structure of a tropical cyclone. It’s especially important at night.”
On June 30, the NOAA confirmed the plan to turn off the data ingest system at the end of July “to mitigate a significant cybersecurity risk to the High-Performance Computing environment.”
However, The Register spoke to an amateur satellite enthusiast who had shown that the data could be received directly from the satellite with the right equipment. Community website SatDump has provided a guide to buying the right hardware, and even developed a decoder to make sense of the data once forecasters have it. ®