Rep. Scott Franklin Questions Pentagon's Plan to Halt Hurricane Data Sharing with NOAA

Pentagon's Plan to Discontinue DMSP Data Sharing

• 🎯 The Pentagon announced a plan to discontinue the ingestion, processing, and distribution of Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) data to NOAA, citing security concerns.
• 🗓️ Originally planned for 2026 but moved to July 2025, this decision impacts critical data used for hurricane forecasting.

Importance of DMSP Data for Hurricane Forecasting

• 💡 DMSP sensors, particularly microwave imagers, are critically important for hurricane forecasting, especially for determining storm centers at night and identifying rapid intensification.
• 📉 The loss of DMSP data, coupled with the shutdown of NOAA's POS systems, has resulted in a loss of about 60% of the nation's capacity for microwave imagers and sounders.
• ⚠️ This data is essential for predicting storm paths and making critical evacuation decisions for millions of people along the coast.

Impact on Weather Prediction Capabilities

• 📊 Microwave imagers and sounders are the backbone of numerical weather prediction and medium-range forecasting capabilities.
• 🌊 The loss of this data significantly impacts the ability to detect storm intensification, eye formation, and curved bands, particularly at night when geostationary sensors are limited.

Future Satellite Coverage and Gaps

• 🛰️ While the DoD's Weather System Follow-on Microwave (WSFM) is in orbit, it's not an exact replacement for the DMSP's SSMIS.
• ⏳ NOAA's Quick Sounder program and WSFM together may fill the early morning gap, but the concept of early morning/afternoon architecture is becoming outdated with newer, more comprehensive satellite constellations.
• ⏳ A smooth transition and overlap of observing systems, ideally for at least a year, is critical for optimizing technology and ensuring long-horizon archives when changing observational systems.

Concerns Regarding DoD's Commitments

• ❓ Questions remain about whether the DoD is fully living up to its commitments to gather and provide early morning orbit coverage to complement NOAA's joint polar satellite system after the cancellation of ENOS.
• 📉 The discontinuation of DMSP data sharing comes at a great cost, potentially losing crucial overlap and cross-calibration time needed for data continuity.