With JPSS-1 bound for orbit, forecast calls for a sigh of relief

摘要

orecasters are breathing a sigh of relief as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration prepares to launch the first of four next-generation weather satellites into polar orbit to provide detailed global atmospheric data for the next two decades. Since 2010 when the Obama administration canceled the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System, which was designed to handle military and civil requirements, meteorologists have expressed concern that existing polar-orbiting weather satellites would fail before new ones could take their place leaving critical gaps in the atmospheric temperature and moisture readings needed for accurate forecasts.