Capital experts lose hurricane satellites in the worst possible time

In one month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Hurricane Center (NHC) will lose access to critical satellite data that allows meteorologists to see inside the eye of the storm. This represents the latest kick of proxy prediction capabilities with the start of the hurricane season.

In a sudden move by meteorologists and public employees on Wednesday, June 25, Navy Negative Meteorological Center (FNMOC) (FNMOC) Declare The DTSP data processing system (DMSP) was turned off for meteorology satellite (DMSP) on June 30 due to the threat of “important” cyber security. Malled by the Ministry of Defense (DOD), and the dmmsp satellites have presented the weather forecast for the critical storm data since the 1960s.

The decision sparked anger from meteorological experts and public employees, because it will cut their access to all DMSP data and may lead to a significant deterioration of the prediction accuracy in the beginning of the hurricane season. After pressing NOAA and NASA officials, Fnmoc postponed the closure until July 31, according to Noaa. message Joint Monday 30 June.

“Late on Friday, June 27, (CNMC) received a request from Dr. Germain with NASA to postpone the removal and continue to process and distribute DMSP data until July 31,” the message refers to Karen M Saint Germain, director of the department in the Department of Earth Sciences in NASA. “The update service consultant will be sent and Fnmoc is now expected to stop the DMSP processing no later than 31 July.”

This NOAA and NHC will give a few other weeks to prepare for the loss, but it is not clear how it looks like that. There is currently no plan to resume the DMSP data flow to NOAA, even when the new satellite begins in the Operations Ministry of Operations in October, CNN Reports. NOAA has publicly preserved that change will Not The quality of a hurricane prediction and that there are many other sources of hurricane data that will accurately allow prediction this season. Gizmodo communicate with NHC, DOD, US Air Force and US Navy public relations offices for comment but they did not receive a response at the time of publication.

The primary goal of DMSP satellite is to support military operations, but meteorologists used their statements to predict the weather and track storms for more than 50 years. These satellites take microwave images of hurricanes using a useful tool called a naive microwave image sensor, or SSMIS. This tool works like 3D x -rays, behaves through clouds to detect the internal structures of tropical storms and hurricanes. Monitor the changes in the eye of the storm and the head of the head – a long thunderstorm ring that surrounds the eye and produces heavy rains in addition to the strongest winds – can tell meteorologists whether the storm is enhancing or weakening. The presence of this information alerts them to major changes such as rapid condensation hours before they appear in other data flows. Consequently, these satellites are necessary to understand the potential effect of the storm and give officials time to warn people on their way.

“It is definitely one of the most important data sources that we have because it provides a unique data collection,” James Franklin, former head of the nhc Hurricane Unit, He said American scientific. ))

It is difficult to predict rapid condensation, but early capture is very important, because it greatly increases the effect of the hurricane. An example of this is the Hurricane Milton, who achieved a decline in Florida on October 9, 2024. Within only 24 hours, this storm Enhance Category 1 to Category 5, destroys the western coast of the state.

The loss of access to DMSP data will make rapid condensation more difficult for NHC meteorologists, and this is not the first storm tracking tool they lost this year. Earlier this month, it became clear Noa Saildrones will not use this hurricane season. These aircraft ships are sailing directly to storms to collect data in the actual time used by predictors to predict their strength and path. Like DMSP satellites, sailerones is especially useful for discovering early signs of rapid condensation. Agency spokeswoman Kelly Bilva said in an email: NOAA has not relied on them over the past four years, but this year, the California -based company was not “unable to give” the NOAA contract.

All this adds to increasing concerns about the NOAA preparation for the hurricane season, which officially started on June 1 and ends on November 30. The agency predicts that this season will be activeSix to 10 storms is expected to be enhanced by hurricanes. Among them, it can become three to five “main” hurricanes – category 3, 4 or 5. Since President Donald Trump took office, they have Confrontation Selected employee discounts, grant freezing, travel and training restrictions. The abstraction of the main storm tracking tools agency will add this strain.

Despite the turmoil, noaa representatives He says They are ready. Other experts differ. “This decision will kill people,” Hurricane researcher Jimmy Yunge He wrote in a letter to the Noaa satellite office and products that express their concern about the loss of DMSP data. “This will lead to millions, if not billions of dollars, of additional damage to every event.”