NOAA Awards Contract for Ocean Surface Winds Data Pilot
NOAA Awards Contract for Ocean Surface Winds Data Pilot
Spire Global will Conduct CWDP Pilot Research
NOAA earlier this week awarded a Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) Ocean Surface Winds (OSW) Pilot contract to Spire Global Subsidiary, Inc.
“In today’s world, the demand for precise weather information is more critical than ever.”
Chuck Cash, Spire
NOAA’s Commercial Data Program (CDP) supports CWDP studies to demonstrate the quality and impact of commercial data on NOAA’s weather forecast models. This contract award constitutes the next round of NOAA’s CWDP studies with a particular focus on ocean surface wind data.
Retrieving ocean surface wind (OSW) speeds is a promising application of Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R). In GNSS-R reflectometry, GNSS signals emitted by satellites are reflected off the ocean surface, and the reflected signals are received by GNSS receivers on satellites, aircraft, or ground-based stations. By analyzing the characteristics of reflected signals, valuable information about the ocean surface can be derived, including wind speeds. The interaction between GNSS signals and the ocean surface causes changes in the signal's properties, such as amplitude, phase, and polarization. These changes are influenced by the roughness of the ocean surface, which is directly related to wind speed. By measuring and analyzing these changes, GNSS-R can provide estimates of OSW speed.
For this Pilot Study, NOAA will assess the quality and impact of available commercial global navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) observations for the measurement of OSW and other characteristics. NOAA will use Pilot Study data to improve upon NOAA’s derived wind speed products and investigate the utility of derived wind speed products developed by commercial vendors.
“In today’s world, the demand for precise weather information is more critical than ever,” said Chuck Cash, vice president of federal sales at Spire. “We are proud to partner with NOAA to utilize our satellite technology and capabilities, enabling NOAA to improve weather forecasts, advance climate research, and provide cost-effective and regular monitoring of surface winds that complements existing observation systems.”
The period of performance of the OSW CWDP study is 12 months; the Pilot study will be conducted in three phases: Phase 1: Preparation (3 months); Phase 2: Data Delivery (6 months); and Phase 3: Evaluation (3 months).
Upon completion and evaluation, successful CWDP studies may lead to sustained commercial data purchases by CDP to support NOAA’s research and operational forecasting endeavors. The CWDP awards are pursuant to the Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Act of 2017 (Public Law 115-25). NOAA is pleased to take this next step in working with the commercial sector to obtain and analyze ocean surface winds and related ancillary data to meet NOAA’s critical weather forecasting mission for the Nation.