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MAY LAUNCH PLANNED FOR NOAA-K WEATHER SATELLITE
A new satellite that will improve weather forecasting and monitor
environmental events around the world will be launched on May 13, the U.S.
Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and NASA announced today.
NOAA-K, a joint project of NOAA and NASA, is scheduled for launch on May
13, at 8:52 a.m. PDT, from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The satellite will be
launched into a near-polar orbit 516 miles above the Earth on a U.S. Air
Force Titan II rocket. It will circle the Earth every 102 minutes, passing
over the North and South Poles on each orbit.
NOAA-K is the first in a series of five satellites with improved imaging
and sounding capabilities that will operate over the next 12 years. Like
other NOAA satellites, NOAA-K will collect meteorological data and transmit
the information to users around the world to enhance weather and climate
forecasting. In the United States, the data will be used primarily by the
National Weather Service for its operational long-range weather and climate
forecasts.
The design of the satellite will enable it to "scan" the Earth, and
provide continuous global images of cloud cover, surface parameters such as
snow, ice, and vegetation; atmospheric temperatures, moisture, and aerosol
distributions; and collect and relay information from data platforms.
"With NOAA-K, we will get better measurements of atmospheric temperature
and moisture values," said Mike Mignogno, NOAA's polar program manager.
"These translate into better information, particularly in the troposphere
under cloudy conditions. The result will be accurate, global, tropospheric
temperature and moisture data under all sky conditions."
"The improved cloud, snow cover and sea surface temperature data means
improved forecasts of potential flooding and drought conditions," said
Ronald McPherson, director of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental
Prediction, one of the primary users of the polar satellite data. "The
observations will also enhance the National Weather Service's ability to
forecast storms such as those we have experienced during the major El NiZo
event, as well as the El NiZo itself."
NOAA-K will also carry search and rescue instruments that are used
internationally in locating ships and aircraft in distress. The use of
satellites in search and rescue has been instrumental in saving more than
7000 lives since the inception of the Search and Rescue Satellite-aided
Tracking (SARSAT) system.
NOAA operates two polar-orbiting and two geostationary environmental
satellites. Currently, NOAA is operating NOAA-12, launched in May 1991,
and NOAA-14, launched in December 1994. NOAA-K, to be renamed NOAA-15 once
in orbit, will replace NOAA-12, which will be deactivated.
NOAA and NASA work together to develop and launch NOAA's environmental
satellites. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., is
responsible for the construction, integration, and verification testing of
the satellite, instruments, and ground equipment. NASA arranges launch of
the satellites with the U.S. Air Force. Following the launch, NASA turns
operational control of the satellite over to NOAA after a comprehensive
on-orbit verification period, which is expected to last about 60 days.
NOAA operates the satellites from the Satellite Operations Control
Center
of the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service in
Suitland, Md.
Information on the polar satellites is available on the World Wide Web
at:
http://poes2.gsfc.nasa.gov and at http://www2.ncdc.noaa.gov/docs/intro.htm
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