Hurricane Forecast Satellite Failing

Just in Time for Hurricane Season
NASA's QuickScat weather satellite, a key to accurate hurricane track forecasting since 1999, could fail at any moment, and a replacement is not due until 2016.

QuickScat transmits wind speed and direction over the ocean, data used to predicting the paths of hurricanes and tropical storms. Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), say the loss of QuickScat data would reduce the accuracy of 2-day hurricane forecasts by as much as 10 percent and 3-day forecasts by 16 percent.

Since its main transmitter failed last year, QuickScat has been sending data on a backup transmitter, which could fail without warning at any time. A replacement satellite will cost $400 million and take at least four years to build, according to NOAA.

On the Other Hand
The Palm Beach Post reports that a group of senior forecasters at NOAA's National Hurricane Center contend that Center director Bill Proenza has overstated the importance of QuickScat data and have issued a petition calling for his removal.

The forecasters contend that "hurricane hunter" reconnaissance aircraft flights are far more useful in predicting storm paths than satellite data.

Photo: QuickScat satellite courtesy Goddard Space Flight Center

Also See:
NOAA Releases Revised Research Plan
Better Severe Weather Forecasts Coming