Editorial written by The Dallas Morning News Editorial Board.
For more than 40 years, the Department of Defense has operated satellites that collect information about atmospheric and oceanic conditions. The microwave frequencies from the DOD satellites provide data that is processed by a group within the Navy and shared with scientists and weather forecasters who use it for different purposes, including for real-time hurricane forecasting.
The Department of Defense announced that it would discontinue sharing the data “no later than July 31,” according to a statement by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. The DOD will stop providing the data “to mitigate a significant cybersecurity risk,” NOAA’s announcement said.
We don’t know the full extent of that risk. But we do know that DOD satellite data is important for visualizing the three-dimensional structure of storms as they intensify or change course. Anita Rapp, associate professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, explained that microwave instruments provide insight into a storm’s internal structure, data that traditional satellite imagery can’t capture.
Erica Grow Cei, a National Weather Service spokesperson, said the information shared by the Department of Defense is just one tool in the National Weather Services’ forecasting toolbelt. The National Weather Service relies on various satellite systems and other tools like hurricane hunter aircraft, weather balloons and observations on the ground for forecasting, Cei said.
But Rapp told us that, with the loss of the data from the DOD satellites, there will be a loss of resolution of the information in space and time. There will be fewer microwave satellites providing fewer observations, which could risk missing key developments like the location of the center of a storm or the intensification of a storm. This could lead to less reliable forecasts.
As extreme weather events like Tropical Storm Barry — which contributed to the devastating flooding in the Texas Hill Country — become more frequent, this data contributes to giving forecasters the most current and accurate information.
It’s troubling that with peak hurricane season from mid-August through September on the horizon, this data that is used regularly for forecasting will no longer be available.
In moments like these, we should be demanding more information, not less. We need more tools to monitor developing storms, more data to guide evacuation decisions and more resources to help forecasters warn communities.
If there are security concerns with sharing this data, there should be ways to work to overcome or address the risks rather than deciding not to share the information altogether.
The situation is made worse by staffing shortages at National Weather Service offices across Texas. With meteorologist positions unfilled, forecasters are already stretched thin. Taking away a key data source now only makes it harder to track storms and warn communities in time.
