NOAA has announced plans to release three Broad Agency Announcements, or BAAs, that may lead to industry studies of emerging technology to improve Numerical Weather Prediction, mitigation of 5G impact on NOAA weather satellites and development of nexgen ground and data systems.
The BAAs – and the studies that will result – are part of NOAA’s Office of System Architecture and Advanced Planning (OSAAP) Joint Venture Partnership. Joint Venture Partnership collaborates with other federal agencies, the academic community, and the commercial sector to research promising technology and explore the feasibility of that technology to meet NOAA’s future observational, product, and service needs.
Specifically, the recent BAAs will explore the feasibility of developing technologies for:
- Designing a Microwave Sensor with Simultaneous Imaging and Sounding Capabilities (MSSIS). NOAA will assess sensor designs with simultaneous imaging and sensor capabilities that could potentially improve Numerical Weather Prediction by improving observations of extreme weather.
- Ground Processing Demonstrations. NOAA is engaged in the early development of the next-generation of ground system architecture, and will explore new concepts, models and systems.
- Detection, Characterizing, and Mitigation of Passive Sensor Data Corrupting Emissions (DMiPS). 5G communication satellites, located adjacent to NOAA Earth satellite bands, have caused some corruption of agency observations. NOAA is interested in the potential of developing means of detecting, characterizing and mitigating those 5G emissions.
The value of these emerging technologies in enhancing a variety of NOAA’s systems including Numerical Weather Prediction and satellite ground processing is being investigated. The BAAs are a critical first step in assessing possibilities for the future. This is exploratory and there are no planned missions or end needs tied to these technologies.
Following the release of the BAAs, there will be a Community Day for all interested parties. Based on the responses to the BAAs, NOAA will select the best options to pursue.