The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) is a tri-agency cooperative effort for transitioning new techniques from the research arena to improve operational weather forecasting and analysis in support of the Space Shuttle and the National Space Program.

It is operated by ENSCO, Inc. under contract to NASA and is co-located with the 45th Weather Squadron at Range Weather Operations (RWO) on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

The AMU supports RWO forecasters who provide weather support for Shuttle and expendable vehicle ground processing and launches, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters in the Spaceflight Meteorology Group at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX who provide weather support for Shuttle on-orbit and landing operations, and the NWS Office in Melbourne, FL that provides daily regional forecasts.

The AMU has recent experience in operational transition of mesoscale modeling, wind profiling techniques, and lightning detection systems. The quarterly reports on-line here highlight the current work performed by the AMU.

View an overview of the AMU in PowerPoint^® Slide Show (PPS) format by clicking here.

Mission

The Applied Meteorology Unit (AMU) develops, evaluates and transitions technology to operations for weather support to America’s space program.

Values

Excellence, integrity and responsiveness to customers.

The Team

The AMU team evaluates research conducted at universities, public and private laboratories, and the private sector, then acts as a bridge, transitioning those research results into applications used for operations by the Spaceflight Meteorology Group, the 45th Weather Squadron, and the National Weather Service in Melbourne, Florida.

The AMU is funded and managed by NASA and hosted by the U.S. Air Force, co-located with Range Weather Operations on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. It is tasked by its customers through a cooperative effort of NASA, the USAF and NWS. The AMU is currently operated by ENSCO, Inc. under a competitively-awarded contract.

Products

The AMU develops products that exploit weather technology to increase safety, reduce cost, and lessen weather impacts to space operations such as:

• Tools that produce more precise forecasts of the location and timing of weather hazards

• Methods to optimize the use of sensors

• Local numerical weather prediction systems tailored to operational requirements

• Techniques to improve the quality, accuracy, and utility of locally collected data

Tools

The AMU uses several tools in the execution of tasks, including:

• Local and national data sets

• State-of-the-art computing hardware

• Sophisticated software packages

• Rigorous and effective analysis techniques