NOAA Selects Contractor for Technical Support for NPOESS Sounder
March 19, 2008
NOAA has announced that the Utah State University Research Foundation of Logan, Utah, has been selected for a $4.5 million contract award to provide systems engineering and technical support and new technology development studies for two sounder instruments that will fly on the National Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
The instruments, Cross-Track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) and the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS), will provide improved measurements of the temperature and moisture profiles in the atmosphere, leading to more accurate weather and climate forecasts.
The contract has a 12-month base period, with four additional 12-month option periods for a total value of nearly $4.5 million.
Under the contract, USURF will analyze CrIS and ATMS sensor performance and instrument test data, including for instrument calibration, stability and error budget analysis. Among other services, the contractor will assist with developing and executing the NPOESS calibration/validation program for these two sensors on NPOESS, and the precursor satellite, NASA’s NPOESS Preparatory Project.
NPOESS will combine NOAA’s current polar-orbiting satellite operations with the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program into one system. With the launch of the first spacecraft planned for 2013, NPOESS will bring improved data and imagery, allowing for better weather forecasts, severe-weather monitoring and detection of climate change.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.