In 2006, a series of satellites were launched in a joint mission between the United States and Taiwan. These satellites were known as the COSMIC satellites, the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate.
The goal of this mission was to build a new type of weather monitoring satellite based on the GPS Network. As radio waves in the GPS network travel through the atmosphere, they are deflected slightly as a function of the structure, temperature, and humidity of the atmosphere they pass through.
The COSMIC satellites were built to turn these tiny atmospheric deflections into data on the weather. Most weather satellites look down, looking through the atmosphere at a specific point, but they don’t provide a vertical profile through the atmosphere; the COSMIC satellites can do just that. They can give a full look at the atmosphere from surface to orbit, allowing for better understanding of how weather and climate develop through the entire system.
The data are made publicly available within hours of being acquired and thousands of researchers are registered to access the data. This type of data has successfully been deployed in predicting the development of hurricanes, amongst other uses.
The original deployment launched in 2006 consisted of 6 satellites. Currently only 1 is fully functional, and 3 more are partly functional but dealing with battery issues after being in orbit long-term. Based on the successes of the first program, an additional joint US-Taiwan mission was planned for 2016 involving 6 more COSMIC satellites.
From an American perspective, part of the beauty of this system should be that the United States only has to pay half the cost since it has a partner. But, that hasn’t stopped the system from being put on the chopping block due to mandatory budget cuts known as “Sequestration”.
NOAA, the organization running the COSMIC program, was forced to take a large budget cut this year. They were faced with a Catch-22 in the process; either they could furlough their weather forecasters now and potentially cost lives this year or they could sacrifice future programs and possibly cost lives down the road.
In early July, NOAA made the decision to delay the COSMIC-2 satellites in order to free up $13.7 million to keep their weather forecasters online this year.
The budget for next year is not finalized so the COSMIC-2 satellites are not totally dead yet, but so far this move has already had the effect of angering the US’s mission partner, Taiwan, who will lose money already spent on the project if the US is forced to pull out. At the very least, delays seem likely, if the program can be salvaged at all. The Taiwanese government had requested a firm statement from the US at the end of June regarding their participation, and so far it looks like the answer is a firm “maybe”.
Press report:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/bumpy-landing-for-noaa-satellite-plan-92468.html
Press report:
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/7/16/science-environment/climate-space-race
COSMIC satellites:
http://www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/star/Best2006GPSSignals.php
COSMIC Satellite program office:
http://www.cosmic.ucar.edu/cosmic2/index.html
Image credit:
http://www2.ucar.edu/news/cosmic-visuals-multimedia-gallery
