In the Wake of Hurricane Irene, Improved Forecasting Technology is on the Horizon, According to Ball Aerospace

Summary:

NASA's next-generation Earth observation satellite – NPP – arrived on Monday at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base slated to launch on October 25, 2011. NPP will bridge data from the nation's aging polar-orbiting satellite systems with next-generation Earth observation satellites. The satellite is equipped with instruments that will reduce the margin of error in weather forecasts and provide higher fidelity data for meteorologists.  NPP will also provide more frequent data transmissions to eliminate existing data gaps, which is critical in predicting a hurricane's track and narrowing the cone of uncertainty.  

NPP's suite of five sensors will also make measurements to continue producing key data products about Earth including, for example, measurements of cloud, vegetation, and ice cover, ocean color, and sea and land surface temperatures. Earth scientists will use the data to enhance their understanding of climate change.

Under contract to Goddard Space Flight Center, Ball Aerospace designed and built the NPP satellite bus and one of the satellite's five advanced-technology instruments, and integrated all the instruments.

Soundbites:

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www.DigitalNewsRelease.com/?q=Ball_Aerospace

Waleed Abdalati – Chief Scientist, NASA

"There is value to knowing what tomorrow will bring. Whether by tomorrow we mean literally as in the weather forecast, or by tomorrow we mean something longer – the future earth environment that we can expect to be living in months, years, decades from now, and that our children and grandchildren will be living in."

Mary Kicza – Assistant Administrator for Satellite and Information, NOAA  

"You're going to have severe weather in this timeframe in this location. And the information from these weather satellites is absolutely critical to providing that kind of data over a period of time, so that people in those areas can prepare."

B-Roll:

• Footage of NPP in clean room – final testing and bagging prior to transport  

• Archival footage of construction of NPP

• Artist rendering of satellite in space

Additional information about NPP can be found at:

http://www.ballaerospace.com/page.jsp?page=73

http://www.nasa.gov/NPP

http://npoess.noaa.gov/index.php?pg=npp

Contact:

Roz Brown

Media Relations Manager

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

303-533-6059 (office); 720-581-3135 (cell)

[email protected]