The Need for a Continuously Updated Department of Defense Environmental Satellite Requirements Document
Abstract
Air Force Weather (AFW), and its Navy equivalent, the Commander Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command (CNMOC), are tasked with characterizing the current and future state of the environment in all warfighting domains. In order to do this, they employ a wide range of in situ and remotely-sensed observations of the atmosphere, space environment, and land and ocean surfaces. Weather satellites of several types operated by the Departments of Defense (DoD) and Commerce (DOC), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and several foreign governments are a key platform for collection of remotely-sensed environmental data. AFW and CNMOC consume a wide range of observational data types from this extensive array of weather satellites. Several factors occurring now and in the near future will change the manner in which the DoD meteorology and oceanography (METOC) community consumes environmental satellite data, though. These factors should prompt DoD to update its environmental satellite data requirements. Joint Chiefs of Staff Memorandum 154-86 from 1986 and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Integrated Operational Requirements Document (IORD) II from 2001 are the current benchmark satellite requirements documents and both offer several instructive lessons upon which to build. This paper examines the need for, and proposes some key considerations of, creating an updated statement of the DoD METOC community's environmental satellite requirements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA539656
Entities
People
- Robert S. Wacker
Organizations
- Air Command and Staff College