DMSP: Tempest Tracker for the US Military

DMSP: points of light
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Military commanders have always been subject to the whims of mother nature. Napoleon’s attempt to take Moscow stalled in the bitter cold and snow of the Russian winter. The D-Day invasion was postponed because of a poor weather forecast.

To better predict the weather, the US Department of Defense began an effort in the 1960s called the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) to use satellites to monitor weather from space. Data from DMSP satellites are used for strategic and tactical weather prediction to aid the US military in planning operations at sea, on land and in the air.

The aging DMSP is being replaced by the National Polar-orbiting Observing Satellite System (NPOESS); however, that system is $3 billion over budget and is not expected to be ready until 2012. In the meantime, DMSP replacement satellites are being launched to keep the system functioning. On Oct 18/09, the DMSP F-18 satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 2 more DMSP satellites – F-19 and F-20 – are expected to be launched before the program ends…

Feb 1/10: The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy announces NPOESS’ restructuring, while referring to the system as “a national priority” and contending that “Independent reports and an administration task force have concluded that the current program cannot be successfully executed with the current management structure, and with the current budget structure.” The decision follows recommendations from an Executive Office of the President (EOP) Task Force, working since August 2009.

In response to those recommendations and findings, the program will be split. NASA and NOAA will be responsible for the afternoon orbit via the Joint Polar Satellite System, and the USAF will take responsibility for the morning orbit. A tradition plan is being drawn up, and the European Space Agency’s EUMETSAT partnership will “remain a key part of our ability to provide continuous polar-orbiting measurements.” The USAF still has some Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) polar-orbiting satellites available for launch for the next few years, but NOAA launched its final polar-orbiting satellite in February 2009. As such, efforts will focus development of NASA and NOAA’s JPSS platform, with a plan for USAF satellites to follow by Q4 FY 2011.

The release notes that “The NASA developed and operating Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua satellite and ground system are very similar in scope and magnitude to the proposed JPSS program.” It adds that some system appear to have matured:

“Significant progress has been made with the [NPOESS Preparatory Project], now with a realistic and achievable launch date of September 2011. A key instrument, the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), has been tested and shipped from the developers to NPP and can now be integrated onto the spacecraft. The Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) has been developed, integrated onto the NPP spacecraft, and tested for flight. The Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) has been integrated and fully tested for flight. NOAA and NASA have taken advantage of the NPP opportunity to add the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instrument to NPP. This instrument has been integrated onto the spacecraft and tested for flight, thus ensuring the continuity of this critical data set beyond the NASA EOS (Terra and Aqua) missions.”

See: Space Flight Daily | U. Miss. School of Law’s Res Communis

Jan 29/10: Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, CA receives an $85.4 million contract for work associated with revising the launch dates for DMSP F-19 and F-20 satellites and rephrasing of the contract consistent with the revised launch dates. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center manages the contract (F04701-02-C-0003, P00157).

The primary weather sensor on DMSP is the Operational Linescan System, which provides visual and infrared imagery of cloud cover over an area 16,000 nautical miles wide. Global coverage of weather features is accomplished every 14 hours providing data over data-sparse or data-denied areas. Additional satellite sensors measure atmospheric vertical profiles of moisture and temperature.

Military weather forecasters can detect developing patterns of weather and track existing weather systems over remote areas, including the presence of severe thunderstorms, hurricanes and typhoons.

The DMSP satellites also measure local charged particles and electromagnetic fields to assess the impact of the ionosphere on ballistic-missile early warning radar systems and long-range communications. Additionally, these data are used to monitor global auroral activity and to predict the effects of the space environment on satellite operations.

Tracking stations at New Boston Air Force Station, NH; Thule Air Base, Greenland; Fairbanks, AK; and Kaena Point, HI receive DMSP data and electronically transfer them to the Air Force Weather Agency at Offutt Air Force Base, NE. Tactical units with special equipment can also receive data directly from the satellites.

Fast Facts

• Primary Function: Collect terrestrial, space environment and Earth surface data
• Primary contractor: Northrop Grumman/Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space
• Weight: 2,545 pounds, including 592-pound sensor payload
• Orbit altitude: Approximately 450 nautical miles
• Dimensions: 14.1 feet long without solar panels deployed
• Power plant: 10 panels, generating 2,200 watts of power
• Launch vehicle: Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle – Medium
• Date 1st deployed: August 1962