Andrew Yee
February 27th 06, 11:45 PM
NOAA
Washington, D.C.
Media Contact:
John Leslie, NOAA Satellite and Information Service
(301) 457-5005
NOAA 2006-017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/9/06
NOAA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARD FOR GEOSTATIONARY LIGHTNING MAPPER
NOAA and NASA announced today that Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Advanced Technology Center, of Palo Alto, Calif., Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corporation, of Broomfield, Colo., and ITT Industries Space
Systems Division, of Fort Wayne, Ind., were each awarded a $2 million
dollar contract for the formulation phase for the Geostationary Lightning
Mapper, a key instrument of the next generation of Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellites, called GOES-R. This series of
spacecraft will enable NOAA to provide improved -- and uninterrupted --
GOES data for users around the world.
NOAA's National Weather Service estimates that lightning strikes within
the United States an average of 25 million times each year, killing an
average of 67 people and causing property losses, damage to aircraft and
electronics and can trigger wildfires. The GLM will provide important
information that would be used in the development of improve safety
warning forecasts for the public across the nation.
The GLM consists of an optical system, high speed optical pulse detectors
and processing electronics, which will provide real-time measurement of
lightning activity over the full disk. The GLM will also detect individual
lightning pulses and provide: the location of lightning flashes,
continuous full-disk lightning measurements for thunderstorm and tornado
warnings, issued by NOAA's National Weather Service, and accumulate a
long-term database to determine decadal changes in lightning activity.
This 12-month contract is an attempt to identify risk reduction efforts
before specifying final performance requirements for the implementation
phase later. NOAA manages the GOES program and establishes the
requirements, provides funding and distributes environmental data for the
United States. NASA procures and manages the acquisition of GOES for NOAA.
NOAA, 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 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 and 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is
as integrated as the planet it observes.
Relevant Web Sites:
* NOAA
http://www.noaa.gov
* NOAA Satellite and Information Service
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov
Washington, D.C.
Media Contact:
John Leslie, NOAA Satellite and Information Service
(301) 457-5005
NOAA 2006-017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 2/9/06
NOAA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT AWARD FOR GEOSTATIONARY LIGHTNING MAPPER
NOAA and NASA announced today that Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company
Advanced Technology Center, of Palo Alto, Calif., Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corporation, of Broomfield, Colo., and ITT Industries Space
Systems Division, of Fort Wayne, Ind., were each awarded a $2 million
dollar contract for the formulation phase for the Geostationary Lightning
Mapper, a key instrument of the next generation of Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellites, called GOES-R. This series of
spacecraft will enable NOAA to provide improved -- and uninterrupted --
GOES data for users around the world.
NOAA's National Weather Service estimates that lightning strikes within
the United States an average of 25 million times each year, killing an
average of 67 people and causing property losses, damage to aircraft and
electronics and can trigger wildfires. The GLM will provide important
information that would be used in the development of improve safety
warning forecasts for the public across the nation.
The GLM consists of an optical system, high speed optical pulse detectors
and processing electronics, which will provide real-time measurement of
lightning activity over the full disk. The GLM will also detect individual
lightning pulses and provide: the location of lightning flashes,
continuous full-disk lightning measurements for thunderstorm and tornado
warnings, issued by NOAA's National Weather Service, and accumulate a
long-term database to determine decadal changes in lightning activity.
This 12-month contract is an attempt to identify risk reduction efforts
before specifying final performance requirements for the implementation
phase later. NOAA manages the GOES program and establishes the
requirements, provides funding and distributes environmental data for the
United States. NASA procures and manages the acquisition of GOES for NOAA.
NOAA, 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 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 and 60 countries to develop a global monitoring network that is
as integrated as the planet it observes.
Relevant Web Sites:
* NOAA
http://www.noaa.gov
* NOAA Satellite and Information Service
http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov