Space-based Concepts to Support the Tactical Weather Users

Abstract

Recent military theater operations such as Desert Storm have underscored the need for additional support for theater users. The needs of specific user communities are varied, and it is appropriate to examine those needs and develop system concepts which can enable the tactical community to more effectively perform their mission. This paper examines the needs and requirements of the tactical weather community and how additional space-based assets could be used to increase the tactical mission effectiveness. The approach investigated is to augment the current military meteorological satellite program, DMSP, which operates in low earth orbit with a geosynchronous platform capable of data collection and dissemination within the theater. This approach has several advantages, including the ability to provide focused, long-term coverage over the theater, with real-time downlink directly to the tactical user. One of the goals of the study was to determine what combinations of sensors and communications services might be provided from a smaller satellite on the order of 1000 lbs. This study was performed to evaluate alternatives to providing the tactical military user with space-based environmental monitoring information as an augmentation to the Defense Meteorological Satellite System (DMSS). The effort was driven by the most recent requirements, the MAC SON 211-89 Tactical Weather Observing System (TWOS) and MAC SON 216-89 Tactical Forecast System (TFS). Emphasis on the study was the focus on geosynchronous augmentations to the current set of DMSS satellites, which included climatical scenarios and requirements analysis, as well as sensor technologies assessments.