NOAA boosts weather data collection capabilities with new Mesonet contract

NOAA’s National Weather Service will expand the National Mesonet Program offsite link — an observational weather “network of networks” that delivers critical information required for improved weather prediction and warnings across the United States — through a new contract that begins on September 1.

“NOAA gathers environmental information from a wide variety of sources, and a growing list of private industry partners have joined our agency to collect this vital data,” said Ken Graham, director, NOAA’s National Weather Service. “This agreement streamlines the process that turns raw data into the gold-standard forecasts that Americans depend on.” 

This new contract extends an existing partnership with KBR Wyle Services, LLC, while greatly increasing its scope. As the primary contractor, KBR will work with other private industry partners, about 70 in total, to provide services such as data recording, collection, aggregation, ingesting and processing into a format for use by NWS weather models and forecasters. 

“With this contract, NWS will gain access to a wide variety of cutting edge commercial observations to greatly expand the reach of our observing systems in support of NWS’s forecast and warning mission,” said Curtis Marshall, Ph.D, director of National Weather Service’s Commercial Observations Program. “The new contract will clear a path for future innovations in weather observation and forecasting by gathering weather observation data collected from sources outside of NOAA — on land, in the air and in the water — and placing it all under one roof.” 

Better forecasts through better observations

The partnership between KBR and NOAA is central to modernizing NWS’s weather data systems, largely reducing NOAA’s dependence on equipment owned and operated by the agency. It also allows NOAA to gain access to cutting edge and emerging technologies as they arrive on the market. 

A dense, reliable network of weather observations is key to improving NOAA’s weather forecast models. Using KBR as a centralized prime contractor streamlines NOAA’s data procurement, removes redundancy, and aggregates data in one place. It’s a more efficient process yielding several benefits:

• Data sources from new vendors are easier to incorporate as they become available;
• Modern cloud-based architecture is more easily implemented;
• A more robust observational network is created capable of capturing changes in weather conditions over geography and as they evolve over time;
• A strong Mesonet supports NOAA’s goal to be the world leader in numerical weather prediction.

Modernizing and reimagining NWS observational systems 

Beginning as a program to provide surface observations from networks operated by states, the NMP now includes a wide array of weather and other environmental data such as upper atmospheric conditions, soil moisture and temperature, wave heights, and ocean currents.

As the Mesonet program grew, NWS sought streamlined, efficient access to data sources from dozens of different companies capable of delivering high-quality data for mission-critical functions like maintaining situational awareness, predicting short-term weather features and running weather forecast models. This new contract creates easier access and consolidates these datasets derived from ground-based stations, commercial balloons, detailed atmospheric information from drones, ocean-based buoys, commercial aircraft, ground-based radars, and others.

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