Government Connection
G E O W O R L D / J U L Y 2 O O 9 12 NOAA Taps Another Satellite Partner The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) chose Harris Corp.'s Government Communica-tions Systems Division to develop the ground system for the GOES-R satellite program. The ground system will capture, process and distribute information from NOAA's next-generation geostationary satellite series. The GOES-R series of spacecraft, set to begin launching in 2015, is expected to double the clarity of current satellite imagery and provide at least 20 times more atmospheric observations from space. The ground system comprises computers that con-trol the satellite and process the satellite's data into products that scientists can use. The GOES-R ground system will be developed and operated at the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md., and at the Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station in Wallops Island, Va. The system will be designed to ensure continuity of operations during severe weather and other threat scenarios. NOAA's satellites are a crucial tool for weather forecasters and scientists, said Jane Lubchenco, NOAA administrator. They help predict the path of dangerous storms and give us a greater understanding of our changing climate. This award will generate nearly 300 jobs for the aerospace industry and ensure NOAA remains on the `cutting edge' of satellite technology. The contract, which has an estimated value of $736 million, requires Harris Corp. to design, develop and test the GOES-R ground system. The award came following a full and open competitive procurement process. Earlier in 2009, NOAA and NASA announced that Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. was chosen to build the GOES-R satellites through a separate contract. NOAA funds, manages and will operate the GOES-R program. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center over-sees the acquisition of the GOES-R spacecraft and instruments for NOAA. As the GOES-R program moves forward, forecasters from NOAA's National Weather Service, one of the pri-mary users of GOES-R data, will see detailed images of potentially deadly hurricanes every 30 seconds, instead of every 7.5 minutes (the rate provided by the current system). New Models of South America Hit the Web An effort led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) resulted in new visual representations of South American terrain, and the visuals are freely available on the Internet. Release of the new representations came earlier in 2009 at an international workshop in Sioux Falls, S.D. More than 20 scientists from 14 countries attended the workshop on the use of digital elevation models (DEMs) of South America. The collection of DEMs was acquired using a spe-cially modified radar system that flew aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in February 2000. Known as the Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission, it yielded what's considered to be the most complete high-resolution digital topographic database of Earth. The DEMs will be freely available for download through a new USGS-produced Web service, and they're expected to be used as aids for disaster pre-vention and mitigation, infrastructure and land plan-ning, and policy development in South America. The DEMs, created in approximately one year, came in response to requests by South American geographic agencies for USGS support in produc-ing an integrated DEM of South America. The USGS GOV ERNMENT CONNECTION Under a NOAA contract, Harris Corp. will operate the ground systems for the GOES-R satellites to be built by Lockheed Martin. NOAA; LOCKHEED MARTIN