Athenium Climate Intelligence Support of the US CBP Aerostat Program

Aerostat flight operations require consideration of multiple atmospheric conditions, both at the surface and aloft, ranging from short-term severe weather operations to longer-term tropical storm forecasts. The Climate Intelligence unit of Athenium has been the meteorological data provider and operational forecast desk serving the United States Customs and Border Protection (US CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) under prime contractor QinetiQ since late 2023. Our team has developed numerous different automated decision-support technologies that analyze meteorological data to support flight operations at the eight TARS sites along the southern border of the United States and additional nearby Tactical Aerostat System (TAS) sites. This presentation will discuss the operations of the Athenium Climate Intelligence team in support of the TARS/TAS programs, including examples of decision-support technological advancements and human forecasting processes during live severe weather outbreaks and tropical storms. The presentation will review analysis and handling of mesoscale weather phenomena that can impact flight performance. As several of these sites are at risk for tropical cyclones, forecast examples of 2024 tropical cyclones using Athenium’s proprietary forecast product BeaconHurricane will be highlighted, including discussion of decision-support processes under forecast uncertainty. Automated decision-making tools that are provided to the site operational staff will be discussed, as well as how these tools are used and interpreted by the operational meteorologists within Athenium.