Additional Performance Evaluation for NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture (NSOSA) Study

The Office of System Architecture and Advanced Planning (OSAAP), under National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), conducted an architecture study working with MIT Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL), the Aerospace Corporation, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the Kennedy Space Center, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Observations from NOAA’s operational environmental satellites provide critical inputs to weather and space weather forecasts on time scales spanning minutes to over a week. The goal of the study was to develop high value architectural constellations for all of NESDIS’s weather satellites in the 2030 timeframe, and then assess the constellations for value and cost. High level instrument concepts were solicited from industry, as well as provided by JPL, MIT LL, and GSFC. A value model of observational objectives, which contained observational parameter trade space ranges and satisfaction weighting defined by the Space Platform Requirements Working Group (SPRWG), was employed by MIT LL in systematically evaluating the value of the constellations. Inputs to and results from the latest evaluation cycle of over fifty additional constellations will be discussed. The value versus costs curve, where constellation costs were supplied by APL, will be discussed for the new constellations and some select constellations from previous design cycles. As with the previous cycles, error analysis associated with the evaluation process and risk identification will be discussed as well.

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This material is based upon work supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration under Air Force Contract No. FA8702-15-D-0001. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.