XM Satellite Marine Weather - The successful result of Stennis Space Center's technology cluster

WorldWinds, Inc. was established in May 2000 as a spin-off of User Systems Enterprises, Inc. WorldWinds, Inc. is a privately held, women-owned, small business located at the Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi and is a founding member of the Mississippi Space Commerce Initiative (MSCI). The MSCI was established in 1997 by NASA and the state of Mississippi to promote commercial remote sensing in the region. Through this partnership, WorldWinds developed a continuous working relationships with meteorology programs at Jackson State University and Mississippi State University. The research and development efforts have culminated in commercialization efforts involving mesoscale modeling (MM5 and COAMPS), wave modeling (WAVEWATCH and the proprietary lake model WINDWAVE), storm surge modeling (ADCIRC), and data analysis.

A highlight of this collaboration has been a partnership with Baron Services and XM Satellite Radio. This team has developed a satellite-delivered product called XM Satellite Weather. This product, geared towards mobile users on planes, boats, or vehicles, displays weather information on a computer or Garmin unit. WorldWinds provides buoy, lake and offshore wave model data, COAMPS meteorology data, and water temperature to this suite. A history of the university-WorldWinds partnership, and examples of the XM Satellite Weather product, will be shown at the conference.