Preferential Development of Satellite Meteorological Sensors

In about a decade, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is scheduled to become the operational meteorological satellite system serving the civilian and military needs of the U.S. A new generation of satellite meteorological sensors and algorithms needs to be developed in that time. An objective procedure for assessing acquisition decisions related to said development could facilitate informed decisions as to preferential development of meteorological sensors. This could be valuable in situations of budget constraints for example. A Cost and Operational Benefit Requirement Analysis (COBRA) provides information and tools for project managers to use in making informed acquisition decisions based on simulations rather than on expensive field testing of hardware. These simulations can yield optimized sensor development plans, or a "benefit path", that, if followed, place a project in its best developmental position for current fund expenditures.

Two COBRAs have been performed by AFRL to demonstrate the military value of NPOESS. Both relied on the simulation of Environmental Data Records (EDRs) from numerical weather prediction models. The EDRs provide simulated soundings of the type expected from NPOESS. The selected EDRs were used as the input for the calculation of the Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) that were used to ascertain NPOESS' military value.

This paper illustrates the COBRA concept as applied to the use of simulated EDRs. Issues concerning the simulation, such as spatial resolution and accuracy, will be discussed. Examples of their application to the MOEs will be described. Results from both COBRAs will be presented. The first COBRA demonstrates the military value of NPOESS from the perspective of a simulated air campaign. The second COBRA builds on the first by using infrared weapon system lock-on-range as the MOE with a more direct link to the simulated EDRs. With that, we are able to show the preferential importance of developing capabilities of the sensor for water vapor mixing ratio over those for barometric pressure and temperature.

THEME: NEW TECHNOLOGY