The AWIPS Satellite Broadcast Network (SBN) is experiencing incremental growth in the rate at which data products are broadcast, and the trend is expected to continue in the future. The current bandwidth on the NWSTG channel is nearly saturated at certain times of the day. However, the overall average data rate is still below maximum capacity. As additional products are added and the effective SBN product data rate is increased, the ingest processing capability at the AWIPS field sites will need to be upgraded and enhanced. Any additional radar products add to the NWSTG data stream are being compressed before broadcast.

Also, the SBN Master Ground Station (MGS) backup facility is being moved from the metropolitan Washington, DC area to Fairmont, West Virginia. This will provide greater geographic separation between the primary and backup facilities and also allow future expansion of the Network Control Facility backup capability at a future date.