The main US organization that tracks the weather, NOAA, is concerned about its dependence on certain radio frequencies. Other public and private users are creating more and more obstacles for them, and this institution is thinking about what to do about it.
NOAA solves the problem of radio interference
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is somewhat more than just meteorologists who are trying to predict the weather. Hurricanes hit the United States every year, so constant monitoring of what is happening in the Atlantic Ocean is a task almost on a par with the country’s defense.
Therefore, NOAA has been one of the largest operators of Earth observation satellites in the United States for decades. However, recently this organization is increasingly faced with the problem of radio interference in the radio frequency spectrum, which it is accustomed to using.
It is caused by numerous government and commercial organizations that are increasingly using the same frequencies. To overcome the consequences of this, NOAA is conducting a number of activities. First of all, they are looking for companies to develop a technical solution that allows data transmission in interference conditions.
They are especially interested in transmitting data in encrypted digital format. It can really cope with the problem of interference by transmitting data in packets. However, the development of such a system should take place together with the military, which is one of the main consumers of NOAA data. The organization is consulting with them about this.
What prevents scientists from working?
The root cause of all NOAA’s problems is the sale by the US government regulatory authorities of the frequencies that this organization is used to using. This process was especially intense during the presidency of Donald Trump. Then meteorologists tried to dispute this decision in court, but they lost this fight.
However, with the change of the owner in the White House, the problem has not disappeared anywhere. Mobile operators compete for direct satellite communications. So the idea of wider commercialization of the frequency range has not disappeared anywhere.
So, in fact, now there is a difficult struggle in the space sphere over who and how can use different waves. It is all the more controversial because the same military, most interested in the uninterrupted operation of NOAA satellites, at the same time actively involves commercial companies in defense activities.
According to spacenews.com
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