No Weather In Crisis Or War

Not during the three hour gap anyway

Feb. 23, 2006 — NOAA and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, or EUMETSAT, announced Wednesday they have signed a Data Denial Implementation Plan, which secures the continued flow of real-time meteorological satellite data from NOAA-provided instruments onboard EUMETSAT's MetOp spacecraft to public duty users in the United States and EUMETSAT Member States during episodes that might otherwise require data denial. Data denial means real-time data from U.S. environmental instruments can be denied during periods of crisis or war. (Click NOAA illustration for larger view of NOAA polar satellite orbiting the Earth. Click here for high resolution version. Please credit “NOAA.”)

The agreement provides the necessary steps for data denial if NOAA makes the request. One important feature of the DDIP is that it contains lists of public duty users in the United States and in EUMETSAT Member and Cooperating States who will be allowed to continue receiving real-time access to U.S. instrument data during episodes of data denial. No restriction will apply to the availability of data more than three hours old.

Who knew?