Boston, Massachusetts-based Tomorrow.io and Orbital Micro Systems of Boulder, Colorado, have secured contracts valued at $4.3 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to provide Microwave Sounder—or MWS—data for new Commercial Weather Data Pilot studies.
The Office of Space Commerce said Tuesday NOAA will purchase MWS data collected by the two commercial satellite companies from the low earth orbit platform.
Under the agreements, Tomorrow.io will receive $2.3 million while Orbital Micro Systems will get $2 million.
The agency will use the data to determine the potential utilization of commercially developed MWS products and to identify possible benefits of enhancing numerical weather prediction with commercial capabilities.
The MWS observations, which include temperature and moisture profiles, precipitation and land and hydrology products, will be evaluated by NOAA based on the quality, characteristics and impacts on weather forecasting.
The CWDP pilot studies will last for 12 months and will be divided into three phases. The first three months will be for preparation, the next six will be for data delivery and the last three will be for evaluation.