Federal Plan For Meteorological Data From Satellites

I am pleased to report that today our agencies are continuing to work together toward a common goal in a number of important areas. In 2014, we reactivated the Committee for Operational Environmental Satellites to improve interagency communication and coordination of matters regarding the use of environmental satellites. In 2014 we began and in 2015 will complete a midcourse assessment of progress in achieving our strategic research plan for tropical cyclones. We will continue to plan, organize, and host the Interdepartmental Hurricane Conference to share information and prepare for next year's hurricane season, including publishing the 2015 National Hurricane Operations Plan. I am also eager to see the proof of concept system under development for dual-polarization phased array radar and the possibility to move forward with a full-scale Advanced Technology Demonstrator for Multifunction Phased Array Radar (MPAR). MPAR represents a potential breakthrough in economy across a number of radar applications. This is also an exciting time for discovering, acquiring, and employing new data streams from satellites, networks of observing networks across the country, and unmanned aerial systems-all of which our interagency coordinating groups will be addressing in fiscal year (FY) 2015. In data-related work, we will also seek to reactivate the Satellite Telemetry Interagency Working Group (STIWG) in FY 2015. Reactivating STIWG will heighten agency awareness of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Data Collection System (DCS) and opportunities for data sharing and collaboration. GOES DCS has grown to approximately 26,000 stations sending almost 700,000 transmissions containing an estimated 6 million observations per day. This edition of the Federal Plan provides additional information on the topics I've just described as well as much more information about activities across the agencies. It provides Congress and the Executive Branch with a review of agency programs and activities in FY 2014 and a comprehensive account of proposed programs for FY 2015. The Federal Plan's narratives, timelines, and schedules are current as of September 2014.