About NPOESS & the NPOESS Userport Website
Userport Mission Statement
The NPOESS Userport site is designed to:
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Provide convenient access to data, product and information resources related to the current and future generation of polar-orbiting satellites.
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Generate, organize, and disseminate interactive training and education on polar-orbiting satellite meteorology and related topics.
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Stimulate the effective use of current and new data products from polar-orbiting satellites in operational and research settings.
- Inform communities of interest (operational forecasters, students, educators, researchers, developers, modelers, data providers, vendors) about the transition from the current generation of POES satellites to NPOESS.
About NPOESS
Farmers, forecasters, fighter pilots, firefighters, and futures traders all rely on accurate environmental data. All need short- and long-range predictions to anticipate and exploit environmental conditions for crop management, civil disaster preparation, operational mission planning, and rapid emergency response.
NPOESS (National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System) is the nation's next-generation environmental satellite system. It will serve civil, military, and scientific communities with higher accuracy than available before and will help improve short-term weather forecasts. A constellation of polar-orbiting satellites will monitor the entire planet and provide data to produce faster, better forecasts for short- to long-range weather and climate forecast models.
Advanced technology will provide an improved 3-D view of the atmosphere three to four times faster. An innovative ground system reduces the time between observation and delivery to users by a factor of four over current systems.
The knowledge obtained from NPOESS data will reduce the potential loss of human life and property and provide support for general aviation, agriculture, and maritime activities. Improved early warnings will help lessen the devastating effects of severe weather by allowing for improved disaster planning and response.
For the military, NPOESS shifts the tactical and strategic focus from ‘coping' with weather to anticipating and exploiting terrestrial, atmospheric, and space environmental conditions.
The first-ever convergence of civilian and military environmental sensing requirements in a single national system, NPOESS combines separate and often duplicative capabilities. This merger exploits newly available technologies that will benefit all user communities. The program is overseen by the Integrated Program Office (IPO), which is a joint Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) team.
NPOESS will reduce the number of polar-orbiting systems from four U.S. satellite groups to three. It has initiated a systematic program of convergence projects (concept demonstrations, NPOESS Preparatory Project). Planning and development programs are currently underway, including training, which is available through this site (see Modules and Teletraining). For more information about NPOESS, please access the NPOESS website.
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