NOAA announces US$45m contract decision

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has awarded the National Mesonet Program contract to SGT, a Greenbelt, Maryland-based provider of IT, engineering, operations and science services. The three-year contract involves the purchase of meteorological observational data derived from non-federal observing networks. These observations support NOAA’s meteorological, hydrologic and related environmental observing capabilities, allowing it to offer significantly improved predictions of high-impact, local-scale weather events. “The National Mesonet Program, begun in 2009 with a small number of networks located mostly in south-central USA, has now grown to more than three dozen networks operated by the states and the private sector, including 20,000 observing platforms covering all 50 states,” said Dr Curtis Marshall, the National Weather Service’s National Mesonet Program Manager. “They provide a tremendously valuable source of data, including observations from surface and subsurface platforms, vertical profilers and aircraft, for improving NWS warning and forecast operations.” Earth Networks, Weather Telematics, WeatherFlow, Synoptic Data Corporation, Sonoma Technology Incorporated, Panasonic Avionics Corporation and the University of Oklahoma will work with SGT on the programme. “We are thrilled that NOAA has awarded the National Mesonet Program contract to us,” said SGT CEO Dr Kam Ghaffarian. “SGT remains fully committed to partnering with NOAA and supporting the important mission and objectives in the years ahead.”