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Washington, D.C.

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May 2, 2008

Key Climate Sensor Restored to NPOESS

A sensor considered critical in monitoring global climate will be restored
to the first satellite scheduled to fly in the National Polar-Orbiting
Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) top officials from NOAA,
NASA, and the Air Force said yesterday.

At a meeting of the tri-agency NPOESS Executive Committee (EXCOM), the
members agreed to restore the Total Solar Irradiance Sensor (TSIS), which
measures the total amount of solar energy coming into the Earth's
atmosphere, a fundamental element in understanding climate change. The
sensor had been removed during the 2006 restructuring of the NPOESS program.

Yesterday's decision follows a January 2008 agreement to place another
climate sensor -- the Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy System (CERES) -- on
the NPOESS Preparatory Project, the precursor mission for NPOESS. The CERES
will complement the TSIS measurements by shedding light on how clouds
influence the Earth's energy balance and the role they play in regulating
climate.

"We need these sensors to help us better differentiate between the natural
and human causes of climate change, and monitor the long-term energy shifts
tied to climate change," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C.
Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D, undersecretary of commerce for oceans and
atmosphere and NOAA administrator.

The EXCOM decision builds on the Administration's commitment to restore
climate sensors that had been removed from NPOESS. In April 2007, NOAA and
NASA jointly announced they would restore the Ozone Mapping and Profiler
Suite (OMPS) Limb, a critical instrument for measuring the vertical
distribution of ozone, to NPP.

"The Air Force believes that the NPOESS program has made significant
improvement since its 2006 restructuring. More importantly, the
re-manifesting of TSIS will not jeopardize the program's schedule or
financial baselines," said Gary E. Payton, the Air Force's Deputy Under
Secretary for Space Programs. "NPOESS is a critical element of our future
environmental sensing capabilities that will benefit the entire nation."

Lautenbacher added, "NOAA, in collaboration with its partners, stands
committed to addressing satellite-based requirements of the climate science
community, and this latest decision to restore the priority sensors is a
step in the right direction."

NOAA and NASA, in partnership with the Office of Science and Technology
Policy, are continuing to analyze a range of future satellite missions to
provide continuity in the climate measurements made by TSIS.

NPOESS will combine NOAA's current polar-orbiting satellite operations with
the Defense Department's Meteorological Satellite Program into one system.
With the launch of the first spacecraft planned for 2013, NPOESS will bring
improved data and imagery, paving the way for better weather forecasts,
severe-weather monitoring and improved detection of climate change.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S.
Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security and
national safety through the prediction and research of weather and
climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation,
and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and
marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of
Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70
countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network
that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.

IMAGE CAPTION:
[http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2008/images/npoess.jpg (4.8MB)]
Artists concept of NPOESS satellite. Credit: NOAA
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