Boulder, Colorado, January 2, 2018 – Orbital Micro Systems (OMS), a leader in space system applications and advanced instrumentation for small satellite missions, announced that Prof. Albin Gasiewski, the company’s chief scientist, was a featured speaker at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Earth Systems Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. His presentation, “Application of a CubeSat-Based Passive Microwave Constellation to Operational Meteorology,” took place December 20, 2017. In his remarks, Gasiewski outlined a commercially viable avenue to improve weather observation, forecasting, and nowcasting that complies with the goals set forth by the U.S. National Research Council in its most recent decadal assessment.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked toward the development of highly accurate microwave sounding technologies that have proven to provide the most consistently useful all-weather temperature and moisture soundings, as well as cloud and rain cell imagery,” said Gasiewski. “OMS is now applying these techniques and technologies to launch a series of data services for multiple markets. In this seminar, I provided a clear model for improving forecast accuracy via a CubeSat Fleet of miniaturized microwave radiometers that create a viable business model that exceeds the accepted goals of the meteorological community, and does so in a commercially competitive manner.”
Using the University of Colorado Boulder’s PolarCube program as a model, Gasiewski presented definitive conclusions that a constellation of some thirty-five to forty CubeSats placed in pseudo random orbits would be sufficient to deliver highly detailed weather soundings at temporal intervals as low as fifteen minutes. Equipped with microwave sounders gathering spectral imagery at key oxygen and water vapor resonances, with spatial resolution of approximately 10 to 30 kilometers, the constellation would increase the available data inputs to weather models and enable a novel precipitation tracking real-time weather model. The extremely detailed datasets amassed from the constellation will support weather forecast and nowcasting applications, transportation planning and routing algorithms, and emergency response and planning.
OMS recently announced its initial CubeSat launch in October 2018. The company is advancing plans to deploy additional CubeSats to build out its full constellation.
“There is substantial demand in several markets, like agriculture, aviation and insurance, for the weather datasets that we will provide,” said OMS chief executive officer William Hosack. “The constellation that Professor Gasiewski described in the seminar is precisely what OMS is building, and based on the interest received from every sector we’ve approached, we are very confident in our plans.”
About Orbital Micro Systems
Orbital Micro Systems (OMS) specializes in the development and delivery of technology and data for space applications. With broad expertise in applied science, weather science and earth observation, instrumentation development, data science, space operations, and program delivery, OMS is positioned to deliver innovation to many areas of the aerospace sector. For more information about OMS, please visit www.orbitalmicro.com