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Washington, DC -- Deeply concerned by reports that a critical satellite, QuikSCAT, used in the forecasting of hurricanes at the National Hurricane Center is, according to news reports, “on its last legs,” U.S Rep. Ron Klein issued the following statement today, vowing to press hard in Congress to get the funding necessary to provide the tools to track and forecast hurricanes.
“Today I was briefed by General David Johnson, Director of the National Weather Service and the NOAA Assistant Administrator for Weather Services, who oversees the National Hurricane Center. General Johnson informed me that the QuikSCAT satellite currently in orbit is at risk of deteriorating and going off-line in the very near future. He also reiterated that the results of a recent survey commissioned by the National Academy of Science found that the QuikSCAT satellite provides crucial data that increases the accuracy of hurricane forecasting.
“I told General Johnson that addressing this problem is a top priority, and I am committed to doing whatever it takes to get the federal funds needed to increase hurricane predictability. We cannot afford to take any steps backward. I am disappointed that this problem is only now being addressed and I will continue to ask why this problem was not anticipated at an earlier date.
“This is a critical but simple matter of politics keeping up with technology. In Florida, as in many other parts of the country, we rely heavily on state-of-the-art science and technology to help predict the path of hurricanes. Taxpayers in Florida and throughout the country expect the National Hurricane Center to provide them with life saving information. We know there is a satellite providing important hurricane data. We also now know that that satellite is falling into disrepair. In the short term we need to find back up sources of valuable data and ensure the technological capability of Air Force tracker planes is up-to-speed. In the long term we need to get the next generation of satellites into orbit.
“At a time when we are only months away from hurricane season, the concerns expressed by the National Weather Service are not only timely but alarming. The higher the degree of accuracy, the better we can prepare for hurricanes, and the more lives can be saved and the more damage can be controlled. Letting our ability to track hurricanes to deteriorate before our very eyes is unacceptable. If the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Hurricane Center are in danger of losing a crucial hurricane tracking tool, lawmakers must step up immediately and provide the funding necessary to not just maintain current hurricane tracking but invest in improving it.”
NASA’s Quick Scatterometer (QuikSCAT) provides climatologists, meteorologists, and oceanographers with daily, detailed snapshots of the winds swirling above the world’s oceans. It is used to better understand global weather abnormalities and to generally improve weather forecasting. QuikSCAT collects data over ocean, land, and ice in a continuous band, making hundreds of thousands of measurements and covering 90 percent of the Earth’s surface in one day. | 
