Weather-Observation Gap Over Middle East Causes Consternation

Exelis makes the majority of the weather and climate instruments for the U.S. government as well as Japan and Korea, including those that monitor greenhouse gases. Earth Imaging Journal spoke with Eric Webster, vice president and director for weather and climate systems at Exelis.  His team has been working with the U.S. Air Force to study weather capabilities over Centcom (the Middle East and the Indian Ocean) that have been provided by a European weather satellite. The other weather instruments are owned by Russia and China, so there’s some concern about the source of this sensing going forward.