Banner Year for Earth Observation
The commercial earth observation sector continues to expand its capabilities in providing technologies and services that are critical to daily life on our planet. Technologies from GeoOptics and others have improved the frequency and resolution of data, resulting in increasing accuracy in predicting, monitoring, and mitigating threats to our nation’s infrastructure, the environment, and critical industries. For example, measuring and monitoring the atmosphere, space weather, water, and drought are critical to government and private sector scientists, operations decision makers, climatologists, and other stakeholders in predicting weather systems and preparing for the impact of climate change.
It’s been an extradinordinary 2022 for our company which included the formation of GeoOptics’s unified Earth observatory that will allow governments, industry, and individual stakeholders to monitor and prepare for the many impacts of climate change. GeoOptics was awarded a contract to provide space weather data from its earth observation satellites for National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Commercial Weather Data Program.
In early November, GeoOptics was awarded a contract to provide NASA with the high-quality data from its radio occultation satellites for evaluation to determine their suitability for advancing NASA’s science and application goals. The data will be available for NASA researchers looking into climate change, weather, space weather, and other applications.
The GeoOptics teams in the U.S. and in Lausanne, Switzerland have been preparing for these expanded services and our ongoing work to ensure continued accuracy, timely monitoring and analysis of Earth observation data. This includes generating Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) data from our CICERO satellites and providing real-time monitoring data to government agencies and commercial customers around the globe.
2023 will hold countless new opportunities as we continue to develop advanced technologies and services that will expand capabilities even further.
We wish all our customers, partners, colleagues, friends, and families best wishes for the holidays and a prosperous New Year.
GeoOptics to Provide NOAA with Space Weather Data
Earlier this month, GeoOptics was awarded a contract to provide space weather data from its CICERO earth observation satellites for National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s Commercial Weather Data Program.
GeoOptics’s radio occultation data can help generate highly accurate 3-D maps that measure electron density profiles in the Earth’s ionosphere. This data is invaluable in monitoring and eventually predicting hazardous geomagnetic storms cause by solar activity, similar to the “canyon of fire” storm that occurred on July 21, 2022. These events can reach the Earth and impact satellite-based systems such as GPS, as well as power grids and national security activities.
GeoOptics is a global leader in the weather and space weather monitoring technologies. Providing NOAA with accurate, real-time data measurements will enable critical insight into real-time space weather conditions to reduce space weather risks, improve monitoring and forecasting, and help protect our nation’s critical infrastructure.
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Celebrating National Oceans Month
The world’s oceans cover more than 70 percent of our planet and contain 97 percent of the Earth’s water. Protecting, conserving, maintaining, and rebuilding our oceans and its ecosystems is critical to life today and to future generations. As part of this global effort and National Oceans Month, Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici introduced a bi-partisan sponsored congressional resolution, H. Res. 1158, committing to increasing investments in scientific research and monitoring to better understand our changing oceans. GeoOptics supports this important Resolution.
GeoOptics is committed to monitoring our oceans and freshwater resources. Our first CICERO-2 satellites launched last month and will study the world’s oceans in great detail, examining winds, waves, the atmopshere and the ocean surface.
GeoOptics was the first commercial satellite company to provide data to NOAA’s operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecasts and continues to work with NOAA and other agencies to improve forecasts around the world. Taking care of the health and welfare of our oceans and waterways is critical, and commercial satellite technologies are leading the way.
GeoOptics founder, Tom Yunck, participated in the recent National Academy of Sciences workshop on its report, Leveraging Commercial Space for Earth and Ocean Remote Sensing, emphasizing the commercial satellite capabilities that exist today and technologies on the horizon.
Closer to Liftoff !
We are counting down the days – ONE WEEK! – until GeoOptics next generation of satellites launch from Cape Canaveral on SpaceX’s Transporter 5 mission. These spacecraft are the opening stage of GeoOptics’s CICERO-2 constellation which will form a first-of-its-kind unified Earth observatory to better monitor and prepare for the impacts of climate change. Our long-time partner, Terran Orbital, built and delivered these satellites which will provide new, accurate, sustainable Earth monitoring on a significantly faster cadence to assist governments, companies, and individuals prepare for today’s challenging climate change environment.
This launch marks a significant milestone in GeoOptics’s expanded growth as a leading Earth monitoring global technology provider. This expansion includes our new subsidiary in Europe, GeoOptics Switzerland SA, that will enhance our commercial satellite services around the globe.
GeoOptics Announces New European Subsidiary; Expands Global Satellite Services
A global leader in Earth remote sensing, GeoOptics announced its expansion in Europe, with founder and chief technology officer, Tom Yunck, relocating to Lausanne, Switzerland, to manage GeoOptics Switzerland SA. The new subsidiary and team of data scientists represent a key component of GeoOptics plans to enhance their commercial satellite services around the globe.
“As a pioneer in commercial remote sensing data services, GeoOptics supports decision makers, research groups, and individual users worldwide,” Yunck noted. “Our European office will help us better serve an international base of government and civil customers with the most accurate, timely data available.”
GeoOptics has a new generation of satellites under construction in Italy as part of its long-term partnership with a leader in global satellite solutions. The first two next-generation spacecraft are due to launch in Summer 2022.
“Our strategic satellite manufacturing partnership enables GeoOptics to provide advanced solutions, increased data accuracy, and expanded capabilities from global navigation satellite systems around the globe,” said Alex Saltman, Chief Executive Officer of GeoOptics.
The company also announced today the rollout of Galileo-derived radio occultation data on its current and future satellites, marking the first availability of high accuracy, commercial RO data from the European positioning system. Combined with RO data derived from GPS and GLONASS, GeoOptics continues to offer the highest quality commercial RO data in the world.
Finally, GeoOptics announced a radio occultation (RO) data testing program with EUMETSAT, the European operational satellite agency for monitoring weather, climate, and the environment. EUMETSAT atmospheric data scientists continue to provide strategic feedback and positive reviews on GeoOptics RO data, echoing previous analysis from NOAA. The collaboration will allow EUMETSAT and European meteorological agencies to examine the data.
In July, GeoOptics announced a major upgrade to its CICERO constellation of satellites. With launches beginning next year, CICERO 2 will form a unified Earth observatory allowing stakeholders around the globe – including governments, industry, and individuals — to monitor and prepare for the growing impacts of climate change.
GeoOptics Orbiting Observatory to Monitor the Changing Earth
Satellites Will Track Earth’s Atmosphere, Water, Surface, and Interior
Pasadena, CA (Thursday, July 29, 2021) – A leader in Earth remote sensing, GeoOptics Inc., today announced a major upgrade to its CICERO constellation of satellites to measure our evolving planet. With launches beginning next year, CICERO-2 will form a unified Earth observatory allowing governments, industry, and individual stakeholders to monitor and prepare for the many impacts of climate change.
“In today’s environment, in which precision Earth sensing is becoming ever more critical, GeoOptics is deploying a flexible observatory made up of dozens of small satellites. The real time services will satisfy a broad range of needs for government and civil users around the world,” said Alex Saltman, Chief Executive Officer of GeoOptics.
The first CICERO-2 launches will achieve several key milestones in small satellite Earth observation, including:
Global Precipitation Watch – Monitoring heavy precipitation using Polarimetric radio occultation (RO), an advanced remote sensing technique pioneered by GeoOptics’ collaborators at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Spanish PAZ mission.
Advanced GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS-R) – Measuring many phenomena near Earth’s surface, including ocean winds, flooding, land cover (snow, ice, vegetation), soil moisture, and topography by means of reflected Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals. NASA’s recent CYGNSS mission demonstrated the broad utility of the GNSS-R technique. GeoOptics is working with JPL to deploy an advanced operational version, offering dramatically enhanced performance in a small, low-cost package. This collaboration is funded jointly by GeoOptics, the U.S. Air Force, and NASA.
Triple RO – Profiling of atmospheric temperature, pressure, density, and other key properties by means of GNSS–RO. First proposed by company founder Tom Yunck while he was at JPL, GNSS-RO offers unrivalled measurement precision and is an essential contributor to global weather forecasting. The CICERO-2 satellites will yield three times the data volume of their predecessors and many times the volume of any other commercial GNSS-RO satellites.
For GeoOptics strategic partner Climavision, a revolutionary weather data provider, these innovations will enable customers to manage significant risks in a time of global change. “With these new developments in remote sensing technologies from GeoOptics, we’ll be able to further enhance our climate and weather prediction capabilities,” said Chris Goode, CEO and Co-Founder of Climavision. “Through the combination of advanced RO profiles, GNSS-R data about surface conditions and our proprietary gap-filling radar network data, we’ll help customers in weather sensitive industries see weather like never before and give them the tools and data to make informed critical decisions.”
GeoOptics will later extend the system to a range of new applications, including precise mapping of Earth’s gravitational field, which has been named a top NASA Earth science priority for the next decade. This measurement shows the imprint of climate-related movement of water and other key changes in the earth. With internal investment and nearly $4 million from NASA, GeoOptics has devised a unique system architecture for daily gravity mapping with clusters of small satellites. This patented technique promises to improve gravity sensing 20-fold over current methods at a fraction of the cost.
Under the umbrella of the National Oceanographic Partnership Program (NOPP), GeoOptics is also designing a radar instrument to observe ocean vector winds, topography, soil moisture, and a variety of other surface properties with patented multi-satellite radar techniques. NOPP is seeking to sponsor a trial flight of GeoOptics’ Cellular Ocean Altimetry/Scatterometry Technology (COAST) within the next two years.
Tom Yunck, GeoOptics’ Chief Technology Officer, said, “These advanced remote sensing applications – from basic RO to advanced radar and gravity mapping – exploit shared micro technologies that fit in the palm of one’s hand. Each new function builds naturally upon the previous, yielding prodigious observing capacity in a low-cost system of great simplicity and reliability.”
“CICERO-2 is designed to help provide high priority NOAA climate and weather monitoring observations, as ranked by the NOAA Space Platform Requirements Working Group (SPRWG),” said Conrad C. Lautenbacher (Vice Admiral, USN ret.), Executive Chairman of GeoOptics and former NOAA Administrator. “It can also play a key role in supporting crucial Defense Department satellite weather data requirements.”
GeoOptics’ CICERO satellites continue to provide the most precise global profiles of the Earth’s atmosphere available. In February 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) selected GeoOptics to provide the first commercial satellite data to be included in their operational forecasts. In 2020, GeoOptics was selected by NOAA to lead an end-to-end design study for their next-generation low-orbiting weather satellite system, planned to come online later this decade, building in part on RO and GNSS-R technologies.
GeoOptics Announces Inaugural Award of NOAA Operational Data Order
First time NOAA has purchased commercial satellite data to be used in operational forecasts
GeoOptics is pleased to announce it has received the inaugural order to provide commercial radio occultation data for NOAA’s operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) models. GeoOptics will begin near-real-time data deliveries in March, with 1300 occultations per day meeting NOAA’s stringent data quality, latency and reliability requirements.
“With strong support from Congress, NOAA has developed pioneering programs to include innovative, commercial data sources in its core forecast products,” said GeoOptics CEO Conrad Lautenbacher. “After several years of technology development, testing and program formulation, NOAA’s commitment to operational use of commercial satellite data in safety-critical weather forecasts is a significant milestone for the commercial satellite data industry. We are delighted to be the partner NOAA chose to initiate this stage of its Commercial Data Purchase program.”
“GeoOptics was founded by working scientists and engineers, in response to an increasingly urgent need for actionable information about the state of our planet, our changing climate and the impacts of human activity on quality of life and on Earth’s future,” said GeoOptics CTO and Founder Tom Yunck. “A commitment to public partnership and service to science is the foundational principle of the company.”
“We are cognizant of the responsibility this role entails and are dedicated to being a reliable partner to NOAA for many years to come,” said GeoOptics COO Alex Saltman. “This award further demonstrates that GeoOptics is providing the most accurate radio occultation data on the market, at the best price.”
GeoOptics’ mission is to provide the most detailed picture possible of our planet’s atmosphere, surface and subsurface to scientific users around the world. We have embarked on our mission with our first constellation of nanosatellites, known as CICERO – Community Initiative for Continuous Earth Remote Observation. The first operational satellites, built by Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems and Orbital Solutions Monaco (OSM), carry advanced Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) sensors developed in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.
With our initial CICERO satellites on-orbit, building on a 25-year JPL heritage, GeoOptics is providing the most accurate commercial radio occultation data from space. Satellites now in work will expand upon and refine this capability and deploy other technologies to provide a comprehensive picture of the Earth’s environment.
GeoOptics Applauds Release of NOAA CWDP Report
GeoOptics RO data is the most advanced radio occultation data on the market
GeoOptics congratulates the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the release of their Commercial Weather Data Pilot (CWDP) Round 2 Summary today and welcomes the agency’s commitment to operational purchases of commercial Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) data.
The report highlights the unique qualities of GeoOptics’ commercial Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) data and its ability to improve weather and space weather forecasts around the world.
“As today’s report demonstrates, commercial satellite data will enable NOAA to make significant improvements in forecasting worldwide within the consistent budget limitations under which it operates,” said GeoOptics CEO Conrad Lautenbacher.
“NOAA’s study also demonstrates that GeoOptics RO data is the most advanced radio occultation data on the market, with the highest sensitivity and the most positive impact on forecasts, particularly in the key 3-5 day range,” said GeoOptics COO Alex Saltman.
GeoOptics’ mission is to provide the most detailed picture possible of our planet’s atmosphere, surface and subsurface to our customers as well as scientific users around the world. We have embarked on our mission with our first constellation of nanosatellites, known as CICERO – Community Initiative for Cellular Earth Remote Observation. The first operational satellites carry advanced Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) sensors developed in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.
With our initial CICERO satellites on-orbit, building on a 25-year NASA heritage, GeoOptics is providing the finest quality commercial radio occultation data from space. Satellites now in work will expand upon and refine this capability and deploy other technologies to provide a comprehensive picture of the Earth’s environment.
GeoOptics Announces the Launch of GeoPRO – Innovative Radio Occultation Data Processing System
GeoOptics, Inc. (GeoOptics) announced today the launch of an original radio occultation data processing system called the GeoOptics Processor for Radio Occultation (GeoPRO) that provide even more accurate and timely weather data from its CICERO constellation of radio occultation (RO) satellites. CICERO nanosatellites are designed to create the most detailed picture ever assembled of the Earth’s ionosphere and atmosphere.
For many years, detailed scientific analyses of radio occultation data have used a precise processing method called “phase-matching” to produce the most accurate radio occultation profiles possible. However, this method was generally considered too resource intensive for use in real-time data processing for operational weather modeling and forecasting.
GeoOptics has developed GeoPRO as a real-time phase-matching processing system built around the on-demand parallelism enabled by serverless cloud-computing services, sometimes referred to as “Serverless Supercomputing.” By optimizing the processing system and running it on massively parallel serverless infrastructure, GeoPRO enables near-real-time phase-matching processing of large quantities of radio occultation data.
Traditionally the processing of radio occultation data has been undertaken in a batch processing mode in which relatively large chunks of data are processed together and then released. However, as the number of GeoOptics satellites and ground stations increases, data will arrive much more frequently, requiring a different mode of operations to minimize data latency and maximize utility. GeoPRO is designed to make that transition possible.
GeoOptics Processor for Radio Occultation (GeoPRO) produces spectrograms that reveal the disintegration of the dual-frequency raw radio occultation signal at lower altitudes. The red areas are signals reaching the receiver after passing through the atmosphere. The dashed line is the processed atmospheric bending angle on each frequency generated by GeoPRO.
Data from the new processing system have been made available to scientists around the world and GeoOptics commercial data partners. Due to the accuracy of the data processing and the quality of the Cion receiver, the data exhibits remarkably low bias even in warm air near the Earth’s surface, where lower quality radio occultation data often suffers from uncontrolled biases. Research has shown that this degree of accuracy in the lower atmosphere is vital for forecasting hurricanes and other high-impact weather events.
“We’re excited to provide our newly refined data to customers who depend on getting the most timely and precise weather data possible,” said Alex Saltman, Chief Operating Officer and architect of the new processing system. “We’re leveraging new technologies across our satellites, ground systems and now data processing to deliver best-in-class data as a service to our government and commercial customers.”
GeoOptics’ mission is to provide the most detailed picture possible of our planet’s atmosphere, surface and subsurface to our customers as well as scientific users around the world. We have embarked on our mission with our first constellation of nanosatellites, known as CICERO – Community Initiative for Cellular Earth Remote Observation. The first operational satellites contain advanced Global Navigation Satellite System Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO) sensors developed in partnership with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems.
With our initial CICERO satellites on-orbit, GeoOptics is now providing the first and only high-quality commercial radio occultation data from space. Satellites now in work will expand upon and refine this capability and deploy other technologies to provide a comprehensive picture of the Earth’s environment.