Last Updated: 08/30/2011*

Raytheon’s VIIRS weather sensor arrives at launch site; will improve forecasting accuracy for a new generation of weather satellites.

The economics behind weather forecasting has always been pretty simple: better forecasts help save money, and lives, in the event of a natural disaster.

With the arrival today of the NPOESS Preparatory Project spacecraft at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the next great advance in forecasting accuracy is in place for its Oct. 25 scheduled launch. And Raytheon is playing a key role in making the promise of improved weather forecasting a reality.

A primary instrument onboard NASA’s NPP spacecraft is the Raytheon Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite. Flying in a polar orbit, VIIRS will provide advanced forecasting imagery as part of the next-generation U.S. weather satellite system.

“VIIRS brings to bear the latest space-based environmental sensing technology to provide significantly improved weather and climate forecasting models,” said Bill Hart, vice president, Space Systems, for Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems business. “VIIRS combines the capabilities of several legacy operating systems into one technologically advanced instrument.”

Compared with current space assets, VIIRS images a wider range of visible and infrared wavelengths for four times better spectral coverage; offers three times better spatial resolution for greater detail across images; and employs advanced calibration systems for improved cloud detection at night.

Also under contract to NASA, Raytheon is responsible for developing, deploying, operating and maintaining the Joint Polar Satellite System Common Ground System, which will support NPP as well as future JPSS spacecraft.