Cambridge, Massachusetts — Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), Inc. is pleased to announce a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRDA) with the Air Force Weather Agency (AFWA) of Omaha, Nebraska. The multi-year agreement provides on-site AER support to AFWA development activities, while enabling AER timely access to AFWA data, forecasts, databases, applications software, and products. Through the agreement, AER maintains the right to commercialize value-added products to non-government customers in the areas of aviation, weather forecasting, and climate related activities.
"We are looking forward to cooperating and collaborating in weather related research and development activities with AFWA," said Ron Isaacs, senior vice president and executive director of AER's Technology Solutions Center. "The AFWA databases provide timely global inputs for AER's library of value added remote sensing and meteorological applications algorithms."
AFWA's production operation involves gathering over 140,000 weather reports per day from conventional meteorological sources throughout the world. By combining these data with information available from military and civilian meteorological satellites and other environmental data sources, AFWA constructs a real-time, integrated environmental database. Products, numbering close to 180,000, and services provided by AFWA include meteorological and environmental support; aviation, terminal and target forecasts; prediction of severe weather; automated flight planning; exercise and special mission support; as well as the collection and dissemination of environmental data and information.
AER scientists currently support a number of AFWA-sponsored research and development activities as well as operational algorithm development for remote sensing, satellite meteorology and cloud analysis and forecasting. For example, AER has worked closely with AFWA in fielding the next generation global cloud analysis capability, Cloud Depiction and Forecast System (CDFS) II. AER was given the charter to design new state-of-the-art cloud analysis schemes that can leverage all satellite observations into one global cloud depiction. In addition, AER's experience in satellite data assimilation within numerical weather prediction models (specifically MM5) has resulted in the development of new methods to improve the overall utility of the data and information for AFWA.
The CRDA agreement will align many of AER's corporate research activities towards the future satellite data processing needs of Air Force Weather. Mr. Mark Conner, an expert in satellite data processing, a skill he developed while working as the satellite applications lead for AFWA, is the on-site manager and technical lead for this Agreement.
AER is currently actively working with selected industry leaders to further expand the commercial aspects of this agreement. AER expects to provide value added products and information spanning such areas as support to aviation, weather forecasting, and climate related activities, to name a few. AER believes the timely access to the AFWA databases and the resulting information extraction will provide a new and exciting resource to industry partners providing operational weather support, local and regional media support, and environmentally sensitive business areas.
AFWA is a field operating agency of the U.S. Air Force Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Weather Directorate (AF/XOW) and is located at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. The agreement was recently executed by Maj. Gen. Richard R. Paul, commander of the Air Force Research Laboratories (AFRL/CC) and Cecilia Sze, AER president and CEO. AFRL provides research oversight of the CRDA in an effort to sustain the technological superiority of our nation by working to exchange knowledge, technology and expertise between public and private sectors.
About AER:
Founded in 1977, Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. is an award-winning environmental research and consulting company with demonstrated expertise in remote sensing, satellite meteorology, numerical weather prediction, climatology, atmospheric and oceanic circulation diagnostics, atmospheric chemistry, air quality and risk assessment, environmental mathematical modeling, planetary sciences, and systems engineering. In addition to its Cambridge, MA headquarters, AER has offices in Washington, D.C.; San Francisco and Los Angeles, CA.
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