357  
NOUS41 KNHC 011258  
PNSNHC  
 
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT  
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL  
900 AM EDT TUE OCT 1 2024  
 
TO: SUBSCRIBERS:  
-NOAA WEATHER WIRE SERVICE  
-EMERGENCY MANAGERS WEATHER INFORMATION NETWORK  
-NOAAPORT  
-OTHER NWS PARTNERS AND NWS EMPLOYEES  
 
FROM: DANIEL BROWN, BRANCH CHIEF  
HURRICANE SPECIALIST UNIT  
NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER  
 
SUBJECT: STEPPED FREQUENCY MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (SFMR) DATA FROM  
NOAA AIRCRAFT UNAVAILABLE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE 2024  
HURRICANE SEASON  
 
THE STEPPED FREQUENCY MICROWAVE RADIOMETER (SFMR) INSTRUMENT ON  
NOAA'S P-3 HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT MEASURES SURFACE BRIGHTNESS  
TEMPERATURE AND APPLIES AN ALGORITHM TO GENERATE A REAL-TIME  
MEASURE OF SURFACE WIND SPEED AND RAIN RATE IN TROPICAL CYCLONES  
AND DISTURBANCES. DURING REGULAR DATA QUALITY CHECKS IN THE FIRST  
HALF OF THE 2024 HURRICANE SEASON, NOAA SCIENTISTS DETERMINED THE  
SFMR DATA INTEGRITY ON THE NOAA AIRCRAFT WAS DEGRADED AND DEEMED TO  
BE UNRELIABLE. TO ENSURE DATA QUALITY, NOAA WILL CEASE REAL-TIME  
TRANSMISSION OF THE SFMR DATA FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE 2024  
HURRICANE SEASON. NOAA AIRCRAFT SFMR DATA WILL NOT BE TRANSMITTED  
FOR OPERATIONAL USE AT NOAA'S NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AND CENTRAL  
PACIFIC HURRICANE CENTER, OR FOR USE IN DATA ASSIMILATION, BUT IT  
WILL STILL BE COLLECTED FOR RESEARCH AND CALIBRATION EFFORTS.  
 
WHEN AVAILABLE, SFMR DATA FROM NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT ARE  
FOUND UNDER THE FOLLOWING AWIPS PRODUCT IDENTIFIERS (PIL) AND WORLD  
METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION (WMO) IDENTIFIERS (ID):  
 
TEXT PRODUCT AWIPS PIL WMO ID  
------------ --------- ------  
HIGH DENSITY OBSERVATIONS (NOAA/AOC) AHONT1 URNT15 KWBC  
ATLANTIC BASIN  
 
HIGH DENSITY OBSERVATIONS (NOAA/AOC) AHOPN1 URPN15 KWBC  
EASTERN AND CENTRAL NORTH PACIFIC BASINS  
 
THE NOAA AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS CENTER IS CONDUCTING DATA CALIBRATION  
AND VALIDATION FLIGHTS WITH NOAA SCIENTISTS TO DETERMINE THE ISSUE  
AND RESTORE SFMR DATA QUALITY. AN UPDATE ON THE AVAILABILITY OF  
REAL-TIME SFMR DATA ON NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT FOR THE 2025  
HURRICANES SEASON WILL BE PROVIDED AT A LATER DATE.  
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:  
 
DANIEL BROWN  
BRANCH CHIEF  
HURRICANE SPECIALIST UNIT  
NOAA/NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER  
DANIEL.P.BROWN@NOAA.GOV  
 
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