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NOUS41 KNHC 111300
PNSNHC
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NWS NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
900 AM EDT MON MAY 11 2026
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 START OF THE
2026 HURRICANE SEASON DUE TO DATA QUALITY CONCERNS
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.
IN 2024, NOAA SCIENTISTS DETERMINED THE SFMR DATA INTEGRITY ON THE
NOAA AIRCRAFT FLEET WAS DEGRADED AND DEEMED TO BE UNRELIABLE. TO
ENSURE DATA QUALITY, NOAA DISCONTINUED REAL-TIME TRANSMISSION OF THE
SFMR DATA LATE IN 2024 AND THAT CONTINUED DURING THE 2025 HURRICANE
SEASON.
NOAA SCIENTISTS CONTINUE TO CONDUCT DATA VALIDATION AND CALIBRATION
TO DETERMINE DATA QUALITY. UNTIL THIS WORK IS COMPLETE, SFMR DATA
FROM NOAA AIRCRAFT WILL NOT BE TRANSMITTED IN REAL TIME 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 CONTINUED 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
AN UPDATE ON THE AVAILABILITY OF REAL-TIME SFMR DATA ON NOAA
HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT WILL BE PROVIDED AS NEW INFORMATION ON
THE DATA RELIABILITY AND CALIBRATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.
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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