METEOROLOGICAL MONITORING SYSTEM

NASA MANAGERS AND THE FORECASTERS AT THE CAPE CANAVERAL FORECAST FACILITY (CCFF) HAVE A NEED FOR THE METEOROLOGICAL MONITORING SYSTEM (MMS) FOR AUTOMATED REAL-TIME MONITORING OF CRITICAL WEATHER ELEMENTS. SUCH A SYSTEM SERVES TWO PURPOSES: FIRST, TIMELY ISSUANCE OF WEATHER WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES FOR PROTECTION OF LIVES AND PROPERTY AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (KSC) ON A DAY-TO-DAY BASIS AND SECOND, REAL-TIME MONITORING OF WEATHER VERSUS LAUNCH CONSTRAINTS DURING STS AND EXPENDABLE LAUNCH VEHICLE OPERATIONS AT KSC AND CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION (CCAFS). THE MMS WILL: 1) CONTINUOUSLY MONITOR DATA FROM THE WEATHER SENSORS AT CCAFS AND KSC, 2) REVIEW THE INGESTED DATA IN LIGHT OF ESTABLISHED CRITERIA SET EITHER BY THE SYSTEM AS A DEFAULT OR CHANGED BY THE OPERATOR, 3) ALERT THE OPERATOR TOPOTENTIAL HAZARDS OR TRENDS IN THE DATA, AND 4) SOUND AN ALARM AND PROVIDE IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK WHEN A THRESHOLD IS EXCEEDED. THE MMS WILL NOT INTRODUCE A NEW SCREEN FOR THE CCFF FORECASTERS TO MONITOR; RATHER, IT WILL BE INTEGRATED WITH THE EXISTING SAFETY SYSTEM, THE METEOROLOGICAL AND RANGE SAFETY SUPPORT (MARSS) SYSTEM. A SIDE BENEFIT TO THE MMS WILL BE A REDUCTION IN DATA OVERLOAD PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED BY FORECASTERS.