Aurora chasers, your comments are required. This article was just posted in the Southern Aurora Yahoo Group:
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LOSS OF IMPORTANT SEC SERVICE.
On April 3, 2006, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) issued a press release announcing a call for
public comment on the value of continuing real-time solar wind data,
and products derived from such data, provided by the Space
Environment Centre. This is your opportunity to comment on the value
of this service. The comment period starts on April 3 and continues
for 45 days through to May 18. Public comments will be incorporated
into future plans to best meet the needs of the users.
Brief Background:
Currently there is no plan to replace NASA's Advanced Composition
Explorer (ACE) satellite when it or the monitoring instruments
ultimately fail. ACE is now the only source of real-time solar wind
data. During the next 6 weeks, you can let the NWS know of the
importance of solar wind data and products. You may wish to comment
on:
1. The value of real-time solar wind data and the products that use
it (alerts, warnings, forecasts, models)
2. The economic consequences to your business, or negative impact on
your activities (aurora chasing), if real-time solar wind data are
unavailable
3. The need for follow-on solar wind monitoring once ACE fails
If you wish more background information, go to the special National
Weather Service (NWS) web site
http://www.weather.gov/os/space/
Please redistribute this notice to other customers you may know who
are also potentially affected. This is a one-time opportunity to
provide your input on this matter.
Please send an email to
solar.wind.comments@noaa.gov or contact:
NWS Contacts: Beth McNulty or Dorothy Haldeman
Mail:
National Weather Service
Office of Climate, Water and Weather Services
Aviation Services Branch
1325 East-West Highway, SSMC2
Silver Spring, MD 20910
USA</tt>
