The WindStar project Available to Purchase

The ‘‘WindStar’’ project is a cooperative, cost‐sharing venture between NASA’s Earth Observations Commercial Applications Program (EOCAP), directed by the Stennis Space Center (SSC), and User Systems, Incorporated (USI), a Virginia‐based remote sensing technology development company. The project seeks to establish the commercial viability of using twice‐a‐day satellite scatterometer data to produce marine wind forecasts for commercial television weather broadcasts. The WindStar product will be an animated, two dimensional map of wind speed and direction that evolves in time from the observed ‘‘nowcast’’ every 12 hours to a projected ‘‘forecast’’. Commercial television stations in coastal areas will incorporate this video into the weather segment of their news broadcasts to advise viewers, with both commercial and recreational interests, of coastal and off‐shore conditions. While contributing to improved near shore marine operations for both recreational and commercial boaters, the proposed product would also be of use to commercial fishermen, coastal shipping operations, search and rescue operations, state and local governments, the Coast Guard, and the Navy. Projected new business plans include establishing and maintaining a ‘‘Global Wind History’’ archive that can be accessed on Internet.