WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Defense will cease distributing critical satellite weather data long relied upon by scientists and meteorologists, triggering alarm among experts as the Atlantic hurricane season intensifies and sea ice continues to dwindle at record rates.
The decision, quietly disclosed this week through a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) bulletin, marks the end of a 40-year collaboration in which the Department of Defense (DoD) provided global atmospheric and oceanic data collected via military satellites. That information was processed by the Navy’s Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center and used by weather agencies and researchers to monitor everything from hurricanes to polar ice.
“This is data that forecasters use regularly. I was surprised, given how important it is for tracking hurricanes and monitoring sea ice,” said Brian Tang, a meteorologist at the University at Albany.
While the Pentagon has not publicly explained the rationale behind the change, a spokesperson from the U.S. Space Force—which operates the relevant satellites—confirmed the instruments remain operational and will still be used internally by the military. External access, however, is being cut off.
“It’s not a matter of budget,” said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). “We’ve been told it’s related to cybersecurity.”
Neither the Department of Defense nor the Navy elaborated on the specific security concerns prompting the policy shift.
Impact on Hurricane Forecasting
The DoD satellites have played a vital role in early hurricane detection and tracking, particularly during the critical formative stages of storms. The high-resolution data enabled meteorologists to analyze the storm’s structure, including the location of the eye and signs of rapid intensification.
“It’s like getting an MRI of the storm,” Tang explained. “You can see when a new eyewall forms, which is often a precursor to intensification.”
He cited Hurricane Erick, which intensified more quickly than forecasted earlier this month. Data from Defense Department satellites helped meteorologists anticipate the change and issue more accurate warnings before it made landfall in Mexico as a Category 3 hurricane.
Without that near real-time data, forecasters will have fewer updates on rapidly evolving storm systems—especially concerning in an era of increasingly volatile and fast-strengthening hurricanes due to climate change.
In a statement, NOAA assured the public that its forecasting capabilities remain intact. “NOAA’s data systems are fully capable of delivering comprehensive and cutting-edge weather forecasting,” said communications director Kim Doster.
Other satellite systems operated by NOAA, NASA, and international partners still collect relevant data, but the absence of Defense Department streams creates longer intervals between observations, making it harder to track sudden changes.
Setback for Sea Ice Monitoring
Beyond hurricanes, the withdrawal of DoD data threatens a vital pipeline of information for monitoring polar sea ice, which has long been a barometer of climate change. The NSIDC, which has tracked sea ice conditions since 1979, relies heavily on six datasets generated from DoD satellite observations.
“This decision is a serious blow,” said Serreze. “We were expecting to transition to a new data source by September, but now we’ve been given a cutoff date of June 30.”
The abrupt timeline has forced a scramble to shift operations to a Japanese satellite sensor through an existing NASA partnership. That transition, originally planned over months, now must be compressed into days, requiring rapid recalibration and validation of data.
The timing could not be more precarious. Arctic sea ice levels in 2025 are already at a historic low for this point in the year, raising fears about the accelerating pace of polar ice melt and its global implications, including rising sea levels and disrupted ocean circulation.
Policy and National Security Intersection
The Pentagon’s weather satellite program was originally designed to support U.S. military operations by providing global environmental intelligence. However, over the decades, the data became integral to civilian forecasting and scientific research. The sudden reversal in accessibility underscores the growing tension between national security policies and scientific transparency.
“This change illustrates the fragility of data-sharing arrangements that are essential to both public safety and global climate understanding,” said one NOAA official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
As the Atlantic enters the most active phase of hurricane season and the planet registers new climate milestones, scientists and forecasters now face a critical gap in their toolkit—one that could have consequences for preparedness and policy alike.
