Weather Satellites: Public, Private and Data Sharing. The Case of Radio Occultation Data

Abstract

This article examines the contested process through which satellite weather data collection is being transformed from a governmental mission to one increasingly carried out by the private sector. As illustration of this controversial transformation, it addresses the debates raised in the United States between some members of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Congress, private firms, academic meteorology and international observers between 2006 and 2017 regarding the commercialisation of data obtained from radio occultations using the Global Navigation Satellite System. It looks, in particular, at the arguments, discourses, viewpoints and perspectives of these involved actors. By focusing on one particular site of controversy—policies and practices of data distribution—this case study emphasises a clash of values between conventional norms of meteorology and commercial imperatives driving the private sector with respects to data sharing. The main interest of this article pertains to the broader issue of changing the current model for data gathering, using and sharing in the face of growing commercialisation of weather satellites.