![]() They are used to monitor groundwater for agriculture, assess forest timber productivity, observe sea level rise, provide an overview of air pollution, and have even helped predict weather conditions that contributed to military operations in the Middle East. ![]() While $2 billion may seem a steep price, John McQuaid at Forbes points out that it is “less than dozens of tertiary Defense Department tech programs, or the cost of one super-secret giant NSA data-processing center.”Įarth-observing satellites have hundreds of uses. But because of ongoing federal austerity, the budget in 2007 was instead $1.3 billion and it has never risen above $1.5 billion since. The original 2007 report had hoped the Earth-observing program would receive roughly $2 billion per year, the same as it got in 2002. ![]() But the primary reason is a lack of funding. ![]() Many factors have contributed to this situation, including delays, launch failures, and changes in mission design and scope. Weather-related damage from wildfires, flooding, tornadoes, and heat waves resulted in nearly 600 fatalities and cost the economy approximately $50 billion in 2011, but this number would have been even greater without satellite observations. ![]() relies on this network of satellites for weather forecasting, climate change data, and important geologic and oceanographic information – not to mention the thousands of amazing pictures of our home planet. This is a dire situation, considering that the U.S. ![]()
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