Were you aware that the military’s constellation of GPS satellites also include sensors for the Nuclear Detonation Detection System that watch the world for nuclear explosions? I learned of this in an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times that calls for the release of this information for environmental monitoring.
The non-navigational data, which is designed to observe visible light, high-frequency radio waves, x-rays, and gamma rays, is controlled by national security agencies and treated as classified. The author argues that fully opening this data would greatly aid meteorologist;s study of destructive weather and aid in climate change research.
Read the full editorial here.
