Space, Weather Agencies ‘Extremely Concerned’ With U.S. Plans for L-band

GENEVA -- U.S. plans to make available 500 MHz of spectrum for wireless broadband in the next 10 years shouldn’t depend on L-band frequencies considered crucial for weather and space agencies, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites wrote Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. The Jan. 3 letter was sent on behalf of NOAA, NASA and 13 other meteorological and space agencies in the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites.

The band 1675 to 1710 MHz, currently assigned on a co-primary basis to the meteorological satellite service (space-to-Earth), is under consideration in the U.S. for use by wireless broadband, the letter said. The band is crucial for current and future geostationary and non-geostationary meteorological systems, it said. The frequencies are used in a globally coordinated system of Earth observing satellites and ground stations, it said. The frequencies are ideal because they have good propagation in inclement weather, it said. Commerce in October removed 1675 to 1695 MHz from further repurposing consideration, it said.

Agencies in the coordination group are “extremely concerned” that a unilateral U.S. decision will adversely affect use of the globally coordinated system, the letter said. A U.S. move could hamper current international planning, it said, and threaten timely delivery of critical weather and climate data, including data needed for early warnings of extreme meteorological events.

The implementation of a formal international agreement between NOAA and EUMETSAT is one example of the possible difficulties, the letter said. EUMETSAT agreed to have a satellite equipped with an imager instrument identical to the one on NOAA’s Polar Operational Environmental Satellite as a means to implement the agreement, it said. The instrument provides identical high-resolution imagery products that are direct broadcast in the same frequency, it said. Users around the world have the ability to acquire imagery from either the NOAA or MetOp spacecraft, which fly in different orbits providing timely, critical weather and climate data.

U.S.-EUMETSAT polar satellite imagery availability in the band will continue well into the mid-2020s, the letter said. Other counties also have plans for the band, it said. China plans to continue operating the Fengyun series of satellites, and Russia plans to operate the Meteor-M-l and -2 satellites using the 1695-1710 MHz band for DBS, it said. Countries that fly spacecraft using the frequencies have already designed and manufactured the communications subsystems, it said. Relocating to another band will be costly and disrupt data flow to worldwide users, it said.

The group wants Commerce to reconsider its decision and remove the band “from any plan” to boost spectrum available for wireless mobile broadband applications. A U.S. decision “will certainly” propagate globally in the medium- and long-term, impacting users worldwide, it said. The move could severely degrade meteorological services in developing countries, World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a June letter to the FCC. The move could undermine climate monitoring and prediction, and forecasting to fight and stem the effects of wildfires, the WMO said. Changes may adversely affect the Argos system of tracking and monitoring, it said.

Worries also emerged during a June WMO Executive Council meeting, according to a draft meeting report. The council is worried about “emerging threats” to 1675-1710 MHz, it said. The concerns relate to the willingness of the FCC and NTIA to consider the 1675-1710 MHz band for mobile broadband as it’s currently used for METSAT, said Philippe Tristant, chairman of the WMO’s steering group for radio frequency coordination. The band is used in part for DBS from satellites worldwide, the draft council report said. The council asked the WMO secretary-general to urgently address the concerns, it said. An e-mail query to WMO wasn’t immediately answered.

Global meteorological interests need information on the future of the band as soon as possible if it remains under consideration, the space and weather agencies said, referring to ongoing international coordination and design work. The group wants to know when a decision can be expected, when the FCC expects to hold an auction, and how the agency will address or mitigate expected degradation in environmental services, it said.

Use of the band will be discussed next week during a WMO meeting on spectrum matters. Participants will also consider changes in the organization’s objectives at the next World Radiocommunication Conference and possible proposals for changes to the conference preparatory report, which will be approved next month.