Cuts at NOAA lead to new weather balloon technology at the agency

[noumoe]

A Silicon Valley weather startup will soon begin replacing National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather balloons with AI-powered alternatives, a cost-cutting measure brought on by severe budget cuts carried out by the Trump administration.

WindBorne, founded in 2019 by a team of Stanford graduates, can provide valuable weather balloon data for a fraction of the cost by keeping the balloons in the sky for weeks using a combination of off-the-shelf computer parts and novel software. Traditional weather balloons operated by NOAA are only used for a single day before they pop and return to Earth.

The move comes after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency pushed for a roughly 25% reduction in the agency’s budget, forcing staff cuts and a shutdown of programs.

https://www.semafor.com/article/05/11/2 ... gy-at-noaa