NOAA‘s National Weather Service (NWS) Mission Systems and Technology Office has entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with SpectraRep to evaluate whether broadcast television datacasting can serve as a resilient, redundant pathway for delivering NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) audio and data to existing transmitter infrastructure and modern digital devices.

NOAA Weather Radio has served as a component of the USA’s public warning infrastructure for more than 50 years, providing continuous forecasts, watches, warnings and emergency information to communities, emergency managers and partner organizations.

Under the new agreement, NOAA/NWS and SpectraRep will assess whether existing digital television broadcast infrastructure can enhance distribution of NWR content, particularly during disruptions to other networks, while also examining options to expand delivery to modern digital and mobile platforms without altering existing NWR services.

George Jungbluth, director for NWS Mission Systems and Technology Office, said, “NOAA/NWS is looking forward to collaborating with SpectraRep to evaluate innovative approaches for delivering NOAA Weather Radio content via datacasting and other pathways for modernizing access to NOAA Weather Radio content.”

SpectraRep brings more than 25 years of experience in broadcast datacasting technology and public alert dissemination. Television datacasting uses a small portion of a digital TV broadcast signal to transmit data as a one-way service unseen by television viewers, and is designed for high availability, exceeding 99.9% annually nationwide, making it a potential option for improving continuity of operations during emergencies.

As part of the agreement, SpectraRep will work with NOAA/NWS to understand the current NWR workflow, including how content is generated and transmitted, and will configure a demonstration showing how live NWR content can be transported through a local television broadcast partner to a NOAA endpoint, such as an NWR transmitter.

SpectraRep will also share access to, and seek feedback on, its AlertNow mobile solution, which can draw on multiple transportation paths, including radio, broadcast datacasting and internet sources, on a single mobile platform.

NOAA/NWS will evaluate the results of the collaboration and document findings through its established reporting processes, which may inform future strategies for strengthening NWR’s resiliency and expanding access for digital audiences.

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