Radio geeks reveal how to access crucial hurricane data after US Department of Defense cut it off - Hams for the win: Amateur-built decoder taps SSMIS satellite data amid NOAA cutoff

With the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) set to shut down a key satellite data stream used in US hurricane forecasting, a group of amateur radio enthusiasts has stepped in with a decoder they say could fill the gap. In June, the US Department of Defense (DoD) decided to remove access to data collected by the Special Sensor Microwave Imager Sounder (SSMIS) instrument for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP).