Synoptic has been named the lead subcontractor to KBR, Inc., on NOAA’s National Weather Service National Mesonet Program (NMP) contract. The five-year contract has a ceiling value of $1.1 billion and runs from September 2026 through August 2031.
The National Mesonet Program (NMP) is NOAA’s primary mechanism for acquiring and integrating non-federal environmental observations into operational forecasting and decision-support systems for the National Weather Service (NWS). The new contract gives Synoptic significant capacity to expand the data available to the NWS and invest in new technologies and platform capabilities. These investments strengthen the nation’s environmental intelligence and support the forecasts, warnings, and decisions that protect lives, property, and the national economy.
As lead subcontractor, Synoptic plays a central role in connecting a growing ecosystem of non-federal observing networks with the operational systems that rely on them. Through its technology platform, data integration, quality assurance, and advanced data services, Synoptic delivers access to reliable, trusted data for the NWS. Synoptic’s services are actively used by NWS offices nationwide, including applications supporting the National Severe Storms Laboratory’s Multi-Radar/Multi-Sensor System (MRMS), the Meteorological Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS), and the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS).
The new NMP contract also creates opportunities to bring even more emerging observing technologies into operational use. The program began with surface weather observations and has grown to include long-duration weather balloons, aircraft-based observations, marine buoys, commercial radar, and now weather drones. These technologies provide new ways to observe parts of the atmosphere and environment that have traditionally been difficult to measure frequently or at high resolution.
“Synoptic has spent years building the infrastructure, partnerships, and data services that make diverse, non-federal observations operationally useful to the NWS,” said Ashish Raval, President and CEO of Synoptic Data. “This next phase of the NMP gives us the opportunity to build on that foundation, working with our data provider partners to integrate new enhanced next generation observing technologies, advance our services, and deliver even greater value to NWS operations.”
Since 2009, the NMP has demonstrated the value of connecting a wide range of observation networks with NOAA and NWS operations, and demonstrates what is possible when government, industry, and academia work together to advance the weather enterprise. Today, more than 55 industry and academic partners contribute observations through the program, bringing specialized networks, technologies, and expertise to the NMP. The program continues to strengthen the environmental intelligence available to NWS for numerical weather prediction, situational awareness, forecasting, and severe weather operations.