Naval Oceanography attended the DoD Space Based Environmental Monitoring (SBEM) Summit─hosted by Air Force Colonel Dennis Birchenough, Senior Materiel Leader for the Environmental Monitoring & Tactical ISR Delta, Space Systems Command─ held at The Aerospace Corporation near the Los Angeles Air Force Base, May 10-11.
 
Naval Oceanography representatives attending the two-day summit included: Danielle Carpenter, Naval Oceanographic Office Physical Scientist; LCDR Thai Phung, Meteorology and Oceanography Officer; Brian Strahl, Director of Joint Typhoon Warning Center; Jim Vermeulen, Fleet Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Data Ingest Team Supervisor; CAPT Kate Hermsdorfer, Fleet Weather Center-San Diego Commanding Officer, Josh Cossuth, Office of Naval Research Program Officer, and Steve Swadley, Naval Research Lab Atmospheric Physicist.
 
The SBEM summit is a critical engagement for DoD agencies, like Naval Oceanography, and its subject-matter experts who rely on assets and capabilities in space to execute its mission.
 
“Intelligence enabled by satellites has been a critical component of battlespace awareness for decades,” said Carpenter. “Particularly in data-sparse and access-denied areas, space based SBEM capabilities often provide the only actionable information as to the environmental conditions within the operational domain.”
 
Predicting weather and collecting data necessary to model environments real-time, requires SBEM as part of Naval Oceanography’s mission.
 
“DoD partnership is needed as we craft future SBEM architecture, and Navy operational entities with knowledge in mission requirements that were requested to attend the event to drive the acquisition strategy going forward,” Carpenter said.
 
The two-day summit also focused on a Navy priority of rapid transition of capability from acquisition to operation.
 
“The goal of the event was to synchronize efforts between the acquisitions and operational communities to ensure relevant capabilities are delivered to the field,” Carpenter said.
 
With Naval Oceanography participation, six panels discussing: Service; Centers; Operations; Space; Research; and Acquisition, were part of the two-day summit.
 
Panels and respective Naval Oceanography participating-representatives can be seen below.
 
Panel                                  Panelists
Service                               LCDR Thai Phung (OPNAV N2N6)    
Centers                              Danielle Carpenter (NAVOCEANO), Jim Vermeulen (FNMOC)
Operations                         Brian Strahl (JTWC), CPT Kate Hermsdorfer (FWC)
Research                           Josh Cossuth (ONR), Steve Swadley (NRL)
 
“Each panelist was introduced to the meeting, which was attended by over 100 members of a variety of DoD communities, and got 5 minutes and 2 slides to kick off each summarization of their organization’s SBEM roles and responsibilities,” Carpenter continued.
 
Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command directs and oversees more than 2,500 globally-distributed military and civilian personnel who collect, process, and exploit environmental information to assist Fleet and Joint Commanders in all warfare areas to make better decisions faster than the adversary.