NASA has awarded a sole source contract modification to Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, of Azusa, California, for the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) Instrument for flight on the Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) mission.

This is a cost-plus-award-fee modification in the amount of $121 million. This action extends the period of performance of the contract from May 2017 through May 2022.

The JPSS-2 mission is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to provide global environmental data in low-Earth polar orbit in support of NOAA's mission. NASA is the acquisition agent for the flight systems and some components of the ground system.

Under this contract, Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems will manufacture, test and deliver the ATMS instrument, support instrument integration on the JPSS-2 spacecraft and provide launch and post-launch support.

The ATMS instrument will be the same design as the ATMS currently flying on the Suomi NPP mission and planned for the JPSS-1 mission. JPSS-1 is slated for launch in 2017 and JPSS-2 in 2021.

ATMS is a passive microwave instrument that works in conjunction with the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) to produce global atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles.

ATMS provides high spatial resolution microwave data to support temperature and humidity sounding data in all weather conditions.

NOAA forecasters will use this data in computer models to improve global and regional predictions of weather patterns, storm tracks and precipitation. This information will significantly improve short- and long-term weather forecasting.