New 5G Network Could have Serious Impact on Weather Forecasts

Every cell phone provider has been scrambling to be the first to roll out the latest and greatest communications network, 5G.  Consumers eagerly await the chance to get their hands on this technology, which will be about 100 times faster than the current 4G system.  In April, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) began auctioning off the rights to blocks of wireless radio frequencies between 24.25 GHz and 24.45 GHz that has generated over $2 billion in revenue to this point.  All seemed to be going smoothly for a 5G rollout later this year, until the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) stepped in.

Weather satellites are tuned to the frequency of 23.8 GHz to detect the amount of water vapor in the air.  The data collected from these satellite images is then fed into numerical weather prediction models to predict weather conditions for the next few days.  With the frequencies to the new 5G network being so close to this frequency, many meteorologists are worried noise associated with the 5G network will bleed into the water vapor frequency range.  As a result, the data collected by weather satellites will be significantly less accurate.  Feeding bad data into weather prediction models will compound the issue, reducing these models accuracy be as much as 30%.  This loss would revert forecasts back to the accuracy found in a forecast from 1980, according to the acting head of NOAA, Neil Jacobs.

Imagine living in an apartment with neighbors that like to blast music.  Some of that noise would seep through the walls and into your apartment, which would get quite annoying, especially if you were trying to sleep.  That is the fear for NOAA.  The FCC can choose any other frequency to broadcast the 5G network at, just keep it away from the critical weather bands.

 

Sources: https://physicsworld.com/a/debate-rages-over-5g-impact-on-us-weather-forecasting/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-5g-wireless-networks-threaten-weather-forecasts/

Image Source: https://phys.org/news/2019-08-nasa-dorian-hurricane.html

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