Solana Beach, CA October 28, 2011: The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has awarded a contract to Global Imaging of Solana Beach, CA to upgrade its Orbiting Weather Satellite Receiving Station. The current Polar Orbiting Satellite Receiving Station was delivered by Global Imaging in 2006 and has been used continuously to receive data from NOAA and METOP spacecraft. With the successful launch of the NPP spacecraft, JMA will be among the first operational meteorological services to include imagery from the NPP’s advanced sensors in their analysis and forecasts. JMA utilizes data from various polar orbiting satellites such as NOAA, EUMETSAT Metop, and earth observation satellites such as TRMM and AQUA. Data from these satellites are indispensable in observing typhoons, monitoring the global and marine environment and producing initial fields for numerical weather prediction. The new capabilities will be operational at the end of January, 2012.