FORT WAYNE, Ind., Sept. 7 -- The US Department of Commerce announced that a $98 million contract has been awarded to ITT Industries, ITT Aerospace/Communications Div., for development of an advanced weather satellite instrument to significantly improve weather forecasting and climate prediction. According to Commerce Secretary William M. Daley, the new instrument will be part of the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System program.The contract calls for an advanced high spectral resolution IR sounder -- the Cross-track Infrared Sounder -- to be carried aboard the nation's future environmental satellites. A contract awarded earlier this year to Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colo., will fund the development of an Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite instrument to increase accuracy in measuring the Earth's ozone.