One of the most significant limitations in weather forecasting is the inability to predict cloud formation in the atmosphere. To better understand this phenomenon, NASA has earmarked $119 million toward a five-year project to provide the first three-dimensional satellite pictures of clouds. The remainder of the $145 million project will come from the US Air Force, the Canadian Space Agency and the US Department of Energy.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Colorado State University in Fort Collins will lead the project, which will involve the launch of the CloudSat spacecraft in March 2003.