I reported a few days ago the loss of data from the F17 satellite, which I use to document the Arctic sea ice extent here every month. Although other satellites in that series are still aloft, it will take some time to calibrate them to the latest, F17, which has been our main data source. The measurement is not the important thing, its how the measurements change over time, and unless there is considerable overlap in coverage from several platforms for comparison it is difficult to make sense of our measurements and just what they mean. We cannot put our observations in context with older ones unless there is adequate overlap in the data.

These platforms are also getting old, nearing the end of their useful life, and they are particularly valuable since they can make accurate ice measurements day and night, and through cloud cover. We are probably having a record low ice summer this year, and it is likely we will not have a satellite in place to document it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/04/25/the-arctic-is-melting-and-scientists-just-lost-a-key-tool-to-observe-it/

I suppose this is how Congress has decided to fight climate change.

The last satellite built for the DMSP program — F20 — was originally intended to be launched within the next few years. But last year, the Air Force’s funding request for the program was denied by Congress and the launch plans shelved. Consequently, the already-built satellite has remained on the ground in storage, and Tina Greer, a public affairs officer with the Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center, confirmed that there is no DMSP satellite currently on the launch manifest.