Meteorologists are very concerned about the rate at which owner Elon Musk is expanding his Starlink satellite network. Every new Starlink user on Earth causes more disruption to satellite measurements that are indispensable for an accurate weather forecast.
“Weather satellites are less able to measure the weather in places where people use a Starlink dish,” Ad Stoffelen, satellite researcher at KNMI, told NU.nl. “And there are more and more.”
Starlink is a network of more than four thousand satellites. The network provides a fast wireless internet connection anywhere on earth. A special dish connects from Earth to Starlink satellites in space. They float at an altitude of 500 to 1,500 kilometers above the earth.
“The signal from a Starlink dish can often be seen on our weather maps as a bright dot, as if there is a lot of water vapor in the air,” explains Stoffelen. “Our weather satellites measure the natural radiation of water vapor. That radiation is almost the same as the radio signal from a Starlink dish.” And that can’t just be changed.
The weather forecast depends, among other things, on the air above the ocean and the North Pole. According to Stoffelen, it is precisely in those places that Starlink internet is being used more and more. There are no regular internet connections there.
More Starlink dishes mean less accurate weather forecasting
“We may need to exclude locations with a Starlink dish from our measurements,” Stoffelen continues. “But the greater the number of areas excluded by Starlink dishes, the less accurate the weather forecast becomes.”
Above the ocean, for example, ships and drilling platforms with dishes. Around the North Pole, these are dishes in inhabited places such as scientific research stations. From there, signals go to the satellites in space. And so the weather forecast is disrupted.
Because the global measurements are less complete as a result, all countries are affected. Because the weather in, say, the United States also affects the Netherlands.
International concern among meteorologists
Not only the Dutch KNMI therefore fears this problem. International meteorologists have also expressed their concerns at an annual conference for meteorologists in the American city of Denver.
The problems are likely to get worse, the meteorologists warn. In addition to Starlink, other satellite networks are also being worked on. There is a fear that these will cause even more disruption in the weather measurements.
Elon Musk and Starlink have not yet commented on this issue.
