Last transmissions from a Year of Weather and beyond
Giving thanks at the end of the Year of Weather, and a pause
On 19 August 2025, members of the open-weather network captured the final satellite images from NOAA-15, the last of three NOAA satellites to be decommissioned this summer.
Since the 1970s, these transmissions have been received by tens of thousands of amateur satellite ground stations, with the fastest growing user group being educators (NOAA, 2009). The satellites’ analogue signals, combined with the simple hardware and software needed to receive and decode them, were powerful pedagogical tools for learning about weather, radio, and remote sensing.
At 18:56 on 19 August in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius, Maufox received the open-weather network’s final image from NOAA-15 in which channels A and B are blank, framed by telemetry. NOAA-15 had been transmitting for over 27 years.
NOAA-18 was decommissioned on 6 June 2025 due to an unrecoverable failure to the S-Band transmitter. Our last newsletter featured the final images from NOAA-18 received by the open-weather network.
In a plot twist, NOAA-19’s decommissioning was brought forward by six days when the satellite “encountered a battery failure” that jeopardised the “safe operations of the spacecraft”. As a result, the agency postponed the planned decommissioning of NOAA-15, granting the oldest satellite an extra week of life.
End of Life Nowcast
On 15 June 2025, the day before NOAA recategorised NOAA-15 and NOAA-19 from ‘Extended Life’ to ‘End of Life’, and two months before the ultimate decommissioning of these satellites, the open-weather network captured a final, one-day nowcast. Nowcasts – or collective earth imaging events made by a planetary network of amateur satellite ground station operators – have been foundational to open-weather since its earliest days.
The End of Life nowcast included moving descriptions of weather and climate. Fernando Godoy of Tsonami Arte Sonoro in Valparaiso, Chile, wrote of the ‘heaviest rains of the year’.
From the Pyrénées Orientales in France, Audrey Briot described how “Particules have been in the air for weeks without interruption. Depending on their density, the blue sky, the clouds and the sun are indistinguishable. The sky is white, blinding”. Audrey used a wearable textile antenna to capture her satellite image.
In Sejong City, South Korea, Yohan Won told how their satellite image was “Received just before a summer downpour under the East Asian monsoon front”.
Go to the End of Life Nowcast
Words and images from the open-weather network
From Seattle to Buenos Aires, members of the open-weather network recorded the last transmissions of NOAA-15, -18 and -19 and shared thoughts on the decommissioning.
After weeks of excessive heat and smoke, today’s image from NOAA 15 captures the arriving atmospheric river, bringing much needed rain amidst a record-setting drought. […] At this point, each additional day of decoding a transmission […] is a gift. (Zack Wettstein, 15 August)
(my father asked me about there is no clouds in the sky, i told him that the satellite is going to be decommissioned tomorrow) (Birbie, 17 August)
After the pass earlier this morning I sat on the tower for some time, listening to the birds, writing my weather note. Looking at the images, I often feel it’s strange how my ears can filter so much of the static: I could hear NOAA-15 for much longer than the image might suggest. Watching the pips of yellow on CubicSDR’s waterfall display, [the signal was] weaker than I expecting. (Alison Scott, 19 August)
I am reflecting on how everything can be read: every flow and every eddy and every sigh of wind and rain and cloud, every flare of sunlight and pall of haze, every thermal and every wave bar, every ripple of energy running through every leaf in every rustling tree. (Richard Carter, 19 August)
Durante casi 30 años, miles de personas alrededor del mundo escucharon la señal APT de los satélites NOAA y decodificaron imágenes analógicas tan bellas como únicas: toscas, con errores y glitches, de baja definición… pero que nos mostraban la Tierra viva desde una perspectiva única. (Joaquin Ezcurra, 19 August)
Too attached to 15/19/18...was so sad to see only static noise images. That was it (for now?) (Jo Pollitt and Rumen Rachev, 19 August)
Adult: “What are you waiting for?”
Child: “Outer space!”
(Sophie Dyer, 18 August)
NOAA-15
I know it’s ’empty’
but I listen to your frequency
cold static
filling a void
of recognition
As I was watching the sun rise over Santa Monica, we were witnessing the sunset of NOAA-15. But as with any reputable seance it was a communal gathering. Several of my students joined me and persisted through 8 minutes and 34 seconds of static. NOAA-15, 18 and 19 shall live in my dreams. (Steve Engelmann, 20 August)
You can view all contributions the Year of Weather in our Public Archive. We welcome you to cite and respectfully work with these materials. Please refer our Data MOU.
What’s next for open-weather?
Open-weather is about much more than satellite imagery: it is about friendship and solidarity; situated reflections and inquiries into weather; telling speculative stories about planetary networks; and developing accessible open-source tools and resources. For all these reasons, the decommissioning of the NOAA satellites does not necessarily mean the end of open-weather. However, after an active five years, we have decided to use this moment to take a one year break.
From October 2025 we will not be accepting new invitations to share work, with the exception of exhibiting existing artworks. Contingent on funding and personal capacities, we will continue to carry out maintenance.
We sign off feeling grateful for the relationships we have built in and through the signal and static of planetary radio.
For more information about upcoming workshops, talks, and how to take part, see the latest activities on our website.