Western weather agencies are restricting Russia’s access to meteorological data due to fears that the country may use the information to its advantage when conducting attacks against Ukraine, especially in the event that biological or chemical weapons are used. Data that Russia may be blocked from accessing includes near-instantaneous measurements of wind speed and direction, sunlight, precipitation, and more. On Tuesday morning, Germany-based European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites met to discuss the status of Russian licenses. The council opted to suspend 21 licenses with immediate affect.
In addition, the council decided to suspend a current bilateral cooperation agreement with Russia’s leading meteorological agency. The cooperation agreement allowed for the exchange of data and training activities. Russia has been able to access the council’s data feeds in exchange for contributing its own data. Russia received information from European countries, America, the UK, and Canada as a result of this agreement. Although data from EU satellites was suspended immediately following the invasion, meteorological observations and other valuable data was still accessible until now.
Read More: West Blocks Russia’s Access to Weather Data
