TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Weather Administration (CWA) and Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday (May 9), pledging to share meteorological data and enhance space weather forecasts.

According to a press release, CWA Administrator Cheng Chia-ping (程家平) and TASA Director-General Wu Jong-shinn (吳宗信) signed the deal. Having worked together more than 10 years ago, the two agencies will now collaborate on data collection, space monitoring, and disaster prevention, RTI.

Through the agreement, data collected by FORMOSAT-7 and Triton satellites can be applied to space weather and marine meteorological forecasting, improving the accuracy of forecasts, per CNA.

In a speech, Cheng said since the preparation period for FORMOSAT-3, the CWA and TASA have closely cooperated, forming the Taiwan Analysis Center for COSMIC (TACC). “In 2005, TACC was established, making Taiwan and the U.S. two important data centers in the world,” he said. “Both sides serve as backups for each other, and the data, originally used for verification, has become an important international meteorological data source.”

Wu said that cooperation between TACC and the U.S. is a model. “The process from satellite data reception, processing, and transmission is very complex,” he explained. “Taiwan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the world capable of conducting space weather forecasts, which impact satellite safety and communication quality.”

According to CWA data, FORMOSAT-7 produces nearly 5,500 atmospheric data and 4,000 ionospheric data per day. Since the FORMOSAT-3 era, the CWA has assisted TASA in processing nearly 30 million data points.