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Hurricane Center's Chief Lost Support of Bosses and Staff
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In recent months, NOAA has come up with a plan to draw wind data from other satellites if QuikSCAT fails, though scientists say the information will not be nearly as detailed. The agency also launched a study last month on a replacement satellite.
Proenza was "absolutely correct" on the value of the satellite, said Robert M. Atlas, director of NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory and a leading expert on QuikSCAT. "His arguments are supported by a majority of the scientific community."
But rather than backing him, his forecasters rebelled, saying Proenza exaggerated the Hurricane Center's dependence on the satellite and called into question their ability to track storms. At the same time, Proenza was criticized by bosses in NOAA, with the acting head of the National Weather Service sending a three-page letter last month reprimanding Proenza for causing "unnecessary confusion about NOAA's ability to accurately predict tropical storms."
Mayfield, the former Hurricane Center director, said Proenza should have heeded his forecasters, who said the loss of a single satellite would not undercut their predictions because many other tools are available.
"Every time I talked to him, I said: 'You've got to listen to your staff. You've got to be on the same page with them,' " Mayfield said of Proenza.
Others praised Proenza for speaking out, despite the risk of a professional lashing. At a time when hurricanes are striking the U.S. coastline with deadly force, they say Proenza was simply trying to arm forecasters with better research and technology.
"I think that many people chafe at change, and it's possible that his management style wasn't what they were used to," said Stan Goldenberg, with NOAA's Hurricane Research Division. "But Proenza had a track record of standing up for what he felt was right."
When Proenza arrived in Miami on Monday morning, he was handed a letter from NOAA that placed him on immediate leave.
Proenza said he has no regrets about speaking up. "The worst scenario," he said, "is to find ourselves in a situation in the future where the program has been compromised and life may have been lost or threatened, and I never said anything."
