Just days ago, on August 29, Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana. The Category 4 hurricane struck 16 years to the day after Hurricane Katrina devastated the same area. 

Atmospheric and oceanic conditions remain conducive for an above-average number of named storms for the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.

In 2020 alone, the U.S. experienced a total of 22 weather and climate disaster events, with losses exceeding $1 billion each. An unprecedented 30 named tropical storms formed in the Atlantic; a record 12 of those made landfall in the continental U.S. Last year was also the most active wildfire year on record across the west.

To help federal agencies save our country’s limited resources and respond more effectively to these natural disasters, Cherokee Federal provides critical climatology information to environmental scientists and key decision-makers. 

“Cherokee Federal focuses on data analytics to aid in disaster response,” says John “J.C.” Coffey, executive director of unmanned systems for Cherokee Federal. “Our subject matter experts provide end-to-end data management by collecting data before a weather-related event, as it occurs and once it has passed.”

Cherokee uses sophisticated systems to provide data analysis, and predictive and prescriptive analytics for researchers and decision-makers. The company has worked with the Department of Interior, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), among others. 

“Cherokee Federal has harnessed a lot of environmental intelligence for NOAA,” J.C. says. “We look at changes over time and provide accurate analyses that deliver valuable insight to our clients, so they can better understand and forecast hazardous weather.”

Studying the earth’s long-term weather patterns gives forecasters the information they need to better categorize the storm’s intensity and identify its path. This improved accuracy gives public safety officials and residents more time to prepare and evacuate, if necessary. Data analytics can also be used to improve observations in flood forecasting that can result from storm surges.

“We’ve flown over hurricanes thousands of miles out to sea to get better data that will give forecasters wisdom and help emergency response teams with post-damage assessments and search and rescue,”J.C.explains.

Collecting immense amounts of data is only the starting point. For the data to be useful, strategic analysis is a must. 

“Collecting data does not lead to better decision making,” J.C. says. “We use advanced data management, analytics and artificial intelligence to harvest the actionable information, so we can produce better outcomes. We turn data chaos into knowledge.”

About Cherokee Federal

Cherokee Federal, a division of Cherokee Nation Businesses, is a team of tribally owned federal contracting companies that serve more than 60 federal clients. Our team of more than 3,300 employees has completed more than 5,300 federal missions in more than 20 countries. 

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