Deployment

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- For U.S. Marines in Afghanistan, deciding when it's safe to conduct aviation missions is partly dependent on knowing real-time weather conditions.

At forward operating bases throughout the country, that job had to be done manually, but reductions in staffing have made it harder to gather the data. Now, though, the Marines can rely on technology developed at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute called Expeditionary Meteorology System (XMET) to get the weather information they need.

CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman stopped by Scripps as part of Road Trip 2012 to learn about the system.