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CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report
[ Archive ] |
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IN THE PRESS:
ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:
ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:
ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, ORA:
Implementation of Improved Wildfire Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (WF_ABBA): Several improvements were made to the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) WF_ABBA as part of the version 6.0 implementation. Modifications include replacement of the Olson Ecosystem data base with version 2 of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) derived Global Land Cover Characteristics data base. This substitution allows for improved biome and water assignment with a significant improvement in screening false alarms associated with inland water bodies. The other major addition is an in-line temporal filter that utilizes a time series of GOES fire products from previous hours to compare with the current fire product in an effort to screen for false alarms associated with noise in the imagery and cloud edge issues. (E. Prins, E/RA2, 608-263-6607, C. Schmidt, CIMSS, 608-262-7973, J. Feltz, CIMSS, 608-263-3434)
JCSDA Seminar on Polar Winds: J. Key gave a Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) seminar on Friday, April 12, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science Center. The title of the seminar was "Cloud-Drift and Water Vapor Winds in the Polar Regions from MODIS". The purpose of the talk was to present recent results on obtaining wind estimates with data from the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and other polar-orbiting imagers. Model impact studies performed by the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting and the Data Assimilation Office were also presented. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, C. Velden , CIMSS, 608-262-9168)
ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, ARAD:
Weather and Satellites Presentation: On Wednesday, April 10, 2002, E. Prins gave a presentation to the Crossroads girls GEMS group in Madison, Wisconsin titled "Weather and Satellites." The girls ranged in age from 9 to 12 and are currently working on earning a merit badge in weather. The presentation included a history of weather forecasting methods and current applications of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration satellite data. Each girl was presented with a full disk image of the earth on her birthday in the year 2000 and was asked to identify features including hurricanes, frontal systems, and large-scale dust transport from Africa. (E. Prins, E/RA2, 608-263-6607, D. Wade, UW-Madison/SSEC, 608-263-0527)
Weather Night at Local Elementary School: On Tuesday evening, April 9, Weather Night was held at Elm Lawn Elementary School in Middleton, Wisconsin. R. Aune organized the Parent Teacher's Association (PTA)-sponsored event with the help of colleagues from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS). Students were treated to various examples of how modern technology is being used to measure atmospheric parameters and predict tomorrow's weather. High-resolution imagery from the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), projected on large screens, were very popular. The chief meteorologist from the local NBC-TV affiliate, Bob Lindmeier, brought his miniature tornado machine and talked with students about severe weather safety. The National Weather Service office in Sullivan, Wisconsin provided brochures on modernization and weather safety. (R. Aune, E/24, 608-262-1071, K. Strabala, CIMSS, 608-263-8752, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958, S. Wetzel-Seemann, CIMSS, 608-265-5357)
ABI Paper to be Used for On-line EUMETSAT Reference Library: An extended abstract on Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) channel selection from the American Meteorological Society conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography (October 2001) will be used for an e-learning project on Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) by the EUropean organization for the exploitation of METeorological SATellites (EUMETSAT). The paper is titled "Channel selection for the next generation geostationary advanced imagers" by Timothy J. Schmit, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)/National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)/Office of Research and Applications (ORA), W. Paul Menzel, NOAA/NESDIS/ORA, Mathew M. Gunshor and James P. Nelson III, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS). (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)
Interview for the Second Phase of the GOES Cost-Benefit Study: T. Schmit was interviewed by Mitre for their second phase of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Cost-Benefit Study. This phase expands on the applications (agriculture and aviation) covered during the first phase. One possible use of GOES Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and Advanced Baseline Sounder (ABS) data to be explored is in the realm of hurricane analysis and forecasting. T. Schmit supplied a number of presentations on this and other topics. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)
VISITORS:
NEXT WEEK:
LOOKING AHEAD:
IN THE PRESS:
ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:
ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:
ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, ORA:
Single Field-of-View GOES Sounder Retrievals:
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) -8 and -10 sounder
retrievals at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies
(CIMSS) are now being produced as single field of view (SFOV) retrievals
effective 20 Universal Time Coordinated (UTC) March 22, 2002, in support
of the International H2O Project (IHOP). Both the data files and derived
product images (DPI) are output as SFOV, in addition to the realtime 3x3
FOV products on the CIMSS web site. The 3x3 FOV and SFOV DPI are similar,
but the SFOV retrievals provide more detail. (G.
Bayler , 608-265-5356; J. Nelson, 608-263-6013; T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)
(Note: This item replaces a similar entry in the
March 29 weekly report.)
(Click on image for full size)
Figure caption: Two panel derived product imagery (DPI) of total precipitable water (TPW) for 3x3 pixel fields-of-view (top) and single fields-of-view (bottom).
ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, ARAD:
Major VISITview Upgrade: A major upgrade of the VISITview software has been released, used to support all National Weather Service (NWS) teletraining activities. The release uses the Java2 software and enables the use of additional image file formats (Portable Network Graphics (PNG) and PowerPoint 2000). It also contains audio processing code to remove unwanted high-frequency elements of recorded audio. Other changes included additional code for assisting in the construction of overlays and 'tear-off controls' that are more consistent across platforms. (T. Whittaker , CIMSS, 608-262-2759)
Winds POP Meeting: C. Velden and J. Key attended the Winds Product Oversight Panel (WPOP) meeting on Friday, April 12, at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Science Center. They provided a status report on the polar winds product and discussed the forthcoming Product Systems Development and Implementation (PSDI) proposal. (C. Velden , CIMSS, 608-262-9168, J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605)
VISITORS:
NEXT WEEK:
LOOKING AHEAD: