CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JANUARY 4, 2004

NOTE: This report covers the weeks of December 14, 21, and 28, and duplicates items in the report dated December 19, 2003.

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, ORA:

MODIS and GOES Images of Texas Dust Storm: Multispectral imagery from the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) revealed significant structure to the large area of blowing sand and dust across Texas and New Mexico on December 15, 2003. 1000-meter and 250-meter resolution "true color" images are available on the SSEC MODIS Gallery (http://terra.ssec.wisc.edu/~gumley/images.html). The Geostationary Operation Environmental Satellite (GOES-10) "split-window" InfraRed difference product showed that much of this airborne dust was rapidly transported northeasward to the Great Lakes region within 24 hours, where several public reports of "red rain" were due to this dust falling along with precipitation. GOES-10 images and animations are available on the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) GOES Gallery (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/031215/031215.html). (L. Gumley, CIMSS, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958).

NPOESS CAL/VAL Meeting:  An all day meeting was held concerning the proposed calibration and validation activities for the NPOESS era.  The first half of the meeting consisted of Northrup Grumman personnel discussing the current planned activities. The second half of the meeting consisted of NESDIS briefings on the experience and projected activities of NESDIS in the area of calibration and validation. A. Heidinger gave a talk on cloud validation activities within NESDIS and highlighted several activities occurring in cooperative institutes. (A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757)

CRAS Forecast Uses GOES-12 Moisture to Predict Fog: Scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) are using the CIMSS Regional Assimilation System to investigate whether water vapor and cloud observations from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12 can be used to improve the prediction of fog over Wisconsin roadways.  Three-layer precipitable water and cloud-top pressure retrievals from the GOES-12 sounder are being assimilated into the 20-km resolution CRAS.  36-hour forecast time series are being generated for instrumented sites of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which will be used to validate fog forecasts, in addition to fog products generated by GOES-12. Results for a recent fog event are encouraging. (R. Aune, E/RA2, 608-262-1071)

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AIRS Captures SO2 Event from the Soufriere Hills Volcano: A sulfure dioxide (SO2) plume from July 2003 was observed with the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS). This plume was from the Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat Island, West Indies. Good agreement was found between a set of AIRS channel differences (suggested by L. Strow) with SO2 estimates from TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer; data from S. Carn of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County). (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)

(Click image to enlarge)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, ARAD:

AVHRR Reprocessing Workshop:  A workshop was held in the NOAA Science Center on December 15 to discuss the activities within the NESDIS Office of Research and Applications concerning the reprocessing of the data record from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer.  Several presentations were given including ones on the AVHRR Pathfinder Atmospheres (PATMOS-x) given by A. Heidinger and J. Key's project on AVHRR Polar Winds Reprocessing.  Other talks included efforts regarding AVHRR calibration and navigation improvements.  A report will be written summarizing the findings.  (A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 08-263-6757, Jeff Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605)

GOES South American ABBA Fire Products Provided for Emissions Research Effort: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-8) South American Automated Biomass Burning Algorithm (ABBA) diurnal fire products for the 2000 fire season were provided to K. Longo (Brazil Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE) Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos (CPTEC)) and J.  Hoelzmann (Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg). The data set is being used to estimate biomass burning emissions for air quality and climate change studies.  Investigators are comparing the benefits of different data sources and techniques for emissions estimates.  (J. Feltz, CIMSS, 608-263-3434, E. Prins, E/RA2, 530-271-2256).

Seminar on Cloud Typing Given at the NOAA Office of Research and Applications: Two algorithms for detecting cloud overlap and determining cloud type with daytime satellite data were presented at a Office of Research and Applications (ORA) seminar by M. Pavolonis of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS).  The first algorithm utilizes spectral channels that are available on the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and is part of the Extended Clouds from AVHRR (CLAVR-x) processing system. The second algorithm incorporates data from additional spectral channels that are available on the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and will be available on the Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS).  VIIRS is the imager that will replace the AVHRR on board the next generation of NOAA polar-orbiting satellites.  (M. Pavolonis, CIMSS, 608-263-9597, A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757)

Paper on Daytime Cloud Overlap Detection Accepted:  A paper titled "Daytime cloud overlap detection from AVHRR and VIIRS" was accpeted for publication in the Journal of Applied Meterology. The paper, by M. Pavolonis (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, CIMSS) and A. Heidinger, describes two automated algorithms for detecting cloud overlap using daytime satellite imagery. (M. Pavolonis, CIMSS, 608-263-9597, A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757)

GOES and MODIS Radiative Transfer codes supplied to NASA Huntsville:  Both GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) and MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) Radiative Transfer codes and files were supplied to NASA Huntsville. With these codes and files, forward calculations using the PFAAST (Pressure layer Fast Algorithm for Atmospheric Transmittances) model can be computed. (H. Woolf, CIMSS, 608-262-0986)

Visit to ASPB and CIMSS: E. Prins was in Madison, Wisconsin on December 17-19 to meet with Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB) and Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) scientists. Discussions with CIMSS focused on new funding opportunities, upcoming conferences, hardware needs, and research plans for the coming year. The CIMSS biomass burning monitoring team hopes to add a Master's level graduate student to the group to focus on multi-sensor comparisons and data fusion issues. E. Prins also participated in the ASPB monthly meeting. (E. Prins, E/RA2, 530-271-2256)

Feedback on the GOES Sounder Data in CLASS: T. Schmit provided input on the access of GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) Sounder data via the Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System (CLASS). The comments included having more descriptive file names, correcting the sounder resolutions, making available line prefix information, and giving the option for multiple band areas. Details are available upon request. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)

Comments Given on NASA SPoRT SAC Report: Comments were given to the chair of the NASA Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center 2003 Science Advisory Committee (SAC) on a report of the October 30, 2003 SPoRT meeting in Huntsville at the National Space Science and Technology Center. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)

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