CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 18, 2004

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, ORA:

Participation in NOAA/NESDIS and CREST Aerosol Symposium:  S. Bachmeier, A. Wimmers, and E. Prins participated in the Science Symposium on Measuring and Modeling Aerosols at the University of Maryland, Baltimore Campus (UMBC) on June 14-16.  The symposium was sponsored by the NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) Cooperative Research Program (CoRP) and the UMBC, a Cooperative Remote Sensing Science and Technology Partner (CREST).  It provided an opportunity for NOAA NESDIS cooperative institutes and CREST to strengthen current collaborative activities and identity new areas of collaborations in modeling and measuring aerosols.  S. Bachmeier gave an overview of the near real-time IDEA (Infusing satellite Data in Environmental Applications) air quality assessment and prediction activities at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS); E. Prins chaired a session on transcontinental and long range transport of aerosols and gave an overview of applications of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) fire products in biomass burning emissions monitoring and modeling.  (E. Prins, E/RA2, 530-271-2256, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958, A. Wimmers, CIMSS, 608-263-3294)

International Winds Workshop: The 7th International Winds Workshop, sponsored by the World Meteorologicial Organization (WMO), was held in Helsinki, Finland during the week of June 14-17. The workshop was attended by 50 participants from the international satellite and data assimilation communities. Chris Velden (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, CIMSS) was a co-organizer, with Dave Santek (CIMSS), Jeff Key (NESDIS), Jaime Daniels (NESDIS) and Paul Menzel (NESDIS) also participating. Velden gave a presentation on the potential for deriving wind vectors from hyperspectral satellite data. Polar winds from MODIS was the topic covered in the talks by Key and Santek. Key also presented a paper on the prospects of deriving thermal winds over the polar regions for climate reanalyses. Daniels gave an update on NESDIS winds processing. Menzel talked about the performance of vector height assignment algorithms. A highlight of the workshop was the demonstrated impact of the MODIS polar winds on global numerical forecast systems. Several presentations were given by the data assimilation participants on the positive model forecast impacts being realized with the assimilation of MODIS polar winds. (C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168, D. Santek, CIMSS, 608-263-7410, J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, J. Daniels, E/RA2, W. P. Menzel, E/RA2, 608-263-4930)

Accuracy of MET-8 IR Channels Investigated: Kevin Le Morzadec, an undergraduate student from the University of Rennes1 in France spent three months at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) investigating the quality of the infrared (IR) bands on the EUropean organization for the exploitation of METeorological SATellites (EUMETSAT) Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), now called MET-8 satellite.  The quality was deduced by convolving co-located high-spectral resolution Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) data with the MET-8 spectral response functions. After a number of processing steps, results for the five MET-8 bands without significant spectral gaps in the corresponding AIRS data show mean absolute value differences of approximately 0.5K or less. While only one time of the year was examined, this confirms the high-quality of the MET-8 IR data. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, M. Gunshor, CIMSS, 608-263-1146)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, ARAD

Manuscript on Ice Cloud Optical Thickness Retrieval with AIRS Accepted: A manuscript entitled "Retrieval of ice cloud optical thickness from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) measurements" has been accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.  This study is relevant to the Cross -track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) and the Hyperspectral Environmental Suite (HES) on the next generation of Geostational Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R).  The co-authors are Heli Wei, Ping Yang (Texas A&M University), Jun Li, Bryan A. Baum, Hung-Lung Huang (CIMSS/UW), Steven Platnick and Yong X. Hu (NASA).  The manuscript is available upon request. (JJ. Li, CIMSS, 608-262-3755)

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