CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 24, 2006

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Time Capsule:  Materials including early geostationary satellite images were provided for the time capsule at the new NOAA building in College Park, MD.  J. Phillips,  librarian of the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) Schwerdtfeger Library printed a number of  Multicolor Spin-Scan Cloudcover Camera (MSSCC) images that were from one of payloads of the Applications Technology Satellite-III (ATS-III), launched on 5 November 1967.  These images helped pioneer continuous viewing of weather from space. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, tim.j.schmit@noaa.gov; J. Phillips, SSEC)

First Direct Broadcast Polar Winds Generated at Tromsø: The first direct broadcast (DB) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) polar winds for the Arctic were generated this week at the Kongsberg Satellite Services (Ksat, http://www.ksat.no) facility in Tromsø, Norway, using data from the Integrated Program Office (IPO) antenna on Svalbard.  The goal is to generate MODIS winds and other products routinely in real-time in the near future.  (Due to antenna scheduling issues, the MODIS products are currently generated irregularly.) The MODIS winds can be generated faster at DB sites than with our conventional processing system, so that more wind data can be assimilated in early model runs at numerical weather prediction centers. Plots of MODIS products generated at Tromsø are available at http://stratus.ssec.wisc.edu/db/tromso. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jeff.key@noaa.gov, W. Straka III, CIMSS, D. Santek, CIMSS, C. Velden, CIMSS)

   (Click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: First MODIS polar winds image generated at Tromso, Norway with direct broadcast Terra MODIS data received on Svalbard.

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP

Proposal Submitted to NOAA Office of Education:  A proposal entitled: Expanding, Improving, and Recasting “Satellite Meteorology for Grades 7-12”, was submitted to the NOAA Office of Education, in response to their announcement of the fiscal year 2006 “Mini Grants” program.  This proposal emphasizes the addition of new modules (on air quality and aviation weather) as well as further development and refinement of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Course on Satellite Meteorology.  Planned interaction and feedback with students and teachers will be essential to improvement of the course.  (G. S. Wade, E/RA2, 608-264-4743; T. J. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291; M. Mooney, CIMSS, 608-265-2123)

Paper on Volcanic Ash Detection Accepted: A paper titled "A daytime complement to the reverse absorption technique for improved automated detection of volcanic ash" was accepted by the Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology.  The paper by M. Pavolonis, W. Feltz (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, CIMSS), A. Heidinger, and G. Gallina (NOAA/Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center, VAAC - Satellite Analysis Branch, SAB) describes a new satellite-based method for detecting volcanic ash that is globally applicable and improves upon current automated methods.  (M. Pavolonis, E/RA2, 608-263-9597, mike.pavolonis@noaa.gov, W. Feltz, CIMSS, 608-265-6283, A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757, andrew.heidinger@noaa.gov)

Abstracts submitted to the Fourth GOES-R Users' Conference: Three abstracts were submitted to the Fourth GOES-R Users' Conference to be held in Broomfield, CO from May 1-3, 2006.  The titles are "Trade-off study for the hyperspectral IR sounder for a geostationary satellite", "Synergism of ABI and HES for atmospheric sounding and cloud property retrieval", and "Study of Total Column Ozone Retrieval from the current GOES Sounder".  The co-authors are Jun Li, Jinlong Li (CIMSS/UW), Tim Schmit, Paul Menzel (STAR/NESDIS) and Jim Gurka (OSD/NESDIS).  (Jun Li, CIMSS, 608 / 262-3755; Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu)

CIMSS seminar on GOES: T. Schmit gave a CIMSS (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies) seminar on March 22.  The title of the seminar was "GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite): Current (10/12/11/N/O/P) to Future (GOES-R+)". The presentation is available upon request. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, tim.j.schmit@noaa.gov)

Weather Board Game: T. Schmit reviewed a weather board game developed jointly by NOAA and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, tim.j.schmit@noaa.gov)

Mid-term Performance Reviews Completed: The Advanced Satellite Products Branch has completed its mid-term performance reviews for FY06.  (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jeff.key@noaa.gov)

Other Meetings and Telecons:
(None)

VISITORS:

Visiting High School Students: R. Aune gave a presentation to high school math students from New Glarus, Wisconsin titled: "Predicting Weather with Computers".  A brief history of weather prediction as originally defined by W. Bjerknes was presented, followed by a summary of the early computational efforts of L. F. Richardson and J. Charney. Basic NWP was illustrated using animations generated by a simple barotropic model.  The importance of initializing NWP models with  accurate observations of the entire 3-dimensional atmosphere was stressed. (R.Aune, E/RA2, 608-262-1071, robert.aune@noaa.gov)

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