ASPB and CIMSS Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING AUGUST 24, 2008

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Arctic Council meeting on Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic: A meeting of a new Arctic Council cryosphere project, titled “Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA)”, was held in Tromsø, Norway August 19-20 at the Norwegian Polar Institute. The goal of SWIPA is to provide the Arctic Council with timely, up-to-date, and synthesized scientific knowledge about the present state of the cryosphere, including processes, trends, and future consequences of changes in the cryosphere. The project does not intend to initiate any new research, but will be based on recent or ongoing projects. J. Key attended as one of two NOAA representatives. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu)

First Workshop on Satellite Imaging of the Arctic: The First Workshop on Satellite Imaging of the Arctic, was held at the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, August 20-21 (http://www.gfy.ku.dk/~awh/satellite-imaging). J. Key gave an invited presentation on current capabilities and requirments for observing the Arctic. The goal was to bring together scientists from countries with an interest in the Arctic to discuss the range of scientific applications of high-latitude satellite data and to establish sound user requirements for the systems intended to acquire such data. The purpose was to discuss new satellite system concepts for observing the polar regions. In particular, a satellite imager in the Molniya orbit received the greatest attention, though having small imagers on a number of satellites in the Iridium constellation was also discussed at length. There were 30 participants from the U.S. (three: NOAA, NASA, and Iridium), Canada, Russia, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu)

Manuscript on ABI Clear Sky Atmospheric Parameters Published: An article entitled "Retrieving clear-sky atmospheric parameters from SEVIRI and ABI infrared radiances" has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research (113, D15310, doi:10.1029/2008JD010040). Co-authers are Xin Jin, Jun Li (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, CIMSS), Tim Schmit (STAR), Jinlong Li (CIMSS), Mitch Goldberg (STAR) and Jim Gurka (GOES-R Program Office). (Jun Li, CIMSS, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu, 608-262-3755)

GOES-13 Supports National Hurricane Center During Fay: On August 18, NOAA/NESDIS provided the National Hurricane Center (NHC) with access to GOES-13 data on an experimental basis. NESDIS and NHC staff worked quickly to insert the GOES-13 data into NHC’s operational framework for use by hurricane specialists and marine forecasters on that same day. This data source already has had an immediate positive impact in NHC operations by allowing the hurricane specialists and marine forecasters to continuously monitor changing tropical conditions during Tropical Storm Fay, even during the eclipse period of GOES-12. The ability of GOES-13 to provide coverage during GOES-East/West maneuvers, eclipse periods and keep-out zones now extends NHC’s ability to monitor severe tropical weather in a continuous manner instead of being “blind” during those time periods. Although GOES-13 data are essentially deemed as experimental at this time, the availability of this additional data is expected to contribute greatly to the U.S. Hurricane Warning program during this season by providing imagery that was not previously available. (C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168, T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

CIMSS Participation at Annual SPIE meeting: Several Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) scientists attended the the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE)'s annual meeting held August 10-14, 2008 in San Diego, CA. CIMSS presentations at the conference included preparation for next generation GOES-R product generation and application, calibration studies on a hyperspectral infrared climate sensor (CLARREO), aviation safety, visualization and satellite data processing software, and hyperspectral IR data compression. CIMSS scientists also served conference chairs and session chairs. (T. Achtor, CIMSS, 608-263-4206; Jun Li, CIMSS, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu, 608-262-3755)

GOES-13 Derived Products: Qualitative comparisons between the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-13 and GOES-12 Sounder and Imager derived products show fair agreement. Examples of the early results of these products were presented at the 20 August 2008 Images, Cloud, Aerosol, Product Oversight Panel (ICAPOP) meeting. The experimental GOES-13 data was acquired through the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) data center. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, T. Schreiner, CIMSS, 608-263-6754)

(Click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: GOES-13 vs GOES-12 Sounder Cloud Top Pressure for 20 August 2008 at 17:45UTC

GOES-13 Imagery Examples: Examples of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-13) imagery were added to the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog ( http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/category/goes-13). One case shows GOES-13 imagery of Tropical Storm Fay during the GOES-12 Keep Out Zone (KOZ) data outage on August 22, 2008. Another case highlights images of blowing dust from a dry lake bed in North Dakota on August 18, 2008, and demonstrates the improved image navigation of the GOES-13 satellite. (S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958)

Other Meetings and Telecons:

None.

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