ASPB and CIMSS Weekly Report [ Archive ]

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Schmit Wins DOC Gold Medal: Tim Schmit and nine other NOAA personnel will be awarded the Department of Commerce Gold Medal. The group was nominated by NESDIS for outstanding critical support extending the useful life of aging geostationary weather satellites, thereby greatly improving coverage over South America. The award ceremony is in January (2015). (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu) 

WMO Volcanic Ash Science Advisory Group Meeting: Mike Pavolonis (NOAA/NESDIS/STAR) represented NOAA/NESDIS at the 5th meeting of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Volcanic Ash Science Advisory Group (VASAG) in San Francisco, CA from December 11-12, 2014. The VASAG was established in 2010 to provide scientific guidance on volcanic ash to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) International Airways Volcano Watch (IAVW) operations group. This meeting focused on reviewing scientific advancements related to volcanic ash, discussing work requests from the ICAO IAVW operations group, and planning for the next WMO International Volcanic Ash Workshop. M. Pavolonis provided briefings on the next generation of geostationary satellites and a serious jet aircraft encounter with volcanic ash that occurred in February 2014. More information on the WMO VASAG is available at: http://www.wmo.int/aemp/vasag. (M. Pavolonis, E/RA2, 608-263-9597, Mike.Pavolonis@noaa.gov) 

GOES-R Cloud Height Code Implemented at University Lille (France): An experimental version of the GOES-R Cloud Height Algorithm (ACHA) was implemented into the Meteosat 2nd Generation (MSG) processing at the University of Lille (France). The University of Lille runs the Cloud-Aerosol-Water Interactions (ICARE) web-site (http://www.icare.univ-lille1.fr/drupal/) which provides a useful interface for seeing multiple products from multiple sensors combined into single images. The GOES-R Cloud Team benefits from seeing its products displayed with those from other sensors. (A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757, andrew.heidinger@noaa.gov) 

New Models Transitioned into NHC Operations: An array of new probabilistic models for tropical cyclone rapid intensification (RI) events, developed with the support of NOAA's Joint Hurricane Testbed, has been officially accepted for operational use in the suite of forecast tools at the NOAA National Hurricane Center (NHC). These models include an updated version of the Statistical Hurricane Intensity Predictions System (SHIPS)-RI Index (RII), and two other empirical probabilistic models based on Bayesian and logistic regression principles. These models, along with their consensus, significantly improve upon the forecast skill of the existing SHIPS-RII that has been in operational use for several years. In addition, NOAA approved the transition of a probabilistic logistic regression RI model that incorporates passive microwave imagery-based structure predictors, which provides even higher forecast skill in comparison to existing probabilistic RI models that do not use microwave imagery. The development and transition of all of these models was a joint effort comprised of Christopher Rozoff (CIMSS), John Kaplan (NOAA/HRD), James Kossin (NOAA/NCDC), Christopher Velden (CIMSS), Mark DeMaria (NOAA/NHC), and Anthony Wimmers (CIMSS) (C. Rozoff, CIMSS, 608-263-6733) 

Invited Talk on Aerosol Multi-sensor and Model Synergy Studies at AGU: Brad Pierce gave an invited talk entitled “Real-time aerosol data assimilation experiments during the 2014 FRAPPE/DISCOVER-AQ field mission” within the “Characterizing Global Aerosol Through Multi-sensor and Model Synergy” session at the 2014 Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). (R.B. Pierce, E/RA2, 608-890-1892, brad.pierce@noaa.gov) 

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

First Light AHI Images from JMA: On December 18, 2014, the Meteorological Satellite Center (MSC) of the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) released the first images from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI). The AHI is very similar (15 of the 16 spectral bands) to the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) that will fly on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R series. Images are on the CIMSS satellite blog at http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/17344 and http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/webapps/bandapp/overview_ahi_first_light.html. (S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958; S. Lindstrom, CIMSS; T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291) 

JPSS Science Seminar: Jeff Key (STAR), Eric Stevens (University of Alaska-Fairbanks), and Mary-Beth Schreck (National Weather Service Alaska), gave a JPSS Science Seminar titled "The Cold and the Dark: JPSS and the Cryosphere" on December 15, 2014. This was a two-part seminar that addresses cryosphere products developed through the JPSS Risk Reduction and Proving Ground programs, with an emphasis on sea ice and imagery products from VIIRS on Suomi-NPP (SNPP). The first part of the seminar (Stevens and Schreck) described High Latitude Proving Ground (HLPG) activities at the University of Alaska’s Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) and the NWS Anchorage Ice Desk. The second portion of the seminar (Key) focused on the part of the cryosphere that (arguably) has the greatest impact on Arctic Ocean navigation, ocean-atmosphere energy exchange, and Arctic climate change: sea ice thickness. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu) 

VISITORS:

NEXT WEEK:

LOOKING AHEAD:

Archived Weeklies Page

Submit a report item