CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 11, 2018

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Service to America Finalist: It was recently announced on May 8, 2018 that T. Schmit is a 2018 finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals in the category of science and environment. The "Sammies" are presented to federal employees for "noteworthy and inspiring accomplishments". Profile: https://servicetoamericamedals.org/honorees/view_profile.php?profile=519. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)

VIIRS Cryosphere Products at the JPSS Arctic Summit: Members of the JPSS Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Cryosphere Team attended the JPSS Arctic Summit to receive feedback on their near-real-time demonstration of VIIRS ice products for the Alaska Sea Ice Program (ASIP, NWS) analysts. Mike Lawson (ASIP) gave a detailed evaluation of the products’ capabilities in an operational forecasting environment and communicated that the NESDIS operational ice concentration, ice thickness, and ice surface temperature enhanced the capabilities of ice analyst personnel. The blended AMSR2-VIIRS ice motion product, which is experimental, was also considered to be very useful. ASIP expressed the desire to continue receiving all of the products and will provide additional feedback. During the Thursday meeting, Sean Helfrich (STAR) as well as Rich Dworak and Aaron Letterly (CIMSS) gave presentations detailing JPSS-based blended snow and ice products. Future collaboration between CIMSS scientists and Nate Eckstein (NWS Arctic Testbed) seeks to put these products at the hands of more users and forecasters in Alaska. On Tuesday, Jay Cable from the Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA) met with the CIMSS scientists at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks and discussed the continuation of posting and improving the ice products for use by ASIP analysts and other interested users and stakeholders. (A. Letterly, CIMSS, 608-890-1981)

CIMSS at the Great Lakes Operational Meteorology Workshop: Scott Lindstrom, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), provided the Keynote Address at the 26th Great Lakes Operational Meteorology Workshop, hosted by WFO Cleveland on 1-3 May 2018 in downtown Cleveland. (Workshop website: https://www.weather.gov/cle/GLOMW2018). The talk "GOES-16 Data and Products around the Great Lakes" discussed forecast issues in the Great Lakes basin and how GOES-16 could help with decision support (Scott Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608-263-4425)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

CIMSS Meteorological Support for NCAA Women's Golf Tournament: Jordan Gerth, Justin Sieglaff and Scott Lindstrom of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) provided meteorological support to the University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Department, the host of the NCAA Women's Golf Tournament at University Ridges Golf Club on 6-9 May 2018. Daily forecasts were provided that focused on weather that could affect play: severe weather, thunderstorms, high winds, rain, snow and frost. The most challenging forecast day was Wednesday when morning convection threatened the start of play, and afternoon convection loomed as the play ended. (J. Gerth, CIMSS, 608-263-4942; J. Sieglaff, CIMSS, 608-265-5357; S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608-263-4425)

ESIP Education Committee Webinar on SIFT: Scott Lindstrom, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), led a short Webinar on the CIMSS-developed Satellite Information Familiarization Tool (SIFT) for Out 2 Lunch, a webinar series hosted by the ESIP Education Committee (organized by Margaret Mooney, CIMSS). The Webinar described some key features of SIFT, noted how to download GOES-16 ABI data from NOAA CLASS, and concluded with a short Question/Answer session. The Out2Lunch website is http://wiki.esipfed.org/index.php/Education/Out2Lunch; the SIFT website is http://sift.ssec.wisc.edu. (Scott Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608-263-4425; Margaret Mooney, CIMSS, 608-265-2123)

Satellite Imagery of a Thunderstorm Producing Severe Weather Across Southern Wisconsin: The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog was updated with a post containing 1-minute Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-16 Visible and Infrared images of an isolated thunderstorm that produced tornadoes and hail across southern Wisconsin on May 9, 2018 (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/27956).The frequent 1-minute scans revealed details of the thunderstorm such as overshooting tops and rear inflow feeder bands. These were the first tornadoes in the state of Wisconsin in 2018. (S Bachmeier, CIMSS, scott.bachmeier@ssec.wisc.edu) 

  (Click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: GOES-16 “Red” Visible (0.64 µm, top) and “Clean” Infrared Window (10.3 µm, bottom) images, with airport identifiers plotted in yellow and an SPC storm report of hail plotted in red.

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