CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 22, 2018

IN THE PRESS:

SSEC and CIMSS Scientists in the News: Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) provide expert commentary, interviews, and imagery to news media. In the news this week: 1) SSEC News published a story on CIMSS scientist Jason Otkin's efforts to establish consensus within the climate community on a definition for "flash drought" (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/news/articles/11039); 2) CIMSS Satellite Blog contributors Scott Lindstrom and Scott Bachmeier published six posts on convection and flooding over northern Wisconsin (June 17), continuing lava flows from Kilauea’s Lower East Rift Zone (June 18), a unique high cloud shadow over eastern Iowa (June 18), fixed grid data formatting in AWIPS (June 19), the Trail Mountain fire in Utah (June 20), and a spring solstice TROWAL over the Upper Midwest (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/); 3) These and other images were picked up by WXYZ Detroit, Minnesota Public Radio, Wisconsin Radio Network, WeatherNation, and others (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/news/articles/category/ssec-in-the-news). (J. Phillips, SSEC, 608-262-8164, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, S. Lindstrom, SSEC, W. Straka III, CIMSS)

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Figure caption: True-color image from Aqua MODIS on 19 June 2018, featured in the CIMSS Satellite Blog post on "Convection and Flooding over Northern Wisconsin." Credit: SSEC. 

GOES-16 Imagery of Hurricanes for NOVA Special: At the request of a PBS/NOVA film producer, both the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) generated a number of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-16 Advanced Baseline Imager animations of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The show will air the evening of June 27. A preview is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0v-JpPco_c&feature=youtu.be. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291; J. Feltz, CIMSS)

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Figure caption: Screenshot showing GOES-16 imagery from a PBS/Nova special preview. 

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

NOAA-20 Maturity Review: The JPSS Cryosphere Team participated in the May/June 2018 N20 Calibration/Validation Maturity Review on June 15, 2018. The purpose of the meeting was to assess the readiness of various JPSS data products in achieving the next maturity level according to the NOAA-20 Calibration/Validation (Cal/Val) maturity schedule. ATMS and VIIRS SDRs were presented for Validated Maturity; cryosphere products were presented for Beta Maturity (binary and fractional snow cover, ice surface temperature, ice concentration, and ice thickness/age), and NUCAPS Sounding products were presented for Beta and/or Provisional Maturity. The cryosphere products were accepted as achieving the Beta Maturity level and will be reviewed for Provisional Maturity in a few months. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jeff.key@noaa.gov)

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Figure caption: NOAA-20 VIIRS ice thickness over the Arctic on April 23, 2018. 

Spring 2018 Climate Digest featuring NOAA NCEI data: The 'Spring 2018 Climate Digest' was published this week featuring global weather and climate phenomena that includes a multi-day satellite loop of Subtropical Storm Alberto and reference to a new report from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on a slowing trend in tropical cyclone movement. All the climate statistics featured are from NCEI. The climate digest is produced for 6-foot diameter Science On a Sphere (SOS) exhibits with audio/script aimed at young adults who might watch it at a museum or science center. We also make a YouTube version, viewable anywhere. Content is compiled by NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) in collaboration with the Science Museum of Virginia. Our goal is to convey a comprehensive yet brief seasonal climate summary in a visually compelling format. The YouTube version is available for viewing at https://youtu.be/y2cEe0np4qE. (M. Mooney, CIMSS, 608-265-2123, R. Kohrs, SSEC, 608-263-6312, C. Suplinski, SSEC, 262-0502)

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Talk given at CALCON: Jun Li attended the Characterization and Radiometric Calibration for Remote Sensing (CALCON) annual meeting held in Utah State University, Logan, Utah from 18 - 21 June 2018, he gave a talk titled "Assimilation of CubeSat Sounder Data for High Impact Weather Forecasts - Challenges and Future Plans". About 70 scientists, engineers, and managers gathered together to present, discuss, and learn about calibration, characterization, and radiometric issues within the microwave, IR, visible, and UV spectral ranges. (Jun Li, CIMSS, 608-262-3755, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

CIMSS Blog Post on Fixed Grid Format Satellite Data: TheCooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog noted the change in satellite data format that flows to the National Weather Service AWIPS display system that occurred at 1527 UTC on 19 June 2018 (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/archives/28565). An extra remap was removed from the processing, and the blog showed how the reduced smoothing because the remap was removed led to better estimates of extremes and gradients. (S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608 263 4425; T. Schmit, NOAA/ASPB, 608 263 0291)

VISITORS:

Pieternel Levelt, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute Visit: Pieternel Levelt (Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, KNMI) visited the UW-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) and Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) on Monday, June 18, 2018 to discuss first results from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) instrument on the European Copernicus Sentinel 5 Precursor (S5P) satellite. TROPOMI/S5P was launched on October 13, 2017 and retrieves nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone (total column, tropospheric column & profile), methane, sulfur dioxide, formaldehyde and aerosol and cloud parameters at unprecedented spatial resolution. S5P flies in the same orbit as the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) which provides opportunities for multi-instrument, multi-spectral retrieval studies. Pieternel Levelt leads the Research & Development department on Satellite Observations at KNMI and is professor in Remote Sensing of the Earth Atmosphere at Delft University. She is scientific initiator of the TROPOMI instrument on Sentinel 5 Precursor and Principal Investigator of the OMI instrument on NASA's EOS-Aura satellite.(R.B. Pierce, E/RA2, 608-890-1892, brad.pierce@noaa.gov)

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LOOKING AHEAD: