CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 6, 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) CIMSS scientist Eva Borbas collaborated with colleagues at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to merge their individual databases of global land surface emissivity into the new, improved CAMEL product (Combined ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) and MODIS emissivity over Land (CAMEL). SSEC News published the story (http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/news/articles/11037). 2) CIMSS Satellite Blog contributors Scott Bachmeier and Scott Lindstrom published posts on Super Typhoon Maria (July 5),the formation of Tropical Storm Beryl (July 5), severe thunderstorms in North and South Dakota (July 4), the eruption of the Sierra Negra volcano (July 1), the county fire in Northern California (July 1), and fog/stratus over Lake Michigan (June 30) (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/). 3) SSEC Antarctic scientist Matthew Lazzara was interviewed by Popular Science for the article, "Meteorologists just found the coldest natural temperatures on the planet" (https://www.popsci.com/coldest-temperatures-on-earth). (J. Phillips, SSEC, 608-262-8164, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, S. Lindstrom, SSEC, M. Lazzara, SSEC)

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Figure caption: CAMEL Broad Band Emissivity (between 3.6 and 14.1 μm) for September 2009 (left) and its deviation (right) from the constant value of 0.98. Setting BBE as a constant value over the globe is still common practice in land surface or radiative models. Differences larger than 5% are seen over non-vegetated areas like the Saharan Desert and Arabian Peninsula. Credit: Eva Borbas. 

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Paper Published on Moisture Information Assimilation in Regional NWP: A manuscript titled "Impact of moisture information from Advanced Himawari Imager measurements on heavy precipitation forecasts in a regional NWP model" has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres. Co-authors are Pei Wang, Jun Li (CIMSS), Timothy J. Schmit (STAR), Jiazhen Lu, Bing Lu (CMA), Yong-Keun Lee, Jinlong Li (CIMSS), and Zhiquan Liu (NCAR). (Jun Li, 608-262-3755, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu)

Article on Total Solar Eclipse and Cloudiness Published: An article titled, “Shining light on sky cover during a total solar eclipse,” was published in the Journal of Applied Remote Sensing on 29 June 2018 (https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.12.020501). The author of the article was Jordan Gerth of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS). The article investigated the effect of decreased shortwave radiation from the August 2017 total solar eclipse on south central United States sky cover, calculated using observations from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES), with comparisons to surface observations and the short-term National Weather Service (NWS) gridded forecasts. Those comparisons revealed that the eclipse resulted in a reduction in cumulus cloudiness over a multi-state area that the forecasts did not capture. (J. Gerth, CIMSS, 608-263-4942)

Manuscript on Hurricane Eyes Published: A paper titled "A Global Climatology of Tropical Cyclone Eyes" by Kenneth Knapp, Christopher Velden and Anthony Wimmers has been published in Monthly Weather Review. The study uses an objective algorithm (ARCHER-Automated Rotational Center Hurricane Eye Retrieval) to analyze Hurricane Satellite (HURSAT) infrared satellite imagery for storms occurring globally from 1982 to 2015. The result is a 34-yr climatology of tropical cyclone (TC) eye locations and characterization. It is found that the median wind speed of a storm with an eye is 97 kt, and that eyes are much more frequent in the Northern Hemisphere (particularly in the western Pacific) but eyes are larger in the Southern Hemisphere. The regions where eyes occur are expanding poleward, thus increasing the area at risk of TC-related damage. Also, eye scene occurrence can provide an objective measure of strong TC activity to complement existing standards based on estimated maximum wind speeds, which often can be affected by lack of observations and forecast agency practices. (C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168, K. Knapp, NOAA/NCEI, A. Wimmers, CIMSS) 

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Figure caption: Eye image samples from HURSAT as identified by ARCHER where the plus (+) sign is the image center (from interpolated best track), the crisscross (×) is the circulation center from ARCHER, the white circle is the extent of the eye, and the gray circle is the eyewall. The scale of each image is the same: 555 km (i.e., 5° latitude). 

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

Workshop given at Native Youth Leadership Congress: A workshop titled "Tracking Hazardous Weather, Wildfires and Phenology with on-line tools was presented at the Native Youth Community Adaptation Leadership Congress. The Congress, hosted by U.S. Fish and Wildlife, was sponsored by multiple federal agencies including NOAA. Approximately 85 high school students and 20 college students from tribes across the continental US, Alaska villages, Hawaii and American Samoa attended the event. A presentation on NOAA activities was also presented at a Career Fair during the Congress. (Bob Rabin, NOAA/NSSL & CIMSS, 405-325-6336)

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Figure caption: Interactive workshop presentation in computer lab.

Hurricane Presentation at WN@L: Derrick Herndon presented a seminar titled “Hurricanes: Advancements in Our Understanding of Earth’s Most Powerful Storms” for the Wednesday Nite @ the Lab series on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus on June 27. The talk covered a wide range of hurricane related topics including hurricane formation, climatology, improvements in forecast skill made possible by computer models as well as the latest advancements in storm analysis from recently launched GOES-16 and Suomi-NPP/NOAA-20 missions. A near capacity crowd included students from the CIMSS Student Workshop. The WN@L program covers a wide range of science topics and is presented 50 times a year. A recording of the presentation is available at https://youtu.be/01m4xXQ8moo. (D. Herndon, CIMSS, 608-262-6741)

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NSOSA Study Response Comments Filed: Jordan Gerth, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), filed response comments to the NOAA Satellite Observing System Architecture (NSOSA) study on 2 July 2018 (https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=NOAA-NESDIS-2018-0053-0011). The comments ask NOAA to expand the scope of the study to investigate tangent segments of a healthy and cost-efficient United States constellation of space-based instruments, and incorporate an enumerated list of NOAA’s operational requirements that the constellation will serve. The proposed expanded scope could capture the growth of international constellations and commercial satellites, as well as government investment priorities and requirements for ground systems and scientific research. (J. Gerth, CIMSS, 608-263-4942)

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