CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 29, 2019

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 and participate in events to promote science. In the news this week: 1) CIMSS scientist Shane Hubbard, who studies flood and natural disaster response, is the UW News featured expert on Midwestern flooding (https://experts.news.wisc.edu/experts/shane-hubbard). He also appeared on Wisc-TV 3 to discuss regional flooding impacts (https://youtu.be/A1-i0FuINkQ, starting at 18:00). 2) CIMSS scientist Jordan Gerth was interviewed by SpaceNews on the "FCC budget [that] endorses spectrum sharing with weather satellites" (https://go.wisc.edu/ijwize). 3) CIMSS Satellite Blog contributor Scott Bachmeier published posts on "Strong cyclone near Antarctica" (Mar. 26), "Tropical Storm Iba off the coast of Brazil" (Mar. 24), and "Severe Thunderstorms with Above-Anvil Cirrus Plumes over Texas" (Mar. 22). Read more at the CIMSS Satellite Blog (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog/). (S. Hubbard, CIMSS, J. Gerth, CIMSS, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, J. Phillips, SSEC).

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Figure: This composite of infrared and water vapor imagery from the SSEC Antarctic Meteorological Research Center showed an anomalously strong cyclone that moved southeastward across the South Pacific Ocean toward Antarctica on 26 March 2019. The composite blends images from geostationary and polar orbiting satellites. The storm is located in the upper right quadrant of the image. Credit: CIMSS Satellite Blog. 

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

WMO Polar and High Mountain Observations, Research, and Services Panel Meeting: The ninth meeting of the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) Executive Council Panel of Experts on Polar and High Mountain Observations, Research, and Services (EC-PHORS) was held in Geneva, Switzerland, 27-29 March 2019, at WMO Headquarters. The Panel provides guidance in the development of the WMO Strategic Plan, facilitates the acquisition, exchange, and archiving of observational data, and makes recommendations on research and operations related to the polar regions. Jeff Key (NESDIS/STAR) is a U.S. representative and the lead on the EC-PHORS Global Cryosphere Watch (GCW) Task Team. Other U.S. participants were Carven Scott and Renee Tatusko (NWS Alaska), Shanna Pitter (NWS International Affairs), Jack Kaye (NASA), and Alexandra Isern (NSF). Key's primary involvement was in planning for the further implementation of GCW and linkages to the Polar Space Task Group (PSTG). This meeting was particularly important given the major restructuring that WMO will put in place in the near future. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jeff.key@noaa.gov)

Manuscript Published on Improving VIIRS Calibration: Manuscript titled "Improving the Calibration of Suomi NPP VIIRS Thermal Emissive Bands During Blackbody Warm-Up/Cool-Down" has been published in the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing in APRIL 2019 (Volume 57, Issue 4, 1977 - 1994, DOI: 10.1109/TGRS.2018.2870328), coauthors are Wenhui Wang (ERT), Changyong Cao (STAR) et al., Zhenglong Li (CIMSS), Jun Li (CIMSS). (Jun Li, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu, 608-262-3755).

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

Training at National Weather Service Offices in Alaska Concludes: During the week of 25 March 2019, Jordan Gerth and Scott Lindstrom, of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), led conversations on applications for NOAA weather satellite imagery with small groups of operational meteorologists at National Weather Service (NWS) weather forecast offices (WFOs) in Anchorage, Alaska, and Fairbanks, Alaska, supplementing earlier online training, and continuing work from the previous week in Anchorage and Juneau. There were one or two conversations each day at the individual offices, with each group conversation lasting approximately three hours. During the conversations, live data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R-Series (GOES-R) and Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) that had been integrated into the Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) were discussed. The NWS Alaska Region covered the cost for the training sessions. In addition, Jordan Gerth and Kathy Strabala, CIMSS, worked in Fairbanks with Carl Dierking and Jay Cable (from The Geographic Information Network of Alaska (GINA)), to update JPSS Data and products that are available in AWIPS to WFO Forecasters. These AWIPS files originate from the Direct Broadcast antenna at GINA. Data from the antenna are processed by the Community Software Processing Package (CSPP) and are quickly accessible. (J. Gerth, CIMSS, 608-263-4942, S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, K. Strabala, CIMSS)

Winter Climate Digest: The December 2018 through February 2019 Winter Climate Digest for NOAA Science On a Sphere® (SOS) was recently released (http://sphere.ssec.wisc.edu/winter-2018-19/) featuring global and national climate data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). By watching a quarterly Climate Digest, whether on a large spherical display, computer monitor or mobile device, viewers get a comprehensive seasonal global climate brief in mere minutes. (M. Mooney, CIMSS, 608-265-2123, Clayton Suplinski, SSEC, R. Kohrs, SSEC)

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