CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

CIMSS AND ASPB WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2020

PRODUCTS AND APPLICATIONS:

Assistance to response to flooding from Eta: In response to the International Charter Space for Major Disasters ("International Charter) activation for flooding in Mexico as a result from Tropical Storm/Hurricane Eta, the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and George Mason University (GMU), as part of the JPSS program, provided a Value Added Product to assist in the response (https://disasterscharter.org/image/journal/article.jpg?img_id=7637308&t=1604999194560). In addition, information on how to access the Joint ABI/VIIRS Flood product, which is generated at CIMSS using code from Sanmei Li at GMU and being actively displayed at CIMSS as part of the NOAA LEO/GEO Flood Website, was provided directly to Centro Nacional de Prevención de Desastres (CENAPRED), the Mexican disaster response agency, for integration into their disaster management dashboard, as seen in the figure below. This is assisting the Mexican Government in their response to the ongoing flood situation. In addition, the flood product is being actively used by other agencies in response to flooding in other countries as a result of Eta. (W. Straka III, CIMSS; J. Hoffman, CIMSS; S. Li, GMU; B Sjoberg, JPSS; M. Goldberg, NOAA)

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AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

PUBLICATIONS:

Paper on Validating Infrared Imager/Sounder Product Fusion: A paper titled “Low earth orbit sounder retrieval products at geostationary earth orbit spatial and temporal scales” by James Anheuser, E. Weisz and W. P. Menzel has been recently published in the Journal of Applied Remote Sensing (Volume 14, Issue 4). Mr. Anheuser, a University of Wisconsin-Madison Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) graduate student, combined geo-stationary Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) radiances with co-located retrievals derived from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) to achieve soundings at 2 km spatial and 30-minute temporal resolution. The paper reports on the validation of these ABI/CRIS spatial temporal fusion temperature and moisture profiles through comparison with co-located radiosonde data. The article can be viewed online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1117/1.JRS.14.048502. (Elisabeth Weisz, CIMSS, 608-265-3954)

WORKSHOPS, CONFERENCES, AND MEETINGS:

CIMSS participation in OCONUS Meeting: Scott Lindstrom from the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) helped organize (with Eric Lau, NWS Pacific Region and Jordan Gerth, NWS/OBS) a virtual OCONUS (Outside of the Contiguous United States) telecon that focused on present and future satellite needs for that region of the National Weather Service. Speakers included Eric Lau, SSD Chief for the Pacific Region (Topic: Present and Future Satellite needs for the Pacific Region); Luke Meyers from the State of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (Topic: Satellite use in Emergency Management); Brittany Bermea from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) (Topic: Satellite data used at JTWC); Mike Pavolonis, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR (Topic: The Volcano Analysis Toolkit (VOLCAT); Liam Gumley, CIMSS (Topic: CSPP LEO: Status and Recent Enhancements). Speakers and audience (up to 40 people) discussed how future satellite needs and requirements could be addressed and implemented. Future microwave imagery and infrared estimates of volcanic cloud volumes were two topics of lively discussion. (S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608 263 4425; L. Gumley, CIMSS; M. Pavolonis, NOAA/NESDIS/STAR)

Presentation on Climate Change, Air Quality, and Health: Margaret Mooney from NOAA’s Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) presented in a sustainability series for Wade Trim on Thursday November 12, 2020. Wade Trim is a Civil Engineering, Planning and Surveying company with offices in ten different states. 52 employees attended the webinar on Climate Change, Air Quality, and Health. Content included graphs and information from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Clean Air Act, NOAA weather and climate data, and ample satellite imagery. (M. Mooney, margaret.mooney@ssec.wisc.edu)

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Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan Annual Meeting: The Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan (CWB) held its annual meeting November 10, 2020. This marked the fourth year the Cooperative Institute of Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) has participated in a collaboration between CWB and NOAA Earth System Research Laboratories (ESRL). This year CIMSS reported on improvements in near-surface visibility, cloud-derived quantitative precipitation estimates, and land surface emissivity and temperature retrievals generated at CWB from Himawari-08 using the Clouds for AVHRR Extended (CLAVR-x) processing system. (M. Foster, CIMSS, C. Phillips, CIMSS, T. Wagner, CIMSS, E. Borbas, CIMSS, A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757)

TRAINING AND EDUCATION:

New VISIT Training on Satellite Detection of Blowing Snow created: Scott Lindstrom from the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Meteorological Studies (CIMSS) released a new Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) module on Satellite Detection of Blowing Snow. Building on work from Carl Jones, meteorologist at the National Weather Service forecast office in Grand Forks (WFO FGF), the module (available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVEKXHKS5_g) and offered as live training on the VISIT Calendar (http://rammb.cira.colostate.edu/training/visit/calendar.asp), instructs forecasters on how to use multispectral RGB imagery in AWIPS to identify areas of blowing snow. (S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608 263 4425)

VISIT Training on TROWALs: Scott Lindstrom from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) gave a Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) session on Troughs of Warm Air Aloft (TROWALs) to a forecaster at the Boston NWS forecast office (WFO BOX). TROWALs are features of occluded extratropical cyclones that can force precipitation for extended periods of time. The VISIT session serves as a reminder about their impacts. (S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608 263 4425)

MEDIA AND OUTREACH:

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 interviews, imagery and case studies to promote science. 1) NOAA NCEI scientist Jim Kossin, who is based at CIMSS, was interviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, PBS, New Scientist, InsideClimate News, National Geographic, AP, CNN, and the Charleston Post and Courier for stories on trends in hurricane behavior. Read the published stories: 5 things we know about climate change and hurricanes, https://go.wisc.edu/lj74sh; Slower, wetter, hurricanes, https://go.wisc.edu/1up2ep; Did climate change drive epic 2020 hurricane season?, https://go.wisc.edu/5c0q69; Hurricanes stay stronger longer after landfall than in past, https://go.wisc.edu/1ic66m; Hurricanes are maintaining their strength farther inland as the planet warms, study finds, https://go.wisc.edu/6i320m. 2) CIMSS Satellite Blog contributor Scott Bachmeier published case studies on "Snow cover and ice accrual across the Upper Midwest" (Nov. 11), "Shear vorticies over the western US" (Nov. 9), and "Tropical Storm Eta enters the Florida Straits" (Nov. 8).Read more: https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/. (J. Phillips, SSEC, 608-262-8164, J. Kossin, NOAA/NCEI/CIMSS, 608-265-5356, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS)

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Figure: GOES-16 visible, near-infrared (snow/ice), and Day Snow-Fog RGB images showed a broad swath of fresh snow cover across parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan on Nov. 11, 2020. (https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/archives/38886) Credit: CIMSS. 

OTHER:

Cloud Product Bibliography: A new Cloud Products Bibliography has been set up by the Schwerdtfeger Library and is available at http://library.ssec.wisc.edu/research_Resources/bibliographies/cloud.php. The bibliography captures cloud remote sensing research, including algorithm development for new sensors, modeling and calibration studies, and cloud climatologies from research groups within NOAA’s Advanced Satellite Products Branch and the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. (J. Hoffman, CIMSS 608-890-1690, J. Phillips, SSEC)