CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 21, 2003

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, ORA:

Whittaker Awarded Unidata's DeSouza Award: Tom Whittaker of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) was awarded Unidata's Russel L. DeSouza award at the annual meeting of the American Meteeorological Society (AMS) last week in Long Beach, California.  Mr. Whittaker was given the award "for playing an instrumental role in molding Unidata's future through participation in technical working groups, advisory committees, and providing guidance toward the development of community visualization and analysis tools". Additional information on the award is available at  http://my.unidata.ucar.edu/content/community/aboutRLDaward.html. (S. Ackerman, CIMSS, 608-263-3647)

NASA, CIMSS, NWS, and NESDIS Collaborate on Space Shuttle Analysis: Personnel from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Weather Service (NWS), the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), and the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) collaborated recently on meteorological data to study the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy.   CIMSS supplied various products derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) data,  including winds, temperature, and moisture, to the NWS Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG) at Johnson Space Center in Houston.  NWS/SMG, NESDIS, and CIMSS discussed other potential data sources, including the MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellite (POES) systems, and numerical model analyses.  (J. Nelson, CIMSS, 608-263-6013, Doris A. Rotzoll,  JSC-ZS8,NWS/SMG, 281-483-1041, T. Schmit, E/RA-2,608-263-0291, C. Schmidt, CIMSS, 608-262-7973, D. Stettner, CIMSS, 608-262-8850, C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168)

Bill Raymond Remembered at CIMSS:  On Thursday, February 20, a memorial gathering was held at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) to remember the works and life of Dr. William H. Raymond, who died of a heart attack on February 5, 2003.  Bill was a senior scientist at CIMSS, having worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center since 1982.  He specialized in atmospheric dynamics and numerical modeling.  Bill made significant contributions in these fields and was an author of over 40 journal papers, including 14 as sole author.  He will be sorely missed, professionally and personally, by many at CIMSS and within the scientific community.  (G. Wade, E/RA2, 608-263-4743, R. Aune, E/RA2, 608-262-1071)

CIMSS Supplying Forecast Guidance for THORPEX:  The Cooperative Institute for Meterological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Regional Assimilation System (CRAS) model is now running over the Central Pacific, supplying forecast guidance for aircraft participating in The Observing-system Research and Predictability Experiment (THORPEX).  The CRAS is running at 40 kilometer resolution and is nested in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction's (NCEP) Global Forecast System (GFS).  Clouds and moisture in the CRAS are being initialized using observations from the Geostatonary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-10 sounder and the MOderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) instrument.  Daily forecast products can be viewed at http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/model/pacific/pacific.html. (R. Aune, E/RA2, 608-262-1071)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, ARAD:

GOES and MODIS Imagery of Ice in Lake Superior: Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-8) visible imagery showed the extent of pack ice that had formed in Lake Superior during February 2003, when colder than normal temperatures were experienced across the western portion of the Great Lakes region. The GOES-12 visible band showed the ice pack more clearly than GOES-8. Terra Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) composite imagery showed even greater detail, and also demonstrated how the use of multi-spectral imagery helps to distinguish the ice features from any areas of cloudiness that were also present. Image examples and animations area available on the Cooperative Institute for Satellite Studies (CIMSS) GOES Gallery:  http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/030217/030217.html. (S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958, L. Gumley, CIMSS, 608-265-5358, T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291)

GOES-8/12 lake ice(Click on image to enlarge)


Discussions on Next Generation Geostationary Imager Ozone Band: Scientists from the Advanced Satellite Products Team (ASPT), the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), the Office of Systems Development (OSD), the Office of Research and Applications (ORA), and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) discussed the spectral width of the ozone band on the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI).   It was agreed upon to tighten the bandpass spectral tolerances on the 9.7 micron band, as the previous tolerances were too loose for a narrow band near an absorption feature. D. Chesters of NASA GSFC suggested broadening the band from 9.6-9.8 microns to 9.42-9.8 microns. Simulations will need to be done to demonstrate the advantages of the wider band. (T. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, M. Gunshor, CIMSS, 608-263-1146)

Abstracts Submitted for IGARSS03: The following abstracts were submitted for presentation at the 2003 International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium (IGARSS03), to be held in Toulouse, France on July 21-25: "Cloud retrievals from combination of high spatial resolution imager and high spectral resolution sounder radiance measurements" by J. Li, W. P. Menzel, H-L. Huang, and T. Schmit, and "AIRS sub-pixel surface and cloud type classification using high spatial resolution MODIS multi-spectral band radiance measurements" by F. Sun, J. Li, W. P. Menzel, and T. Schmit. (J. Li, CIMSS, 608-262-3755)

AMS Satellite Conference Summary: Numerous posters and oral presentations were given by Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and Advanced Satellite Products Team (ASPT) scientists at the American Meteorological Society (AMS) 12th Conference on Satellite Meteorology and Oceanography.  The conference was part of the AMS annual meeting held in Long Beach, CA from February 10-14, 2003.  E. Prins served as chair of the Environmental Applications session, and also participated in a meeting of the conference organizing committee. A  (possibly incomplete) list of the CIMSS/ASPT posters and oral presentations given at the satellite conference or other symposia is included below. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605)

Ackerman, S. A., D. Tobin, R. Knuteson, P. Antonelli, H. Revercomb, and K. Vinson, Fire detection and properties from High-spectral resolution infrared observations: New Technology, Methods and Future Sensors.

J. Daniels, C. Velden, G. Dengel, D. Stettner, and W. Bresky, Status and development of GOES wind products at NOAA/NESDIS.

DeMaria, M., M. Mainelli, L. K. Shay, J. A. Knaff, and J. P. Kossin, Improvements in real-time statistical tropical cyclone intensity forecasts using satellite data.

Feltz, W. F., J. P. Nelson III, T. J. Schmit, and G. S. Wade, Validation of GOES-8/11 Sounder Derived Products During IHOP 2002 Field Experiment.

Feltz, W. F., D. Posselt, J. Mecikalski, G. S. Wade, and T. J. Schmit, 12 June 2002 June 2002 Rapid Water Vapor Transitions During the IHOP Field Program. (Symp. On Observing and Understanding the Variability of Water in Weather and Climate)

Greenwald, T. and S. Christopher,  Methods for evaluating microwave-derived satellite liquid water products.

Gunshor, M. M., D. Tobin, T. J. Schmit, and W. P. Menzel, First satellite intercalibration comparing high spectral resolution airs with operational geostationary imagers.

Gurka, J. J., G. J. Dittberner, P. Taylor, and T. J. Schmit, Specifying the requirements for imaging and sounding capabilities on the GOES-R series.

Kossin, J. P., T. L. Olander, and C. S. Velden, A new statistical method for estimating tropical cyclone intensity from GOES-IR imagery.

Li, J., T. J. Schmit, F. Sun, and W. P. Menzel, Surface and atmospheric retrievals from the future goes sounder-Advanced Baseline Sounder (ABS).

E. Prins, A two-year analysis of fire activity in the Western Hemisphere as observed with the GOES wildfire automated biomass burning algorithm.

Posselt, D. J., W. F. Feltz, T. Schmit, and D. D. Turner, Verification of mesoscale numerical model forecasts using remotely-sensed observations.

Santek, D., J. R. Key and C. S. Velden, Real-time derivation of cloud drift and water vapor winds in the polar regions from MODIS data.

Schmit, T. J., W. P. Menzel, J. Sieglaff, J. P. Nelson, III, M. K. Griffin, and J. J. Gurka, Channel selection for the next generation geostationary advanced baseline imagers.

Schreiner, A.J., T. J. Schmit, C. Kpken, X. Su, C. Holland, and J. A. Jung, Introducing the GOES Imager Clear-Sky Brightness Temperature (CSBT) product.

Sieglaff, J. M. and T. J. Schmit, Vegetation monitoring and thin cirrus detection on the next generation GOES imager.

Strabala, K. I., L. G. Gumley, T. Rink, H.-L. Huang and R. Dengel, MODIS/AIRS instrument direct broadcast products and applications. 

C. Velden, UW-CIMSS satellite products: recent research and developments.

Vukicevic, T., T. Greenwald, M. Zupanski, D. Zupanski, and T. Vonder Haar, Potential impact of visible and infrared satellite measurements in cloud data assimilation. 

Wade, G. S., T. J. Schmit, W. F. Feltz, J. P. Nelson, III, and A. J. Schreiner, GOES-11 and GOES-8 Sounders during the International H2O Project (IHOP) 2002 field Experiment, 2003.

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