ASPB and CIMSS Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 27, 2011

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Earthquake data for SOS: Rick Kohrs of the Space Science Engineering Center (SSEC) developed a data set for Science on a Sphere (SOS) that shows the recent earthquakes around the world. Additional information is available at http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/sos/earthquake/earthquake.html. (S. Ackerman, CIMSS, 608-263-3647)

(Animation: click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: Top: Animation of earthquakes around the world in September 2006. Bottom: Animation of earthquakes March 7-13, 2011 (http://stratus.ssec.wisc.edu/aspb/weeklies/temp/japan-tsunami.gif). The devastating Japan earthquake and tsunami occurred on March 11, 2011. Produced by Rick Kohrs, SSEC.

Duluth NWS Using SSEC- MidWest Winter Road Conditions (WRC) Composite: In cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WiDOT), the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) is producing a real-time display of winter road conditions for states in the upper Midwest. This display blends reports from seven independent state agencies to produce a unique view of interstate highway system. The product is generated every 10 minutes by sampling road status reports from DOT websites and rendering the data as a unified image. This technique offers an overview of the road status independent of state boundaries. The product is is intended for cross platform independence and low band width access, offering the general public an alternate source of road conditions. Additionally, the segment set may be viewed as an overlay on various satellite and radar imagery. The Winter Road Conditions (WRC) product is part of the Personal Advanced Weather system (PAW, http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/data/paw/). The PAW product suite offers general public access to real-time weather imagery formatted for display on mobile platforms. Products offer unique access to advanced displays enhanced using the latest research conducted at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and SSEC. Recently, the Duluth, MN National Weather Service (NWS) added a link to the WRC product (http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=dlh&storyid=59787&source=0). (R. Dengel, CIMSS, 608-262-6567)

GSICS Research Working Group Presentation: Andrew Heidinger presented at the annual meeting of the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) Research Working Group (GRWG). This meeting was held in Seoul, Korea and the presentation was given remotely. The research presented was on the use of the 3.9 micron channels on geostationary imagers to calibrate the 0.65 micron (visible) channels. While the 3.9 micron channels are well calibrated using on-board blackbodies, the visible channels on geostationary imagers have no on-board calibration. This work used the common and radiometrically stable sun-glint regions to perform the calibration transfer. Given its ease and applicability to all imagers, this method may be adopted as one of the standard GSICS approaches. Meeting presentations are available at https://gsics.nesdis.noaa.gov/wiki/Development/20110322. (A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757, andrew.heidinger@noaa.gov)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

Employee of the Week! Patrick Rowley, Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), was named Employee of the Week in the Nauticus Education department of the National Maritime Museum in Hampton, VA, after helping them properly reboot their Science on a Sphere (SOS) computer following a power surge, even though he is no longer employed there. (S. Ackerman, CIMSS, 608-263-3647)

CIMSS Participation in the NOAA CI Directors and Administrators Meeting: The annual NOAA-wide Cooperative Institute Directors and Administrators meetings were held on 22-24 March in Silver Spring, MD. Tom Achtor from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) attended both meetings and Wenhua Wu of the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC)/CIMSS attended and chaired the Administrators meeting. Key issues for the Directors were 1) finalizing MOAs for successfully competed Cooperative Institutes, 2) how universities can help NOAA with workforce development, 3) developing a consistent plan for Task 1 funding that includes, as part of the plan, support for workforce development, and 4) finalizing the Cooperative Institute Handbook. Additional issues for the Administrators include returning to a 90-day Annual Report preparation period (that policy was changed to 30 days in 2006) and discussing ways to expand communication between the CIs and NOAA. (T. Achtor, CIMSS, 608-263-4206)

SPIE Conference on High-Performance Computing in Remote Sensing: Bormin Huang (Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, CIMSS) and Prof. Antonio J. Plaza (Univ. de Extremadura, Spain) are organizing the SPIE Conference on High-Performance Computing in Remote Sensing (http://spie.org/rs11) to be held on 19 - 22 September 2011, Prague, Czech Republic. The abstract deadline was 21 March 2011, with a grace period to 31 March 2011. (B. Huang, CIMSS, 608-265-2231)

PCW Coordination Group Meeting and Work Plans: The Coordination Group for U.S.-Canada Cooperation on Polar Communications and Weather (PCW) Satellite Mission had its third telecon on March 25, 2011. Task teams have been identified and preliminary work plans were drafted and presented. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu)

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