ASPB and CIMSS Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING JULY 2, 2011

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

19th Annual CIMSS High School Workshop held in Madison: Ten high school students from as far away as Connecticut participated in the 2011 Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) High School Workshop on Atmospheric, Earth, and Space Sciences, held 26-30 June 2011 on the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) campus. The workshop included field trips to WKOW-TV 27, Weather Central, LP, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecast office in Sullivan, WI, the UW Geology Museum, Washburn Observatory, the UW Planetarium, the “Satellites See Wisconsin” exhibit at the Madison airport, Devil’s Lake State Park and the surrounding area for a tour of geologic features, and Madison’s Lake Mendota for a limnology dredging expedition. Numerous presentations were given at the Space Science and Engineering Center (SSEC) including Earth System Science, the 3D Globe, daily weather briefings, basic and satellite meteorology, tropical weather and forecasting (a crowd favorite), GIS (geographical information system) and remote sensing, weather at Antarctica, climate change, and aviation weather. Mentor-guided training and student demonstrations were done in the traditional half day session with the SSEC Man-computer Interactive Data Access System (McIDAS). (P. Rowley, CIMSS, 608-263-1336, patrick.rowley@ssec.wisc.edu; G. S. Wade, E/RA2, 608-263-4743, gary.s.wade@noaa.gov)

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Figure caption: CIMSS scientists M. Sitkowski and D. Herndon work with students during the hurricane forecasting session of the CIMSS High School Workshop, on 28 June 2011.

Manuscript on IR Surface Emissivity Impact Published: An manuscript entitled "Surface emissivity impact on temperature and moisture soundings from hyperspectral infrared radiance measurements" has been published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology (2011, Vol. 50, p.1225 - 1235), co-authors are Z. Yao, Jun Li, Jinlong Li and H. Zhang (CIMSS). (Jun Li, CIMSS, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu, 608-262-3755)

Meeting of the THORPEX DAOS Working Group: The World Meteorological Organization THORPEX International Working Group (WG) on Data Assimilation and Observing Systems (DAOS) met at the Met Office in Exeter, U.K. The WG assembles annually to discuss the latest advances and issues associated with the global observing system and data assimilation in numerical weather prediction (NWP). This meeting was highlighted by discussion on formalizing a statement on targeted observations and impacts. The WG will also likely lead the organization of the next international conference on data impacts in NWP, tentatively scheduled for May, 2012 in Sedona, Arizona. (C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

Presentation at AMS Annual Teachers Training Meeting: Tom Whittaker (CIMSS) presented the newly completed, on-line, interactive Conceptual Energy Model (CEM) tool on 27 June at the annual K-12 American Meteorological Society (AMS) Teacher's Training, held this year in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The original process (algorithm) for the CEM was developed by the AMS Education group in the 1990's, but had never been realized as a computer program previously. All computations were done manually, thus limiting the opportunity to more extensively explore the Model. The AMS fully supported this development. (T. Whittaker, CIMSS, 608-262-2759)

Update to AVHRR Polar Winds Processing at CIMSS: A significant update to the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) polar winds processing at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) was introduced on 16 June 2011. An increase in the spatial coverage over the poles, more accurate time tagging of images, and the production of winds across the day boundary has resulted in many more winds and an improved impact in the Naval Research Lab's (NRL) Atmospheric Variational Data Assimilation System - Accelerated Representer (NAVDAS-AR). The AVHRR winds are generated routinely at CIMSS using the Global Area Coverage (GAC) data from all operating NOAA polar orbiting satellites and the Full Resolution Area Coverage (FRAC) from Metop. (D. Santek, CIMSS, 608-263-7410, N. Bearson, SSEC, 608-262-0544, J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu, C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168).

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Figure caption: Improved model performance resulting from an update of the AVHRR polar wind processing can be seen by comparing the observational impact in the latter half of June 2011, after the update was made, to the first half of the month. (Provided by Nancy Baker, NRL, and Randy Pauley,  Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center)

GOES-R Land Surface Emissivity 100%ATBD Submitted: The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R land surface emissivity (LSE) 100% Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD, 100% completion) along with the prototype codes for the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) was submitted to the GOES-R program. This ATBD covers the theory of using GOES-R high temporal information for retrieving LSE from ABI measurements. (Zhenglong Li, CIMSS, Zhenglong.Li@ssec.wisc.edu; 608-890-1982; Jun Li, CIMSS, Jun.Li@ssec.wisc.edu, 608-262-3755; Tim Schmit, STAR, tim.j.schmit@noaa.gov, 608-263-0291)

GOES-R Sulfur Dioxide and Fog 100% Maturity ATBD’s Submitted: The 100% maturity Sulfur Dioxide Detection and Fog/Low Cloud Detection Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBD’s) were submitted to the GOES-R Algorithm Integration Team (AIT) this week. The ATBD’s contain a complete description of the algorithms, which utilize state-of-the-art remote sensing techniques to detect sulfur dioxide clouds and fog/low stratus clouds. (M. Pavolonis, E/RA2, 608-263-9597, Mike.Pavolonis@noaa.gov; C. Calvert, CIMSS, 608-262-1023)

GOES-R Ice Products 100% Maturity ATBD’s Submitted: The 100% maturity Ice Cover and Concentration, Ice Age/Thickness, and Ice Motion Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBD’s) were submitted to the GOES-R Algorithm Integration Team (AIT) this week. The ATBD’s contain a complete description of the algorithms, which utilize state-of-the-art remote sensing techniques to monitor sea and lake ice properties. (X. Wang, CIMSS, 608-261-1390; Y. Liu, CIMSS, 608-265-8620; J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu)

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