ASPB and CIMSS Weekly Report

ASPB and CIMSS Weekly Report
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ASPB AND CIMSS WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING MAY 12, 2012

IN THE PRESS:

ITEMS FOR THE ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR:

ITEMS FOR THE OFFICE DIRECTOR, STAR:

Ackerman New Associate Dean for Physical Sciences: Steve Ackerman has been named the new Associate Dean for the Physical Sciences. He has been in this position on an interim basis since January 2012. Dr. Ackerman, Director of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), joined the faculty of the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (AOS) department in 1992. His research focus is in the area of satellite meteorology. Ackerman is well known locally and nationally for his efforts to bring science to the public through mass media and other channels of outreach. More information is available at http://www.news.wisc.edu/20661. (J. Key, E/RA2, 608-263-2605, jkey@ssec.wisc.edu)

NASA to Fly Global Hawk Hurricane Missions: The Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) science and instrument teams held their final planning meeting this week at the Wallops Island (WI) facility. The HS3 is a Global Hawk drone that will base out of Wallops, and fly missions at ~70,000 feet centered on Atlantic tropical disturbances in September. Two Global Hawks should be available; one focusing on the storm environment, and one that will loiter over the storm center. The environmental drone will carry a Scanning-HIS developed at the University of Wisconsin Space Science and Engineering Center (UW-SSEC), among many other remote sensors and dropsondes. The S-HIS combined with other measurements will help define the extent and role of the Saharan Air layer (SAL) on modulating storm intensity. The storm center drone will carry a NASA-built microwave radiometer that will allow high-resolution mapping of the warm core evolution. Scientists at the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological satellite Studies (CIMSS) will collaborate with Principle Investigators from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to investigate the measured warm core structures with those observed from satellites. CIMSS will also provide specialized satellite products in support of mission planning, post-experiment analysis, and GOES-R proving ground activities. (C. Velden, CIMSS, 608-262-9168)

ITEMS FOR THE DIVISION CHIEF, CoRP:

Improving Thunderstorm Forecasts at the Hazardous Weather Testbed: Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (UW/CIMSS) researcher Justin Sieglaff participated in the 2012 Hazardous Weather Testbed (HWT) as part of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R Proving Ground in Norman, Oklahoma at the Storm Prediction Center. An experimental GOES-based product, the University of Wisconsin Cloud Top Cooling (UW-CTC) algorithm was demonstrated to National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters as a means to deduce the strength of newly developing thunderstorms. The information from the UW-CTC algorithm was shown to provide lead-time ahead of traditional forecasting tools, such as Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD). For example, in one case the GOES based cloud growth provided over 60 minutes of lead-time prior to a developing thunderstorm producing hail signatures on NEXRAD. Further information related to GOES-R participation at the HWT can be found at (http://goesrhwt.blogspot.com). (J. Sieglaff, CIMSS, 608-265-5357)

MODIS/SUOMI-NPP Science Team Meetings: Andrew Heidinger attend the meetings of the NASA MODIS (MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) Science Teams held in Silver Spring and Greenbelt, Maryland. He presented at the MODIS meeting on the progress towards developing cloud retrievals that are consistent across the visible and infrared spectral regions. At the NPP meeting, he discussed his progress at generating VIIRS cloud heights using NOAA algorithms. (A. Heidinger, E/RA2, 608-263-6757, andrew.heidinger@noaa.gov)

The Affects of Stray Light and Its Correction on GOES-13 Imager Data: Twice per year during the Spring and Fall Equinox period solar infiltration results in contamination of the radiance information from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Imager. This occurs as the GOES spacecraft, earth, and sun are all in the same equatorial plane during the time period surrounding local midnight for the eastern GOES (approximately 04:00 through 06:00 Universal Time Coordinated [UTC]), where "leakage" of solar radiation (or 'stray light') is observed by the one visible and four infrared bands of the Imager sensor. A cooperative effort by GOES engineers and scientists from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (UW CIMSS) and NOAA Advanced Satellite Products Branch (ASPB) have worked to minimize this data contamination so that turning off these time periods was not required, as was the practice in the past. One initial side affect of this Stray Light Correction (SLC) was a horizontal straight line across the image at different locations depending on the date within the Spring or Fall Equinox. The latest version of the SLC has correctly eliminated the horizontal straight line. This latest software version is not yet operational, but CIMSS was able to validate it by obtaining a parallel data stream. (Zhenping Li, NESDIS/OSPO, 301-817-4217, J. Paul Douglas, ORC GPP ASRC Aerospace Corp. 301-817-4031, Hyre Bysal, GOES Instrument Operations, 301-817-4088, Timothy J. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, Anthony J. Schreiner, CIMSS, 608-263-6754)

(Click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: All four panels from the GOES-13 Imager on 30 April 2012 at 05:15 UTC. The images from left to right are the visible band; the Stray Light Corrected (SLC) Band 2 (3.9 µm, Infrared Short Wave Window) with the spurious straight line at the top of the image; same as second panel, but with the latest version of the SLC that correctly eliminates the spurious straight line; and the difference in degree Kelvin between the two software versions. The range is from -1.0 to 1.0 K.

McIDAS Users Group Meeting: The McIDAS (Man-computer Interactive Data Access System) Users Group (MUG) meeting was held in Madison, Wisconsin, 7-10 May 2012. T. Schmit gave a talk on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-R and its Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI). The McIDAS data analysis and visualization software is used by numerous university, government, international, and industry groups for weather data analysis and display, in both research and operational settings. Demonstrations of the fifth generation McIDAS, referred to as McIDAS-V, were followed by hands-on training. Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) and NOAA scientists made a strong showing at the meeting. More on the meeting can be found at http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/mcidas/mug_meeting/2012/. (T. J. Schmit, E/RA2, 608-263-0291, tim.j.schmit@noaa.gov; G. S. Wade, E/RA2, 608-263-4743, gary.s.wade@noaa.gov)

CIMSS VISIT Activities: The Virtual Institute for Satellite Integration Training (VISIT) lesson "Mesoscale Convective Vortices" was updated with new information and examples, and a new recorded version was also produced (available at ftp://ftp.ssec.wisc.edu/visit/mesoscale_convective_vortices_20120423_recorded.zip). In addition, the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog (http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/blog) was updated with new posts discussing GOES-12 imager cycle slips, a fatal tornado event in Japan, and the night-time detection of a convectively-generated undular bore, and the aurora borealis using the Day/Night Band from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite. (S. Lindstrom, CIMSS, 608-263-4425, S. Bachmeier, CIMSS, 608-263-3958)

(Click image to enlarge)

Figure caption: Suomi NPP Day/Night Band (DNB) image showing ribbons of the aurora borealis, which showed up as bright west-to-east oriented features on the DNB image over Ontario and Quebec, Canada on May 9, 2012.

Manuscript on Arctic Ozone Depletion Events Submitted: A manuscript entitled "Characteristics of tropospheric ozone depletion events in the Arctic spring: Analysis of the ARCTAS, ARCPAC, and ARCIONS measurements" by J.-H. Koo, Y. Wang, S. Choi, T. P. Kurosu, K. Chance, A. Rozanov, A. Richter, S. J. Oltmans, A. M. Thompson, J. W. Hair, M. A. Fenn, A. J. Weinheimer, T. B. Ryerson, D. MacTavish, A. M. Fjaeraa, L. G. Huey, J. Liao, J. E. Dibb, J. A. Neuman, J. B. Nowak, R. B. Pierce, M. Natarajan, and J. Al-Saadi was submitted to Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. This manuscript uses airborne and surface chemical measurements from the NASA Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) and the NOAA Aerosol, Radiation, and Cloud Processes affecting Arctic Climate (ARCPAC) experiments and satellite estimates of tropospheric bromine columns to interpret Arctic tropospheric ozone depletion events during April, 2008 (R.B. Pierce, E/RA2, 608-890-1892, brad.pierce@noaa.gov)

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