CIMSS-NOAA Weekly Report [ Archive ]

CIMSS-NOAA WEEKLY HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK ENDING DECEMBER 12, 2025

DATA, INFORMATION, AND USE-INSPIRED SCIENCE:

Atmospheric Sounding Validation – Activities at the ARM Field Sites: In an effort to ensure the scientific integrity of satellite-based atmospheric soundings, radiosondes are being launched coincident with NOAA-21 overpasses from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) field sites at Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) on Graciosa Island in the Azores, North Slope Alaska (NSA) at Barrow, Alaska, and the Southern Great Plains (SGP) central facility southeast of Lamont, Oklahoma. Collecting this set of collocated satellite and radiosonde observations provides a valuable dataset from which statistics on the performance, tendencies, and uncertainty of the satellite soundings are being studied. In addition to the sonde launches at the three primary ground sites, radiosonde launches recently began from the ARM Mobile Facility at Bankhead National Forest (BNF) in northwestern Alabama targeting NOAA-21 overpasses. The BNF site is characterized by high humidity and frequent convective events, similar to the long-term site at SGP, but with significantly different land surface properties. Lastly, an effort is underway to coordinate radiosonde launches from the ENA and SGP sites to target overpasses of METOP-SGA. Conveniently, METOP daytime overpasses of ENA occur close to the 1130 UTC routine sonde launch time and ARM has agreed to shift some of the routine launches to target this platform. This work will be a part of a larger effort to assess and validate METOP-SGA soundings using the GCOS Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) sites and network. (Lori Borg, CIMSS)

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Figure: The locations of the ARM field sites involved in this atmospheric sounding validation project.

PEOPLE, AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

TRAVEL AND MEETINGS:

CIMSS scientist presents at the International Fire Ecology and Management Congress: Jason Otkin from the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) participated in the 11th International Fire Ecology and Management Congress, held in New Orleans, LA from 3-6 December. He gave a presentation entitled “Satellite-based Fire Detection using the Next Generation Fire System” that highlighted the fire detection capabilities of the NGFS along with visualization and data dissemination tools being developed by CIMSS and NOAA scientists. (Jason Otkin, CIMSS)

TRAINING AND EDUCATION:

MEDIA INTERACTIONS AND REQUESTS:

SOCIAL MEDIA AND BLOG Posts:

CIMSS Satellite Blog Updates: The Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Satellite Blog (https://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/satellite-blog/) was updated with the following posts: "Eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i" (Dec. 6), "Land Breeze-Induced Snow Over Lake Huron" (Dec. 6) and "Offshore transport of glacial silt from the northern Alaska panhandle" (Dec. 9). (S. Bachmeier, T. Wagner, CIMSS, 608-890-1980) 

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Figure: GOES-19 Day Cloud Phase Distinction RGB image -- with overlays of Multi-Radar / Multi-Sensor System (MRMS) reflectivity and Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) winds -- showing a land breeze-induced snow band over Lake Huron at 1601 UTC on December 8, 2025.

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Figure: GOES-18 Shortwave Infrared image showing the thermal signature during an eruption of Kilauea on the Big Island of Hawai`i at 1946 UTC on December 6, 2025. The thermal signature exhibited a 3.9 µm brightness temperature of 137.88ºC -- which is the saturation temperature of GOES-18 ABI Band 7 detectors.

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